Bolton-on-Swale 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 authorit ...

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. In 2015, North Yorkshire County Council estimated the population of the civil parish to be 70.

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 manus ...

'' as ''Boletone'' and belonged 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 ...

as Tenant-in-Chief. The manor had been granted by Count Alan to ''Thor'' at the time of the Norman invasion, but afterwards it was granted to ''Enisant Musard''. The manor was passed to ''Roald the Constable'' thereafter until it came into the possession of the ''Scrope'' family in Masham. They held the titles until around 1630. The descent is somewhat confused after this, but the title was seen to be in use in the 18th century by the ''Burton'' and ''Garthwaite'' families. In 1820 the title was in use by the

Earl of Tyrconnell Earl of Tyrconnell is a title that has been created four times in the Peerage of Ireland. It was first created in 1603, for Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, formerly king of Tyrconnell, along with the subsidiary title Baron Donegal. The 1s ...

. The etymology of the name derives from 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 settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''bōðl-tūn'', meaning ''an enclosure with buildings''.

Governance

The village lies within the Richmond UK Parliament constituency. It also lies within the Catterick Bridge electoral division of North Yorkshire County Council and the Brompton-on-Swale and Scorton ward of Richmondshire District Council.

Community and culture

Bolton-on-Swale St Mary's C of E (VA) Primary School, located in the village, serves Bolton-on-Swale and Scorton. There are under 100 pupils, split into 4 classes.

Geography

As the name suggests it is close to 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. ...

. Bolton Beck is a tributary of the Swale which passes underneath a small bridge at the north of the village. The village is situated on the B6271 road between Scorton and

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 increa ...

. The Coast to Coast Walk passes through the village. The village is just south of Scorton and north-east of Catterick.

Climate

Religion

The village church is dedicated to St Mary; it serves the village and a number of other small villages,

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

s and

farmstead A homestead is an isolated dwelling, especially a farmhouse, and adjacent outbuildings, typically on a large agricultural holding such as a ranch or station. In North America the word "homestead" historically referred to land claimed by a set ...

s in the surrounding countryside. The church is a 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 ...

built on the site of previous Norman and Saxon structures. The present building was erected during the early 14th century and was enlarged and restored by

George Fowler Jones George Fowler Jones (25 January 1818 – 1 March 1905) was an architect and early amateur photographer who was born in Scotland but based for most of his working life in York. Biography and work Jones was born in Inverness in 1818. He studied ...

in 1859. Some

sarcophagi A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

were found during the restoration and may now be found on the interior wall by the door. In the

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

an unusual stone roof exists which seems to be a portion of the original Saxon structure. In the graveyard is the tomb of Henry Jenkins who, it is claimed, lived to be 169 years old. The dates on the tomb are 1500–1670.

Notable buildings

Nearby is Bolton Old Hall, a 15th-century peel tower, altered and extended in the 16th and 17th centuries. The building is Grade II listed by English Heritage.

References

External links

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