North Cowton is a village and civil parish, located in Richmondshire, North Yorkshire, England. It is north-west of the

county town In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...

of Northallerton.

History

The village is mentioned in the '' Domesday Book'' as Cattun. The head of the

manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

is noted as ''Gilling'' and lands before the Norman conquest belonged to ''

Earl Edwin Edwin (Old English: ''Ēadwine'') (died 1071) was the elder brother of Morcar, Earl of Northumbria, son of Ælfgār, Earl of Mercia and grandson of Leofric, Earl of Mercia. He succeeded to his father's title and responsibilities on Ælfgār's d ...

'' and ''Ulf''. After 1086 the lands were granted to Count Alan of Brittany, with a small allocation to '' Godric, the steward'' and an unnamed individual. The manor became a mesne lordship and was granted to ''Adam de Mounchesny'' during the reign of Henry III. This passed to the ''Fitz Alan'' family around 1260 until the early 15th century when they were the possession of John Brough. His direct line of inheritance ceased around 1558 with the death of Sir Ralph Bulmer. Thereafter the descent followed that of the other Cowton manors nearby. The last confirmed lord of the manor was the Earl of Tyrconnel and thence possibly his cousin Walter Cecil Talbot. The etymology of the village name is a combination of the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

words of ''cū'' and tūn meaning ''Cow farm''. The North is to distinguish it from other Cowtons in the area. The village was previously known as "Long Cowton" and before that "Magna Cowton". On 22 August 1138 the English armies defeated the Scottish at nearby Cowton Moor in the

Battle of the Standard The Battle of the Standard, sometimes called the Battle of Northallerton, took place on 22 August 1138 on Cowton Moor near Northallerton in Yorkshire, England. English forces under William of Aumale repelled a Scottish army led by King David ...

. The fields behind Holywell Lane are perhaps the burial grounds for the Scottish; the medieval name for the area was "Scotch Graves". The name of a local public footpath called Cramble Cross is thought to derive from a cross marking the last stand of the Scottish soldiers. Nearly two centuries later, the Scottish had their revenge on North Cowton, raiding it regularly in the early 14th century and burning it to the ground in 1318. The disbanded Eryholme-Richmond branch line passed nearby with a former railway station at

Moulton End Moulton End is a hamlet in North Yorkshire, in England. The hamlet gradually built up around the now disused railway station formerly serving North Cowton. The station was part of the disbanded Eryholme-Richmond branch line, which also used t ...

, around ¼ of a mile from North Cowton. The line was opened in 1846 by the

York and Newcastle Railway The York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway (YN&BR) was an English railway company formed in 1847 by the amalgamation of the York and Newcastle Railway and the Newcastle and Berwick Railway. Both companies were part of the group of business interest ...

Company. At one time 13 trains a day passed through Moulton End railway station in each direction. The line was closed in 1969. The old station house, station cottage and railway bridge are Grade II listed buildings.

Geography and governance

The nearest settlements to North Cowton are

East Cowton East Cowton is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It is north west of the county town of Northallerton. History The village is mentioned twice in the ''Domesday Book'' as ''Cottune'' in the Alle ...

Uckerby Uckerby is a Hamlet (place), hamlet and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It situated at a Crossroads (culture), crossroads on the road between Scorton, North Yorkshire, Scorton and Moulton, North Yorkshire ...

, Scorton, Birkby and

Dalton-on-Tees Dalton-on-Tees is a village and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England, near the boundary with County Durham. According to the 2001 Census there were 318 people living in the parish (including Eryholme) in 120 ...

which are within of the village. The highest point in the village is at the north on Holywell Lane, at . The Stell has its source to the south of the village and is a tributary of the nearby River Wiske. The east end of the village lies close to the

B1263 road B roads are numbered routes in Great Britain of lesser importance than A roads. See the article Great Britain road numbering scheme The Great Britain road numbering scheme is a numbering scheme used to classify and identify all roads in G ...

. The village lies within the Richmond UK Parliament constituency, the Richmondshire North electoral division of North Yorkshire County Council and the Croft ward of Hambleton District Council.

Demography

2001 Census

According to the 2001 UK Census, the parish was 50.4% male and 49.6% female of the total population of 550. The religious make-up was 84.5% Christian with the rest stating no religion. The ethnic distribution was 100% White. There were 216 dwellings.

2011 Census

According to the 2011 UK Census, the parish had a total population of 503 with 50.3% male and 49.7% female. The religious make-up was 68.4% Christian with the rest stating no religion. The ethnic distribution was 99.8% White with a small BAME minority. There were 223 dwellings.

Community

The local school is North and South Cowton Community Primary School which has around 40 pupils split between two sites. It is within the catchment area of Richmond School and Sixth Form College for secondary education, to the age of eighteen. The village public house is The Herdsman. There is also a village hall, football pitch, tennis court, two children's playgrounds, a bus stop, a war memorial, two public telephone boxes, two community notice boards and two postboxes. There is a petrol station/shop just outside the village on the

. The village is served by the 72 bus service which runs between

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 Northallerton. There are a number of public

footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...

s and

bridleway A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding horses, riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now s ...

s, including Cramble Cross. There is also a local football team, Cowtons FC

Religion

There were two churches, St Luke's Church of England and the Methodist Chapel. The chapel was built in 1827 and restored in 1881. St Luke's was built as a pastoral centre in 1968 and consecrated as the parish church on 21 October 1990. Both have since been closed, with the Parish Church of East Cowton now the designated church for the village.

References

External links

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