THE SANDBECK ESTATE

No account of Stainton would be complete without some reference to the Sandbeck Estate with which the fortunes of the village have been so closely tied since the acquisition of the Manorial rights in 1631 by Nicholas Saunderson. According to William Downes, an Essex valuer who carried out a survey in 1845, some 1037 acres belonging to Sandbeck lay within the bounds of Stainton parish.

The Sandbeck Estate was one of those partly carved out of the former church land released by the dissolution of the Monasteries. Most, if not all, of the lands attached to Roche Abbey were bought by a London syndicate. From them, Robert Saunderson, grandfather of Nicholas, bought those which were to form nucleus of Sandbeck. Further to that, Woolthwaite farm and some of the land later attached to Carr House (which had formerly belonged to Blyth Priory) were purchased as well as Carr House itself, which had been owned by the priory of St. Mary at Humberstone near Grimsby.

The purchase of the manorial rights of Stainton from Sir Edward Stanhope had included the lands running with the title but there followed a series of exchange in the late seventeenth century and onwards whereby the former feudal pattern of scattered land-holding was abandoned in favour of consolidation of the various farms. Thus the farms as they exist today are not identical in their tenure with those of former times. In the early deeds every field or close has a name but not all of these have survived. It is, therefore, difficult even where records exist, to identify what formerly constituted each holding in order to compare it with its composition today.

Of the Sandbeck farms, only Carr House is mentioned in the early parish records. This appears to have been due to the custom of referring to outlying places in the parish by name in identifying those who lived there. Those who were domiciled in the village, however, were simply identified as 'of Stainton' so that we have no indication as to the exact homestead to which they belonged. From the earliest records we learn the Carr House was farmed by the Justice family but it was in fact owned in the late sixteenth century by one Roger North of Walkringham in the Country of Nottingham who had obtained it form the grantees of Henry VIII after the dissolution of St. Mary's Priory.

In 1845 Carr House was described by William Downes in his valuation of the estate as follows:-

'The building belonging to this farm stand in Stainton parish, they are well situate and suitable for the occupation…..the lands are heavy and wet. Mr Wilson is a good farmer in many respects but a portion of these lands still remains in a wretched state for want of draining.'

Two other farms in Stainton are included in the same survey. One tenanted by William Bingham is described as:-

'Situate in the village with a small quantity of good land surrounding it..... but the house and buildings are good and adequate to more land..... 102 acres valued at £116 approx. a year. 44 of these are detached about ½ mile south of the buildings, light and thin on limestone with a kiln thereon..... An extensions of the limestone business should be effected.'

This farm is not named but could have been Low Farm in Lime Kiln Lane which has now been absorbed in Stainton Manor Farm.

William Bingham, according to the parish register, had a son Thomas who was baptized in that year. The address given on that occasion is Stainton Woodhouse which is, of course, somewhat south of Low Farm off Lime Kiln Lane. This is, in fact, the first reference to Stainton Woodhouse in the registers but it was not until 1939 that Stainton Woodhouse became part of the Sandbeck estate.

The third farm mentioned in the Downes report was Stainton Manor farm. The original farmhouse was situated near to the farm buildings on School Lane and this presumably was in use at the time of the report, which reads as follows:-

'This may be considered one of the finest and most eligible farms on this estate. With the exception of about 80 acres the whole may be termed a mixed, grateful turnip soil upon limestone capable of being worked at all seasons of yielding abundant crops of corn - this property is in highest state of cultivation, creditable in an extreme degree of the judicious skill and management of the present tenants (John and William Steele). The farm had been neglected by the previous tenant who had 'failed'. The house was convenient and suitable for the occupation but barns buildings and yards are not worthy of such a holding..... It was of 369 acres, 0 roods and 39 perches valued £393.11.2d per year.'