St James' Chapel

There is no mention of a church or chapel at Spaldington in the Domesday Book of 1086.  

Reference to a church appears in a charter made during the reign of Henry II (1154-1189), granting land in Spaldington to the Nuns of Ormsby Priory.  The grant was made by William, son of Gerard of Spaldington, whose daughter, Hawisa, was a Nun at the Priory.  In return, the Nuns were to pray "for the safety of my soul and the souls of my father and mother and of all our ancestors and of all faithful people".

There are many fields mentioned within the charter, including Gosholmmor, which may equate to Goose Holmes field, the name of which occurs in the 1725 survey of Spaldington and the tithe map of 1849 and is situated on the western side of the road leading to Gribthorpe.  However, the reference to a church, "... and upon the way to the church towards the north", may refer to the church at Bubwith, especially as the chapel at Spaldington is south of Goose Holmes.

Other fields referred to in this charter are:  Syinestibusc; Relandes; Calmaremor; Sinderlandes, Rederic; Sudestesengdailes (South East Ing Dales, perhaps?); Berewic; Lanwellehilles; Westredaile in West(re)broc; Bonnelandes; Wandaile at Berewyk.  However, we have so far been unable to locate these fields.  Mention is also made of the Fulne/ Fulna (presumably the Foulness River?).

The first definite reference that we have to an ecclesiastical building existing in the village occurs in 1310, when a licence was granted to Roger of Spaldington to have divine service celebrated in an oratory in his manor of Spaldington.  The reason for this was given as being due to the distance of the village from the parish church - this probably referred to the church at Bubwith.      

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, an “oratory signifies a place of prayer…(and) technically means a structure other than a parish church set aside by ecclesiastical authority for prayer and the celebration of Mass.”  Nicholas Orme, in his excellent book 'Going to Church in Medieval England', defines the term 'oratory' as a place for private prayer, which may have been unconsecrated. He acknowledges, however, that licences were granted in the later Middle Ages for portable altars and for masses to be said in oratories - it seems that this may have been the intention of Roger of Spaldington - to be able to consecrate his chapel and celebrate masses therein.

Pounds defines an oratory or private chapel as being ‘for the devotions of a family or other small group’, whereas a chantry was a chapel reserved for Masses for a specific purpose, usually ‘the repose of the souls of its founder and his family’. Chantry chapels could be present within another chapel structure and it is possible that some private chapels were effectively chantries.   [1] 

All of the above suggest that the chapel building was already there in 1310, but was unconsecrated, being used only for private prayer.  Roger was applying for a licence so that Mass, etc., could be said in the building.  Once a licence had been agreed, this effectively meant that it had been consecrated and then any services (not baptisms, marriages or burials) could be held in there, perhaps?

Thirty-five years later, in 1345, Peter de la Haye left 10 shillings in his will to mend his chapel.  At the time this would have paid a skilled tradesman to work for 25 days, thus suggesting that the chapel might have been quite ancient and therefore in need of repair by this time.  

In 1426 the villagers of Aughton and Bubwith petitioned Pope Martin V for permission to worship in the chapel at Spaldington at times of inclement weather, when they were unable to worship in their own church.  They were supported in this petition by another Peter de la Haye - possibly a descendent of the previous Peter.  Maybe he lived in Aughton or Bubwith, or maybe he was just agreeing to his chapel in Spaldington being used in this way.  It is interesting to note that, in the petition, the chapel of St. James is referred to as being 'old founded and dedicated'.  

Richard Blanshard, a farmer of Spaldington, left several bequests to the chapels of Spaldington and Willitoft in his will of 1486.  If, as has been suggested elsewhere, the chapel was solely for the use of the Lord of the Manor and his family, why would a local farmer leave a bequest to a chapel in which he has never been able to worship?  This suggests that the chapel was the centre of worship for the village of Spaldington and not just for the Lord of the Manor. 

The Dissolution of the Chantries took place in 1548.  At this time, the chapel was valued at £4.13s.4d. per annum. 

By the time of the Third Act of Uniformity in 1559, life would have become much more difficult for the Vavasours of Spaldington - and for all other recusant Catholic worshippers. The Act imposed a fine of 12d on people who refused to attend Anglican worship at their parish church and banned the celebration of Catholic mass.  It seems possible that, around this time, a chapel may have been secreted within the manor house of the Vavasour family, to enable them to continue to worship.  It is interesting that, according to J.S. Fletcher in 'A Picturesque History of Yorkshire', the Vavasour chapel at Hazlewood Castle is said to be the only one in which mass was permitted to be celebrated during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, who exempted it from the general order because of her fondness for the Vavasour family.  However, this relaxation of the rules doesn't seem to have extended to the Vavasour family of Spaldington.

1.  https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/parish-and-the-chapel-in-medieval-britain-and-norway/private-chapels/7C2A7171E65F438B20F7BF1AC331EF48