History

Seamer Village

This next article was from the theological studies of our late Churchwarden, Geoff Hall.

There is evidence that during the middle stone age (8,000 BC) Mesolithic Man set up a village on the shores of a lake near Seamer, Hence the name, “Seamere” This along with Flexton Carr are the only excavated sites in Britain of Mesolithic Man.

They would have laid down a rough platform of Birch trees and brushwood on the swampy ground, this would form the base for the huts.

During the excavation of the lakeside settlements by J.W.Moore in the Seamer/Flixton area in 1947, many animal remains such as Red Deer, Elk, Roe Deer, Wild Ox, Wild Pig, Beaver, Badger, Marten, Fox and birds, all these would have provided food and skins with Antlers of the deer and Elk for the manufacture of implements.

As we move onto the Roman occupation of Britain there is very little evidence of any Roman settlements here in Seamer, however part of a Roman road was discovered in Seamer Lane about 1 mile from Scarborough on the way to Spittal. It may then be presumed that the road from the port of Scarborough to Spittal, met the Filey Road, and ran with it in a direct line to Malton and beyond to York although there are no remains to confirm this.

Historians say that wagon teams would have been attacked by archers, in or near the village, with the men been dragged along Main Street to their death a mile south of the village and soldiers would have swaggered through the streets with drawn swords.

The village was formerly a place of much more importance than at present, and had a weekly market, which was held under a charter granted to Henry, Earl of Northumberland in 1383, and a yearly fair of six days, commencing on the feast of St Martin, being also granted under the same charter. The market interfered with the prosperity of its older and more powerful neighbour, Scarborough, and frequent litigation resulted. The market finally closed in 1612, but the fair continues to this day, though now devoted as much to pleasure and merrymaking as to business. During the fair the inhabitants were allowed to sell beer, etc, without an excise license: a brush was exhibited over the door as a sign, but recent legislation has deprived them of the privilege .The Village must have been a fairly busy place about the turn of the last century as there were nine inns with in the Main Street.

• Directory of Trades for the village in 1890 , show that there was. Market Gardener
• Boot maker
• Joiner
• Tailor& Woollen Draper (made to order) Grocer
• 22 Farms in the area
• The population at that time was around 820 people.

What of the Church in Seamer which was dedicated to St Martin Bishop of Tours, there is documentary evidence that there was a priest and a Church here in Saxon times; it is possible that the church was of a reed construction.

The original stone church was built shortly after the Norman Conquest by William Percy and consisted of the Chancel including the Norman arch which separates the Nave from the Choir.

Considerable alterations were carried out to the Norman Church in the Fourteenth Century, along with further Restorations in 1686, 1846, and 1888, which did not interfere with the fabric except for the rebuilding of the tower in 1846, following the original one being struck by lightning in 1710 and then it was demolished as it was a danger to the public.

The restoration in 1888 saw the removal of the plaster work on the church wall and exposed stairs that lead to the original rood loft at the front section of the church, at the same time the pulpit was moved from the side wall to the front wall where it stands today.

The further restoration of the church was undertaken in 1952 at which time the church bells were recast and rehung on a frame of steel which was built into the tower for a ring of six bells. The old Sanctus bell which hung in the cote outside the church, which had a date 1348 was discovered down at Seamer railway station as a call bell at the station. The tail goes that the then Church warden who was the station master on the newly opened line from Scarborough to York, Removed it owing to its unmusical sound and it was substituted by a sound bell In 1848.

In 1973 more restoration work had to be carried out to the top section of the north wall. This was due to alteration back in the fourteenth century when they weakened the wall by cutting the stringers. The top section of the north wall collapsed and new stone was brought in to carry out the repairs. Some of this stone came from Rosedale Abbey.

Looking back through the historical records the Church was the centre of a Religious Riot which took place in 1548, one of the ring leaders was Thomas Dale the Parish Clerk, over monetary gifts that had been paid to local Monasteries. To understand the reasoning for this giving was because people's understanding of what happened after death differs from ours. From around 1319 onwards most people believed that they might well be in for being pronged and poked by an assortment of devils whilst roasted in the fires of hell. To try and alleviate the suffering they were expecting, they gave the gifts some times large amounts to the monasteries, and then when the monasteries seemed not to be using their wealth as they should, to chantries.

Chantries were buildings and lor institutions in which a priest was paid to chant masses and pray for the souls of the dead.

Henry VIII got rid of the monasteries from 1536 onwards and finally the Chantries in 1546. If one took the view that this imperilled ones immortal soul then this was a very serious event. This and other disquiets led to the rebellion known as the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536 and what became known as the Seamer rebellion of 1548.

The climax of the rebellion came later in that year with the murder of Matthew White a chantry commissioner. He had acted as a surveyor and custodian of chantry property in York and the North Riding, and had been granted some of this land and had gone on to speculate in chantry lands.

While looking through the list of incumbents which dates back to 1236, as documented in the short history of the church.

We note that Francis Rimer held the position from 1627 which predated William Laud Archbishop of Canterbury (1633) who was high church, and was apposed to Puritanism it was following his appointment that the altar rails, statues etc were reintroduced, with many accusing him of papist tendency. So Francis Rimer was the incumbent through very turbulent times, 1642 saw the outbreak of the Civil war, which went right through to 1651. England than went through an interregnum followed by the restoration of the monarchy under Charles Second in 1660.

So our man must have bent with the changing times in the church to hold on to his position, finally being replaced in 1662 after 35 years.

Looking through the church registers one uncovers loads of information which builds up a picture of what of the village was like and the role that the church played in its everyday life.

A collection was made for French Refugees in 1793, the church collected Thirteen shillings, while Ayton church collected two shillings and six pence.

In 1801 the register recorded the amount of crops grown on farms around the village, wonder why that was entered?

The church has copies of the marriage registers dating back to 1560, interestingly after 1813 the operation of the bride's father was also noted:

Wheelwright, Bricklayer, Farmer, Labourer, inn keeper.

What of church attendances, the service registers located only go back to 1983 when the annual attendance was 3086, it was noted that the annual attendance has been in decline to 1566 in 1996, and last year it was just holding its numbers.

What of the village today, there are two public houses, one mini market with its post office and a general convenience store mainly for papers but serves the community by having the local doctors prescriptions delivered to the store and an off site dry cleaning service. The village did have until recently a garage although it had not sold petrol for some ten years or more.

There is a Memorial Hall located in the village which stands on the site where a thatched cottage once stood, the owner used to make toffee in cheese-cake tins and sold it to the children for a halfpenny. The Hall was built with materials donated by business in the village and the surrounding area, the work was carried out using voluntary labour. When it was completed, it was handed over to the men who came back from the Great War, who used it as a billiards or snooker room, much later a committee was set up to run the Hall.

1961 saw the Memorial handed over to the Women's Institute who still have the everyday running of the Hall for various activities in the village.

Next door to the Memorial hall is a Gents hairdressers which was the local 'lockup'.

We have in the village a Parish Council which is very active on all local issues with its councillors spread around the two Wards which make up the whole of Seamer Village.

St Martin's church is one of two places of worship in the village, the other is a Methodist Chapel in Eastgate built in 1951, and is part of the Scarborough Methodist circuit.

The vicar of St Martin’s lives close to the church in Stockshill. From the lounge window they have a wonderful view of the church over the garden wall.

Our Church

This final article was some older text that was previously used on an older version of the web site.

St Martin's was built in 1150. It is in the village of Seamer, near Scarborough.

Our address is:

St Martin's Church. Main Street, Seamer, North Yorkshire, England,
YO12 4QG.
OS Grid Reference TA014834
Longitude and latitude N54:14:12 W0:26:42

It is recorded in Domesday Book that there was a church and priest at Seamer at the time of the Norman Conquest. It is supposed to have been rebuilt by Lord William de Percy about 1100, soon after he received a grant of this manor and others in Yorkshire from William the Conqueror. Like other ancient churches, it was a sort of minor castle, which could be used as a place of refuge in times of disturbance, or for those needing the safety of the sanctuary, as is shown by the thickness of the older portions of the walls; the small, high-up, clerestory windows; and the strong oak door, with its fittings for barricading, The chancel of the church was originally much smaller, and has been extended from the buttress west of the priests' door on the south side, with the corresponding buttress on the north, probably about 1380. In 1424, John, Bishop of Dromore, was commissioned to dedicate the chapel, with the altars therein erected, within the manor of Seamer belonging to the Right Eon. Lord Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland.

The church underwent a general restoration in 1686, a further one in 1847, and a more complete one in August, 1888. The fine Norman chancel arch, with checkered and nail-head ornamentation, and its pillars of three orders, is an object of admiration to all ecclesiologists. Other portions of the ancient work still remaining are the small blocked-up window, with zigzag moulding, &c., on the north wall of the chancel; the south doorway; the figures and brackets at the east end of the chancel; and the small, high-up window of the nave on the north side.

The architecture of the church, while containing some Norman portions, is chiefly Perpendicular. There is a communication between the nave and the north aisle, through the thickness of the wall. This opening is occupied by the organ. The vestry has a pointed door opening into the chancel. There was formerly an ambry near the fire-place. A fine carved oak screen (Jacobean) divides the chancel from the nave, bearing two shields, on one of which is a crest with a falcon on a cap of maintenance, and in the centre of the top of the screen is a triangular shelf-like projection. In removing the plaster during the recent restoration a piscina was discovered near the pulpit; also a doorway and staircase on the north side of chancel arch, probably the way to the tower.

The church consists of chancel, nave, with clerestory on the north side lighted by round-headed windows, aisles, south porch and square embattled tower on the west, containing clock and three bells, and on the east gable of the nave is the sancte-cot with its bell. It is not uncommon to find the “cot” on old churches, but the be sancte, or sanctus bell, is rarely seen. The altar was raised three steps in 1888, and choir stalls and new oak gilt reredos added. The gallery and nave plaster were removed, and a new flat oak, roof leaded, and new seats put in.

St Martin

St Martin who started out as a Roman soldier. He was baptized when he was grown up and became a monk. He was a kind man who lead a quiet and simple life. The most famous legend of his life is that he once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save the beggar from dying of the cold.

St Martin's Day (or Martinmas) is November 11. This was considered the first day of Winter for practical purposes, so, alluding to the snows of that season, the Germans say that “St Martin comes riding on a white horse.” Of course, it might not feel like Winter if one is experiencing a “St. Martin's Summer” — the equivalent of an “Indian Summer.” It is said, too, that one can predict what sort of Winter one will have by the conditions of St. Martin's Day: “If the geese at Martinís Day stand on ice, they will walk in mud at Christmas.”

In many countries, Martinmas celebrations begin at the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of this eleventh day of the eleventh month. Bonfires are built, and children carry lanterns in the streets after dark, singing songs for which they are rewarded with candy.

And on a macabre final note, old superstitious folklore (not Catholic teaching, of course) says that if you stand in the back of the church and look out over the congregants on St Martin's Day, you can see auras of light around the heads of those who will not be among the living at the next Martinmas.

Seamer

The village of Seamer is about four miles south of Scarborough. Historically is was of more importance than today. It had a yearly market and an annual fair, both authorised by a charter from Henry, earl of Northumberland, granted in 1383. The fair lasted fo 6 days, and commenced on the feast of St. Martin. The market interfered with the prosperity of its older and more powerful neighbour at Scarborough, which resulted in frequent complaints. The market was finally suppressed in 1612. As late as 1706 Seamer must have been a fairly busy place, it had nine inns at that time, compared to two pubs now.

The most significant historic event connected with Seamer is the insurrection which was attempted here in 1549 in resulting from the dissolution of monasteries. The conspirators assembled to the about 3,000 people and proceeded to the house of one Mr. White, a gentleman who had rendered himself obnoxious to them. They broke into the house, captured the owner, Mr. Clapton, his brother-in-law, Mr. Richard Savage, sheriff of York, and a manservant, and carried them off to the Wolds, where they were stripped and murdered. The insurrection, however, was nipped in the bud. A detachment of solders from the garrison at York was sent to capture them; a free pardon was proclaimed by order of the King, but the three leaders and six others refusing the royal clemency were executed at York.