Storwood, Ros Family, & Hall Hills Hall

The Hall of Hall Hills was the mediaeval Ros manor house at Storwood, home of Ralph de Mortimer from 1086, remaining in the family until 1425. The site, at the south end of the hamlet, is still surrounded by a prominent moat and was one of the manors of Robert de Ros, Magna Carta baron signatory in 1215. The manor was described as ruinous by 1343 but may have been reconstituted with a chapel, for in 1414 Beatrice de Ros left £20 for a chaplain to celebrate mass in Storwood chapel.

Hall Hills is located in the hamlet of Storwood, in the parish of East Cottingwith,¹ approximately 6 miles south-west of Pocklington, and lies south of the B1228 on the south bank of the Pocklington Canal. The name Storwood derives from the Old Norse storðþveit meaning either ‘plantation clearing’ or ‘brushwood clearing.’² Documented since 1086 in the Domesday Book, the history of this hamlet belies its size.

The moat and building platform have been labeled on maps as Hall Hills and the site of a Hall, hence Hall Hills Hall. The hamlet of Storwood, formerly Storthwaite, Stothwood, and various other spellings, has been documented as far back as the Domesday Book in 1086 as the vill of ‘Chetelstorp’⁴, although the name as we know it begins in the 12th Century. The presumed manorial complex was likely constructed in the late 11th Century or early 12th Century on dry ground overlooking the river Derwent with extensive Norman water engineering.

In medieval times, the River Derwent and its flood plains would have aligned with the extensive earthworks and water management systems. However the path of the river Derwent⁶ was diverted away from Storwood in 1702 to allow for ease of navigation and the Pocklington Canal cut through the lower earthworks of Hall Hills, 1816-1818⁷. The closest River Derwent crossing was a ferry service from East Cottingwith to West Cottingwith recorded as early as 1706⁸ shortly after the river course was changed.

Reasons for Designation

Historic England⁹ states ~6,000 moated sites are known in England, the majority built between 1250-1350 in central and eastern parts of England. Despite limited disturbance to this moat’s drainage channels, the Hall Hills site south of White House survives well. The island is unencumbered by modern building and will retain evidence of the buildings which occupied it:

A large moated site to the south of the village of Storwood; it is situated on ground above the Pocklington Canal and the old course of the River Derwent. It includes a sub-rectangular island 90m long, north-south, and 70m wide, east-west, which is defined by a dry moat which is between 10m and 25m wide and between 1.5m and 3m deep.

Immediately external to the northern and eastern arms of the moat there is an earthen bank 7m wide and up to 1.5m high. An earthen bank is also visible immediately external to the moat’s western arm; it is between 5m and 9m wide and is up to 1m high. Water-management features extend from the south-western and north-western corners of the moat, both features are overflow channels designed to carry water from the moat to the river course. Excess water was carried away by these two channels which ran off to the west from the moat’s western arm. The channel which runs from the north-west corner is 10m wide and up to 2m deep. Where this channel connects with the moat it has been partially dammed with an earth bank; the 2m wide gap in this dam would have held wooden sluices to control the water.

There are flanking earthen banks 5m wide and up to 1m high immediately external to the drainage channels. The features at the south-western corner are more complex than those to the north. Here the western arm of the moat has been subdivided by an earthen bank 15m long, 4m wide and 0.5m high. This connects with a large bank 6m wide and 5m long which extends into the moat from the west and which is believed to have been a bridge platform affording access to the island.

Close to the bridge platform there is a 1m wide break in the dividing earthen bank which would have held wooden sluice gates. The section of the moat to the west of the dividing bank connects with a heavily silted channel between 8m and 10m wide and up to 0.5m deep which runs westwards toward the old river course. Both drainage channels have been truncated to the west by works associated with the construction of the Pocklington canal. A heavily silted channel 0.3m wide and 0.15m deep runs into the southern arm of the moat; this channel is interpreted as a post-medieval field drain as it connects to other drainage features and boundary ditches.

The monument is believed to have belonged to the De Roos family who built Helmsley Castle and held property right across Yorkshire.

The aerial view is clearer when viewed from an angle in the Inner Visions Aerial Photography in the centre top of the close-up photograph below as opposed to the standard satellite imagery of Apple Maps.

Moated site and water-management features south of White House, Scheduled Monument 1007974, 22 July 1964, Historic England¹⁰

The location of the manor house complex has changed over time. The initial Hall Hills location was supplanted by Melbourne Hall by 1790 but despite the construction of Storwood Manor in the late 19th Century, the center of the estate did not return to Storwood. The open questions remain about when the original Hall Hills Hall was abandoned and stripped of any remaining building materials? 1343 when the manor was described as ruinous? 1690 when John Bradley lived in Storwood, but not in the manorial complex?

The LIDAR clearly shows the faint traces of medieval ridge and furrow plowing in the parallel lines on the earthworks and surrounding lands. Hopefully the medieval plowing has not disturbed the underlying archaeology. The presence of ridge and furrow plowing does demonstrate the building platform was derelict, cleared of building rubble, and returned to agriculture before the enclosure act of 1772. The land has been pasture for the past 50 years and I have no knowledge of the land being sloughed in modern times.

Historic Timeline

The following timeline has been extracted from Pocklington History, the Hemingbrough Chapter and the Thornton chapter of A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 3, Ouse and Derwent Wapentake, and Part of Harthill Wapentake. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1976.¹⁴

Year	Owner/Resident	Notes
1066	Eddiva aka Edith the Fair15	6 carucates16 in Melbourne and another carucate in ‘Chetelstorp’ aka Storwood
1086	Ralph de Mortimer	The 6-carucate estate in Thornton which Eddiva held in 1066 had passed to Ralph de Mortimer by 1086, and its overlordship remained with the Mortimers until 1425.
~1150		Warter Priory (1132-1536) had a hermitage17 at Storwood in the 12th century
1215	Robert de Ros	Robert de Ros held land in Melbourne and Storwood in the early 13th century by a Vescy grant. Magna Carta baron, Robert de Ros, who had deep local roots. His mother, Rohese Trussebut, was born at Warter, and the Trussebuts were long standing owners of Warter and the founders of Warter Priory. De Ros inherited the Trussebut estates from his grandfather and had a manor house at Storwood.18
1243	William de Ros	Robert de Ros’ son William had a knight’s fee there and elsewhere in 1243
~1275	Vescy Family	The Vescy family were mesne lords19 in the late 13th century.
1285	Robert de Ros	At William de Ros death c. 1285 William’s son Robert held STORWOOD manor, and the estate, comprising 6 carucates in Melbourne and Storwood in 1289-90. The Ros manor-house at Storwood was mentioned in 1285. By the 13th century much land in the townships of Melbourne and Storwood had been reclaimed, although extensive wastes remained. In 1285 the value of the manor, about £28, was equally divided between Storwood and Melbourne. As well as the manor-house and park, valued at £3 10s. a year, there were 80 a. of arable land in demesne at Storwood, and a turbary20 worth,£6 13s. 4d. Twelve cottagers, who had fishing rights, paid over £1 in rents. There were also 12 a. of meadow, presumably in demesne, and a mill. The turbary lay in the waste already known as Landrikmose.
1327	John de Ros	A large part of the Turnham family’s estate in the township was separate from Cliffe manor, known as the manor of Turnham Hall. It was conveyed by Eleanor de Mauley, along with her half of Cliffe Manor, to Hugh Despenser in 1323, but the Despensers’ estates were confiscated by the Crown in 1326 and the manor was granted to John de Ros in 1327. It descended like Storwood until shortly before the death of William Cecil, Lord Ros, in 1618.21
1343	William, Lord Ros	Margery, widow of William, Lord Ros (d. 1343), held the manor as dower until her death in 1363. The Ros manor-house at Storwood was described as ruinous in 1343.
1343-1363	Margery De Ros	Margery, widow of William, Lord Ros (d. 1343), held the manor as dower until her death in 1363. In 1343 The manor was worth about £30. The demesne comprised 80 a. of poor land, 14 a. of meadow, 12 a of poor-quality meadow called Oddland ing, and a close at Melbourne. The park was valued for herbage and there was a small wood. The herbage and turves of the moor were worth £5, unless there was flooding, and a fishery ‘in the marsh’ produced 6d. in summer. At Storwood the tenantsat-will owed about £1 15s. Court profits were only 3s. 4d. because of the tenants’ poverty.
1384 – 1415	Thomas, Lord Ros & Beatrice	Thomas, Lord Ros (d. 1384), held the estate jointly with his wife Beatrice, who died seised of it in 1415. The manorial complex may have contained a chapel, for in 1414 Beatrice de Ros left £20 for a chaplain to celebrate mass in Storwood chapel.
1421		The manor was valued at about, £38 a year in 1421. In addition to the turbary and the park, which were worth £15 a year, there were 80 a. of arable and 80 a. of meadow in demesne; the rents of free tenants amounted to £1 10s. and those of 20 tenants-at-will to £10.
1425	Richard, Duke of York	Mortimer family held land 1086-1425 when the family’s earldom of March passed to Richard, Duke of York.
1461	Edward, Earl of March	The earldom was united with the Crown on the accession of Edward, earl of March, in 1461.
1468	Ralph, Lord Greystoke	After Thomas, Lord Ros’s attainder in 1461 the manor was granted for life to Ralph, Lord Greystoke, in 1468.
1468	Richard, Lord Ros	It may have been briefly regained that year, when it was settled on Thomas, Lord Ros’ son Richard.
1485	Edmund de Ros	Edmund de Ros was restored on Henry VII’s accession and defeat of King Richard III (formerly Duke of York)
1508	Sir George Manners	Edmund de Ros’ sister Eleanor married Sir Robert Manners and at Edmund’s death in 1508 the manor passed to her son Sir George Manners.
~1550		The manor was worth £55 a year in the mid 16th century. There were 4 bylawmen for Melbourne in the 16th century, and 2 bylawmen, 2 constables, and 2 aletasters22 for Storwood.
1591 – 1618	William Cecil, Lord Ros	The Manners family, earls of Rutland, held it until the death of Elizabeth Manners in 1591, when her heir was her son William Cecil, Lord Ros.
1618	Sir Richard Cecil	Cecil, Lord Ros, died in 1618 and his uncle and heir Sir Richard Cecil sold the manor to Sir Peter Chapman in 1620.
1620	Sir Peter Chapman	Sir Richard Cecil sold the manor to Sir Peter Chapman in 1620.
1622	King James VI	The overlordship by the Crown was last mentioned in 1622. In 1622 the manor of Storwood and Melbourne comprised 410 a. of arable, 236 a. of meadow land, 920 a. of pasture, and 400 a. of waste. Little is known of the open fields at Storwood but ridge-and-furrow exists around the hamlet.
1622	John Bradley	Sir Peter Chapman died seised of the manor of Storwood and Melbourne in 1622, leaving as coheirs John Bradley, William Blanshard, and Elizabeth Robinson, his nephews and niece. Blanshard and Elizabeth Robinson confirmed their purparties to Bradley whose son Peter later married an Elizabeth Robinson. In 1639 John Bradley was living at Storwood, though apparently not in the manor-house.
~1650		There were common ings and carrs in the township alongside the Beck and a considerable area of waste in Landrikmose, which was usually called West moor or Ross moor, after the seigneurial family, in the 17th and 18th centuries.  The turbary was still exploited by the lord in the 17th century, when every husbandman in Melbourne and Storwood was bound to render him a load of turves or 1s.  In 1252 Thornton vicarage was endowed with the small tithes — Those in Melbourne were valued at £3 a year in 1650. Melbourne and Storwood had 11 recusants (non-Conformists) in 1664.
~1650		Sir Charles Bolle and John Bowles were involved in Bradley-Robinson settlements of the mid 17th century
1684		In 1684, an annual composition of £20 was paid for the small tithes and fees in Thornton, Melbourne, and Storwood.
1727	John Bolle	The terms of another John Bolle’s will, dated 1727, that the manor passed to his niece Margaret Spencer and her husband William in 1735. The park, which probably lay to the east of the manorhouse on ground now called the Parks, was described as a close in 1727
1735	Margaret Spencer & William	The terms of another John Bolle’s will, dated 1727, that the manor passed to his niece Margaret Spencer and her husband William in 1735.
1761	John Stephenson	John Stephenson acquired an interest in the property in 1738 although it was not until 1761 that William Spencer released his remaining rights.
1775	Elizabeth Danser	Sarah Stephenson devised the manor in 1775 to her cousin Elizabeth Danser, who had succeeded by the following year. John and Elizabeth Danser received 1,045 a. for their land and manorial rights in the waste.
1776		1776 the manorial estate in Storwood consisted of 55 a. in nine closes, besides 9 a. in the carrs.
1782		Apart from the lord of the manor there were 22 proprietors in the township in 1782 holding 643 a. of old-inclosed land. At inclosure in 1782 the Thornton vicar was awarded 62 a. and rent-charges of 15s. in Melbourne and £8 18s. in Storwood in lieu of tithes.
1786	John Walker	Elizabeth Danser sold it to John Walker in 1786.
1790		By the late 18th century, however, the manor-house had been moved to Melbourne. Melbourne Hall was built soon after the inclosure of 1782; by 1790 the manorial estate included the ‘lately erected’ house and its gardens, as well as an adjacent piece of East moor planted with trees and presumably emparked. There was much woodland in Melbourne and Storwood following the 1782 inclosure; by 1790 part of East moor had been planted with trees.
1793	Sir Henry Vavasour	The estate was briefly divided by sales to Barnard Clarkson and Thomas Whitaker in 1790, but was reunited when Henry Vavasour bought the parts in 1793 and 1797. Sir Henry Vavasour of Melbourne was a leading promoter of the Pocklington canal, which was constructed in 1816-18 alongside the entire length of the Beck in Thornton, Melbourne, and Storwood.
1850	James Christie	Henry Vavasour’s grandson Sir H. M. Vavasour sold the manor in 1850 to James Christie. In 1844 the rectorial estate was vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who sold all 233 acres in Melbourne to James Christie in 1854
1890	Walter Cliff	In 1890 the manor, Melbourne Hall, and over 1,900 acres were sold to Walter Cliff. By the mid 19th century St. Peter’s School, York, had an estate at Melbourne which was intermingled and administered with that of the chapter. The school’s 70-acre estate was sold in 1904 to Walter Cliff.
~1900		In the 19th and early 20th centuries there were 6-10 farmers at Storwood, only one with over 150 acres. In 1905, at Storwood there were about 509 a. each of arable and grassland, and 52 a. of woodland.
1920	Charles Bedwell	Charles Bedwell bought the estate from Cliff’s executors in 1920.
1926		The Bromborough Estate Co. bought the manor and about 1,400 a. in 1926, but disposed of most of the estate in separate lots in the 1950s and 1960s.
1930		In the 1930s and later the parish had roughly equal amounts of arable and grassland, with the former predominant in the east and grassland in the west alongside the Beck and on the former Ross moor.
1935		Storwood merged with the Parish of Cottingwith

Ordnance Survey Maps

Maps of Storwood over time from the National Library of Scotland, 1771-1952:

Footnotes

1. East Cottingwith, Wikipedia.org ↩︎
2. Storwood, Wikipedia.org ↩︎
3. Storwood in the wide context of York and Pocklington, Apple Maps ©2026 ↩︎
4. The vill of ‘Chetelstorp’, Thornton, A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 3, Ouse and Derwent Wapentake, and Part of Harthill Wapentake, British History Online ↩︎
5. Yorkshire Sheet 192, Surveyed: 1850 to 1851, Published: 1854, Six-inch to one mile, maps.NLS.uk ↩︎
6. River Derwent, Yorkshire, Wikipedia.org ↩︎
7. Sir Henry Vavasour of Melbourne was a leading promoter of the Pocklington canal, which was constructed in 1816-18, Thornton, A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 3, Ouse and Derwent Wapentake, and Part of Harthill Wapentake, British History Online ↩︎
8. Thorganby – a quick look back in time, Village History, Thorganby Parish Council ↩︎
9. Moated site and water-management features south of White House, Storwood, Scheduled Monument, Historic England ↩︎
10. Moated site and water-management features south of White House, Official List Entry 1007974, Historic England ↩︎
11. Storwood, York, East Riding of Yorkshire, Apple Maps ©2026 ↩︎
12. 1844 map of Storwood and Hall Hills by Hobson, William Colling.; J. & C. Walker. maps.NLS.uk ↩︎
13. Airbourne Laser Scanning preview – Composite 1m Digital Terrain Model© Environment Agency copyright and/or database right, Enfield Archeological Society ↩︎
14. Thornton, A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 3, Ouse and Derwent Wapentake, and Part of Harthill Wapentake. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1976. British History Online ↩︎
15. Eddeva aka Edith the Fair (1025-1086), Wikipedia.org ↩︎
16. Carucate, Wikipedia.org ↩︎
17. Hermitage, Wikipedia.org ↩︎
18. Robert de Ros, Magna Carta links to Pocklington, by Phil Gilbank, Pocklington Post, 2nd July 2015. Pocklington History ↩︎
19. Mesne Lord, Wikipedia.org ↩︎
20. Turbary, Wikipedia.org ↩︎
21. Manors & Other Estates, Hemingbrough: Cliffe with Lund, A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 3, Ouse and Derwent Wapentake, and Part of Harthill Wapentake. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1976. British History Online ↩︎
22. Ale-Tasters, Wiktionary ↩︎
23. 1771 The County of York, by Jefferys, Thomas, maps.NLS.uk ↩︎
24. 1862 Sheet XCIII SE York, England and Wales, One-inch to the mile, Old Series, 1801-1869, maps.NLS.uk ↩︎
25. 1892 Yorkshire CXCII.11, OS 25 inch England and Wales, 1841-1952, maps.NLS.uk ↩︎
26. 1898 Sheet 71 – Selby, One-Inch, England and Wales, 1872-1914, maps.NLS.uk ↩︎
27. 1908 Sheet 27 – York, One-inch England and Wales, 3rd ed., Large Sheet Series, 1906-1917, maps.NLS.uk ↩︎
28. 1910 Yorkshire CXCII.SE OS Six-inch England and Wales, 1842-1952, maps.NLS.uk ↩︎
29. 1910 Yorkshire CXCII.11 OS 25 inch England and Wales, 1841-1952, maps.NLS.uk ↩︎
30. 1919 York District (District map) One-inch “Popular” edition, England and Wales, 1919-1926, maps.NLS.uk ↩︎
31. 1952 Yorkshire Sheet CXCII.SE OS Six-inch England and Wales, 1842-1952, maps.NLS.uk ↩︎

References

• GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Storwood, in East Riding of Yorkshire and East Riding | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time
• A P Baggs, G H R Kent, J D Purdy, ‘Thornton’, in A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 3, Ouse and Derwent Wapentake, and Part of Harthill Wapentake, ed. K J Allison (London, 1976), British History Online
• A P Baggs, G H R Kent, J D Purdy, ‘Harthill Wapentake’, in A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 3, Ouse and Derwent Wapentake, and Part of Harthill Wapentake, ed. K J Allison (London, 1976), British History Online
• Magna Carta baron, Robert de Ros, Manor House at Storwood, Pocklington History
• ‘Hall Hills Hall’ Earthworks of Ros Manor-House, Storwood, Gatehouse
• 1396 Bridge over River Derwent at Sutton upon Derwent, Yorkshire, Wikipedia.org
• Hagg Bridge, Grade II Listed Building, Historic England
• Pocklington Canal, Wikipedia
• 1840 -1909 Directory Entries, Storwood, Pocklington History
• A short history of the parish, East Cottingwith & Storwood Council, East Cottingwith Parish Council
• A short history of the parish, East Cottingwith & Storwood Council, East Cottingwith PC.Gov
• Storwood Grange, Grade II Listed Building, Historic England
• Chetelstorp, Open Domesday.org
• Moated site and water-management features south of White House, Storwood, Scheduled Monument, Historic England
• The County of York, surveyed in 1767, Thomas Jefferys, Maps.NLS.uk
• Greenwood, C., Bingley, J., Teesdale, H., Map of Yorkshire, 1828, Maps.NLS.uk
• Map of Storwood, East Riding of Yorkshire, c1900, maps.NLS.uk
• Medieval moated site surviving as an earthwork, possibly the site of the fortified manor house, Monument Number 59509, Historic England Research Records, Heritage Gateway
• Maps of the East Riding of Yorkshire 1673-1898, Hull History Center
• Monument record MYO5112 – River Derwent Navigation, York Historic Environment Record