The Battle of Heworth Stockton Moor 

 One event that could have taken place in the Parish of Stockton happened in 1454.

Stockton's only Battle? (or how I'd rewrite history to show how we started The War of The Roses)

This took place on 24th August 1453, an event that was part of "a greate discorde betwixt" Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland and Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury in the North of England, as the later steadily increased their influence in the North West, traditionally a region of Percy dominance. Historians regard this action as the first battle in, "the beginnings of great sorrows in England", of what was later to become known as the War of the Roses.

The Nevilles and the Percies had been bitter rivals for a very long time and things had got worse since 1452 as they tried to gain power and influence in each other's traditional territories. The fact that they both held various plots of land in the Vale of York, including Spofforth, Topcliffe and Catton for the Percies and Middleham, Sheriff Hutton and Elvington for the Nevilles didn't help matters.

Armies in these times were generally made up of local levies rather than professional soldiers. By July 1453 the Percies and Nevilles had mustered 5000 armed men between them.

During 1453-4 the hostilities exploded into a private war and threw much of the North, especially Yorkshire, into turmoil. Of the skirmishes in which many men of both parties were"beten, slayne and hurte" there were violent incidents at Topcliffe, Gargrave, Aughton and Catton in 1453 and in 1454 the Percies terrorised the Mayor and Recorder in York plus a battle at Stamford Bridge*.

About 17 August 1453 Sir Thomas Neville married Maud Stanhope the niece and heiress of Ralph, Lord Cromwell. The marriage took place in Lincolnshire after which there was a week of celebrations and festivities at Lord Cromwell's splendid new house Tattersal in Lincolnshire, which was one of the first to be built in the new fashion of bricks. The couple headed north, escorted by the grooms parents the Earl and Countess of Salisbury, and Sir John Neville the groom's younger brother, and as befits their status an escort of powerful retainers to the Neville castle at Sheriff Hutton.

Lord Cromwell had confiscated several Percy strongholds, including Wressle in Yorkshire and Bunwell in Lincolnshire, following Hotspur's death at Shrewsbury in 1403 during the Northumberland rebellion against Henry IV. The mere thought of these properties becoming part of the Neville domain caused Thomas Percy, Lord Egremont, 2nd son of Henry Percy Earl of Northumberland, and his brother Richard Percy, to throw their own party for the newly weds! Together with a band of around 1000 retainers, yeoman, esquires, gentlemen, merchants, artisans, tradesmen and other thugs mainly from York and Yorkshire and arranged an ambush at Heworth Moor, a mile or two NW of York.

On 24 August 1453 the Neville family group were nearing the end of their journey and arrived at Heworth Moor, where they gave good account of themselves and while there were altercations and threats and doubtless a fair amount of rough play, they repelled the attackers and reached home without bloodshed or any fatalities on either side. The skirmish, described by contemporaries as a battle is often regarded as the first military action of the War of the Roses and drove the Nevilles to seek the protection of the House of York.

The names and occupations of 710 who were accused of attacking the wedding party were presented in indictments set before Richard of York and his fellow commissioners of oyer and terminer at York in June 1454. Each indictment produced on the Crown's behalf by a local jury was declared a 'true bill' and the guilty were punished accordingly. Of the accused 94% of them were from Yorkshire, with 15.3% from York itself.. They included 6 knights, 32 esquires, 26 gentlemen, 20 walkers (fullers) 15 weavers, 17 tailors, 2 litsters (dyers), 5 websters (weavers), 8 sadlers, 2 glovers, 2 shoemakers, 5 souters (cobblers), 5 scholars (all of whom had their possessions forfeited) and 24 clerks (amongst them several chaplains and belligerent priests. Only 9 were described as labourers and there was a single vagabond. The city of York, where the Percy's owned a town house, Percy Inn, provided a sizeable contingent of around 100 artisans and tradesmen, a third were either merchants or involved in the cloth and leather trade, and at least 30 were freemen of the city. The largest single group was the 330 yeomen. The Percy manors provided a solid corpus of men with 21 from Topcliffe, 20 from Tadcaster, 5 from Healaugh, 8 from Spofforth, 6 from Leathley, 5 from Linton, 9 from Over and Nether Catton, 7 from Pocklington and some from Leconfield . The 44 husbandmen suggests that the Percies had been able to call out many of their tenant farmers including 35 from their lordship of Cockermouth in Cumberland (Cumbria). A handful also came from Lincolnshire, Westmoreland and Lancashire. There were men not from Percy estates: 28 from Scarborough, 17 from Doncaster, 16 from Hull and 13 from Whitby. There were 9 merchants and 6 chapmen or mariners associated with Egremont, and 3 dissident Scots, one of whom was named Jok Patenson. Only a tiny proportion were Percy retainers, no doubt these were important in providing leadership and organization.(this aspect of a retainer's job in providing men, and arms, would be written into his indentures (contract between him and his lord)).

John Gilliot a mercer became a freeman of York in 1439, a chamberlain in 1451 and mayor of York in 1463-4 and 1473-4. The forfeiture for his part in Heworth didn't affect his standing in the community. William Snawsell a goldsmith was made a freeman of York in 1436, as he was the son of a freeman, became chamberlain in 1457-8, mayor ten years later and sheriff in 1464-5.

Robert Tipplyng of Spofforth and William Cure of Thorp Underwood were at Heworth for the Percies, as was Robert Cropwell of Cockermouth.

The 6 knights were Sir John Pennington from Cumberland, probably Northumberland's retainer; Sir John Salvin of North Duffield, Sir John Stapleton of Wighill, Sir John Hothom from the Percy manor of Scarborough, Sir William Buckton and Sir William Lucy of Gainsborough. Buckton is said to have engaged Salisbury in person at Heworth.

Included in the esquires and gentlemen were John Pudsay of Bolton in Craven, John Catterall of Brayton in Craven, Richard Tempest of Stainforth in Craven, John Swynburne of Cockermouth, three members of the Belingham family, Richard of Cockermouth and both elder and younger Robert of Burnside. Robert Stapleton of Beverly, gentleman, may have been a kinsman of Sir John's.

Some of the yeomen and artisans were said to be retain, albeit illegally and wore Egremonts red and Black livery, these included John Benet of Newbald, Robert Ashwell of Northallerton,and Thomas Guberthorne of Thirsk, given to them at Healaugh on 12 May 1453. Three other received his livery the following year (4 February 1454), Oliver Stockdale, Thomas Mawer and Alexander Chatton, all from Topcliffe.

Often more than one member of a family left their fields or looms to join Egremont. Included in the other yeomen and artisans were John Cowper and his son, William from Wildon, John Eylemere and his sons John and William from Westhall, all of whom experienced forfeiture, and Robert Wilson and his sons John and Richard from the Percy manor of Buckton who were outlawed. As a result of the indictment of the 710, 446 were condemned to forfeiture, 144 to outlawry, 9 were pardoned, 1 had since died and 110 had no punishment recorded.

The Heworth incident was the most serious to date of a number of clashes between the families and threw the citizens of York into a veritable paroxysm of alarm. The civic authorities of York spent the ensuing weeks in vain attempts at mediation between Salisbury and the Percies. The futility of their efforts was manifest to all for the autumn of 1453 was punctured with renewed outbursts between the two families, each turning a deaf ear to royal reproofs and civic pleadings as bands of partisans of both families rode around the country attacking their enemies tenants and property.

Many of those accused of accompanying Egremont and Richard Percy did not disperse. Richard with John Caterall, of Wressle, and William Chamber of Gowkthorp led them on a tour of pillage on behalf of Lord Egremont, which took them to Gargrave church in Craven on 9th September. There 'these sons of the devil and heretics' entered the church and attacked Lawrence Caterall, bailiff of Staincliff wapentake, at his devotions. Lawrence fled to the vestibule of the church near the high alter, but Percy and his companions pursued him. They jumped onto the altar and almost on top of the vicar, who was saying mass and rushed toprotect the host, at the same time begging his visitors in the name of God to cease their hooliganism. Having seized Lawrence, the insurgents left for Isel castle in the Lordship of Cockermouth. From this castle, which belonged to William Lee, one of Northumberlands dependants, Lawrence was taken to Cockermouth itself, where he was imprisoned until he ceased to be bailiff of Staincliffe. Lawrences's offence against the Percies is unknown.

John Caterall was prominent in another raid, led by Sir John Salvin also a Percy retainer on the house of William Hebdon, vicar of Aughton on 25 September 1453, of the 41 implicated in this attack 19 had been at Heworth. The Nevilles were no better and on 24 September Sir John Neville broke into Northumberland's house at Catton breaking windows and shattering tiles.
These minor skirmishes cumulated on the 31st October 1454 in a pitched battle when they clashed again at Stamford Bridge. This time 'hundreds were killed and many wounded' as Sir Thomas and Sir John Neville defeated Lord Egremont and Richard Percy, taking them both prisoner.

The confrontation was recorded as having taken place on Heworth Moor, the lower part of Monks Stray, which then extended right up to Stockton Common and Sandburn. With them having property to the east of York at Elvington, the road at the east end of the village to Strensall once being known as the Hemsley road, and Sheriff Hutton/Hemsley being due north of Stockton, it's easy to imagine that the Nevilles had planned to bypass York, where the Percies held property, to the east, and upon being forewarned of possible trouble at York, or even just by coming across 1000 armed men waiting on the Heworth Moor part of Monk Stray, they would veer right onto the Stray to avoid the argument, and they only had to stray a little over a mile to the Hopgrove for this encounter to have taken place in our Parish.

*Stamford Bridge took place on either 31 October or 1 November 1454 when Lord Egremont, brother of the Earl of Northumberland, clashed with Sir Thomas and Sir John Neville. Hundreds were killed and many wounded and the flight of Peter Lound, bailiff of the nearby Percy manor of Pockington with 200 of Egremont's retinue cost him the day. Egremont and his brother Richard Percy were captured. In a civil action the Nevilles successfully sued him for damages of £11,200 and as his income was only £100 per year were able to have him locked up out of harms way in Newgate debtors prison. They spent the next two years imprisoned for debt until they were able to escape on 13 November 1456 after a warder was bribed and weapons smuggled into the prison.

No records have been found to suggest that either of the two families held any land in the Parish at this time.

(Based on The Battle of Heworth Moor by Jennifer Kaner and other un-recorded research)