| Ravensworth | |
Ravensworth village green with its ancient sycamore tree. |
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Ravensworth
Ravensworth shown within North Yorkshire |
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| Population | c.270[1] (2009 estimate) |
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| OS grid reference | NZ139079 |
| Parish | Kirkby Ravensworth |
| Shire county | North Yorkshire |
| Region | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | RICHMOND |
| Postcode district | DL11 |
| Dialling code | 01325 |
| Police | North Yorkshire |
| Fire | North Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| EU Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| UK Parliament | Richmond (Yorks) |
| List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire | |
Ravensworth is a small village and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the Holmedale valley and is in the ward of Gilling West. It is approximately 4.5 miles (7.2 km) north-west of Richmond and 10 miles (16 km) from Darlington. The village has a population of around 270.
Historically situated in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the village has ancient origins dating back to the time of Viking settlement. The village contains the Grade I listed Ravensworth Castle believed to have been built around 1391 on the site of a previous fortress from the 11th century. The castle was abandoned and began to be pulled down in the middle of the 16th century. although the gatehouse remains almost wholly intact. There are a number of listed buildings situated around the village green, mostly dating from the eighteenth century.
The village is served by a chapel, a public house and a primary school.
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The name of the village derives from the name of Hrafn or Hraefn, the founder of the settlement.[2] Originally called Ravenswath, "wath" was the Old Norse word meaning "ford" and would suggest that the stream that passes through Ravensworth village was forded in Viking times.[3] Its name and spelling has varied over the years: in the 11th century it was Ravenesuuet, Rasueswaht in the 12th century, Raveneswade in 1201, Ravenswath from the 13th to 16th centuries, and afterwards beginning to settle on Ravensworth.[4]
See also: Baron FitzHugh
The Lord of the Manor in 1066 was Thorfin. The village is documented in the Domesday Book of 1086 as having a population of 21, which was then quite large for a settlement.[5] There was also a church and a priest.[6] By 1086 Alan Rufus had allocated the lands to his relative Bodin of Middleham.[7] Bodin then gave up his lands to become a monk, and the estate fell to his brother Bardolph, from whom the FitzHugh line is descended.[8] The term "Lord of the Manor" is an official one, and according to Lord Denning:
Akarius Fitz Bardolph, son of Bardolph donated lands for a monastery which were later to become Jervaulx Abbey. There was a castle in Ravensworth by at least 1180 and King John was entertained there in 1201.[10][11] The Fitzhughs were appointed barons on 15 May 1321.[12] Ralph de Greystoke, 3rd Baron Greystoke, was born in the castle, home of his uncle Henry, Lord Fitzhugh, on 18 October 1353.[13] Henry FitzHugh, 3rd Baron FitzHugh was appointed Lord Chamberlain of the Household by Henry V. Henry Fitzhugh built the now Grade I listed Ravensworth Castle in 1391 on the site of a previous fortress from the 11th century, and also received license to inclose 200 acres of land around the castle to make a park.[14][15] Robert FitzHugh became Bishop of London in 1431. After the end of the Fitzhugh male line in 1513, ownership of the castle and estate was passed through the female line to Sir Thomas Parr. Following his death it passed to his son, a minor, William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton by which time it was utterly "ruynated", eventually passing to the Crown Estate in 1571 after Parr died without issue.[16][17][14][18] The castle began to be pulled down in the middle of the 16th century, shortly after the visitation by the antiquarian John Leland.[4] The castle was ruinous by 1600, largely as a result of being quarried for local building materials (despite being owned by the Crown), however the entirety of the gatehouse remains intact.[19] In 1629 the estate was conferred from the Crown to Edward Ditchfield, and other trustees.[18] It went through a number of hands before being sold to Sir Thomas Wharton in 1676.[20] It then passed to Wharton's son Philip Wharton, 1st Duke of Wharton.[15] In 1779 the estate belonged to the Legard Baronets.[21]
The anchoress Margaret Kirkby (possibly 1322 to 1391-4) was born in the village and it is likely that the FitzHughs were her patrons.[22] A 15th century cruck house originally sited in Ravensworth has been reconstructed at the Richmondshire Museum in Richmond.[23] John Leland and many others since have described Ravensworth as a "pretty" village.[24][20] As with many English villages, much of the housing stock consists of Grade II listed buildings, dating from the mid to late 17th century onwards. The parish church since 1397 has been the Church of St Peter & St Felix in Kirby Hill, about one mile (1.6 km) from the village.[25] It is believed to have been built on the site of a much earlier Saxon church.[25] John Dakyn was rector of the parish from 1554 until his death. He established a charity that continues to aid villagers. Cuthbert Shaw (1738–1771), the ne'er-do-well poet was born in the village, the son of a poor shoemaker. James Boswell characterised Shaw as being 'distinguished by his genius, misfortunes, and misconduct'.[26] Robert Southey wrote of him, "The Monodies of this writer upon his Wife and Child are well known. What other misfortunes he suffered besides their deaths, were occasioned by his own follies and vices".[27] The astronomer William Lax (1761–1836) was born in the village, producing A Method of finding the latitude by means of two altitudes of the sun. there in 1799.[28] His brother Thomas Lax (1770–1851) was a noted gentleman farmer, Chief Constable of the ward and record-holding breeder of shorthorn cattle who lived and died in the village. There were Inclosure Acts passed for the common fields in 1772–3 and 1776–7.[15] In 1773, Samuel Hieronymus Grimm made several sketches around the village.[29] The radical publisher Effingham Wilson (1785–1868) was born in the village. In 1793 a gold penny dating from around 1257 during the reign of Henry III was found in a field in Ravensworth.[30] At the time it was one of only two known to exist from the age, and as of 2011 only eight are known to exist.[31][32]
In 1812 Walter Scott referenced the village in his epic poem "Rokeby", which was set in the area. J. M. W. Turner made several sketches of the castle on 13 July 1816.[33] The Wesleyan chapel was built in 1822 and is the oldest chapel in the Richmond circuit.[10] The village hall was built in 1841 as a national school, however the school moved into newly-built premises in 1967, and the building became the village hall in 1987.[24][34][35][10] The blacksmith's shop has been situated at the same site since 1841.[10] In 1843 the parish was described as being almost entirely agricultural.[36] The Bay Horse Inn public house dates as far back as at least 1857, although its stone door case is 17th century or earlier, almost certainly built using stone from the castle.[10] In 1859, Whellan describes "good freestone" being quarried in the village, although a short-lived copper mine had been discontinued.[37] In 1859, the father of Christopher Cradock was lord of the manor, and the village was described by Whellan as "exceedingly neat".[20] According to the 1881 and 1891 Censuses, agriculture and mining were the main industries.[38] Young people from the village had access to the grammar school in Kirby Hill for over 400 years from 1556 until 1957. The school also produced the Archbishop of Canterbury Matthew Hutton and the antiquarian James Raine.
The parish lost 23 men in the First World War and 5 in the Second World War.[39] The roll of honour is held in the parish church.
Ravensworth is in the civil parish of Kirkby Ravensworth. The parish encompasses Ravensworth itself, as well as the nearby settlements of Dalton, Gayles, Kirby Hill, New Forest, Newsham and Whashton; New Forest contains the hamlets of Helwith, Hallgate and Casey Green, and encompasses an area of 15,000 acres.[40] It is within the "huge" ward or wapentake of Gilling West.[41] It is in the local government district of Richmondshire. William Hague is currently the MP. In the Anglican church it is within the deanery of Richmond, the archdeaconry of Richmond and the diocese of Ripon and Leeds.[42]
The village is situated near to the A66 and Scotch Corner on the M1 motorway, thus giving it excellent road links. Its nearest railway station is Darlington railway station, less than 15 miles (24 km) away. Bus services which operate throughout the day connect the village to the nearby towns of Richmond and Barnard Castle. The closest settlements are Kirby Hill, Dalton and Gayles. Other local villages are Newsham, East Layton, West Layton, Gilling West and Hartforth. The village is situated on a slight knoll to the south of the Holme Beck (sometimes known in the past as Ravensworth Beck or Gilling Beck), a minor tributary of the River Swale in an area known as the Holme valley or Holmedale.[40] It is the middle of a wide valley formed by the Teesdale glacier during the last ice age. Most of the land around the village is arable farmland, but animals such as horses and cows are reared as well. Sheep graze on the more rugged sides of the valley. Crops grown include wheat, barley and oil seed rape. The village is situated close to the Yorkshire Dales national park. It is also only one hour from the North Yorkshire Moors and the Lake District national parks. Newcastle and York are only one hour's drive away, and Leeds is just over one hour away. The houses are generally built of sandstone and have distinctive "Yorkshire" roofs, a mix of soft red pantiles and slate.[43] Sandstone continues to be quarried on the outskirts of the village. The old Roman road of Dere Street formerly skirted the north eastern outskirts of the parish and provides much of the northern boundary of the parish.[44] The soil is loam and the subsoil is Yoredale Series.[40] Dry stone walls are traditional to the area, and are still commonly found.
Approximately 20 per cent of the village are of pensioner age, 20 per cent are under 18 and the remaining 60 per cent are of working age.[45] The majority of villagers are commuters, with only around 20 people employed within the village itself, mostly in agriculture.[45][46][47] Many people commute to the local market towns of Richmond, Barnard Castle, Northallerton and Darlington, but some travel further afield to the larger conurbations of Tyneside, Teesside and Leeds.[48] Property prices in the ward are higher than the average for England.[49] There were no recorded crimes in the village in 2009–2010.[50] The average weekly household income for the ward is £600, higher than the Yorkshire and the Humber average.[51] The population is at the same level as it was in 1850.
Ravensworth contains a Church of England primary school, a village hall, a Methodist chapel and a public house. A Church of England church situated at Kirby Hill, a large garden centre, a large farm shop and gift shop, a 5 acre caravan park and a further three public houses are all within an approximately one mile radius. The "broad [and] pleasant" village green is substantial, at 17 acres, and most of the one hundred or so dwellings in the village are situated around it.[45][52] The green hosts the stone base of a 15th century obelisk.[53] As with many British villages, Ravensworth formerly had a Post Office, but it closed down some years ago.[45] There is a village quoits club that operates during the summer, and the region is a real heartland for the game, with the world's oldest quoits club formed in nearby Darlington.[34] There are regular community events held on the green, around the village and in the village hall throughout the year. The area falls within the television reception area of ITV Tyne Tees. Newspaper media is covered by The Northern Echo and The Teesdale Mercury. Water is supplied by Yorkshire Water. The water is the area is classified as hard water and derives from a spring/borehole source.[54] The village is within the boundaries of the annual fox hunting event, the Zetland Hunt.[55]
Ravensworth Nurseries, situated just outside the village, is one of Yorkshire's most successful horticultural businesses.[56] Founded by Doug Bradbrook and William Hannah in 1966, by 2006 it had a £1.8 million annual turnover and employed around 35 people.[57][58] It supplies garden centres and retailers across the United Kingdom as well as its own on-site sales.[57] It once held the world's largest hanging basket. Due to rising oil costs it is one of the few growers of poinsettias that still survives in the UK.[59]
The former England cricketer and current Sky Sports commentator Ian Botham has lived in the village since 1990.[60] He refers to his 17th century farmhouse as his "most treasured possession".[61] Local and national media refer to him as "The Squire of Ravensworth" and the surrounding area as "Squire Botham country".[62][63][64][65] His son Liam Botham has a house in the farmhouse grounds.[66] The village featured in the national media in November 2011 after Liam Botham's dog went missing.