To download the Hylton Family Pedigree please click here (note: large file, requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

As in many family names, changes in the spelling can alter and whether this arises through the different pronunciations by people, bearing in mind that even in nearby localities dialects differ, or it could be that those who compile official records were responsible. One can only guess, bearing in mind that different languages as well as local dialects were used at that period of time. However, the family name until more recent centuries could have been spelt as Hilton or Hylton. Throughout these passages either spelling may be used and may often depend on which writers or historical documents one looks at. Whilst the common spelling for the castle has for a considerable length of time has been with the use of the ‘y’ we know that many of the family descendants do spell their name with an ‘i’ rather than ‘y’. That the spelling may differ does not detract from facts that show all are from the same bloodline.

The first mention of the family other than that passed down by word of mouth was that in 924 A.D. when an Adam of Hilton presented to the monastery of Hartlepool a silver crucifix weighing 25 ounces that was engraved with his coat of arms. However, this crucifix no longer exists.

According to the Rev. William Proctor Swaby M.A.’s ‘A Short History of the Castle, Family and Estates of the Hiltons of Hilton Castle’, a letter dated 14th January 1740 and found in the possession of the last Baron John of Hilton, was printed in Randall’s MS. In it the writer says that papers he has in his possession related to the Hilton family and may well be his property. The letter then goes on to give a synopsis of the early family history of the Hiltons according to the author.
It starts with the surmise that in the reign of Athelstane and three hundred years before the Conquest the family of Hiltons settled in England and uses as evidence the inscription on the crucifix in the Hartlepool monastery, and that when William the Conqueror came over, Launcelot de Hilton along with his two sons, joined him, but shortly afterwards Launcelot was slain at Faversham in Kent. Henry the eldest son was given a large estate on the banks of the River Wear not far from Wearmouth as a reward for their valour. Henry Hilton built Hilton Castle on 1072 A.D. and was one of four deputies who had a treaty with the King concerning the four northern counties and was killed soon after in Normandy whilst serving the prince.

It was from Edward III who reigned from 1327 until 1377, that John Hilton, who had sent four of his sons to France to fight under the banner of the Black Prince, first received the title of Baron of Hilton Castle in recognition of his defence of it against the Scots invasion and this peerage remained in the family until it was taken away due to ‘some unguarded words, of which the Bishop of Durham gave information to the court, which William the seventh, last baron, spoke against the queen and her favourite De la Poole.’ Upon the Baron’s death the court gave the estate to the Bishop who had informed on William and who held on to it for some time to the exclusion of the rightful heir. In time however, the castle and part of the estate was returned to the grandson of William who was named Launcelot, but certain conditions were imposed upon the family. The writer concludes with a list of Hiltons who had died in a violent manner.

The castle referred to as being built in 1072 would have been the original wooden building that served the Hilton family until Sir William Hilton, sometime within the end of the 14th century and within the first ten years of the 15th century, built the present stone castle. This is derived from the stone heraldic display. It was not on actual record whether the other buildings that formed part of the manor were the original wooden structures or were of stone built the same time as the new castle.

In 1157 it was recorded that a knight with the title of Romanus of Hilton held the manor and upon an agreement between the then named Romanus de Hilton, the spelling used on the agreement between him and the Prior of Durham, that he should have an officiating chaplain in the chapel adjoining the manor. As his holdings were recorded in 1166 as being long established it proved that he was not the first in line, but his holdings were not extensive until William, his grandson, married into the Tyson family who held ancestral estates in both Yorkshire and Northumberland and by the time William’s grandson inherited the estates, properties were extensive in Durham County as well as the other counties or shires and as the family prospered the unusual title of baron was acquired. The title, Barons of the Bishopric was given to principle landowners who attended the Bishop’s Court in Durham.

The first use of the title baron was by Alexander, the son of Romanus Hilton. For some reason the description of baron became a title gaining full recognition when used outside the Palatinate. At the end of the thirteenth century this applied to Sir Robert Hilton when, from 1295 to 1297, he attended Parliament.

The Palatinate is territory held under the jurisdiction of the Bishop who holds the authority that elsewhere belongs to the sovereign, and it was not until the reign of the Tudors that this was taken away. Now the Bishop of Durham’s power was absolute and he had his own judges, council, courts, army vassals and even his own mint. When he created his own Barons of the Bishopric he first chose the Prior of Durham then his second choice was Hilton. There were greater families in Durham, but they were Barons of the Realm and were known as such throughout the country, but the importance of the Hilton family within the county was recognised.

The line of Hilton, or Hylton, continued until we reach 1374 when Sir William Hilton, at the age of twenty-one, succeeded to the barony upon the death of his father. It was he who built the present stone Hylton Castle somewhere between the end of the fourteenth century and within the first ten years of the fifteenth, this being based on the stone heraldic display featured on the west front entrance. According to folklore the badge of the Hilton family displayed on the eastern side of the castle consists of a roebuck, collared with a coronet and chained, the story being that the Hiltons, following the battle of following the battle of Hastings, realising how useless it would be to defy William the Conqueror, decided to submit so father and son travelled south to meet the king. They presented him with a roebuck from their estates in the north. The animal was chained to show that they were not free, collared to show they were under the yoke and crowned to show they were still noble and had not lost all their freedom. Sir William Hilton died in 1435, but the family retained its wealth and ranking with Hilton Castle its principle residence throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

In the first part of the 17th century it was known that another William Hilton put to sail in the “Fortune” which was going to America They set sail in July and arrived in Plymouth in the state of Massachusetts, America, in the November 1621 after nearly four months at sea. They rescued the settlers who had sailed on the “Mayflower” the previous year. His wife and children joined William two years later and the family were instrumental in founding two American States.

In 1640, when Baron Henry Hilton, described a being an eccentric, died and in his will left nearly the whole of the Hilton estate to be administered by the Corporation of London for charitable purposes for ninety nine years, causing a legal battle that lasted many years until the estate was finally returned to the family through his nephew, John, on proviso that he not only discharged the conditions of the will but satisfied the claims of the rival contestants. Although John managed to have the payments reduced to one third of their original value and at this rate they were paid annually for the full term this had caused a severe blow to their financial standing and although they were not in poverty neither did they ever gain their former wealth and standing and became what was referred to as being in the ranks of the private gentry.

However, in the first ten years of the 18th century the then Baron, another John, make considerable alterations to the castle by stripping the interior and building a three storied arrangement of rooms that were not in the mould of the original style. Broken-pedimental windows were inserted and a north wing added along with a new entrance in the southern end of this addition. Above it he had his arms joined with his wife, Dorothy Musgrave.

In 1712 the next Baron, again named John, succeeded to the property and prior to his death in 1746 made further alterations, the main one being to build a south wing to match the north wing his father had built. He also made alterations and improved the adjacent St Catherine’s chapel.

In 1746 John Hilton died without leaving a male heir and was the last Baron of Hilton. The estate became the property of his nephew, Sir Richard Musgrave who took the name of Hylton. By 1755 all the property had been sold, being divided into several lots.

This signified the end of the Hilton or Hylton’s relationship with the castle built by their ancestor three hundred and fifty years ago, but not the end of the castle’s history with its continuous additions, alterations, neglect and attempts to restore it to its original concept when first built.

Mrs Bowes, the widow of George Bowes of Streatlam and Gibside, bought the castle and grounds but there is no record of her taking up residence in the castle and it fell into a serious state of disrepair.

It was in 1812 that Simon Temple leased the castle from the owner and made it both habitable and furnished it in an elegant style. He enhanced the appearance of the chapel and it was again used for public worship, also parts of the garden and grounds were cultivated. Unfortunately he was not able to complete his rescue work due to business failures.

In 1819 a Thomas Wade lived in the castle and later, part of it was occupied by a Mr McLaren described as a farmer.

A book by Alan Brett shows an advert for Hylton Castle Boarding School taken from the Newcastle Courant of the 10th July 1840. In it a Rev. John Wood LL.D states that the Hylton Castle Boarding School would open on Monday, 20th July 1840. The 1841 Census records that a John Wood, his wife and their six children lived in the castle along with their boarders, three male teachers, twenty-two male students, a governess and four girl pupils. It was claimed that Joseph Swan was the most famous pupil who attended this school. No reason is given as to the demise of the use as a boarding school. A possibility being that the property was sold and the Rev. John Wood and family moved on.

The next owner of the castle was William Briggs, a local timber merchant, ship builder and owner, bought the castle and in 1863 demolished both the 18th century wings that had been added and like a previous owner gutted the inside but retained the single story pavilions on the east side. His intention was to restore the castle to they way he visualised it in its former glory. Upon his death, his son, Colonel Charles James Briggs of the Durham Light Infantry inherited the castle. It then passed into the hands of the Wearmouth Coal Company and from there into the occupation by the National Coal Board. In 1950 the Ministry of Works took on the ownership of the castle and chapel and who, according to Mr A Gibbon, appointed a full time custodian, replaced the missing lead that had been stolen from the roof with roofing felt making the castle waterproof. He pointed out that during this period, exploratory work and first aid repairs were being carried out, but that not many workmen could be spared and progress was slow. Photographs of the castle covered with scaffolding during this period shows that this work was being carried out.

An interesting introduction to the book compiled by the Archaeology section of Tyne and Wear Museums, dated December 1993, made reference to two descriptions given by early antiquarians that summarize the present and past condition of Hylton Castle. (quote)
“The ancient seat of the Hiltons has recently attracted a good deal of attention in the local press. Disquieting reports have been published of the damage caused by thieves who have stripped lead from its roofs, and we have even been warned of a project to take it down, put its disjecta membra aboard ship and re-erect it stone by stone in those United States where we may assume it would be better cared for than in its unappreciative country .......” Honeyman, 1928
“When we have reached the lead covered roof a scene presents itself of which few castles can boast. There are the turrets, with their staircases, and the bold, broad machicolions; even the guard’s room (surmounted the projection its eastern front) remains perfectly entire, and nothing but a few armed men is wanted to complete the picture of by-gone baronial power........” Billings 1846

These two statements, only eighty two years apart, epitomise the rise and fall of Hylton Castle from a grand medieval tower-house to a decaying country seat.

In 1984 English Heritage was set up to protect England’s historic, architectural and archaeological heritage and the responsibility of the castle and chapel passed and remains with them.

HILTON CHAPEL

It remains to mention the Chapel of Hilton.

Thus Robert Surtees, the foremost historian who wrote the extensive “The History of the County of Durham”, recorded the following.

That the records in the Treasury of Durham relative to this little domestic foundation include the earliest authentic evidence of the Hilton family.

In 1157 prior Absalom and the Convent of Durham granted that Romanus the Knight of Helton should have his own officiating Chaplain in his Chapel of Helton. The same Chaplain might receive all the offerings of his Patron’s own house, (excepting, as usual, on the great festivals, when the Baronial family were expected to attend the mother Church,) excepting also that Romanus should pay for every oxp* one thrave* of corn to St Peter of Wearmouth, and that all the tithes and offerings of a certain half carucate* called Trublard’s land, and from the whole lands of Hilton and Risum, (not I presume immediately in the Lord’s own hand) should also belong to the mother Church.

A convention betwixt Prior Germanus and Alexander de Hilton in 1172 confirms the above conditions, and specifies that Trublard’s land consisted of four oxgangs, now in the tenure of Albert, Osbern, Outi and Yvelot. This second Charter is attested by Meldred son of Dolphin, William de Vesci and William, son of Uhtred, the founder of the lumley line. The revenues of the Chapel were thus confined to personal offerings of the Baron and his family. The Patron would however, be naturally inclined

to extend this foundation at the expense of the mother Church, which he would probably attend only when compelled at Easter, Christmas and the Feast of St Peter, the Patron of Wearmouth; and this diversity of interests led to perpetual jealousies and bickering between the Barons of Hilton and the Masters of the Cell of Wearmouth. Some of the grievances, which the Monks sustained at the hand of these very lay and haughty Barons, are represented with so much naiveté in the Conquestus, or petition of wrong, of the Monks of Wearmouth, that it is impossible to attempt any abridgement of the document.

The Barons of Hilton sometimes adopted more legitimate means of increasing their Chaplain’s salary without encroaching on the vested rights of the master of Wearmouth and in 1322 Robert, Baron of Hilton, granted to his Chaplain William de Hilton, the “Passage of Boms ferry”, later known as Hilton Ferry, the ox-ferry where heavy cattle could pass, a toft* and croft in Grendon, with one acre of land and a messuage* and twenty-four acres which Hutting Freer held in Hilton, in exchange for one chalder* of wheat, which William used to receive out of the grange of Ford and in exchange of an annual rent of sixteen shillings, which William received out of the twelve acres in Grendon and of the four shillings paid for the multure* of the same twelve acres.
The same Chaplain William shall provide a proper boat for the ferry, and shall pray for the good estate of his Patron duly and daily &c.

The Chapel of Hilton was dedicated to St Katherine, but before 1322 there was a chantry founded within it dedicated to the Virgin. Robert Hilton, last named, granted to his clerk Robert de Billingham, his chantry of St Mary and a certain messuage together with the free multure7 of all the free tenants and cottagers of Hilton, Bermestonand Utesuken, due to the manor mills if Hilton and Berneston. He also gave to his said Chaplain, a rentcharge of two shillings issuing out of two cottages in Helton, for the support of one light to burn perpetually before the alter of St Mary; and he gave to the same Robert for his own better maintenance, a messuage and four acres in Grendon, four acres and a half in Cloucroft, four other acres which William Yhole held along with all the honey and wax of the wild bees inhabiting the trees in Bermeston Park.
The Baron then declares that if on the death of Robert de Billingham, his heirs neglect to nominate a successor; the Patronage shall devolve on the Prior of Durham.

The Chapel of Hilton was resigned into the hands of the Prior of Durham before the dissolution, the annual value being £6. 13s .8d. The Chapel, as a domestic place of worship, was restored, if not before, by John Hilton Esq. the last Baron; for Bourne mentions the place as famed for its Irish oak and its complete garnison of plate, books and vestments. Hilton Chapel again became a place of worship during the residence of Simon Temple Esq.
1n 1306 the sacerdotal ornaments of the Chapel consisted of a chalice, two vials, an alb worn by priests, a chasuble with stole used by the priest when taking mass, maniple, amice, a corporax cloth, a missal, a psaltery and portefer; three linen cloths for the Alter and one clothes press.

Part of the history is printed in the language of his era and part he took from the even older language as used in the documents he researched. Some of the words he uses that were in practice at that time have fallen into disuse and not included in modern dictionaries.

1. the phase oxp is taken to mean draught oxen


2. one thrave of corn is equivelant to twenty four sheaves measuring approximately thirty inches round, but could vary in different localities.


3. a carucate is a measure of land, varying with the nature of the soil etc being as much as could be tilled with one plough with its team of eight oxen in a year – a plough land. In ancient deeds a normal carucate is either 120 acres or 80 acres by the Norman number and 144 or 96 acres by the English numbers.


4. toft & croft is a homestead and attached piece of arable land.


5. messuage is an act of saying mass/ to pass a message


6. chalder of wheat is a dry measurement of capacity.


7. multure is a form of toll that may consist of a proportion of the grain carried / or of the flour made paid to the proprietor or tenant of a mill.
   The right to collect a toll.

“Harry Ewbanke, Permitt ye Baron of Hilton and his sonnes to pass, with eighteen horse, from-Wermouth to Hartinpole, in such sort as suites their quality, they having given their honours to make no attempt on the parliament souldjers: for which this shal be your good warrant. FRANCIS WRENN.”

A series of short, round, companionable looking faces, on canvas, at Hilton, do not bely the family character. The last Baron, in a suit of blue and gold, still occupies the panel above the fire-place in the deserted dining-room; a fair flaxen-haired, pleasant looking; gentleman, with a mild composed countenance.

In the following epistle the Baron seems to have a (friendly) design on Mr Spearman’s punch bowl:

“ Dear Sir, I’m to have some company tomorrow, to drinke a bowle of arrack punch, and not being prepared with a punch-bowle, I send this messenger on purpose to beg the loan of yours, which shall be carefully returned by, dear sir, your obedient humble servant, J. HYLTON.

“Thursday Morning”

“P.S. Send nothing but the bowle. If you are inclined to part with it, I shall be obliged to you if you will let me have it, and I will get Mr Partiss to weigh it. Phill. And Dolly I expect every day.

“To John Spearman.Esq.Hetton”

In the Name of God. Ame. I Sr Thomas Hilton in the Countie of Duresme Knight, hole of bodye and in pfitt mynd, do ordeyn costitute and maike this my last Will and Testament, in man and forme folowing: ffyrste I bequithe unto Allmightye the father my Soule, and to his sonne Jesus Christe, who haithe redemed me and all mankind by his most glorious deathe and passion, hoping therby to be resussitate wth the elect in the daye of his judgment when he shall come to judge the quicke and the dead, and my bodye to be buried in the myddeste of my Chaple of Hilton, whereas my grandfather lyethe buried

THE SOLDIERS RETURN

It was the early part of the 15th century when Baron Hilton built the present castle and it was first occupied by soldiers.

Over the centuries the castle changed appearances and a more peaceful occupation of the building came about as it was changed from a fortified keep to a domestic residence.

It was the early part of the 20th century when the castle again witnessed soldiers occupying its grounds.

A photograph taken in 1916 during the First World War shows the barracks with the castle as a backdrop. It is on record that the Sherwood Foresters were billeted there in 1918.

All it needed was for Robin Hood and King Richard to put in an appearance.