Two fires form part of the history of the church and the first which happened at the old rectory at the beginning of the Rectorship of Norman Augustus Holttun in 1882 destroyed some of the parish registers leaving gaps that create difficulties for those searching for records of their Scawton ancestors. It is said to have been caused by washing drying in front of a fire and it is fortunate that the fire was brought quickly under control and the amount of damage was limited but the missing entries in the parish registers can never be replaced though the Rector tried to replace some of the entries from memory. The second which happened at the new rectory during World War II was of a far more serious nature and the Rector counted himself lucky that he and his housekeeper escaped with their lives though he was very sad that Jill his twelve year old dog perished in the fire.
It was early on a Saturday morning that the Reverend Stanley Longworth, when awakened by smoke in his bedroom ran downstairs to find the kitchen ablaze and after waking his housekeeper ran about half a mile clad only in his pyjamas and roused William Cornforth at Hill Top Farm and John Meggison and his sister Ethel at Pond Farm. They and other villagers returned quickly to the rectory where the blaze had spread to other parts of the building and as they realised that they had no hope of putting out the fire they concentrated on trying to salvage what they could from the blazing interior. Breaking windows they put coats over their heads to protect them from the heat and braved the flames to enter the building to save church vestments and furniture. A chalice and parish registers were among things saved and bibles, books and oil paintings were stacked outside alongside the beehives but most of the contents of the Rectory were destroyed.
The glow from the blaze could be seen for miles around and the fire brigade from Helmsley were the first to reach the scene, quickly followed by the brigades of Kirkbymoorside, Pickering and Thirsk but their work was severely hampered by the shortage of water and they had to search around and found a large soft water tank about half a mile away. When that supply was exhausted they had to rely on a shuttle service of water tenders that had to make the two and a half mile journey to take water from the River Rye at Rievaulx Bridge but despite all their efforts they were unable to save much more than the stone walls and the rectory was completely gutted.
The villagers rallied round to provide clothes for the Rector and his housekeeper and their salvaged possessions were taken by tractor and trailer to the village Reading Room for safe keeping. Afterwards the Rector paid tribute to the villagers whose bravery he said had made it possible for some of the vestments and other items to be saved and he thanked all for the support he and his housekeeper had received both during and after the disastrous fire which he said had caused thousands of pounds of damage. He was of the opinion that the fire had been caused by a fire in the chimney as the grate had been raked out the night before.
Another event associated with the church had tragic consequences and is commemorated by a bronze plaque in the church which is shown on the following page.
