Sheriff Hutton

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Sheriff Hutton is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies about ten miles north by north-east of York. Sheriff Hutton is so named because it was once held by Bertram de Bulmer, the Sheriff of York, who died in 1166.

A motte-and-bailey castle was built here in 1140 by Bertram de Bulmer, during the reign of King Stephen, the remains of which can be seen to the south of the churchyard. The extant remains of the stone-built Sheriff Hutton Castle were built at the western end of the village by John, Lord Neville in the late fourteenth century.

The parish Church of St Helen and Holy Cross celebrated its ninth centenary in 2000 and is allegedly the only site outside of London where a Prince of Wales is buried. The basis for this story is a memorial to a Prince of Wales inside the parish church. Although there is some doubt, it is believed to be that of Edward of Middleham, Richard III's son, who died in 1484. The memorial is a cenotaph, not a tomb, as the prince was buried elsewhere, and its present position in the north-east corner of the church is not where it was intended to stand. From past records, it would seem that the monument has had several sites within the church. Made of alabaster, it has suffered over the years and during the twentieth century and has been restored several times.

John Rushton, in his book The Ryedale Story, says of Sheriff Hutton: "Few villages touch national history so closely as Sheriff Hutton, still a real village despite recent growth. Castle ruins dominate the scene and there is fine country never far away".