Crayke

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St Cuthbert's Church, Crayke (photo by Stephen Horncastle)
St Cuthbert's Church, Crayke (photo by Stephen Horncastle)

Crayke is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England, about two miles east of Easingwold.

The parish was formerly a detached part of County Durham (until 1844), due to its connection with St Cuthbert and the Bishop of Durham, who had a castle at Crayke. The seventh-century king Egfrith granted Crayke to the church in 685 to be used by Cuthbert on his visits to York, to which end Cuthbert founded a monastery here. After Cuthbert's death his body is reputed to have been brought to Crayke to protect it from marauding Vikings. In Norman times the Bishops of Durham constructed a castle over the monastic cemetery.

Links with Cuthbert and the bishopric of Durham are recognised in the dedication of the 1436 Anglican church to St Cuthbert, and the naming of the pub as the Durham Ox, (an allusion to the foundation myth of Durham).

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Coordinates: 54°08′N, 1°09′W


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