Out on the moors, boundary stones are everywhere. In the Vale of Cleveland, though, they are relatively rare. I had driven past this one for nearly fifty years before noticing it properly. That only happened last year, when two men were working beside it. I assumed they were putting up a rustic farm sign and drove on.
Next time I passed, I saw it properly: an old sandstone boundary marker. The North Yorkshire County Council’s Historic Environment Record says nothing about it, though it does appear on the 1856 six-inch Ordnance Survey map.
The inscription is faint. I can read “EASBY” and something that looks like “NORTH”, but the rest is worn away. It has clearly been beheaded at some time; perhaps that is what those two men were fixing. To show off their invisible repair, glyphosate has now been sprayed to keep the weeds down. So much for nature.
Before the 19th century, parishes served both church and civil functions. In the north, many were large and unwieldy, spread over scattered settlements. These were divided into townships. Easby was once a detached township of Stokesley parish.
For church purposes, Easby had its own chapel of ease, as the parish church was too far away1British History Online. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/north/vol2/pp301-308. Today, Easby is part of Great Ayton parish.
- 1British History Online. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/north/vol2/pp301-308
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