|
Mike is currently researching monasticism in Malhamdale, and his talk to UWHG focused upon Kirkby Malham. He provided us with tantalising glimpses into medieval Yorkshire Dales, and the secular aspects of monasticism. The pieces of the jigsaw that Mike brought together included place names, land ownership, feudalism, economics, church architecture, the influence of Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Normans, medieval taxation, the Domesday Book, several “dusty old documents”, medieval politics, and even a bit of harrying (The Great Harrying of the North, that is).
Three monastic houses owned land within Malhamdale – Fountains Abbey, Bolton Priory and West Dereham, a small abbey in Norfolk. Trying to get behind the mystery of why a small monastery from East Anglia should have land in the Yorkshire Dales has taken Mike on a fascinating investigative journey through medieval documents to reveal the importance of medieval politics and the influence of monasticism beyond the cloister.
Much of what Mike discussed in his presentation is still in the “tentative conclusions” stage, but his interpretations are convincing.
 |
Kirkby Malham Church (by John Turner)
Was the name of “Kirkby Malham” indicative of an early church? Mike has his own theories on the origins of the “Kirkby” place name, which may (or may not) be derived, not from the Scandinavian for church, but perhaps from the Anglo-Saxon for burial mound. However, there may well have been an early church in the area before the Conquest, despite there being no church mentioned in the Domesday Book.
At the time of the Domesday Book, “Chirchebi” (Kirkby Malham) was not part of the manor of Malham, but an outlying dependency of the manor of Giggleswick, and this may account for the village’s prosperity in the medieval period – Giggleswick was under the lordship of a Norman, Roger of Poitou; while Malham (excluding Chirchebi) was under Earl Edwin, whose rebellion against William the Conqueror, may account for the large extent of “Wast” land, described in the Domesday Book, in the parishes surrounding Chirchebi.
 |
This appears to have left the village as a relatively unspoilt island within Malhamdale, after the period of William’s revenge against northern rebels, the Great Harrying of the North.
In the late 12th century, Adam of Giggleswick left a bequest giving the church of “kyrkebi malgedale” to the canons of the Church of St Mary in West Dereham, Norfolk – together with all the woodlands, pasture, meadow, water and mills which belonged to it. Why? This seemingly extraordinary gift to a small Premonstratensian (Order of White canons, following a strict Augustinian life) abbey rather than the larger, more local, Fountains Abbey or Bolton Priory, appears to have been motivated by local politics, although much of this can only be inferred by circumstantial evidence. Kirkby Malham was part of the fee of the Percy family. Their rivals in local politics were the Romillys of Skipton Castle, who controlled Bolton Priory – hence Adam was hardly likely to leave his bequest to the Bolton monks. It would seem the church at Kirkby Malham already enjoyed a degree of independence from the influence of Fountains – there is a brief reference in the Fountains papers to the community purchasing the church’s vestments and chalice rather than the Abbey – and there may have been a well-established tradition of clerics working in the parish, which suggests there may even have been a collegiate church here. Yet Adam of Giggleswick was known as a major benefactor of Cistercian houses, including Fountains Abbey. Perhaps his gift to West Dereham was related to the desire to curry favour with one of the most ambitious and influential men of the time, Hubert Walter, Dean of York – great things were expected of Hubert, and indeed he eventually rose to the exalted position of Archbishop of Canterbury. A far cry from his more humble origins in Norfolk.
An analysis of the Rent Rolls and Tithe payments of the 14th and 15th century indicate how Kirkby Malham thrived under the administration of the West Dereham canons. Their interests extended across Craven into Malham, Hanlith, Stainforth, Guisburne, Airton, Calton and Scosthrop. The annual rental income alone amounted to over £13 compared to the £7 that Bolton Priory obtained from these parishes, and the £11 that Fountains Abbey earned here. By 1454 Kirkby Malham was yielding the massive sum of over £74 to the church in tithes, rents and other dues.
This was a fascinating talk, which stimulated lively debate amongst the audience about the Domesday Book and the reliability of primary historical sources.
Mike hopes to publish his transcriptions of the documents he has been studying, and this will certainly prove to be a valuable contribution not only to local history in Craven, but also to national history.
Further reading:
Mike Spence – The early history of Kirkby Malham church; The West Derham connection (powerpoint slideshow with audio, 2008)
http://www.kirkbymalham.info/KMI/kirkbymalham/DerehamTalk/index.html
Domesday Malham
http://www.kirkbymalham.info/KMI/malhamdale/domesday.html
Malhamdale Local History Group
http://www.kirkbymalham.info/KMLHG/events.html?source=malhamdale.com
'Houses of Premonstratensian canons: The abbey of West Dereham', A History of the County of Norfolk: Volume 2 (1906), pp. 414-418
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=38299
Jane Lunnon, UWHG Archivist
Top
|
