Middleham is an English
market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
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 ...
. It lies in
Wensleydale
Wensleydale is the dale or upper valley of the River Ure on the east side of the Pennines, one of the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England.
It is one of only a few Yorkshire Dales not currently named after its principal river, but th ...
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 ...
, on the south side of the valley, upstream from the junction of 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 ...
and
River Cover
The River Cover is a river in the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. The Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust has a remit to conserve the ecological condition of the River Cover. The river forms a limestone dale with ancient woodlands.
Cour ...
. There has been a settlement there since
Roman times
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
. It was recorded in the 1086 ''
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 Medelai, meaning "middle ''ham'' or village".
History
![MiddlehamCJW](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/MiddlehamCJW.jpg)
Though there is no evidence of civil settlement in the Roman period, a rural villa was discovered in the 19th century some east of the castle, in farmland south of the road to Masham. A branch road from the major Roman thoroughfare 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 ...
passed by, across the valley, through the fort of Wensley to the Roman site of Virosidium at
Bainbridge.
![Normancastlemiddleham](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Normancastlemiddleham.JPG)
Before the
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...
, the lands around were controlled by Gilpatrick. In 1069,
William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
granted them to his Breton cousin
Alan Rufus
Alan Rufus, alternatively Alanus Rufus (Latin), Alan ar Rouz (Breton), Alain le Roux ( French) or Alan the Red (c. 1040 – 1093), 1st Lord of Richmond, was a Breton nobleman, kinsman and companion of William the Conqueror (Duke William II of No ...
, who built a wooden
motte-and-bailey
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...
castle above the town. By the time of the 1086 Domesday Book, Alan had passed the castle to his brother Ribald. Its earthworks are still visible at William's Hill. Alan also built the
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
at
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, ...
.
Construction began in 1190 of
Middleham Castle
Middleham Castle is a ruined castle in Middleham in Wensleydale, in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It was built by Robert Fitzrandolph, 3rd Lord of Middleham and Spennithorne, commencing in 1190. The castle was the childhood home of Ki ...
, which still dominates the town. The
Nevilles, Earls of Westmorland, acquired it through marriage to a female descendant of Ribald in the 13th century. It has been dubbed the "Windsor of the North". The castle belonged to
Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...
, when his cousin Richard, Duke of Gloucester (the future
Richard III
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...
) came there to learn knighthood skills in 1462. During the
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...
, both
Edward IV
Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...
and
Henry VI were held prisoner there. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, became master of the castle in 1471 after Warwick's death at the
Battle of Barnet
The Battle of Barnet was a decisive engagement in the Wars of the Roses, a dynastic conflict of 15th-century England. The military action, along with the subsequent Battle of Tewkesbury, secured the throne for Edward IV. On Sunday 14 April ...
. He used it as his political base for ruling the North on behalf of his brother Edward IV. Richard married Warwick's daughter,
Anne Neville
Anne Neville (11 June 1456 – 16 March 1485) was Queen of England as the wife of King Richard III. She was the younger of the two daughters and co-heiresses of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (the "Kingmaker"). Before her marriage to Ric ...
, in 1472. Middleham Castle is where their son
Edward
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
was born in about 1473 and died in April 1484. Richard III, who died in August 1485 at the
Battle of Bosworth
The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 Augu ...
, was the last reigning King of England to perish in battle.
![Middleham fountain - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Middleham_fountain_-_geograph.org.uk_-_347626.jpg)
Under Richard III, Middleham was a bustling market town and political centre. In 1389, the Lord of Middleham Manor received a crown grant to hold a weekly market and yearly fair on the feast of St
Alkelda the Virgin. The town has market places: the larger, lower one is dominated by a medieval cross, topped by a modern iron cross in Celtic style. The upper or swine market centres on the remains of a 15th-century market cross and a line of steps. At one end of the cross is a worn effigy of an animal reclining; the other may have had a moulded capital.
![Middleham Old School House - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Middleham_Old_School_House_-_geograph.org.uk_-_346197.jpg)
Most buildings in old parts of Middleham predate 1600. The old rectory incorporates some medieval features.
[''A History of the County of York North Riding'': Volume 1, William Page, ed., 1914.] In 1607 Middleham was important enough to house a royal court for residents of the forest of Wensleydale. Middleham and surrounding lands were part of the Crown estates from the accession of Richard III until
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
sold the manor to the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
in about 1628. In 1661 the City of London sold Middleham Manor on to Thomas Wood of Littleton. It has remained in private hands since then. In 1915 the annual livestock market was still regionally important, but the weekly market had been discontinued. Today's livestock market is in
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 'Ley ...
.
Parish church
![Middleham, The Collegiate Church St Mary and St Alkeda](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Middleham%2C_The_Collegiate_Church_St_Mary_and_St_Alkeda._-_geograph.org.uk_-_231927.jpg)
The Church of Saints Mary and
Alkelda was founded in 1291. Its mainly 14th and 15th-century architecture includes some stones that indicate a church on the site perhaps a century before.
The only remaining Norman artefact is a section of
zigzag
A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular.
In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...
moulding that once surrounded a door or window and now appears above the north aisle. The church has a three-metre Perpendicular font cover and a replica of the
Middleham Jewel, found locally. West of the church is St Alkelda's Well, whose waters were once said to restore weak eyes.
In 1478 Edward IV gave permission for a leper hospital to be built on the east side of town, in conjunction with the church. The location, Chapel Fields, now holds a horse-training stables. No trace of a hospital or chapel remains.
Middleham today
![The Richard III Hotel, Middleham - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/The_Richard_III_Hotel%2C_Middleham_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1032819.jpg)
Today's Middleham is a centre of
horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
and home to Middleham Trainers' Association. The first
racehorse trainer
A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...
at Middleham was Isaac Cape in 1765. Today there are several, including
Mark Johnston, Jedd O'Keefe,
James Bethell, and
Ben Haslam. Racing is the foremost employer in the town and tourism the second. The castle is a ruin, having been dismantled in 1646, but the
keep
A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...
, built by Robert Fitz Ralph in the 1170s, survives, as do the 13th-century chapel and 14th-century gatehouse.
Middleham has four pubs, a village shop, a fish and chip shop, a tea room, several bed and breakfast suppliers, a primary school and nursery and a community centre called Middleham Key Centre. The picture depicts the ''Richard III Hotel''. The building next door was a tearoom called The Nosebag. It is now a
Racing Welfare office providing support and guidance to hundreds of stable staff based in and around the town.
Governance
Middleham is part of the
Richmond (Yorks) parliamentary constituency. The current
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
is
Rishi Sunak
Rishi Sunak (; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two Cabinet of ...
, a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
, who is also the current
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...
. His predecessor was
William Hague
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
, former Conservative Party Leader and
Foreign Secretary
The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
, who represented the constituency from 1989 to 2015.
An
electoral ward
A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...
of the name exists, stretching south-west to
Melmerby. Its population in the 2011 census was 1,284, when the parish population was 825 in the 2011 census, estimated at 781 in 2019.
Treasure and archaeological finds
Middleham Jewel
![Middleham Jewel, obverse YORYM 1991 43-1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Middleham_Jewel%2C_obverse_YORYM_1991_43-1.jpg)
In 1985 the Middleham Jewel was found on a bridle path near Middleham Castle by Paul Kingston and Ted Seaton using a
metal detector
A metal detector is an instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and under water. The unit itself, consist of a control box, and an adjustable shaft, ...
. A late 15th-century 68-gram gold pendant with a 10-carat blue
sapphire
Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sapphir ...
stone, it has since passed to the
Yorkshire Museum
The Yorkshire Museum is a museum in York, England. It was opened in 1830, and has five permanent collections, covering biology, geology, archaeology, numismatics and astronomy.
History
The museum was founded by the Yorkshire Philosophical Soci ...
in
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 ...
for £2.5 million. The lozenge pendant, engraved on the obverse with a representation of the Trinity, is bordered by a Latin inscription warding off the evil of epilepsy. The reverse has a decorative engraving of the Nativity, bordered by faces of 13 saints.
The back panel slides to reveal a hollow interior, which originally contained three-and-a-half tiny discs of silk embroidered with gold thread. The textile contents identify the jewel as a
reliquary
A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including ''wikt:phylactery, phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it i ...
, containing a fragment of reputed holy cloth. It would have been worn by a lady of high social status as the crest for a large necklace. The sapphire may represent Heaven, and have acted as an aid to prayer.
Other notable finds
Other notable finds from Middleham include:
*The
Middleham Hoard – three pots containing 5,099 silver coins in total, buried in the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
. This is the largest such hoard ever found.
*A
livery badge
A heraldic badge, emblem, impresa, device, or personal device worn as a badge indicates allegiance to, or the property of, an individual, family or corporate body. Medieval forms are usually called a livery badge, and also a cognizance. They are ...
for pinning to the chest or a hat, in gilded copper high
relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
, with Richard III's emblem of a
white boar – this is likely to have been worn by one of his household, when he was Duke of Gloucester.
*The Middleham ring in the
Yorkshire Museum
The Yorkshire Museum is a museum in York, England. It was opened in 1830, and has five permanent collections, covering biology, geology, archaeology, numismatics and astronomy.
History
The museum was founded by the Yorkshire Philosophical Soci ...
, found in 1990 – this gold ring is decorated with a low-relief inscription along the band reading ''SOVEREYNLY''.
*A circular, copper-alloy plaque ( diameter) bearing the initials "R" and "A" surrounded by the French motto ''A Vo. Plaisir'' (For your pleasure) – this may be a casket mark given by Richard, Duke of Gloucester to his wife Anne.
Geography and geology
The town lies between above
ordnance datum
In the British Isles, an ordnance datum or OD is a vertical datum used by an ordnance survey as the basis for deriving altitudes on maps. A spot height may be expressed as AOD for "above ordnance datum". Usually mean sea level (MSL) is used fo ...
. The valley of the River Ure below the town has an altitude of and the summit of the hill to the south-west of the town of . The parish contains of land, mostly permanent pasture with about arable. The topsoil is mixed. The valley has modern alluvial terraces and gravel deposits, but the subsoil is mainly limestone, intersected here and there by sandstone with plate. There is a known vein of lead in the northern part of the parish. Braithwaite lead mine lies just outside the parish borders.
Notable people
In birth order:
*
Anne Neville
Anne Neville (11 June 1456 – 16 March 1485) was Queen of England as the wife of King Richard III. She was the younger of the two daughters and co-heiresses of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (the "Kingmaker"). Before her marriage to Ric ...
(1456–1485), consort of King
Richard III of England
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...
, spent most of her childhood at the castle.
*
Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales
cy, Edward o Middleham
, house = York
, father = Richard III of England
, mother = Anne Neville
, birth_date = or 1476
, birth_place = Middleham, Wensleydale, England
, death_date = 9 April 1484 (aged 7–10)
, death_place ...
(1473–1484) was born and died at the castle.
*
Tobias Pullen
Tobias Pullen (1648 – 22 January 1713), or Tobias Pullein, was an Irish bishop.
Biography
Pullen was Anglican bishop of Cloyne and of Dromore, born at Middleham, Yorkshire in 1648, was, according to Cotton, grandson of Samuel Pullein (1598– ...
(1648–1713), religious controversialist and
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...
bishop, was born in the town.
*
John Baynes
John Baynes (1758–1787) was an English lawyer and miscellaneous writer.
Life
Baynes was born at Middleham, Yorkshire, and educated at Richmond Grammar School in the same county, under Anthony Temple. Proceeding to Trinity College, Cambridge ...
(1758–1787), miscellanist and lawyer, was born in the town.
*
Job Marson (1817–1857), a celebrated jockey, died at Middleham.
Popular culture
Middleham appeared three times in the UK television series ''
All Creatures Great and Small''. The episode "Against the Odds" had the Manor House as the home of the Barraclough family. In the episode "Where Sheep May Safely Graze", Middleham Antiques, in North Road, became Geoff Hatfield's confectionery shop. Ferndale became the home of the Darnley sisters in the episode "The Rough and the Smooth".
Twin town
Middleham is
twinned with
Azincourt
Azincourt (), historically known in English as Agincourt ( ), is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is situated north-west of Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise on the D71 road between Hesdin and Fruges.
The Late Medieval ...
, France.
References
Sources
*
External links
Middleham Online
{{authority control
Market towns in North Yorkshire
Civil parishes in North Yorkshire
Wensleydale
Richmondshire
Towns in North Yorkshire