The Parish of Askham is situated in that district of North Westmoreland which formed part of the ancient kingdom of Cumbria, and therefore was subject to incursions of the Scotch, on whose claim to this part of the country a new light seems to be thrown by the recent discovery at Lowther, by the Rev. F. W. Ragg, of an interesting deed or charter, from Gospatrick, the probable ruler of the district in the reign of William the Conqueror. Whether the country did, or did not, belong to the kingdom of Scotland, it is certain the Scotch vigorously maintained their claim to it, which was as vigorously resisted, leading to much unrest and continual fighting in the disputed territory, in which Askham doubtless participated, as in the time of Edward III the country south of Penrith suffered very considerably for two or three years from an incursion of the Scotch, before they were again driven back across the Solway; and a reference to the Alien Rolls shows many "Scots" settled in the district.

The Parish apparently contained two manors, Askham, and Helton Flechane or Fleckett. The latter belonged to Robert de Morville in the reign of Edward I., and seems to have been divided between his daughters and co-heiresses, Margaret, who married a Wessington, and Idonea, the younger, who married Robert English lord of the manor of Little Ashby. The Wessington moiety was held by them in the reign of Edward III. On March 18th., 1523, one half was granted by the Prior and Convent of Mount-Grace in Yorkshire, to Sir John Lowther, and amongst the monks of Mount-Grace who were pensioned at the dissolution are two local names, Henry Ayreye and Geoffry Hodgeshon.

On March 1st., 1526, the other half was exchanged by Sir John Mallory, for lands at Sedbergh, with Sir John Lowther.

The English family held the other moiety till the marriage of the heiress of the family, Idonea, with Edmund de Sandford of Warcop, in the reign of Edward III.

In 1340, Thomas English obtained a grant of free warren at Helton Flechane, with licence to impark the wood of Satron, on the south side of which, much of the old park wall is still standing.

In the reign of Henry III. the manor of Askham was given to Sir Thomas de Holbeck.

In the reign of Edward II, it was held by the Swinburn family.

In the latter part of the reign of Edward III., Robert de Swynburn conveyed it to William de Sandford, senior clerk; William de Sandford, junior clerk; Thomas Bannay; and Edmund de Sandford, who all joined in a conveyance two years later to William Collynson, and the following year to William Collynson reconveyed the same to Edmund de Sandford, who appears to have taken up his residence at Askham Hall about this period.

A few years later, William de Hoton in Foresta and William de Bolton, quit claim to Sir William de Sandford, knight, of all their right in the manor of Askham, with the mill there and other lands elsewhere. (Burn and Nicholson.)

In 1523, a certain Hugh Cleburn, son of Thomas and Johanna (n’ee Sandford, of Askham Hall), with his brethren and kinsmen, made a night attack on Askham Hall and carried off Grace (n’ee Crackenthorpe), the wife of Thomas Sandford his cousin, an heiress,* a family feud apparently amicably settled.

A daughter of the last Sandford of Askham Hall also appears to have married a Crackenthorpe.

The Sandfords continued to hold the manor of Askham, and half Helton Flechane, with the tithes and advowson which they had bought at the dissolution, till 1654, when the manor and tithes were sold to Richard Lowther, Esq. They were the senior branch of the Sandfords of Howgill, and were at one time amongst the most important families in the county, carrying with them to battle a following of 80 horse and 20 foot. Three families only had a larger following: Strickland of Kendall, 200 horse; Sir John Lowther, 100 horse and 40 foot; and Blenkinsop of Hilbeck, 120 horse.

Askham Hall, where they lived, was one of the largest of the old border towers. Its precise date seems unknown, but in 1574 it was enlarged at the back, and probably altered by Thomas Sandford, who recorded the event in a quaint inscription over the gate in the courtyard. The family of the Sandfords of Askham Hall, became extinct in the male line in 1730, after which the Tathanis held the Hall for a time, and later it was the residence of the Boltons and of the Kings, and was finally bought by William Earl of Lonsdale in 1815. It is now the residence of the rector of Lowther.

• Rev. W.F. Ragg, from "State Papers."

The Myddeltons are another family mentioned in the register, who apparently resided in Askham and were connected with the Sandfords, and so also is a branch of the Threlkeld family.

It is interesting to note how many of the old names mentioned in 1566 are still to be found, or were until recently, for the last fifty years have left more blanks amongst the old yeoman families than centuries before.

We find no entry connecting the Laws of Askham with the Laws of Bampton, from which family the Bishop was descended, but that there was such a connection there can be little doubt.

The church stands close to the river Lowther, and was enumerated by Grose as amongst the most remarkable edifices in Westmoreland, a distinction not now apparent. Its is said to be dedicated to St. Peter, but in a document at the Record Office it is spoken of as the church of "St. Kentigern of Askham," in connection with the Priory of Wartre in Yorkshire, to the cannons of which Priory it was granted by Pope Innocent II. in the 2nd year of his pontificate, and they also held half a carucate of land in the parish.

Two of the priors of Wartre were called Holme--Henry de Holme in 1380, and William Holme the last prior before the dissolution. What makes this noteworthy is, that in 1375 Henry de Holme, a canon of Wartre, was vicar of Askham, and that there is a family of Holme living in Heltondale, running through the earlier register in which both these names are usual.

"The Church yard, wherein there are no Monuments, is but ill fenced; and the entrance into the Southern Door of the Church (seldom used but when they bring in a Corpse, or by some prescribers of Helton) is almost grown up. The walls are very low and crazy. In the quire the Communion Table is well rail’d in, and very decent. Both ye Lady Lonsdale (in whose hand the Impropriation is at present) and Mr. Sandford, who sold the Tithes to the late Lord, have Seats here. Before the latter of these, in the Entrance into the Chancell, lyes a large gravestone (under which was lately discovered a great Lead Coffin) thus inscribed:

HOHS DE CLAYWORTH. *

* Hodgson says, Johes de Claworth

"The Women’s seats in the Body of the Church (which wants whitening) are without Backs; but those for the men well enough.

"They have two pretty good bells, and a convenient Font."

"Mr. Sandford has a large Isle in the South, which wants beautifying as much as any other part. No other use has been made of it (in appearance, since the Impropriation came first into the hands of that family) save for ye Burial of their Dead. The present Patron’s former Wife lyes here interred; and over her Grave, on a Black Marble Monument in a Table of White is this Epitaph . . . ‘ (The Inscription is florid and lengthy).

"Underneah an arch in the same aisle is an old monument, whereon is now only legible: --

WILL S. DE SANTONE.

"B. Oley’s Books, given to this Parish, are all safe in Mr. Seed’s hands, haveing never had a Repository in ye Church.* A Commutation of Pennance assign’d this summer for the beautifying of the Body of the Church."

Burn and Nicholson say: "The church is a small old building with two little bells. Upon the timber in the body of the church are the letters E. D. T S. 1593; for Edmund Dudley and Thomas Sandford, who probably gave timber for the repair thereof. And upon one of the coupling beams are the letters J B., supposed to mark the timber contributed by John Bradley of Knipe.

An entry in the Lowther register records the marriage of an Anthonie Braydley and Agnes Sandfurth in 1544, and may thus explain the connection of the Braydleys with Askham.

The following account of the rebuilding of the church, chiefly at the cost of the Earl of Lonsdale, was lately sent from Australia by the late Mr. J. Noble Wilson, and was written by his father: --

"Memorandum made June, 1832. The Parish Church of Askham falling into decay, was, with the consent of William, Earl of Lonsdale the Patron, Pearcy, Lord Bishop of Carlisle, and church wardens at the time, Kirkbride, Helton, and Bowman, Askham, and the mayjor part of the Inhabitants of Askham Parish, did take down and rebuild on the same site, greatly improving the exterior, but particularly the Intearior, by the Introduction of a Galry, Vestry Room, and several Free Sittings, also the Custom of Familys sitting together, that is Male and Female, which Custom had not been practised in the Memory of Man, till the rebuilding. The Foundation Stone was laid on the 28th. Day of June, 1832, in the Preasance of James Thornbarrow Ward, the Incumbent Vicar, Mawson, Superintending Mason and Builder, with others of the parrish. The church, when finished and made fit for public worship, was opened on Sunday, the 18 Day of August, 1833, by the forenamed Vicar, James Thornbarrow Ward. Text, Matthew 16 chapter and 18 verse, ‘Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.’ "

Some reference to local events, collections for various objects, repairs to the church and vicarage, and a curious charitable bequest, will be found scattered through the registers, the oldest volume of which is in many places very worn and faded, and from which, it is evident, some earlier pages have, with the front cover, entirely disappeared. A scrap obviously torn from a missing leaf bears the date 1561.

The following extracts from the churchwardens accounts are of some interest:--

"Concerning Easter dues. Wednesday after Easter is the usual day for receiving Easter dues.

"Every milk cow pays 2 1/2d. till they come to five, which makes half a calf, and pays 1s. 8d. Six cows are a whole calf, and pay 3s. 4d.

"A heifer of the first calf (or why) pays only 1 1/2d., but counts towards 5. A strip pays 1d., but does not count on. From 6 to 10 cows only, make a calf. The meaning of Hen is a tithe upon certain houses in the Parish, accustomed to pay 4d. one year and 2d. another.

"A garth pays according to its size in Lieu of great tithe.

"Plough 1d., foal 1d. Communicants at the age of 16 years pay 1/2d. each.

"In kind or by agreement with ye vicar, as follows, viz :--

"Pigs are tithed, for a Summer Farrow, viz., from May day to Michaelmas, 4s., and for a winter Farrow, 3s.

"If a cow be bought, that has calved before she is brought into the parish, she pays tithe for her milk, which is 1d. And if a cow be sold out of the Parish after she has calved, and leaves her calf behind her, the calif pays tithe, which is 1/2d."

"William Sandford, of Askham Hall, Esq., by his Will and Testament, left the sum of five pounds to be distributed yearly for ever among the poor of the Parish of Askham. This money left in trust, and the Rector of Lowther, the Vicar of Askham for the time being, and their successors for ever, for the abover mentioned, i.e., the use of the poor of the Parish of Askham. The first distribution Oct. 1731." This is later called the "Pow Dunn Money."

"William Sandford, of Askham Hall, Esq., by his last Will and Testament, did leave to the churchwardens of Askham, for the time being, and their successors, the sum of forty shillings a year for ever, for providing a sufficient quantity of bread and wine for celebrating four Communions in the year, in the Parish Church of Askham, and ordered, by the said Will, that if any of this money should remain over and above what should be laid out for Bread and wine for the use aforsaid, it should be distributed by the vicar and churchwardens to the poor people of the Parish of Askham on St. Stephen’s day. N.B. -- That from the death of Mr. Sandford to the death of Mrs. Sandford (5 years) money was given only for providing bread and wine. Mrs. Sandford apprehending that the Wine meant no more than a provision for the Communion, and no doubt that was chiefly and principally intended by the Will (so far as it related to the matter), but upon reading it after her decease, it appeared that the sum of forty shillings was to be paid yearly for ever, as aforesaid, and for the uses before mentioned. The first Distribution, therefore, at the death of Mrs. Sandford, of the money which remained of ye 40 shillings over and above what was necessary for providing Bread and Wine for the Communion, was made on St. Stephen’s day, 1735, being the Christmas after Mrs. Sandford’s death, which happened in the month of October, preceding to the great affliction of all who had the happiness of being acquainted with her, particularly of the Poor, who were daily relieved by her great charity."

This lady would be the last Mrs. Sandford, of Askham Hall, as the property afterwards descended in the female line to the Tathams. There appears also to have been one pound left for the parish clerk’s salary.

A Mr. Holme also appears to have left 40 shillings to the poor of Askham, which was distributed in 1737. Therefore it seems probable this bequest was from the rector of Lowther, who died about that date, and that he might belong to the Holmes of Askham.

Amongst the accounts are the following items :--

"For getting moss and mossing the church (1738) ... 3s. 6d.

"Prisoner money ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6s. 4d.

"For a funeral and grave making, &c. ... ... ... ... ... ... 6d.

"For a Fox head ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 3s. 4d.

"For a Raven head ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4d.

"Church Stock L13 13s. 4d." to 1776.

"Askham, and June, 1782. At a Vestry held this Day it is agreed and ordered that the late and present Churchwardens shall use their endeavours to recover the money due to the Poor under the Will of John Mounsey and that they so order Information to be filed and pursue that opinion given by Mr. Kennion, the present Attorney-General.--Edward Bolton, Thos. Bowman, John Kirkbride, John Bailiff, William Noble, Ed. Tinkler, Rowland Wilson, John Stafford, John Airay."

There is also an entry "for repairing the dial."

Amongst remarkable and unusual field names are the following:--

Township of Askham -- Pow-dunn, Broadhead wood, Pudding garth, Gillrigg, Laddy Laithes, Sails, Alpha, Abby Croft, Abby Gates, Abby How, Crykes, Bellstones, Barnard, Keldrons, Thurgill, Borrans, Little and Gt. Bustado, Heining, Hullrigg, Cuskew Meadow, Low Whray, Little Whitby, Crecklenook, Potlands, Ulpha.

Township of Helton -- Haber, Murrocks, Leeka, Smudland, Helicon, Bunk Ing, Wetherens, Farthings, Thack Ing, Cruze, Lady’s Pail, Lineland, Heskey, Stoney Butts, Frith, Harrow Rean, Knerry Brow, Roans, Deadwater, Stockwath, Guard.

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LIST OF VICARS.

1295. Richard de Seterington.

William de Matson.

John Claworth.

1346. Robert de Dale.

1359. John de Wynteringham.

Robert de Ferriby.

1375. Henry de Holme.

1380. John de Merton.

1437, John Danby.

1448. Robert Wresyl.

Thomas Walter.

1513. John Wilson.

1563. John Ayray.

1573. John Simpson.

1604. Thomas Warwick.

1611. John Hutchinson.

Lancelot Hutchinson ejected by the Commonwealth and Chistopher

Langhorne appointed, to be in turn ejected after the Restoration,

when Lancelot Hutchinson was reinstated, 1662.

1678. Joseph James.

1681. Thomas Bell, who was deprived for not taking the oath of allegiance to William and Mary, and his brother David Bell was instituted.

1695. John Sisson.

1696. Jeremiah Seed.

1707. Archer Chambers, M.A.

1711. Lancelot Sisson.

Jeffrey Bowness, B.A..

1723. William Milner, M.A.

1776. John Cautley.

1792 to 1795. John Bowstead, B.D., was officiating Minister.

1795. John Langton Leach, M.A.

1832. James Thornborrow Ward.

1863. Joseph Bland.

1872. Charles H.C. Baker, who exchanged with

1878. Stewart Holland, M.A., who exchanged with

1885. C.C. Southey, M.A.

1889. Gage Earl Freeman, M.A.

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My thanks are due to the Rev. Gage Earl Freeman for so kindly allowing me access to the Registers, to the Diocesan Registrar, and to others who have furnished me with information.

Mary E. Noble. 1904