As many of the early parish registers were destroyed in a fire at the Rectory at the end of the 19th century we have to rely on the Hearth Tax records and a survey made for Sir Thomas Fairfax in 1694 for the names of the Scawton tenants of the 17th century and as the survey is an important historical document it is reproduced in full. The sizes of fields are shown in acres, rods and perches where 40 of the latter equal 1 rod and 4 rods equal an acre
Lamb Close and Stone Row Heads
4 Beast Gates in Low Close
Richard Peckytt’s Lamb Close
A Messuage and Thomas Downy’s Barugh
In White Sleights [this his old farm]
Dunning Oxgang at Peter Manner’s Farm
This is the oldest surviving record that gives names of fields and tenants that can be associated with later records and even those of the present day.
The name of Hall Ings suggests that this was land near the old Manor House which was probably in ruins in 1694.
The listing of Beast Gates at White Sleights suggests that this was a Common where tenants had the right to keep a specific number of cattle. There were also three cottages at White Sleights which later maps showed to be an area close to the present-day A170, but the cottages disappeared long ago.
Low Close was also an area where tenants had the right to keep a given number of animals.
Thomas and Christopher Sturdy were descendants of William Sturdy who served as a juror on a Manor Court in 1588. The family originated in Kilburn and were in Scawton for 200 years
Fairfax estate survey of 1694
