Great Ayton

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Coordinates: 54°29′44″N 1°07′45″W / 54.49569°N 1.12919°W

Great Ayton
Great Ayton Great Ayton shown within North Yorkshire
Population	4,570 (2001)
OS grid reference	NZ565115
Civil parish	Great Ayton
District	Hambleton
Shire county	North Yorkshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Middlesbrough
Postcode district	TS9
Dialling code	01642
Police	North Yorkshire
Fire	North Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
EU Parliament	Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament	Richmond
List of places UK England Yorkshire

Great Ayton is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England, on the edge of the North York Moors. It lies 7 miles (11.3 km) southeast of Middlesbrough and 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Stokesley on the border with the unitary authorities of Redcar and Cleveland and Middlesbrough. According to the 2001 census, it has a population of 4,570.^[1]

The village was the boyhood home of Captain Cook, the British explorer and navigator, who was born in nearby Marton.

The name Great Ayton is thought to derive from Ea-tun, tun meaning farm and ea meaning river. In the 18th and 19th centuries Great Ayton was a centre for the industries of weaving, tanning, brewing, and tile making. It was home to the Great Ayton Friends' School (Quaker) from 1841 until it closed in 1997.^{[citation needed]}

The village is served by Great Ayton railway station on the Esk Valley Line.

Geography

Looking south-west to Great Ayton from Cliff Ridge

Great Ayton is situated 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.

Captain Cook connection

Main article: James Cook

James Cook and his family moved to the village when he was eight years old and lived there until he was sixteen. James' father, James Sr., was a Scottish migrant farm labourer who was married to Grace, a local Yorkshire woman; he had moved to the village to take up a position on one of the local farms. His employer, one Thomas Skottowe, financed the younger James' schooling. After completing this tuition, James stayed on at the farm for several years helping out his father (who was now farm manager), before leaving in 1745 to take up an apprenticeship at a haberdasher and grocery store 20 miles (32 km) away in the fishing village of Staithes, near Whitby.

Museum and monuments

Captain Cook Schoolroom Museum

The museum is within a former charity school, founded in 1704 by landowner Michael Postgate. James Cook received his early education here from 1736 to 1740.

Sculpture

Statue of James Cook as a youth

A statue, located on High Green, depicts James Cook at the age of 16 looking towards Staithes where, according to tradition, he first felt the lure of the sea. The sculpture was commissioned by Hambleton District Council and is the work of sculptor Nicholas Dimbleby. It was unveiled on 12 May 1997.

Monument

Captain Cook's monument

The monument is a 51 ft (16 m) high obelisk located on Easby Moor and visible for miles around. It was constructed from local sandstone and was erected in 1827. The inscription on the monument reads:

In memory of the celebrated circumnavigator Captain James Cook F.R.S. A man of nautical knowledge inferior to none, in zeal, prudence and energy, superior to most. Regardless of danger he opened an intercourse with the Friendly Isles and other parts of the Southern Hemisphere. He was born at Marton Oct. 27th 1728 and massacred at Owythee Feb. 14th 1779 to the inexpressible grief of his countrymen. While the art of navigation shall be cultivated among men, whilst the spirit of enterprise, commerce and philanthropy shall animate the sons of Britain, while it shall be deemed the honour of a Christian Nation to spread civilisation and the blessings of the Christian faith among pagan and savage tribes, so long will the name of Captain Cook stand out amongst the most celebrated and most admired benefactors of the human race.

Site of the Cook family's cottage

"Capt. Cook's Cottage" Obelisk

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. A granite obelisk now marks the original site of the cottage in Great Ayton. The obelisk is constructed from granite taken from Point Hicks, the first land sighted by Cook in Australia.

All Saints Church

James Cook's mother and siblings are buried in the churchyard of All Saints Church.^[2]

References

↑ Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Parish Headcounts : Hambleton retrieved 2009-09-18
↑ The Church of England : All Saints (Old Church), Great Ayton retrieved 2011-09-12

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Great Ayton.

v t e Ceremonial county of North Yorkshire

Yorkshire Portal

Unitary authorities	Middlesbrough Redcar and Cleveland Stockton-on-Tees (part) City of York

Boroughs or districts	Craven Hambleton Harrogate Richmondshire Ryedale Scarborough Selby

Major settlements	Bedale Bentham Boroughbridge Catterick Garrison Easingwold Eston Filey Grassington Guisborough Harrogate Hawes Haxby Helmsley Ingleby Barwick Kirkbymoorside Knaresborough Leyburn Loftus Malton Masham Middleham Middlesbrough Northallerton Norton-on-Derwent Pateley Bridge Pickering Redcar Richmond Ripon Saltburn-by-the-Sea Scarborough Selby Settle Skelton-in-Cleveland Skipton South Bank Stokesley Tadcaster Thirsk Thornaby-on-Tees Whitby Yarm York See also: List of civil parishes in North Yorkshire

Rivers	Aire Derwent Esk Foss Leven Ouse Ribble Swale Tees Ure Wharfe

Topics	Parliamentary constituencies Country houses Grade I listed buildings Grade II* listed buildings Windmills Monastic houses History Museums Lord Lieutenants High Sheriffs

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