Marton cum Grafton 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 authority ...
in the
Borough of Harrogate
The Borough of Harrogate is a local government district with borough status in North Yorkshire, England. Its population at the census of 2011 was 157,869. Its council is based in the town of Harrogate, but it also includes surrounding towns and v ...
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. The parish has only two settlements (
Marton and
Grafton), and has a magnesian limestone and sandstone geography, which has been used for quarrying. The landform is broadly flat, though there are some small hills with the Marton and Grafton being separated by despite being only apart.
History
Archaeological evidence shows that just to the south of Grafton there was an
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
fort. However, quarrying and the installation of allotments and modern day structures, led to the site being de-scheduled as an ancient monument. In 1835, the population was 482, which had risen to 499 by 1851. However, by 1901, the population was at 299, and saw a rise of 50 people to 349 by 1911. At the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 516 which had dropped to 503 by the 2011 Census.
In 2015,
North Yorkshire County Council
North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) is the county council governing the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire; an area composing most of North Yorkshire in England. The council currently consists of 90 councillors. The council is current ...
, estimated the population of the parish to be 510.
In 1872, the parish covered an area of , and in 1901, covered , but at the 2011 Census, it was .
The parish is connected to
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
and
Boroughbridge
Boroughbridge () is a town and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is north-west of the county town of York. Until a bypass was built the town lay on the mai ...
by bus. The modern parish has the
B6265, Boroughbridge to
Kirk Hammerton
Kirk Hammerton is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is near the River Nidd and the A59 road, west of York. The village suffix refers to the ''Hamerton'' family who owned the land until the 16 ...
road in the east (the route of
Dere Street
Dere Street or Deere Street is a modern designation of a Roman road which ran north from Eboracum (York), crossing the Stanegate at Corbridge (Hadrian's Wall was crossed at the Portgate, just to the north) and continuing beyond into what is n ...
), and the western border is the
A168 road
The A168 is a major road in North Yorkshire, England. It runs from Northallerton to Wetherby, acting as a local access road for the A1(M).
History
The majority of it was built during A1 upgrades as parts of it between Dishforth and Walshford a ...
, adjacent to 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 ...
(the old
Great North Road).
The two settlements of Grafton and Marton are
contiguous
Contiguity or contiguous may refer to:
*Contiguous data storage, in computer science
*Contiguity (probability theory)
*Contiguity (psychology)
*Contiguous distribution of species, in biogeography
*Geographic contiguity of territorial land
*Contigu ...
, and since 1979, they have been formed into one conservation area. Besides agriculture, the other major source of employment in the area has been quarrying, with gravel pits still in evidence across the parish. The former Allerton Park Quarry, now the
Allerton waste recovery park, was historically in the township of Marton. The geology of the parish is largely of a magnesian limestone ridge, with Sherwood sandstone to the east of the ridge. The earth has been described as being "slightly acid loamy, and clayey soils, with impeded drainage." The land is capped with sands and gravels, which has led to large-scale quarries in the parish. The land is fairly flat given over to agriculture, but the parish has some hills; despite being only apart, Grafton is above sea level, whereas Marton is .
![Sand and Gravel Quarry - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Sand_and_Gravel_Quarry_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2631050.jpg)
The original church in the parish was located some south of the village of Marton. It was built in the 12th century and repaired after being sacked by the Scottish in 1318. It again fell into disrepair (), until being rebuilt in 17th and 18th centuries. It was given after the
Dissolution
Dissolution may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Books
* ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers
* ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music
* Dissolution, in mu ...
to
St John's College in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, and its dedication was unknown, but after 1692, it is thought to have been the Church of St John after is benefactors, in the College of St John. Until it closed, the church was a prebendal
peculier in the Deanery of Boroughbridge and the
Diocese of Chester
The Diocese of Chester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York covering the pre-1974 county of Cheshire and therefore including the Wirral and parts of Stockport, Trafford and Tameside.
History
Ancient diocese
Before the si ...
. In 1876, a new church, with a dedication of Christ Church, was built with stones from the former ruined church;
Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist
* Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo
* David Pevsner, American actor, singer, dan ...
states the doorway re-erected inside the church is
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 ...
. This structure is now
grade II listed
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 ...
.
Governance
Historically, the ecclesiastical parish was known as ''Marton-in-Burghshire'' (or ''Marton-in-Burgheshire''). Sometimes the parish name is spelled with hypens (Marton-cum-Grafton). The parish was formerly in the
Great Ouseburn
Great Ouseburn is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated south-east of Boroughbridge. The village of Aldwark is to the north-east. It had a population of 598 according to the 2011 cens ...
Rural District, in the
wapentake
A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Southern Schleswig, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek, C ...
of
Claro, in the
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...
; but since the 1974 boundary changes, it has been in North Yorkshire. It is in the
Harrogate and Knaresborough Constituency.
Notable people
*
David Bairstow
David Leslie Bairstow (1 September 1951 – 5 January 1998) was an English cricketer, who played for Yorkshire and England as a wicket-keeper. He also played football for his hometown club Bradford City. He is the father of England internation ...
, cricketer and footballer, lived in the parish
References
Sources
*{{cite report, title=Marton cum Grafton Conservation Area Character Appraisal, url=https://www.harrogate.gov.uk/downloads/file/830/conservation-area-marton-cum-grafton, website=harrogate.gov.uk, publisher=Harrogate District Council, format=PDF, date=November 2011, access-date=7 August 2022, ref={{harvid, MCG, 2011
External links
Parish websiteMap showing civil parish boundaries and adjacent parishes
Civil parishes in North Yorkshire
Borough of Harrogate