In earlier days, when the church was held by the Roman Catholics, the burial ground was evidently of much greater extent than at present, and surrounded by an immense moat, between six and seven yards wide, and of a considerable depth. In a field lying to the east of the church can now be seen the ancient limits of the ground in that direction, bounded by a long stretch of the old moat in a very fair state of preservation, but of course somewhat contracted by accumulations of vegetation; and in another plot of ground to the west, may be traced by a slight depression the course of the same trench, marking the westerly extent of the yard. The northerly length of the moat passed behind the present churchyard, and a portion of it, about two yards wide, is still to be seen there, the remainder of its breadth being filled in and included in the cemetery. The southerly stretch of this ancient ditch or fosse ran just within the railings, protecting the burial ground in front. When the existing walls were built round the yard great difficulty was met with in forming a good foundation over the site of the moat at different points, as it was found to be filled in with fragments of bricks, mortar, and general rubbish, which seems to indicate that it was abolished when the church itself was in course of reconstruction, and that the old building materials and debris were used for the purpose of raising it to the common level, indicating that the work must have been accomplished either at the rebuilding of 1749, or at some previous and unrecorded one. The moat would be crossed by a bridge of fair dimensions, which was probably situated on the west side, as the sexton lately discovered the well-preserved remains of a straight footpath, paved with long tiles, and running from the church for some distance towards the site of the moat in that direction; the path was between two and three feet below the surface of the ground.
The church was separated from the mother edifice of Kirkham, and had an independent district assigned to it in 1846. The incumbent has the title of vicar.
| CURATES AND VICARS OF HAMBLETON. | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of Institution. | Name. | Cause of Vacancy. |
| About 1648 | Robert Cunningham | |
| Before 1662 | William Bullock | |
| About 1725 | William Whitehead, B.A. | |
| In 1735 | John Field, B.A. | Resignation of W. Whitehead |
| ” 1765-86 | Mr. Parkinson | |
| ” 1796 | Thomas Butcher, B.A. | |
| ” 1835 | Mr. Howard | Death of T. Butcher |
| ” 1836 | William Hough | Resignation of ⸺ Howard |
An Independent chapel was erected by subscription a few years since, and schools subsequently added.
From the report of the Charity Commissioners, we learn that long before the commencement of the nineteenth century there was a school at Hambleton, but no attempt to elucidate more particularly its origin or date of erection can be hazarded. In 1797 the only endowment it can boast of was left by Matthew Lewtas, a native of Hambleton, and consisted of £200, the interest of which had to be given to John, the son of George Hall, of Hambleton, until he reached the age of twenty-one; and if before or at that time he was appointed master of the school he had to continue to receive the whole of the income whilst he held such mastership, but if, although he was willing to accept the post, some other person should be selected for it, then when he came of age, half of the income passed from him to the school, and he retained the other moiety until his death, when it also went to increase the stipend of the master. The other condition of the will applied to the master, and obliged him in return for the interest or income of the £200, to teach as many poor children of Hambleton as the money would pay for. John Hall never obtained the appointment, so that the present master receives the full interest of the bequest, which is invested on mortgage.
The poor of Hambleton have £2 annually distributed amongst them through the generosity of Sir Nicholas Sherburne, of Stonyhurst, who in 1706, when lord of the manor of Hambleton, charged his estate of Lentworth Hall with this charity.
The yearly interest of £10 was given for the benefit of poor housekeepers in Hambleton by Mary, the daughter of vicar Clegg, of Kirkham, and the wife of Emanuel Nightingale, of York, gent., who was born in 1673.
POPULATION OF HAMBLETON.
| 1801. | 1811. | 1821. | 1831. | 1841. | 1851. | 1861. | 1871. |
| 252 | 273 | 338 | 334 | 349 | 346 | 366 | 351 |
The statute acres of the township amount to 1,603.