North Cowton is a 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 ...

, located in

Richmondshire {{Infobox settlement , name = Richmondshire District , type = District , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_blank_emblem= Richmondshire arms.png , blank_emblem_type = Coat ...

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. 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 ...

Northallerton Northallerton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of Mowbray and at the northern end of the Vale of York. It had a population of 16,832 in the 2011 census, an increase ...

History

The village is mentioned in the ''

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 Cattun. The head of the manor is noted as ''Gilling'' and lands 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 ...

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 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 o ...

, with a small allocation to '' Godric, the steward'' and an unnamed individual. The manor became a

mesne Mesne (an Anglo-French legal form of the O. Fr. ''meien'', mod. ''moyen'', mean, Med. Lat. ''medianus'', in the middle, cf. English ''mean''), middle or intermediate, an adjective used in several legal phrases. * A mesne lord is a landlord who has ...

lordship A lordship is a territory held by a lord. It was a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and judicial unit in rural areas. It originated as a unit under the feudal system during the Middle Ages. In a lordship, the functions of econ ...

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, 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 Moulton railway station was a railway station in what is now the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It was situated near the village of North Cowton. Moulton was the Eryholme-Richmond branch line which was opened in 1846 by ...

in each direction. The line was closed in 1969. The old station house, station cottage and railway bridge are Grade II

listed building 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 ...

Geography and governance

The nearest settlements to North Cowton are East Cowton,

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 River Wiske is a tributary of the River Swale in Yorkshire, England. The Wiske gives its name to several villages it passes through. The name Wiske is derived from an Old English word ''wisca'' meaning a water meadow. It was once known as t ...

. The east end of the village lies close to the B1263 road. 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 Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...

, to the age of eighteen. The village

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

is The Herdsman. There is also a

village hall A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as: United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...

, football pitch, tennis court, two children's playgrounds, a bus stop, a

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

, two public telephone boxes, two community notice boards and two postboxes. There is a petrol station/shop just outside the village on the B1263 road. 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

. 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 The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

and the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

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 A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

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