Grinton is a small 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

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills ri ...

, 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. Close to

Reeth Reeth is a village west of Richmond in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England, in the civil parish of Reeth, Fremington and Healaugh. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is the principal settlement of uppe ...

and Fremington, it lies west of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

on the B6270 road. On 5 July 2014, the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

Stage 1 from Leeds to Harrogate passed through the village. The route would have been repeated, if not for the changing of the route due to high rainfall, in the Men's road race in the 2019 UCI World Championships going through the climb ''Grinton moor'', which lasted for at an average gradient of 7%.

St Andrew's church

Often called "The Cathedral of the Dales", Grinton church is dedicated to

St Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...

and was for centuries the main church for the whole of upper

Swaledale Swaledale is one of the northernmost dales (valleys) in Yorkshire Dales National Park, located in northern England. It is the dale of the River Swale on the east side of the Pennines in North Yorkshire. Geographical overview Swaledale runs ...

, with many burials coming from miles away. The bodies were carried as much as 16 miles down the valley along the footpath from Keld, now known as the Corpse Way or

corpse road Corpse roads provided a practical means for transporting corpses, often from remote communities, to cemeteries that had burial rights, such as parish churches and chapels of ease. In Britain, such routes can also be known by a number of other nam ...

, in

wicker Wicker is the oldest furniture making method known to history, dating as far back as 5,000 years ago. It was first documented in ancient Egypt using pliable plant material, but in modern times it is made from any pliable, easily woven material. ...

coffins. Several long stones, located at intervals along the path, traditionally called "coffin stones", are said to be where the coffin would have been set down while the

pallbearer A pallbearer is one of several participants who help carry the casket at a funeral. They may wear white gloves in order to prevent damaging the casket and to show respect to the deceased person. Some traditions distinguish between the roles of ...

s rested. Fragments of the old

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

church remain, including the

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

and the tower arch, which dates from the late 12th century.

Pevsner, Nikolaus Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

, ''The Buildings of England – Yorkshire: The North Riding'', Penguin (1978 edition) pp175–176 Other parts of the building date from the late 13th or early 14th century, and the

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

is Jacobean, but St Andrew's is now mainly a 15th-century rebuild. The church is often used as a venue for concerts during the Swaledale Festival and at other times. It was featured in the British television series '' All Creatures Great and Small'', in the episode "Brotherly Love". File:GrintonChurchSouthView.jpg, St Andrew's church, Grinton, from the south File:GrintonChurchEastView.jpg, The east end of Grinton church features three windows in the

Perpendicular style Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-c ...

Other notable features

The stone bridge across the

River Swale The River Swale in Yorkshire, England, is a major tributary of the River Ure, which becomes the River Ouse, that empties into the North Sea via the Humber Estuary. The river gives its name to Swaledale, the valley through which it flows. Th ...

was widened in the 18th century. The river is reputedly the fastest-flowing in England, and Grinton is the first point above Richmond where it could normally be forded. Blackburn Hall, between the churchyard and the river, dates from 1635. The Bridge Inn is popular with walkers and is a venue for weekly folk music sessions, normally held on Thursday evenings. Above the village, on the

Leyburn Leyburn is a market town and civil parish in the district of Richmondshire, North Yorkshire, England, sitting above the northern bank of the River Ure in Wensleydale. Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the name was derived from 'L ...

road is YHA

Grinton Lodge Grinton Lodge is a 19th-century former shooting lodge that has been a youth hostel since 1948. A Grade II listed building, it is situated above the village of Grinton, in Swaledale, North Yorkshire, England. History The lodge was built in 1817 ...

, a former shooting lodge which is now a

youth hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared ba ...

. Further on from the youth hostel, just off the road, is the site of

Grinton Smelt Mill Grinton Smelt Mill (also known as How Mill) is a ruined lead mining and processing site on Cogden Moor, south of Grinton in Swaledale, North Yorkshire, England. The site was built in its present form for the specific purpose of processing lead ...

, a lead processing site built in the 19th century.

References

External links

Grinton in Swaledale website

A church near you website
{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Swaledale