In 1080 Eastrington,
as part of the Howden manor, passed into the ownership of the bishops
of Durham. When the Domesday survey was made in 1086, there was
one church listed in the Howden manor, at Howden, but it seems likely
that by then Eastrington already had a small chapel as in 1146 Eastrington
was mentioned as a chapel of Howden. The church is difficult to
date from its architecture as there are several conflicting pieces
of evidence.
The interior of St Michael's Church, Eastrington.
The chancel
The present chancel was probably in part the original
chapel. At the east end of the north and south walls of the chancel
the walls are Norman with chamfered string courses both inside and
out. Other examples of Norman work are the steps on which the font
stands, the gargoyles and the carved stone inside the building,
near the south door. On the west side of the present porch interior
are eight carved stone panels showing pairs of animals. These carvings
were probably the work of a twelfth century mason, although they
could have been re-positioned.
Records survive from accounts at Durham which suggest
the monks there paid for some of the early medieval building work,
although the north and south aisles were added later and probably
paid for by three local families - the Kayvills (or Cavilles), Portingtons
and Askes.
The north, or Portington, chapel
On the floor of the north aisle, known as the Portington
chapel, there is a 'coffin shaped cross slab with lead filled design'
which dates from the early 1200s. Also on the floor of the Portington
chapel is a cross, the slab being carved in relief. It seems to
be an elaborate version of the round leaf design of the earlier
slab and dates from the late1200s. There is a shield below the cross
head, probably the Caville coat of arms.
However, architectural evidence suggests that much
of the Eastrington church which survives today was built during
the fourteenth century.
The windows of the chapel are in the Decorated
style typical of the 1300s. A tombstone recorded as being in the
church in 1584 was inscribed with the words 'Orate pro animabus
Nicholai de Portington, militis, qui istam capellam fieri fecit'
[Pray for the soul of Nicholas Portington, knight, who caused this
chapel to be built].
This is possibly the Nicholas Portington who was accused of rape
in 1312 and who was alive in 1327. The tomb stone was described
as having no arms 'but the goat’s head lying under his head'.
There is further evidence which points to the connection
too between this chapel and the Caville (or Kayvill - the spelling
varies) family. Some time between 1331 and 1387 Katherine Kayvill,
the last of the family, married Thomas Bosville from Darfield, West
Yorkshire. A tombstone on the floor bears the arms of the Bosville
and Furnivall families - Thomas' mother was Joan Furnivall before
her marriage. It is dated 1421 and is probably a memorial stone
to Thomas Bosvill. This tombstone has been re-used and the centre
has been carved as a memorial for Michael Portington who died in
1696.
Also a stone which now forms part of the east end
of the tomb of Sir John Portington bears the Bosville (5 fusils
in fesse and a label of 3 points) and Furnivall arms [(argent) a
bend between 6 martlets (gules)].
On the floor is a tombstone representing a man
and woman. This is Thomas de Portington who died in 1427 and was
buried in Eastrington church with his wife Agnes. The inscription,
as recorded by Glover in 1584, read; 'Hic jacet Thomas de Portington,
armiger et Agnes, uxor eius qui obit Dni MCCCCXXVII'.
As mentioned, the tomb of their son Sir John Portington,
who died in 1456, also lies nearby with his third wife, Dame Elena,
who died in 1457. Sir John, who was a judge, is shown wearing the
armour of a knight but with the robes of a justice draped over it.
His hair appears to be tied in a pig-tail, although more recent
studies suggest that his head is in fact resting on his helmet and
what has usually been said to be a pigtail may be a part of the
helmet. His feet are resting on a dog. Dame Elena lies next to her
husband but the tomb has obviously been badly damaged and her effigy
has been elongated by faulty repositioning of the stones.
The Aske family of Ousethorpe
Parts of the south chapel, in particular the south
window, are also in the Decorated style and date from the fourteenth
century. This chapel was the Aske family chapel. The Askes lived
at Ousethorpe, about a mile north east of the church. Read more
about them under Ousethorpe on the villages page.
The Somerset Herald, Glover, recorded the coat
of arms of John and Elizabeth Aske on a stone when he visited the
church in 1584. It consisted of : 3 bars, an annulet for difference,
(the Aske coat of arms), impailing on a pale argent a luce’s
head erased couped (the Gascoyn coat of arms). Elizabeth Aske was
the daughter of William Gascoyn who was Lord Chief Justice in 1400.
This chapel is also sometimes referred to as the
Athorpe chapel as several members of the Athorpe family who owned
Ousethorpe for many years are buried here.
Further building
There was a period of building work on the church
in the fifteenth century when the tower, clerestory and east chancel
window were constructed. These parts of the church are built in
the perpendicular style.
On the west side of the tower are two sets of shields. Near the
top are the Portington and Aske shields and then lower down are
the shields of Portington, Aske and Caville.
The collapse of part of the church
In 1632 the stone arch of the north arcade of the
chancel collapsed. The collapsed arch was replaced by the oak pillar
and arches which are still there today. Between the clerestory windows
is a tablet on which is written, ‘This chancel fel in, Anno
Domino, 1632, and this is bilded the same yeare, by Sir Michael
Warton of Beverlie high lodge.’
The wood was bought from the Spalding Moor area. Further work on
the church was carried out in 1637 when quite substantial repairs
seem to have been made to the stonework and woodwork of the tower.
Eighteenth century
In 1747 the church porch was re-roofed and the
event commemorated for posterity by the shield mark on the west
side of the roof which is easily visible from the path. On it is
embossed 'Jn. Lowther, vic; Jn. Burton, cw: 1747.
In May 1767 the churchwardens obtained permission
to erect a gallery across the back of the church. It is difficult
to visualise, but Reverend Dunbar, who demolished it in 1884, described
it as a ‘hideous structure’ and wrote that ‘in order
to get sufficient lateral support the cornices of the arches on
each side were cut away as can still be seen.’ The belfry arch
was obscured and the west window blocked up.
A view of St Michael's Church, Eastrington, as
seen from the village green
Vicars
John Lowther vicar from 1716 to 1768 (built the vicarage)
William Cooper 1768
Thomas Dawson 1774
Thomas Rudd 1774 to1820
Ralph Spofforth 1820 to1825
Anthony Ward 1825 to1841
Chisnall Hamerton 1841 to1871
Theophilus Bennett 1872 to1880
Thomas Johnson 1880 to 1882 (originally from Howden)
George S Dunbar 1883 to 1897 (he did much to alter
the appearance of the church in Victorian times, including removing
the pulpit, pews, plaster on the walls and the pillars as well altering
the floor level by removing barrow loads of bones)
Thomas Freer Minshull 1898 to 1907
Ashton Wilberforce Dibb 1907 to 1908 (died)
Langton Samuel Calvert 1908 to 1909 (died)
W Percy Hains 1909 to 1936
Herbert Firby 1936 to 1943
Roger H S Fowke 1943 to 1947
Dennis Wilkinson
Maurice Clarke
Harry Bryden
Twentieth century
In 1906 a two manual pipe organ built by Messrs
Wordsworth of Leeds was installed, the cost of £230 being
met partly from public subscription and partly from a donation of
£100 made by Mr Andrew Carnegie, the American benefactor.
In 1922 the three bells in the tower were judged unsafe and so were
removed and recast into a peal of six and hung in a steel frame,
as a thank offering for the Eastrington men who had returned from
the Great War. Part of the old oak bell frame was made into a litany
desk in 1924 by Mr Clifford Nurse, who had himself been a prisoner
of war for two years.
Many of the parish records survive, kept for centuries
in the parish chest in the vestry but now in the East Riding archive
at Beverley- they include births, marriages and deaths from the
1560s, churchwardens' accounts, charity records, 18th century settlement
certificates and bastardy bonds.
The EYFHS has published a list of monumental inscriptions.
Eastrington church is now part of the Howden
deanery. |
