Stainsby, in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England, is an abandoned village near the Acklam suburb of

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

and town of

Thornaby Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Tees's southern bank. It is in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The parish had a population of 24,74 ...

. Little more than mounds near the

A19 road The A19 is a major road in England running approximately parallel to and east of the A1 road. Although the two roads meet at the northern end of the A19, the two roads originally met at the southern end of the A19 in Doncaster, but the old ...

are now visible. The site is a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. Stainsby Grange Farm, Stainsby Hall Farm and Stainsby Hill Farm retain the former village's name. Stainsby Beck forms part of the

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

and

borough boundary. Nearby

Acklam Grange School Acklam Grange School is a co-educational secondary school located at Lodore Grove, Acklam, Middlesbrough, Acklam, Middlesbrough, England. The school opened in 1952 as Hugh Bell School – later becoming Stainsby School – and is curren ...

was formerly named Stainsby.

History

Stainsby was recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086, as being three

carucate The carucate or carrucate ( lat-med, carrūcāta or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms ...

s. Walter de Stainsby held the village from 1284 to 1303; from 1388 to 1566 it followed the descent of the manor of Picton; from about 1800 it was held by the

Earl of Harewood Earl of Harewood (), in the County of York, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The title was created in 1812 for Edward Lascelles, 1st Earl of Harewood, Edward Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood, a wealthy sugar plantation own ...

.'Parishes: Stainton', in ''A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2'', ed. William Page (London, 1923), pp. 293-300
British History Online. Retrieved 10 February 2022. Records of 1302 show that nine inhabitants were eligible to pay taxes. It is not known how or when the village became deserted. The earliest map of the settlement, of 1757, shows Stainsby Grange Farm as the only building. During the Second World War, a Type 22 pillbox was built on the site, as part of the defences for Thornaby Aerodrome nearby; it is included in the scheduling of the monument. The

, planned in 1969, lies immediately to the east of the site, having been routed to avoid the medieval village.

Earthworks

The earthworks lie to the south and south-east of Stainsby Grange Farm. They were surveyed in 1996 by Tees Archaeology. It was found to be a

toft village In England and Scotland, a toft village is a settlement comprising small and relatively closely packed farms (tofts) with the surrounding land owned and farmed by those who live in the village's buildings. Late Old English ''toft'', with Old English ...

: there were two rows, arranged north to south, of large enclosures, or tofts, each measuring about , separated by shallow ditches. The front of each enclosure would have contained the main farm building, and behind was a space for growing food or for livestock. Tthere was a trackway between the two rows, running through the settlement. To the west of the tofts, a linear, hollow feature is thought to be a back lane. A large circular depression at the north of the site is interpreted as a pond. To the west and east of the village there is the

ridge and furrow Ridge and furrow is an archaeological pattern of ridges (Medieval Latin: ''sliones'') and troughs created by a system of ploughing used in Europe during the Middle Ages, typical of the open-field system. It is also known as rig (or rigg) and fu ...

pattern of medieval ploughing, the remains of the

open-field system The open-field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe during the Middle Ages and lasted into the 20th century in Russia, Iran, and Turkey. Each manor or village had two or three large fields, usually several hundred acre ...

formerly around the village.

References

{{reflist Former populated places in North Yorkshire Deserted medieval villages in North Yorkshire Scheduled monuments in North Yorkshire Middlesbrough

History

Earthworks

See also

References