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DILAPIDATIONS AT HIGH HOYLAND 1695
When Henry Bubwith died in 1688 he was succeeded as rector of the first half of the rectory by John Brooke,
the wealthy incumbent of Dodworth. In those days there was no provision for a dilapidations fund to cover repairs to the parsonage house and chancels of churches; so the rector had to meet the cost of repairs
from his income.
When a rector died before reaching retirement, his executors were taken to court to recover any dilapidation
dues which were outstanding. This only happened once in the history of this parish. It was John Brooke who attempted to collect such dues from the estate of Henry Bubwith.
John Brooke stated that the chancel of the church, the house and outbuildings were in bad repair. High
Hoyland church was a much larger building then than it is now; the chancel was large enough to accommodate several family pews. The cost of repairing this large church was shared between the two rectors.
Brooke called in three stone-masons and a carpenter to report upon the fabric. These were Nicholas
Wildsmith of Bretton, Robert Wade of Dodworth, John Webb of Woolley, all stone-masons and George Harrison, the carpenter from Dodworth. These all agreed that the chancel and other buildings were in a bad state
of repair, especially; "the northern half of the Chancel with half a certain gable end adjoining the north part of the parsonage house with barns and outbuildings."
The estimated cost for repairs was £33 (about £3,000 by todays standards - 1970's).
The executrix for the estate of Henry Bubwith was Judith Womersley. She produced a variety of witnesses
to state her case that no major repairs were necessary:
Robert Moore, farmer, said that Bubwith had spent £27 on rebuilding parts of the rectory; John Worral,
shoemaker, said fifteen shillings would cover the cost of repairs; George Holden, farmer, aged 57 stated that competent workmen in High Hoyland would repair the buildings for fifteen shillings; Thomas Hardcastle,
carpenter of High Hoyland said that fifteen shillings was sufficient; he added that the buildings were in a better condition now than when Henry Bubwith came in 1662. Thomas Oxley soapmaker, agreed with this
statement. John Kippax the mason was more cautious' and quoted £10 as a reasonable figure for repairs.
Judith Womersley held that the stipend of the rectory was sufficient for all repairs. She believed that
John Brooke had contrived with others to make an excessive estimate. £33 was a ridiculously high sum, she contended, and she left, instead, 30/- with the court at York to cover repairs and legal costs.
Thus, John Brooke lost his claim -and the hope of making easy money.
Within 20 years, however, the building suffered such great damage through storm that it took nearly four
years to put it right.
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