Index of Topics
In sections below the Table.
| To AD 1600 | ||
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| Quick Links: | Timelines: 1000 - 1600 - 1700 - 1800 - 1900 - 2000 - Refs - Generate English calendar for year: Time & Date |
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| Year | Date | Events |
| 500 BC | The Brigantes - Around this time, Yorkshire and beyond was settled by the Brigantes, which was a no-nonsense and fierce tribe speaking a Celtic language. Some topographical names can be traced back to them, which might include the 'Pen' part of Penistone, referring a hilltop. | |
| 54 BC | Roman Invasion Begins - Having invaded Gaul in 58 BC, Julius Caesar's army invades southern England. Caesar completed his invasion of Gaul three years later. | |
| 45 BC | The Julian Calendar Begins - The Roman consul Julius Caesar commissioned Sisigenes of Alexandria, a Greek mathematician and astronomer, to draw up a solar calendar which would be more consistent than what they had been using and often amended. The 'Julian Calendar' would be 365¼ days and very close to the actual length of the year of 365.2422 days on average. The year would at first be of ten months (twelve later) and a leap-day would be added every four years. The first day of the Year would be 1st January (January being named after the Roman god of beginnings, Janus). The twelve month calendar had months of either 31 days or 29 (a 'hollow' month) except February which varied (see Roman Calendar, days). The slight discrepancy accumulated over the centuries until the calendar would be several days out of synchronisation with the actual year. The Roman calendar persisted until Pope Gregory introduced the 'Gregorian Calendar' in 1582 in Catholic countries (1751-2 in protestant Britain) with the erroneous days removed. The name of 'Calendar' comes from the Roman 'Kalends' which refers to the first day of each month. The Romans also used 'Nones' for the 7th day of a full months of May, October, July and March or the 5th Day in a 'hollow' month and the 'Ides' was on the eighth day after the Nones (15th day of a full month or 13th day in a 'hollow' month). Hence "Beware the Ides of March" referred to the 15th March. See History Timeline for 1751-2. | |
| AD 40 | Roman Re-invasion - They're back! Tiberius Claudius begins the process of conquering Britain. They entered Wales in AD 48. The population of Britain some time afterwards was about 4 million and about 3 to 4 million in Ireland. From Local Histories. | |
| AD 71 | Romans in Yorkshire - The Yorkshire Romans were under the command of Cerealis in the Reign of Vespasian and stationed at a fort by Aldborough (near Knaresborough). The Brigante tribe in our area could be considered as descending from the original inhabitants of our island. They were a militant, brave and warlike tribe which covered a wide area in the (later) North and West Ridings, with the Parisi tribe in the (later) East Riding. The Brigantes were led by their monarchs, King Venutius and wife Queen Cartimandua. The Romans co-existed with the Brigantes under their control as a client state, with Queen Cartimandua getting on peacefully. Unfortunately, when the Queen left Venutius for his armour-bearer Vellocatus, the jilted king became rebellious, destabilised the relationship with the Romans and battles ensued. Following a fierce struggle, the Romans overpowered the Brigantes and took back control. Our area would have mostly been dense forest with a constant threat from wolves, there being wolf pits between Dodworth and Silkstone. | |
| 100 | Romans Lose Control of Scotland - The river Tyne would approximate the border of Roman control. | |
| 383 to 407 |
End of Roman Rule in Britain. This happened in stages. They had laid Roman roads and set up forts but their language of this time left little trace. From JND's History Ref 7 (p70) it appears that there had been a Roman road in our area which it is likely that the Conqueror used in later years. JND wrote: 'William the Conqueror, after putting various districts of Yorkshire to the edge of the sword and scattering ruin broadcast, found it necessary to lead his troops in the depth of winter over the Pennine Range into Cheshire. An ancient Roman vicinal road is said to have entered the district near Hemsworth and passed by Barnsley, Silkstone, Hoylandswaine, and Penistone, so that this would be the most accessible route. The journey over this wild country was taken in the midst of snow and sleet, and William's followers were almost in a state of mutiny. It will be remembered that there was a Roman encampment at Oxspring, near Penistone.' A poem: "The Roman, too, once made these wilds his home, Bringing his legions from the distant South, From the world's capital, imperial Rome, Thirsting for conquest with unquenched drouth. The hardy Briton struggled with his foe. Dared him to battle on the neighbouring height; The dusky streamlets reddened with the flow, From heroes dying for their country's right." The poem not attributed. 'Vicinal' means local or within a neighbourhood. The Romans held power but left little to show they had been here other than the remains of Roman roads and traces of a camp at Penistone. It is possible that there had been a Roman road between Penistone and Darfield on its way to Doncaster. See also the Wiki on Anglo-Saxon settlement. |
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| 5th C | The Angle and Saxon Invasion - From the early AD 400s, with the Romans gone, England was open to invasion with a patchwork by Angle, Saxon settlements and a Kentish Jute settlement. In northern and central regions, the Angles came from the Anglia Peninsula (mostly Denmark) and they spoke a Germanic language. Their kingdoms were settled in Northumbria (from the Humber to Scotland), Mercia (South Yorkshire to midlands) and East Anglia. The name of England comes from the Angles, the land of Ængle. The language of Yorkshire would at first be that of Northumbria but the West Riding dialect would be influenced by Old Frisian. The Saxons came from a region more south than the Angles and took over the south-eastern parts of England. The Saxon name comes from a type of knife 'seax' in Old English. The language of the Saxons was similar but not quite the same as the Angles, now lumped together as 'Anglo-Saxon' or, more commonly 'Old English.' See wikis for Angles and Saxons. | |
| 560 | King Ælla of Deira - The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles give this year. Succeeded by Æthelric of Deira. See Wiki. | |
| 568 | King Æthelric of Bernicia - Ruled the kingdom of Bernicia until 572. Son of Ida of Bernicia, succeeded by Theodric of Bernicia. | |
| 589 or 589 |
King Æthelric of Deira - It seems that his history is somewhat vague. It is also suspicious that two adjacent kingdoms would have a monarch of the same name and at about the same time, particularly as the two kingdoms would later become one; the kingdom of Northumbria. It is just possible that Wikipedia might have its grundys in a knot. | |
| 593 | King Æthelfrith of Deira and Bernicia - The son of King Æthelfric, the new King Æthelfrith succeeds to the kingdom of Bernicia and Deira until death c. 616. This covered most of the East Coast and would later become the Kingdom of Northumbria. His son Oswald would succeed him. | |
| 616 | King Edwin - Upon the death in battle of Æthelfrith, Edwin becomes the king of Deira and Bernicia, later in his reign to become Northumbria. Edwin would be killed in battle against Cadwallon ap Cadfan (king of Gwynedd) and Penda, king of Mercia (the midlands), at Hatfield Chase in 632 or 633. Æthelfrith's sons would flee to the north for safety. The kingdom of Northumbria would return to the kingdoms of Deira and Bernicia. | |
| 634 | King Oswald - Eanthrith, the eldest of Æthelfrith's sons, returned from exile to fight the Welsh 'Brytons' and would briefly rule from 633 to 634 when he too was killed in battle against Cadwallon ap Cadfan, whilst trying to arrange a peace. Oswald, another exiled son of Æthelfrith, would take over. A devout Christian, on the night before battle with Cadwallon at Heavenfield, near Hexham, Oswald is said to have had a vision of Saint Columbia who told him that he would win. Upon his leaders hearing this, they chose to accept baptism and Christianity after battle. It worked. In spite of superior numbers, the Welsh were routed and their leader Cadwallon killed. As king, Oswald spread Christianity throughout the region, later with help from Aidan of Lindisfarne. Oswald would reunite the kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira to become the kingdom of Northumbria once again. He would be killed in battle with Penda's pagan Mercian army in 642. wiki. | |
| 636 | Parishes Established - England was divided up into Parishes around this time by Honoius, the 5th Archbishop of Canterbury. | |
| 664 | May | Solar Eclipse - This was total across an area northwards from York and into Northern Ireland. Carlisle was in the centre of the eclipse zone. It was thought to be a bad omen, which would have been confirmed by the plague epidemic later the same year. |
| Plague - The first recorded plague in our country. It affected England and Ireland. | ||
| 745 | Burial Plots - The Pope granted a dispensation to Gilbert, the 11th Archbishop, to make cemeteries or churchyards within towns and cities throughout England. | |
| 793 | Viking Invasion - They weren't yet to be referred to as Vikings but they were pirates nonetheless. Mercilessly taking what they wanted on a killing spree. In those days, being a warrior was a high calling. The Viking age is generally taken as from 793 to 1066. The Vikings. | |
| 862 | Denby founded at this time when the Danes conquered York. Denby is the umbrella name for both Upper Denby and Lower Denby and quite distinct from Denby Dale (formerly 'Denby Dyke') a few miles away, which had been insignificant as a place. The early settlers were of Danish origin and Denby was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1089. See Denby's potted history (under 'Local Context') on Denby Cricket Club's Cricket Heritage. Also seek out the several books written by Chris Heath of Denby (look in local Garden Centres and the Yorkshire shop in Denby Dale). They are all a good read. | |
| 865 | The Great Heathen Army Invades - The size of the army is disputed but might have ranged from 1,000 to several thousands of soldiers and they were intent on conquering England. Later known as the 'Viking Great Army' this was the big one, following decades of smaller invasions which had attacked monasteries for gold. The big army started in East Anglia and went on from there. A book on Yorkshire dialect claims that Danish Vikings sailed up the Humber in AD 867, with the Norwegian Vikings later arriving from the west into Yorkshire. The use of the name Viking is only a few centuries old, meaning 'Pirate.' The Germans called them Ascomanni. See Great Heathen Army wiki. | |
| 886 | Alfred the Great (Ælfred, 848/849 to 26 October 899) was King of the Anglo-Saxons in England from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf. It was King Alfred who burnt the cakes. | |
| 9th C | Yorkshire - Our great county had been in the southernmost part of the kingdom of Northumbria, much referred to above. Counties were established and because Yorkshire was so large, it was divided into three 'Ridings' = thriddings (thirds) under the Vikings. These were treated as separate administrative counties throughout the centuries, from the Conquest onwards. The Local Government Act 1888, made each riding into an administrative county with an elected county council. This continued until the Local Government Act 1972, enacted 1974, when Yorkshire was divided into three new but different regions, possibly to undermine attempts to establish a Yorkshire council of some sort, or possibly just to make the three parts more equal. The old Ridings were dissolved as administrative regions. They continue as Ridings for all other purposes and retain their distinctive characteristics and history. | |
| c950 to c1250 |
'The Mediaeval Warm Period' (MWP) - This was a gradual elevation in temperature over time (graphic) in an example of climate change. From around the year 800, excavations in Greenland show that birch trees were growing there in an early Viking settlement. Greenland is no longer green. MWP would be followed by a general cooling, culminating in the 'Little Ice Age' from the 15th century. A painting from 1677 shows people skating on the frozen Thames. Mediaeval Warm Period (wiki). | |
| 1013 | A great invasion began this year by King Swein and his son Cnut (usually written as 'Canute'). Swein is connected with Hoyland Swaine and the Swaine name can still be found in our area. | |
| 1040 | Ailric (or Alaric) of Silkstone - Our Lord of the Manor was born around this time. See Ailric's story below for his history and the extent of his territory. | |
| 1066 | The Norman Conquest - William the Conqueror invaded England. King William I, Duke of Normandy, ascended to the English throne on 25th December 1066. The nobility being French-speaking, it would over time introduce French words into everyday English. Latin would be the standards language of official documents. The King's son Henry I (Beauclerc) was born at Selby in 1068. | |
| 1069 | Selby Abbey Founded - By King William the Conqueror. One of few which survived intact the 'Dissolution of the Monasteries' of the 1530s. | |
| The 'Harrying of the North' - Penistone was known in 1066 to be owned by Ailric but, following the Conquest, it was razed in 1069 by the advancing army. Following a northern rebellion to Norman rule which must be answered, all of the north would be devastated by a campaign to destroy villages and livestock. To quash sporadic rebellions, King William I of Normandy ('The Conqueror') commanded that all crops and herds, chattels and foods should be burned to ashes, so that the whole of the North be stripped of all means of survival. Many were killed, tools damaged, and anything valuable looted. This was called the 'Harrying of the North' and led to more than 100,000 people perishing of hunger. See AD 383 above, History Today and Thoughtco, | ||
| 1086 | The Domesday Book - When assessing the value of properties and possessions, the great book book referred to Penistone (‘Pangeston’) as being laid waste. Having subdued the population in Yorkshire, King William replaced Anglo-Saxon leaders with Norman ones. Thurlstone was 'Thrulfeston' in the book, as Thrulfe was a Scandinavian settler's name. It is likely that the main purpose of the book was to enable the king to assess suitable taxation to landowners. See National Heritage, The Domesday Book Online and Open Domesday. | |
| , , | Population of England. At the time of the Domesday Book, England had a population of about 2 million, which was much less than in Roman times. | |
| 1087 | William II (William Rufus). He ascended to the English throne this year. | |
| 1093 - 97 | Hard Winters, Famine, Disease. 1093 to 1097, with the possible exception of 1094. These were very hard times and only twenty five years or so after King William's army had destroyed what they could find in the north of England. More famines and pestilences would visit the country in those years. See List of Famines and Pestilences. | |
| 1120 | 'Penistone Becomes an Independent Parish' - According to a millstone in Penistone churchyard 'Sensory Garden'. Also, the 'Wainwrights of Penistone Parish' (Rootsweb genealogy site) add that it was '... from the larger Silkstone parish by the 1120s at the latest, when the tithes and other dues of Silkstone were granted to the monks of St. John the Evangelist at Pontefract.' | |
| 1227 | A charter of agreement, dated at 1227, between John de Midhope and Hyldenus Waldershelf, is reputed to be the first record of Midhopestones, during the 56-year reign of Henry III (1st October 1207 – 16th November 1272). His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. See Stocksbridge History Archive (Midhope) | |
| 1229 | Penistone was described this year as being populous but widely scattered region. Its church had two rectors at this time, until the Archbishop of York, Walter Grey, consolidated their position into one. See the Church History page. | |
| 1232 | Penistone Church recorded in the Archbishop of York's records as being dedicated to St John the Baptist. Some parts of the church are dated to around 1200. The roof bosses and corbels in the nave date from around 1370. Ref 1. | |
| 1235 | General Famine in England. London was worst hit with 20,000 dead. | |
| 1260 | Penistone Hunt started in the time of Elias de Midhope. The Hunt continued for nearly 700 years, to finish in World War II when feeding difficulties closed the kennels at Cat Hill. The hounds were for a time kept at the members' homes. Ref 17 p76. In 'Hounds in the Old Days' by Sir Walter Gilbey, the hunting of stag was from the start of winter on 22nd December to the Feast of St John on 24th June. The Penistone Hunt is mentioned on page five and it is suggested that it had a royal charter. | |
| 1279 | Groat coins were struck for the first time, worth four pence each. See Royal Mint Museum. | |
| 1284 | John Charlton granted the Manor of Penisale to Elias de Midhope, who already possessed the Manor of Midhope. Elias had a number of successors (who were also called Elias) until 1337, when the Manor of Midhope passed to the Barnby family. The exact location of Penisale is uncertain but Prof. David Hey thinks that there is evidence for it to have been at or near Langsett. See next item, about Penisale Market. Ref 1. | |
| 1290 | 8th June | Charter for Penisale Market - Granted 8th June to Sir Elias de Midhope the lord of the manor at Langsett for - 'A market on Tuesdays and a fair on the eve-day, day and morrow of St Barnabas'. The exact location of Penisale is uncertain but the local historian Prof. David Hey and others think that the evidence points to it being at, or near to, Langsett. St Barnabas Day is 11th June. Ref 7 and Ref 9. There had been an old yew tree in Alderman's Head ground under which the court for the Manor of Penisale had been held from time immemorial. It was said that a cloth market and fair were held around the tree. The cloth would traditionally have been put on tenters fixed to the tree. These (tenter hooks) were used to stretch cloth as it dried. The tree was set on fire in 1758 by a Bradfield angler who had lit it to keep warm while fishing. The tree burned for five days, losing to history the actual location of Penisale Market and fair. See also 1699 for Penistone Market Charter and 1758 for the yew tree's demise. |
| 1304 | Fulling Mill at Oxspring. | |
| 1315-17 | The Great Famine - This had spread through Asia and Europe to England and claimed an estimated 30% to 60% of the European population. Many deaths also occurred through disease as famine led to an increased susceptibility to infection. The Mediaeval Warm Period from the 10th to the 13th centuries was cooling and the increased population was now coming under great stress. | |
| 1348 to 1350 |
The Black Death sweeps the country. In 1347 news reached England of a horrifying and incurable disease that was spreading from Asia through North Africa and Europe. It reached London in 1348, reputably by a wine ship from Calais to Melcombe Regis, Dorset. It killed around 40,000 in London, where mass graves were filled. It might have originated in Asia, to be carried by ship rat fleas from Crimea. The Black Death was a variety of bubonic plague (the bacterium Yersinia pestis) which was spread via flea bites and person-to-person contact. Within days of infection, symptoms would include fever, headaches, swollen lymph nodes, vomiting, weakness and a dark discoloration of the skin. The swollen and painful lymph nodes ('buboes') would break open and release pus and contagion would continue. The English population had already been declining but this disease swept away around three out of five (some say a half) of the population. The ensuing labour shortage forced landlords to offer generous terms to compete for the remaining peasants to do the work. A lack of labourers led to crops being left to rot in the fields ungathered. The Black Death accelerated the demise of feudalism, with wages rising and bondage weakened. Many widowers would enter into religious orders. On the scale of death tolls through disease over the centuries, the Black Death easily comes out on top, with 75 – 200 million lives lost in total. See List of Epidemics (Wiki). | |
| 1377 | White Hart built by Penistone Bridge at Bridge End. Mary Jackson was listed in a 1922 Penistone directory as victualler. See the Old Inns page and, for some aerial views, the White Hart page. | |
| 1346 | Terrible Rains and Flooding leading to loss of crops and widespread starvation. The whole of the Trent Valley was submerged and people and cattle drowned. A severe famine. | |
| 1360 | Midhopestones Chapel - The foundation stone for the chapel to St James the Less was laid around this year by the Lord of the Manor of Midhope, the Barnby family from 1354 to 1622. Godfrey Bosville of Gunthwaite Hall bought the Manor for £2,256 in 1690 and restored the chapel in 1705. He closeted it and paved it, the west side for his tenants and a large square one for himself. The well in the adjoining field is dedicated to St James. | |
| 1368 | Chapel and Well of St James built at Midhope by Thomas de Barnby. It was technically a chapel of easement, with the Parish Church of Bradfield being about five miles away. An earlier building used as the Chapel of St James was converted into a granary by Thomas at the same time. That building collapsed around 1897 and no longer exists. The new chapel eventually fell into a 'ruinous state' and was restored in 1705. | |
| 1379 | Subsidy Rolls (Poll Tax Returns). The young King Richard II imposed a poll tax on his subjects this year to help finance the Hundred Years’ War against France. Genuki has a list of those named in Penistone parish, in the Staincross wapentake: Penistone: 12, Ingbirchworth 9, Gunthwaite 11, Thurlstone 33, Oxspring 12, Hunshelf 26, Denby 25, Langsett 23 and Swindon 20. The Poll Tax had been introduced in 1377, in 1379 and 1381 to to finance the war against France. Each tax was slightly different. In 1377, every lay person over the age of 14 years (who was not a beggar) had to pay a groat (4d) to the Crown. By 1379 social class came into it and the lower age limit of 16, and 15 two years later. The levy of 1381 was a combination of flat rate and graduated assessment. The minimum amount payable was a groat but tax collectors were expected to account for a 12d a head mean assessment. The poorest would, in theory, pay the lowest rate with the deficit being met by a higher payment on wealthier people. See Wikipedia for more. | |
| 1392 | The roots of Penistone Grammar School were founded in Penistone Church, as teaching was done in the church in those days, later in the 'Lady Chapel' on the south side. A gift of land on Kirk Flatts, near the Church, was donated by Thomas Clarel for the purpose of building a school for boys. The early school masters were probably priests. According to JND's Ref 7, a school was built in 1397 on Kirk Flatts (an area of land from the current Royal British Legion to Cockpit Lane). It would probably be rebuilt more than once on the same site, including the new school of 1702, which would operate until Saturday 20th May 1893 after which the school would move to Weirfield on Huddersfield Road. The Clarel Coat of Arms used by the school is generally accepted as Penistone's own Coat of Arms. Also see 1716, The PGS Archive and S Yorks Timescape. Sheffield Archives has Historic Records of PGS. | |
| 1413 | The first vicar of Penistone Church appointed. Up until then the rectors were local landowners. See the Penistone Vicars page. | |
| 1442 | May Day | Lord of the Manor, Thomas Clarel drowns in the River Don. |
| 1443 | PGS - Following further endowments, Penistone Grammar School rebuilt. See PGS Heritage and my PGS page. | |
| 1495 | Tower completed at Silkstone All Saints' Church. It replaced an earlier one which had collapsed in 1479. | |
| 12 Jan. | Boulder Bridge, Spring Vale. As he lay dying, Father William Wordsworth asked on this day for a 'Bulder Bridge' to be built, for which he gave 'twelve silver pieces'. He had been the Penistone vicar for forty years. Boulder Bridge was built over the River Don at Spring Vale. Ref 16. It is likely that the bridge (now listed) was rebuilt in the eighteenth century. | |
| 1497 | Parish Registers. A regulation by Cardinal Wolsey led to Parish Registers being set up to record the names of children, their Godfathers and Godmothers, and witnesses present during the christening. See 1538. | |
| c. 1500 | Penistone Church Tower - The square Norman tower was built in the Perpendicular style of Gothic architecture similar to that of Silkstone. It is likely that it had replaced a spire of some sort. The tower is 80 ft high and had eight pinnacles. Ref 1. See the Church History page. | |
| Thatched roofing was almost universal for people's homes until the 16th century. Less so where other materials such as stone and slate were abundant. | ||
| 1524 | Boundary Dispute between Thurlstone and Holmfirth farmers. A manor court in Thurlstone heard that Holmfirth farmers, 'Having recently taken their own common' were also using Thurlstone's common land for grazing their cattle. Violence followed, resulting in the death of Thurlstoner Robert Mokeston. Further legal representations went on but the end result is lost in history. (Ref 14 P115). Boundaries were not always well-defined in those days and boundary stones might be moved or go missing. The old tradition of 'Beating the Bounds' came from these days, usually performed on Rogation Sunday. Villagers would walk around their village boundaries and beat their small children at each boundary post, to crudely instill a firm knowledge of their locations. Local places still hold boundary walks but (hopefully) tend to leave out the beatings. | |
| 1530 | Population of England and Wales about 3 million. From 1530 to 1688, Heraldic Visitations took place throughout England, Wales and Ireland, to regulate and register the coats of arms of nobility and gentry and boroughs, and to record pedigrees as a kind of upper class census. These tours of inspection were undertaken by Kings of Arms or junior officers of arms (or Heralds), as deputies. A survey of 1530 to 1563 covered the area of Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumberland and Cheshire and was (probably) conducted by Lawrence Dalton, accompanied by William Colbarne. From Wikipedia. | |
| 1534 | (National) Acts of Supremacy. Two acts of the Parliament of England passed in 1534 and 1559, establishing King Henry VIII and subsequent monarchs as supreme head of the Church of England. Prior to 1534, the supreme head of the Church had been the Roman Catholic Pope. The Wiki summarises the Acts. | |
| 1538 | Parish Registration. Following Cardinal Worsley's regulation from 1497 concerning the recording of baptisms, Henry VIII implemented the registration of all baptisms. In the reign of Philip and Mary (in the following century), it was directed that an annual summary should be made of all parochial registration, to ascertain the number of births, burials and marriages, as well as the number of offences. During Cromwell's Protectorate, he decreed that there ought not be a registration of baptisms, only an authenticated version of births of all denominations, and that the whole should be looked upon as a civil rather than religious act. This was discontinued after the reign of Charles II, until all marriages, births and burials were required to be registered by William III. Every Parish was compelled to register births within five days and every burial, whether or not buried in a churchyard. This continued until 52, George III, when baptisms, marriages and burials required to be registered. The House of Lords had struck out the requirement to include births. These details were sourced from JND's newspaper cuttings, originally from The Mirror. According to the 'Wainwrights of Penistone Parish' (Rootsweb genealogy site), 'Churches began recording baptisms, marriages, and burials in parish registers in England this year. The civil requirement to do this did not begin until 1837.' |
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| 1542 | Organ bequeathed to Penistone Church by Richard Wattes. This was the first organ to be installed in our church. See the Church History page. | |
| 1547 | Survival of PGS after the abolition of the chantries by Edward VI. Many schools across the country failed but, in Penistone, lands which had paid for the chantry chapels were transferred to the school and helped it to continue. See South Yorks Timescapes. | |
| c. 1550 | Gunthwaite Barn built by Godfrey Bosville, Lord of the Manor of Gunthwaite. It is a timber-framed building of a type known as 'King Post' and it is 165 feet (50.3m) long by 43 feet wide (13.1m) with a height of 30 feet (9.1m). Wooden pegs hold the great timbers in place. The stone stable block a few yards away was built in 1685 by the later Godfrey Bosville. He and his wife Bridgit's initials are carved on the door lintel and on the porch of Midhope Chapel which they renovated in 1705. Midhope was another Bosville manor. | |
| 1551 | Influenza Epidemic, throughout the country. The population of England and Wales was just over 3 million. | |
| 1555 | Heavy Rainstorms bring famine. | |
| 1556 | Bubonic Plague. which this time continued until 1563. It had hit the country several times before, notably in 1348 (on its second prominent visit) as 'The Great Pestilence' and again 1361 - 1362. It would also return in 1578. Eyam in Derbyshire was hit by the plaque in 1665. Wikipedia lists the world epidemics. | |
| 1559 | 'William Turton left £1 16s 8d out of Lands in Bagden towards the foundation of a Free Grammar School in Penistone'. Tuition would have taken place in part of Penistone Church before the school building was erected, where the HSBC bank is today. From an 1890 source referring to a time before when the school was re-built at Kirk Flatt: 'An inscription over the door states that it was erected in 1392'. Ref 19 p312. | |
| 1569 | Lord Nelson public house built at Hoylandswaine but it would not have been known by that name originally as our national hero Lord Horatio Nelson who triumphed over the French in the sea Battle of Trafalgar would not be not born until 1758. | |
| 1572 | The first compulsory Local Poor Law tax was imposed, making the alleviation of poverty a local responsibility. | |
| 1576 | Manor Farm built in Roughbirchworth. | |
| 1578 | Bubonic Plaque. Another epidemic returns to the country. | |
| 1580 | The first Corn Mill to be built in Thurlstone, by Bosville. Ref 11. It was rebuilt in 1761. Ref 17 p54. | |
| 1582 | 24th Feb | Calendar Change. The 4th October was followed by 15th October to bring the calendar into agreement with the seasons, causing riots in some places. People protested that their lives had been shortened. The Julian Calendar had been in general use in Europe and Northern Africa from 46 BC until this year, when Pope Gregory XIII promulgated his Gregorian Calendar. The process of designing the new calendar had started in 1372 when the pope commissioned an astrologer to look into the matter. The astronomer died before he could complete the work. The intention was to correct accumulated errors in the religious calendar (11 minutes per year) from the Council of Nicæa, AD 325. The Papal Bull defined the modern calculation for Leap Years. Whilst the Catholic countries quickly adopted the new calendar, it was not introduced into England and its dominions until 1752. Russia did not change over until 1918. See an English translation of the Papal Bull 'Inter Gravissimas' and particularly 1751/1752. |
| 1584 | Cat Hill House built. | |
| 1586 | Wortley Hall rebuilt by Sir Richard Wortley. Wortley hall was the ancestral home of the Earls of Wharncliffe. Sir Richard's grandfather, Sir Thomas Wortley, lived in what was believed to be an earlier version of Wortley Hall in 1440. Alnus de Wortley was the earliest recorded Wortley in the 'Pipe Rolls' of 1165. This is from a leaflet obtainable from Wortley Hall. Sir Richard had owned two manors, Babworth and Bollom, both close to East Retford. He died in 1603. See 1591, below. | |
| , , | Bubonic Plaque. An epidemic hits Chesterfield. Crops all fail. | |
| , , | General Famine in England. This gave rise to the Poor Law. | |
| 1591 | 15th Aug | Sir Francis Wortley born, the first son of Sir Richard Wortley (item above). He was a JP in the West Riding, from 1614 to at least 1641 and was a Member of Parliament for East Retford c.1624-5. He was said to be a ruthless encloser of land, causing disputes in the area. According to 'Percy’s Reliques' (old poems), the satirical ballad ‘The Dragon of Wantley’ is said to have celebrated the success by Penistone parishioners in a lawsuit against Wortley concerning a dispute about tithes, he being the 'dragon'. Others thought that it related to an unconnected incident. He was a strong Royalist during the Civil War and commanded troops in battle. He died in 1665 and £150 was benefited to the poor of Tankersley and Wortley. See Wortley, Sir Francis at the History of Parliament. See also 1647. |
| 1593 | Bubonic Plaque. Another epidemic returns to the country. | |
| 1595 | 'White Penistones' - Cloth-making in local cottages. 'Penistones' were a poor-quality cloth used for coats made soldiers, household servants and the long coats of schoolboys and choristers. The name came from the local breed of sheep. A report from this year says that: 'At Penyson, Yellow, and Blackwood, and some villages there aboutes, are made about 1,000 pieces of white Penystone.' | |
| Quick Links: |  Timelines: 1000 - 1600 - 1700 - 1800 - 1900 - 2000 - Refs - Generate English calendar for year: Time & Date |
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Index of Topics
In the sections below.
Timeline Periods, other pages on this website:
A Brief Pre-History of Yorkshire
Following the last Ice Age, at about 10,000 BC when the ice caps receded the land was joined to Europe and tribes could cross part of what is now the North sea. The Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) people were living in sub-arctic conditions and wore animal skins for warmth. These were hunters and gatherers and they hunted reindeer, mammoth and woolly rhinoceros. They would use bone fish-hooks and antler harpoons to kill the wild animals, birds and fish but they would also collect fruits and berries. Some lived in caves, such as Victoria Cave, Settle and Kirkdale Cave near Pickering, and others might live in animal-skin tents, such as at Starr Carr, near Scarborough.
Around 7,500 BC, there is evidence of bones from boar, bear, wild sheep, wild oxen and deer in places such as Malham caves, Hornsea and Seamer. By about 5,000 BC, temperatures had risen and the shore-lines receded, cutting our land off from Europe and making it into an island. Trees and vegetation flourished with dense forests spreading. Some signs of the ancient forests can be found under the North Sea.
In the Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic) period, the people were nomadic and used flint tools for cutting, scraping skins or arrow heads. Deer, elk and boar were favourite menu items. Bows and arrows were the leading technology of the day and dogs (wolves really) were becoming man's best friend instead of being eaten with a sprig of mint, as an early example of animal domestication. Dogs could eat the same as people and be easy to keep.
The first Neolithic (New Stone Age) settlers arrived around 2,500 BC or so by boat, possibly from Mediterranean lands, and brought arable farming and animal domestication with them in something of a revolution. They cleared land and built homes mostly in areas where the soil was poor, needing less clearing. In some swampy areas, such as can be found near Bridlington, they built their wooden dwellings on stilts. Tools included flints, grindstones and stone hammers. Evidence from burial mounds suggests that they had some sort of belief-system which included an afterlife, as they buried items such as food, weapons and pottery with the bodies.
One group of invaders from around 2,000 BC were called the Megalith builders, from their huge stone constructions used for ceremonial purposes. They would quarry and move large stones over large distances for their monuments. One pillar of gritstone is 25 foot, 6 inches high and is the largest standing stone in the country. It can be found at Rudstone churchyard near Bridlington
Another group of around 2,000 BC, the 'Beaker People' arrived via the Humber estuary. They were so-called from their style of pottery resembling beakers which was found in their burial sites. It seems that they had cultivated wheat and traded in bronze items, some from Ireland. Bronze was good but iron was better.
They would be conquered around 300 BC by Celtic-speaking and warlike Celts who would go on to become the Brigantes, or ancient Britons. They had originated in the Mediterranean lands and arrived in this land from Gaul. They were skilled horsemen and were good iron-workers, and able to make chariots with iron tyres and sharp weapons. Their descendants would become the first true Britons. There were perhaps a dozen Celtic tribes at the time, with such as the Parisii in Yorkshire (from belgium) and the Iceni of East Anglia.
Moving On
The period from 1,000 to the middle ages was a time of slow yet ultimately significant changes (these notes are inspired by 'Medieval Horizons' Ian Mortimer. ISBN 9781847927446). Mr Mortimer's interesting book asserts that we tend to assess human progress through improvements in technology, but that this approach favours only the later centuries. However, the foundations of our way of life and what we now take for granted started established in those earlier centuries.
Starting around AD 1,000, the majority of people were in bondage to their land owners. They could rarely travel beyond perhaps 20 miles or marry whom they wanted without approval from their masters. Living in small communities, they would know each other only by first names. Barter was the normal business practice before coins of the realm took a firm hold. With the use of money, commerce could expand and people might be able to save up as a buffer for the bad times. Travel also became more possible and over greater distances, which opened up goods and knowledge from further afield. Education was on the horizon.
Around 10% of the English population could be slaves, or as much as 20% in the South West, but the nature of slavery then would be somewhat different from later concepts. A father might give his son into slavery to give a chance of survival rather than dying of poverty and starvation. Slaves would be worked hard but at least would be housed and fed. This is unacceptable today but it could have been a sensible and moral choice for the time. We can't judge those people by modern standards. Slave ownership also helped enhance the status of landowners but the church would frown upon the practice as unchristian. Even so, the church might not cause problems for landowners who kept slaves.
Speaking of starvation, famines occurred in 1005, 1012, 1016, 1025 and 1031. A seven-year famine began in 1042. The food supply was always uncertain in those times and crop failures frequent in spells of poor weather or in epidemics. There were plenty of epidemics.
Times were hard and work was hard. Working on the land would be in daylight hours but those hours were variable. The only clocks had been sundials and there was no reference point to time. The day was divided up into twelve hours of daylight and twelve hours of darkness. Summer hours might perhaps be twice as long as winter daylight hours. The gradual adoption of clocks towards 1500 standardised the length of each hour. Lives could become much better organised with as bells rang on the hour. In 1515, a law set out the worker's day as 5am to 7pm. Each area would have their own times, a situation to be resolved much later when railway timetables forced standardisation of each station clock to Greenwich Mean Time.
Also, at the beginning of this period, most people were illiterate and schooling nonexistent except for the elite and at monasteries but the church councils of 1179 and 1215 would decree that each church throughout the land should provide education. Penistone's school would be set up in 1395 as one of the oldest in the country and it would have been for boys only. Our school would have been held in the 'Lady Chapel' section of the church. The big breakthrough in promoting ideas was through the printing press, allowing knowledge to spread more easily and, with improving literacy, the bible could be read in English. Religious objections and political boat-rocking could now become more widespread. Bawdy stories and satire on the printed page could also become commonplace.
Wapentakes
The counties are said to have been created under King Alfred, with Yorkshire being divided into the three Ridings. These were also divided further into Wapentakes, which were equivalent to the 'Hundreds' in the south. From the 'The History of the Town and Township of Barnsley' (Chapter 1, pp. 7 - 9) published 1858 we find an explanation of the Wapentakes:
Ralph Thoresby, the Leeds historian, citing from Matthew Paris, who himself quotes from Hovenden, gives us the following explanation relative to the origin of the word "Wapentake." He says, that when a person received the government of one of these divisions, at the appointed time and usual place the elder sort met him, and when he had alighted from his horse rose up to him; then he held up his spear, and took security of all present according to custom; whoever came touched his spear with theirs, and by this touch of armour was confirmed in one common interest, and thus from (weapons) and tac (a touch) or (to confirm) they were called Wapentakes. The government of these districts was vested in the high constable, whose duty and office were defined by the statute of Winchester, 13 Ed. I., whereby were appointed for the conservation of the peace and view of armour two constables in every hundred and franchise, who were in Latin called "Constabularii Capitales" or High Constables. Anciently these officers were appointed by the sheriff, or by the steward of the court leet, or presentment of the jury where there was a custom so to do. Afterwards they were more generally chosen and sworn by the justices of peace in their sessions.
The high constable had the direction of the petty constables, head boroughs, and tything men within his hundred ; his duty was to keep the peace and apprehend felons and rioters, to make hue and cry after felons, to take care that the watch was duly kept in his hundred, and that the statutes for punishing rogues and Vagrants were put in execution. He had to prevent unlawful games, tippling, drunkenness, bloodshed, and affrays ; also to execute precepts and warrants, directed to him by justices of the peace, and make returns to the sessions to all the articles contained in his oath or that concerned his office, and cause the petty constables to make their returns. Victuallers and alehouse keepers that were unlicensed were to be returned by him, as also all defects of highways and bridges. At every quarter sessions, his duty was to pay over to the treasurer of the county all such money as had been received by him for the county rates. At the present day, however, many of the duties that formerly devolved upon the high constable have been abolished or passed into other hands.
Ailric of Silkstone - Our Great Saxon Lord
This important figure in the history of Penistone was born around 1040 in Yorkshire. He was the son of Richard Aschenald. His own son was Swaine (Alric) FitzAlaric.
Ailric was of Saxon origin 'The castell, town and lands of Brokenbridge (Pontefract from Pontus Fractus) loggid afore the conquest to one Richard Ashenwald, Richard had Airik and he had Swane, of Swane came Adam of whom cam two daughters, whereof one of them married Galfrid Nevile.'
Adam Fitz-Swein had two daughters, one of whom married Alexander Crevequer and the other married Adam de Montebon. Also; 'Ailrik is a real person and a Doomsday landowner, who had before the Conquest had many manors (including Penistone). Swein his son inherited and gave the Church and Chapel to the monks of St John the Evangelists ......... Ailrik held his (own) lands, much reduced under the Norman grantee, as did Weine and Adam Fitz-Sweine who founded Brettton Priory, and died about 1158 .... charters by voth (sic) and Adam are found in the Pomfret Chartulary,'
Ailric, living at the time of the Conquest, had a son Sweine, whose son Adam Fitz Swain left two daughters and coheirs, Maud, the wife of Adam Montebegon, and Annabella.
Ailric was a Saxon Thegn with huge land holdings. The Doomsday Book records 'In Caltorne had three caracutes of land (this is a land measure based on the amount of land eight oxen could plough in a whole season) to be taxed and there may be two ploughs there.' Ailric was succeded by his son Sweine, who was mentioned in a grant to the Priory of St John in Pontefract. This Priory had been established by Robert de Laci in 1090.
Ailric's pre-Conquest lands included: Silkstone, High Hoyland, Clayton, Thurgoland, Skelmanthorpe, Cumberworth, Hunshelf, Thurlstone, Wortley, Pilley, Tankersley, Brierley, Hidley, part of Shafton and Carlton, Cawthorne, Kexborough, Gunthwaite, Penistone, Worsboro, Carlton, New Hill, Walton, Mensthorp, Wrangbrook, Middleton, Bretton (including the land upon which Bretton Hall and the Sculpture Park now stand), Newhall, Raynebergh, Lyntwayt ( Linthwaite?), Brainton, Dirnham, Stanclyf (Staincliffe?), Meresbrick, Dyrne (Dearne?), and Lunda in Cumberland. After the Conquest he did have lands removed from him but retained the tenancy under Ilbert de Lacy of Pontefract Castle, one of William's knights.
So, in 1086, Airic held twelve manors for de Laci and ten villa in the West Riding. Swain held five. It is not known when Ailric died, but a few things are certain: he was 'rich' (Anglo-Saxon for wealthy) and 'heard' (Anglo-Saxon for strong, enduring). But he also must have had a high degree of 'cynning' (Anglo-Saxon for clever, cunning) to retain so much control after an invasion which changed laws, land ownership, language, taxation and everything about Anglo-Saxon England. Quite an achivement my leige lord!
Lordship in Saxon and Norman societies
The title 'Lord' (or Laird in Scotland) originates from the feudal system of manoralism. Historically the Lord of the Manor might be a tenant-in-chief if he held the manor from the crown, otherwise he was a 'mesne' lord with his own tenants. Importantly one of the developments after the Conquest was that all land belonged to the king. It was land at the manorial level that was recorded in the Doomsday Book (1086).
In medieval times the manor was the nucleus of rural life. It was an admimistrative unit of extensive lands. A manoral title is not a noble title, but a semi-extinct form of landed property. Technically, lords of the manor were barons, squires or freemen (franklins). They had an obligation to provide troops for the monarch. These usually consisted of the vassals. These were noble men with a strong allegiance to the king. On occasions, all the tenants would meet with their lord or his steward in the form of manorial courts. These dealt with tenants' rights and duties, changes of occupancy of manoral lands and disputes amongst tenants. Some manors had the status of court leet and could appoint constables and other officials. This was equivalent to our current magistrate courts.
NB. Alric's story was kindly provided by Mr R Wright from his 'People of Penistone' series, as a contribution to this website. Many thanks to Richard.
Royalty 1066 to 1625
The 'Middle Ages' are said to stretch from 1154 to 1485. The Normans conquered and came to govern England following one of the most famous battles in English history: the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Four Norman kings presided over a period of great change and development for the country. The Domesday Book, a great record of English land-holding, was published; the forests were extended; the Exchequer was founded; and a start was made on the Tower of London.
When William the Conqueror died, his eldest son, Robert, became Duke of Normandy while the next youngest, William, became King of England. Their younger brother Henry would become king on William II's death. Read about the Normans at The British Monarchy.
In religious affairs, the Gregorian reform movement gathered pace and forced concessions, while the machinery of government developed to support the country while Henry was fighting abroad. Four million farthings English Farthings were put in circulation in the time of King Edward I, authorised by the Patent Rolls of 1222. See The British Monarchy.
| The Normans |
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| The Angevins |
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| The Plantagenets |
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| The Lancastrians and Yorkists |
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| The Tudors |
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Tudor Times
The average life expectancy at birth during this time has been suggested by historians as being only 35 years but this would include the almost 25% lost in childbirth or in early childhood and about 40% of people who never reached adulthood. Otherwise, people did live until their 50s and 60s and some even older.
This was the 'Great Chimneyfication Period', as described by Ruth Gledhill in her book 'How to be a Tudor.' Having steered the smoke away up a flue rather than through a hole in the thatched roof, it also for allowed second floors to be built and for an improvement in comfort.
The Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Suppression of the Monasteries really commenced in 1524 when Cardinal Wolsey had authority from the Pope to dissolve an Oxford monastery and smaller houses towards building Christ Church College, Oxford. Other small houses would also be dissolved in what might be called the first dissolution. Having quarrelled with the Pope, King Henry VIII became head of the church in England by an Act in 1534. Several leading monks and clergy protested but would soon meet their maker. Thomas Cromwell's suggestion that the siezure of further monastic property could raise a lot of money would have pleased the King, who set up a commission to do just that.
On 4th February 1535-6, an Act was passed in Parliament to suppress and take possession of all the monasteries which had a less income than £100 a year. The strength of condemnation cannot be underestimated here, involving sin, vicious, carnal and abonimable living, and worse. Mr Putin could have written a modern version of this tirade as an excuse to flatten Ukraine.
An acte concernyng the suppression or dyssolucon of certeyne Relygyous houses and given to the Kinges highnes & to his heres for ever.
Forasmoche as manyfest synne, vycyous, carnall, and abhomynable lyvyng ys dayly used and comytted amonges the lytell and smale abbeys, pryoryes and other relygyous houses of monkes, chanons and nonnes, where the congregacon of suche relygyous persons ys under the nomber of xij persons, whereby the governours of suche relygyous houses and ther convent, spoyle, destroye consume and utterly waste, aswell ther churches, monasterys, pryorys, principall houses, fermes, granges, landes, &c., to the high dyspleasour of Almyghty God, slaunder of good relygyon and to the greate infamy of the kynges highnes and the realme if redres shuld not be hadde therof; and albeit that many contynuall vysytacions hathe bene heretofore had by the space of two hundreth yeres and more, for an honest and charytable reformacion of suche unthrifty, carnall and abomynable lyvyng, yett neuerthelesse lytell or none amendement ys hytherto hadde but ther vycyous lyvyng shamelesly encreasseth and by a cursed custome soo rooted and infested that a greate multytude of the relygyous persones in suche smale houses doo rather chose to rove abrode in apostasy than to conforme them to the observaeicon of good relygyon; soe that without such smale houses be utterly suppressed, and the relygyous persons therin commytted to greate and honorable monasteries of relygyon in this realme, where they maye be compelled to lyve relygyously for the reformacion of ther lyves ther canne elles be noo reformacion in this behalf .... (etc.)
Cromwell appointed Dr. Richard Layton, Dr. Thomas Legh, Dr. John London and John ap Rice as commissioners to assess the monasteries. Leyton and Legh arrived at York in January 1536 and commenced their destructive mission in Yorkshire. In the Preface of the YAS publication (link below), page vi:
'In the short space of time they spent their enquiries could not have been very valuable, but they drew up a list of the crimes and superstitions of the monks and nuns, which went by the name of 'Comperta.' This list is not entirely fit for publication, and was no doubt greatly exaggerated.'
The people saw a great deal of destruction and became fearful of what might also happen to their churches and property, or if charges might be imposed for such as baptisms. Protestations started and led to an insurrection in Lancashire which did not last. Yorkshire's uprising began in October 1536 and was more robust. The uprising spread and and became a Tudor crisis. Yorkshire's popular revolt was called 'The Pilgrimage of Grace' with London barrister Robert Aske being appointed as its leader. This popular and spreading rebellion enraged the king and he decided to extend the range of the commission to include the larger monasteries, causing even more destruction. The Yorkshire uprising came to an end in early 1837.
By December 1538, the Cluniac Monk Bretton priory (near Barnsley), the Cistercian Byland and Rievaulx abbeys, and other monasteries had all been dissolved. In 1539, an Act allowed all siezed property and goods to belong to the king. By December 1539, the Cistercian Fountains Abbey and the Benedictine abbey St. Mary’s, York were included. Acts of Parliament in 1540 seized all lands of the Knights of St. John, and in 1545 an Act to suppress all the hospitals, chapels, and chantries. This suppression of the chantries affected churches throughout the land, as the chantry priests had provided the schooling. Penistone Grammar School had started in Penistone parish church.
From YAS 48, Yorkshire Monasteries, Suppression Papers. Heavily abridged notes here. See also the Reformation wiki and Chantry wiki.
Sources Used in the Timeline
The Books:
Some small details were added from 'An Explorer's Guide to Penistone & District', 2006, from leaflets describing local walks and anecdotal remarks from Penistone people. Where information is anecdotal, it has been marked as such.
Take a look at 'A History of the County of York', which goes right back to the earliest invasions, especially in 'Before the Norman Conquest.'
Claudian: "The man who covets is always poor."
