A Brief History of Crayke : Other points of historical interest

It was not until 1844 that Crayke was formally transferred from the control of County Durham to the North Riding of Yorkshire [32].  Prior to this date the village formed an anomalous area of exempt jurisdiction which was not liable for North Riding rates.  

Crayke castle, church, rectory, school, hall and manor house all are referred to above.  The manor house, located outside the village on the Brandsby road, was formerly known as Wyndham Hall after an earlier owner and contains some Elizabethan (1558-1603) features [1].  A stud-built (exposed timber frame) house which stood high on the village green until its demolition in c. 1936 bore the inscription ‘May14 1613 Thos Johnson’ cut into its door lintel [12].  A house of similar date still stands on the south side of West Way, across the road from the old Victorian school house.  A stone of unknown origin bearing the monogram IHS in characters of the 14th century is built into the wall of the former Wesleyan chapel at the bottom of the village green, near the stone-capped well.  A photograph from 1850 shows the well still in use and also a prominent public house sign on the green on the uphill side of the entrance to Key Lane, showing the location of a pub other than the Durham Ox.  A building which was once a small Roman Catholic church stands at the lower end of Key Lane. 

The present road to Easingwold did not exist in 1840, the tithe map [33] showing a sharp left turn of the road at the half-way farm, the route then, as now, making a circuit back to Crayke via the Stillington road.  The way to Easingwold then was by the Oulston road, taking the third turning left out of Crayke, into Easingwold via Claypenny.  Several chalybeate springs, once thought to have curative properties, exist in several places at the foot of Crayke hill and the village abounds in old draw-wells, some of which are more than 140 ft deep [1].