LASTINGHAM, a parish in the wapentake of RYEDALE,
North riding of the county of YORK, comprising
the chapelry of Rosedale-West-Side, and the townships
of Appleton le Moors, Farndale-East- Side, Farndale
High-Quarter, Hutton le Hole, Lastingham, and
Spaunton, and containing 1834 inhabitants, of which
number, 225 are in the township of Lastingham, 7
miles (N. W.) from Pickering. The living is a discharged
vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Cleveland,
and diocese of York, rated in the king's books at
£17. 7 6., and in the patronage of the Crown. The
church is dedicated to St. Mary.' A Benedictine monastery
was founded here in honour of the Virgin Mary,
about 648, by Cedd, Bishop of the East Saxons, of
which the present church is probably the only vestige;
underneath the choir is a vaulted crypt, the massive
cylindrical columns and sculptured arches of which exhibit
fine specimens of Norman architecture; the east
end is circular, and at the west is a low tower; part
of the church is in the Norman, and part in a later,
style.