The only monument which it contains, is a neat Tablet of white marble, on the south wall of the chancel, thus inscribed: In Memory of

the Rev. B. F. TUCKNISS, B. A.

XIV years Incumbent of the Chapelry of Raskelfe,
who died July XXVIII, MDCCCXLV,
Aged XLVIII years.

"I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day." 2 Tim. 1. 12.

This Tablet is erected by his Parishioners and friends, as a tribute of sincere respect for his private worth, and of gratitude for his faithful labours as a Minister of Christ.

A stone on the floor beneath, marks the spot of his interment and date of his decease, with the following addition:

Also

FRANCES TUCKNISS,

who departed this life on the 7th Oct., 1848,

Aged 78 years.

Near the chancel door in the church-yard, is a tombstone commemorating the family of

JAMES ARMSTRONG,

of Raskelfe, who departed this life upon Wednesday the 15th day February, 1806, and in the 62nd year of his age.

Also ELIZABETH,

his wife, who died Feb. 26th, 1820, aged 84 years, and Elizabeth, wife of his son John. She died Nov. 16th, 1830, aged 68, her husband Sept. 18, 1824, aged 56 years.

This Chapelry has the following benefactions for its poor, viz. £6 13s. 4d. per annum, left by John Foster, in 1640; five acres of land, purchased with £100, left by William Jackson, and now let for £7, half of which is distributed among the poor in bread and money at Christmas, and half to a Schoolmaster for teaching 5 poor boys or girls to read; two acres, purchased with £36, and now let for £6 a year, which provides bread for the poor, distributed every Sunday; an ancient yearly rent charge of 5s. out of land at Dishforth, the property of Francis Barroby; and the interest of £20 benefaction money,

partly given in bread and partly in providing for the education of another child, of which sum £10 was the bequest of Isabel Jackson.

The endowment of the cure of Raskelfe has been twice augmented, viz. in 1744 and 1765, by grants of £200 on each occasion from the governors of Queen Anne's Bounty, laid out in the purchase of land.

The glebe-house, which was returned in 1818 and 1834 as "only a small cottage unfit for residence," has since been rebuilt, and occupies a situation near the church, commanding a complete view of the village, which few now surpass in neatness and general appearance, of respectability and comfort.

From the Parliamentary survey already quoted (1651—1654,) it appears that "the Bishop of Chester, on the 16th of May, 16 Car. I. (1640) did demise, to Sir Roger Jaques, Knight, one messuage called the Archdeacon's house, with its appurtenances, and two oxgangs of land in Raskelfe, within the parish of Easingwold, and all the tithe of corn and hay arising within Raskelfe and Boascow grange, for three lives, viz. William, John, and Eliz. Jaques, all living and in health, paying at Martinmas and Pentecost, by equal portions, £11, to the said Bishop." This was the valuation, as we have seen, at the time when the curious extent was taken (v. p. 74.) which Gale dates about 1317; but it was now stated to be "worth, upon the rack, £100 per annum. Sir Roger Jaques however was a Royalist, and had fallen under the displeasure of the ruling powers; for the survey further informs us that his estate was sequestered and surrendered, and "the whole granted by him, upon his composition at Goldsmith's Hall, in trust to Aldermen and others, for the maintenance of the Ministers of Raskelfe and Thirsk." The great tithes are now leased to Sir George Wombwell, Bart.

The three farms called Boscow Grange, claim to be exempt from highway-rates, and from tolls at Easingwold and Thirsk, and pay suit and service, not at the manor court of Raskelfe, but that of the Abp. of York, held at Sutton-underWhitestonecliffe, of whom the property is held on lease. In other respects they conform to the general arrangements civil and ecclesiastical of the Township. This is doubtless the

"Baskaa Grangia," valued at £9, among the possessions of Byland Abbey, in a computus of the time of Henry VIII. preserved in the Augmentation office, and stated to have been given to the Abbey, by Henry de Neville, with pasture for 300 sheep, 10 oxen, 10 cows with their calves, and 30 hogs, without pannage, the grant being confirmed by Ralph de Neville, Lord of Raby, and Sir Robert de Neville, Lord of the manor of Raskelfe. No date is assigned to this grant by Dugdale, and the names are of frequent occurrence in the Neville pedigree, but the double confirmation seems to fix it to the time of Sir Robert Neville, the Peacock of the north, (temp. Edw. III.) who had the chief rule over the lands of the family in the life time of his father Ralph, and who had an uncle Henry, in all probability the grantor of this property to Byland Abbey, on the dissolution of which it was transferred, with several other monastic possessions in the neighbourhood, to the see of York.

We must not leave Raskelfe without noticing the fine old Oak in a field near Spring-house, one of the few survivors of the "deafforestation," which the neighbourhood long since underwent, and which left it, though by no means destitute of wood, undistinguished in general by timber of very large or early growth.

There are also two venerable Thorns in the church-yard.
The Wesleyans have a Chapel here, built in 1835.

The Township contains 3550 acres of land, mostly the property of W. F. Webb, Esq., the lord of the manor. The land is well cultivated, and the river Kyle passes through the estate, and supplies a large corn-mill, now occupied by Mr. James Armstrong. The Pilmoor and Lundmoor containing about 900 acres, were inclosed in 1836. The Rev. Thomas Hartley, B. A. is incumbent. The York and Newcastle Railway passes within half a mile of the village. Population 477.