Cleasby is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the

Richmondshire {{Infobox settlement , name = Richmondshire District , type = District , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_blank_emblem= Richmondshire arms.png , blank_emblem_type = Coat ...

district of

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England. It is close to the

River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...

and

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

and the A1(M). The population at the 2011 Census of ONS was 208.

History

The village is mentioned in the ''

Domesday book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

'' as "Clesbi". The manor had been the possession of a local named ''Thor'', but passed to ''Enisant Mussard'' after the Norman invasion. The mesne lordship passed to the lords of Constable Burton from Enisant which eventually ended in the hands of the ''Scrope'' family. Enisant continued to hold a demesne lordship here which passed to ''Harsculph'' an ancestor of the ''Cleasby'' family. By the early fourteenth century the direct line of inheritance had ended and the manor passed to the ''Fitz Hugh'' family of Ravensworth who held it until the middle of the sixteenth century when it passed to the Crown. In 1602 the manor was granted to ''Peter Bradwell'' and ''Robert Parker''. From thereon it passed via the Countess of Shrewsbury to the Duke of Devonshire. By the mid-nineteenth century it had passed into the hands of ''John Church Backhouse''. The origin of the name of the village is uncertain. Most sources claim it to be the combination of a personal name, ''Kleiss'' and the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

''-by'' for farm, giving ''Kleiss' farm''.

Governance

The village lies within the Richmond UK Parliament constituency. It also lies within the Richmondshire North electoral division of North Yorkshire County Council and the Barton ward of Richmondshire District Council.

Geography

The village lies in a bend in the

just away. It is also from the

A1(M) A1(M) is the designation given to a series of four separate motorway sections in England. Each section is an upgrade to a section of the A1, a major north–south road which connects London, the capital of England, with Edinburgh, the capit ...

and from the

A66(M) The A66 is a major road in Northern England, which in part follows the course of the Roman road from Scotch Corner to Penrith. It runs from east of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire to Workington in Cumbria. Route From its eastern term ...

. The nearest settlements are Stapleton to the south-east and

to the north-east. The geology of the area surrounding the village lies on a bed of limestone overlaid with loam, clay and gravel. The latter having been quarried nearby.

Demography

2001 census

The 2001 UK census showed that the population was split 47.1% male to 52.9% female. The religious constituency was made of 77.8% Christian, 1.7% Sikh and the rest stating no religion or not stating at all. The ethnic make-up was 94.9% White British, 3.4% White Other/Irish, and 1.7% British Asian. There were 77 dwellings.

2011 census

The 2011 UK census showed that the population was split 52.9% male to 47.1% female. The religious constituency was made of 76.9% Christian with the rest stating no religion or not stating at all. The ethnic make-up was 94.7% White British, 1.4% White Other/Irish, 2.4% Mixed Ethnic, 0.96% Black British and 0.48% British Asian. There were 87 dwellings.

Religion

The Church of St Peter was built in 1828 and was originally undedicated to any particular Saint. It is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Notable people

John Robinson (1650–1723),

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and diplomatist was born and attended school there. He was the son of a

cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

in the village. He was

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

for twenty five years before becoming

Lord Privy Seal The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and abov ...

and then first

Plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word ...

to the

Congress of Utrecht A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

.John B. Hattendorf, 'Robinson, John (1650–1723)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, January 200
accessed 2 May 2011
/ref>

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire