Great Ayton | |
---|---|
Footbridge over the River Leven in Low Green | |
Location within North Yorkshire | |
Population | 4,346 (2021 census) [1] |
OS grid reference | NZ565115 |
Civil parish |
|
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Middlesbrough |
Postcode district | TS9 |
Dialling code | 01642 |
Police | North Yorkshire |
Fire | North Yorkshire |
Ambulance | Yorkshire |
UK Parliament | |
Website | Parish council website |
Great Ayton is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The River Leven (a tributary of the River Tees) flows through the village, which lies just north of the North York Moors. According to the 2021 Census, the parish has a population of 4,346. [2]
Great Ayton's name derives from Old English Ea-tun, meaning 'river farm'. The river flowing through Great Ayton is the Leven, a tributary of the River Tees. A later addition of the word 'great' differentiates the village from nearby Little Ayton. [3] [4]
In the 18th and 19th centuries Great Ayton was a centre for the industries of weaving, tanning, brewing, and tile making. [4] Subsequently, whinstone for road surfacing was also quarried from the Cleveland Dyke [5] along with ironstone, jet and alum from the Cleveland Hills. [6] [7]
Great Ayton was home to the Great Ayton Friends' School run by the Quakers, from 1841 until it closed in 1997. [8]
The village serves as the base for Cleveland Mountain Rescue Team. [9]
Great Ayton is at the foot of the Cleveland Hills beneath Easby Moor and the distinctively-shaped Roseberry Topping. The River Leven, a tributary of the River Tees, flows through the village and links its two centres, High Green and Low Green. The Cleveland Dyke, a narrow band of hard whinstone rock that runs for about 31 miles between Robin Hood's Bay and Eaglescliffe lies to the north-east of the village.
The village lies near Middlesbrough's built-up area, south-east by less than 3 miles (4.8 km), 7 miles (11.3 km) from its centre. It is also 3 miles (4.8 km) north-east of Stokesley and 5 miles (8 km) from Guisborough. From 1894 to 1974, it was in the Stokesley Rural District of the North Riding of Yorkshire. The centre is 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) from the nexus of Redcar and Cleveland, borough of Middlesbrough and the Hambleton districts. This is in keeping with the Langbaurgh hamlet as a historic meeting place of the Langbaurgh Wapentake.
An electoral ward, of the same name, stretches east to Kildale with a population of 4,973 at the 2011 census . [10]
The village is served by Great Ayton railway station on the Esk Valley Line.
The village landmarks below all relate to James Cook.
The Church of England parish church of Christ Church was built in 1876 and now designated a Grade II listed building. [11] It holds a number of services during the day that attract a total attendance of about 200. In the summer months, the evening service takes place in All Saints' Church, Great Ayton, the former parish church, which dates back to the 12th century. [12] The church has an organ built by James Jepson Binns. [12]
James Cook's mother and siblings are buried in the churchyard of All Saints' Church. [13]
The Methodist Church opened over one hundred years ago and has seen many developments over the years. In the 1960s, the ‘youth hall’ was built providing the church with facilities for events, activities, meetings and catering. The kitchen was improved to allow the preparation of full meals and later still a great deal of work was done to modernise and improve access to the building.
In September 2024, Easby Methodist Chapel and Great Ayton Methodist Church formally became one church on two sites under minister Rev Rob Weir. [14]
St Margaret Clitherow's Church is a Chapel of Ease for St Joseph's Church, Stokesley.
Until the 1960s, Catholics in Great Ayton worshipped at St Joseph's Church, Stokesley. In 1966, a Sunday mass was instituted in the ambulance station in the village. In 1970, a purpose-built timber-framed church was opened on Race Terrace, and in 1971 it was dedicated to Margaret Clitherow, becoming the first church in the world dedicated to the recently-canonised saint. [15] In 2002, part of the church was demolished, and a new octagonal building was constructed, the remainder of the old building being retained as a church hall. The new church was designed by DKS Architects and is in red brick with stone details, and a grey tile roof. Two stained glass windows were installed, with designs by Kyme Studios. [16]
The Society of Friends meets at the Quaker Meeting House, which is on High Green.
Meetings take place each Sunday at 10:30 am, as well as each Wednesday, 10-10:30 am followed by refreshments. A monthly half-hour silent contemplative meeting is held in Guisborough. [17]
The village was the boyhood home of Captain Cook, the British explorer and navigator, who was born in nearby Marton. James Cook and his family moved to the village when he was eight years old and lived there until he was sixteen. The Cook family home on Bridge Street was built by James' father in 1755. The cottage was dismantled in 1934 to be shipped to Australia. Each stone was numbered so that the cottage could be reconstructed exactly in its new home in the Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne.
Cyclist brothers Harry Tanfield (born 1994) and Charlie Tanfield (born 1996), were born in the village. They share a birthday, 17 November. [18]
The River Leven in North Yorkshire, England is a tributary of the River Tees. It rises on Warren Moor, part of Kildale Moor, in the North York Moors and flows to the north of the moors to join the River Tees at Yarm.
Ormesby is a village and area split between the unitary authority areas of Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland in North Yorkshire, England.
Langbaurgh was a liberty or wapentake of the North Riding of Yorkshire. It covered an area of the shire's north-eastern tip. The wapentake took its name from Langbaurgh hamlet, in present-day Great Ayton parish.
Stokesley is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It lies within the historic county boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire, on the River Leven. An electoral ward of the same name stretches south to Great Broughton and had a population at the 2021 Census of 6,180.
Little Ayton is a village and civil parish in Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England and lies immediately south of Great Ayton. The population of this civil parish taken at the 2011 Census was less than 100. Details are included in the civil parish of Easby, Hambleton.
Easby is a village and civil parish in Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It lies approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) south-east of Great Ayton. The larger village of Low Easby lies 0.3 miles (480 m) down the road, but neither have any amenities, only a postbox.
Nunthorpe is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, England.
The Cleveland Hills are a range of hills on the north-west edge of the North York Moors in North Yorkshire, England, overlooking Cleveland and Teesside. They lie entirely within the boundaries of the North York Moors National Park. Part of the 110-mile (177 km) long Cleveland Way National Trail runs along the hills, and they are also crossed by a section of Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk. The hills, which rise abruptly from the flat Tees Valley to the north, include distinctive landmarks such as the cone-shaped peak of Roseberry Topping, near the village of Great Ayton – childhood home of Captain James Cook.
Langbaurgh West was a division of the wapentake of Langbaurgh in the North Riding of the ancient county of Yorkshire. The area along with Langbaurgh East forms the Anglo-Saxon baronial Liberty of Cleveland and roughly covers the modern districts of Middlesbrough, the western, urbanised portion of Redcar & Cleveland, the southern portion of Stockton-on-Tees, the northern parts of Hambleton and the northern parts of the Borough of Scarborough.
Kildale is a village and civil parish in Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) south-east from Great Ayton, within the North York Moors National Park and on the Cleveland Way National Trail. The parish occupies 5,730 acres (23.2 km2), with 3,416 acres (13.82 km2) being taken up by moorland.
Kirkby is a village and civil parish in the former Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England, near Great Busby and 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Stokesley. The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book as belonging to Uhtred. The name of the village derives from the Old Norse kirkju-býr, which means church with a village. At the 2001 Census, the population of the village was recorded at 313, dropping slightly to 309 at the 2011 Census. In 2015, North Yorkshire County Council estimated the population to be 310.
Swainby is a village in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the A172 road, 8 miles (13 km) north-east from Northallerton and 5 miles (8 km) south-east from the small market town of Stokesley.
Battersby is a hamlet in North Yorkshire, England. It lies on the edge of the North York Moors National Park and within the historic boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire, 5 miles (8 km) east of Stokesley, and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-west of Kildale. The settlement is mentioned in the Domesday Book as being part of the hundred of Langbaurgh, and having one ploughland. The name is recorded in 1086 as Badresbi, and in the 14th century as Batheresby. The first part is an Old Norse name, and the by means farmstead. In the Late Middle Ages a watermill was employed on the local beck to grind corn.
The High Sheriff of Cleveland was a High Sheriff title which was in existence from 1974 until 1996, covering Cleveland, England.
Great Broughton is a village in the Great and Little Broughton civil parish of the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire in northern England.
Easby Moor is a hill located in the civil parish of Little Ayton in the North York Moors national park within the Cleveland Hills, North Yorkshire, England. At the peak, 324 metres (1,063 ft) above sea level, is a monument to Captain James Cook, who was native to the area. The Cleveland Way runs over the moor. The moor overlooks the villages of Easby and Great Ayton and Little Ayton.
Stokesley railway station was a railway station built to serve the town of Stokesley in North Yorkshire, England. The station was on the North Yorkshire and Cleveland line between Sexhow and Ingleby, which opened in 1857. The line was extended progressively until it met the Whitby & Pickering Railway at Grosmont. It was closed in 1954 to passengers and eleven years later to goods. The station was located 16 miles (26 km) south of Stockton and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of Battersby station.
Stokesley Town Hall is a municipal building in the Market Place in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, England. The structure, which accommodates the offices and meeting place of Stokesley Town Council, is a grade II listed building.
Easby is a civil parish in the former Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It contains eleven listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. All the listed buildings are designated at Grade II, the lowest of the three grades, which is applied to "buildings of national importance and special interest". The parish contains the village of Easby and the surrounding countryside and moorland, including Easby Moor to the east. The listed buildings in the moor consist of a memorial obelisk and two boundary stones. In the village are a small country house and its private chapel, houses, cottages, farmhouses and associated structures, and a chapel.
Great Ayton is a civil parish in the former Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It contains 64 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, one is listed at Grade I, the highest of the three grades, one is at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade. The parish contains the village of Great Ayton, the smaller settlement of Langbaurgh, and the surrounding countryside and moorland. Most of the listed buildings are houses, cottages and associated structures, farmhouses and farm buildings. The others include churches and items in a churchyard, a former chapel, a shooting box, boundary stones, schools, a police station, a memorial and a telephone kiosk.