Clifton-on-Yore is a

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 authorit ...

in the Hambleton 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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The population of the parish was estimated at 40 in 2010. The population remained less than 100 as taken at the 2011 Census. Details were included in the civil parish of Thirn.

Clifton Castle

In parkland by the

River Ure The River Ure in North Yorkshire, England is approximately long from its source to the point where it becomes the River Ouse. It is the principal river of Wensleydale, which is the only major dale now named after a village rather than its r ...

is Clifton Castle, a 19th-century country house on the site of a 14th-century castle of the

Scrope Scrope (pronounced "scroop") is the name of an old English family of Norman origin that first came into prominence in the 14th century. The family has held the noble titles of Baron Scrope of Masham, Baron Scrope of Bolton, and for a brief time, t ...

family, of which a piece of walling survives. The house is built in ashlar with stone slate roofs to an essentially T-shaped plan with a two-storey, 5-bay main block at right angles to a 3-storey, 5-bay service wing. At the front the central 3 bays have 4 large Ionic columns supporting a frieze and pediment. The estate was purchased in 1735 from the Preston family by Timothy Hutton of Marske, who demolished the castle and commissioned John Foss to build the present Grecian style house in 1802. Hutton was

High Sheriff of Yorkshire The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere o ...

for 1844. On his death without heirs in 1863 the Clifton estate passed to his barrister cousin James Pulleine, who was High Sheriff for 1870. His only daughter Georgina married Major-General Sir John Clayton Cowell, Master of the Queen's Household. Sir John died in 1894 and his widow continued to live at the house. Their son Albert Victor succeeded them. The estate was then purchased around 1970 by the 8th Marquess of Downshire and passed down to his son, Nick, 9th Marquess of Downshire, who lives there with his family Janey, Isabella, Beatrice, Edmund and Claudia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clifton-On-Yore Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Country houses in North Yorkshire