Cropton 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

Ryedale Ryedale is a non-metropolitan district in North Yorkshire, England. It is in the Vale of Pickering, a low-lying flat area of land drained by the River Derwent. The Vale's landscape is rural with scattered villages and towns. It has been inh ...

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. It is on the border of the

North York Moors National Park North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

, north-west of Pickering.

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 having three ploughlands, but it does not list any inhabitants. The name of the village derives from

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 ...

(''cropp tūn''), which means a swelling, mound or hill with a farmstead, settlement or village. At the 2001 census, the parish (including Aislaby) had a population of 354, decreasing to 321 (including Stape) at the 2011 Census. The Great Yorkshire Brewery, a microbrewery, is located to the rear of the New Inn on the edge of the village. The owners of the pub started brewing their own beer in 1984, though beer had been brewed in the village as far back as 1613. To the rear of the brewery is the site of a

Motte-and-bailey castle 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 t ...

, known as the Round Hill, which is scheduled ancient monument. Just outside the village and to the north, is the site of a set of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

practice marching camps at

Cawthorne Cawthorne is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. The village was once a centre of the iron and coal mining industry; today it is part of an affluent commuter belt west of Barnsley. A ...

, excavated by universities in recent years. The camps are thought to be there as the village was on the route of a Roman Road between

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 Dunsley Bay (

Sandsend Sandsend is a small fishing village, near to Whitby in the Scarborough (borough), Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the Civil parishes of England, civil parish of Lythe. It is the birthplace of fishing magnate ...

), on the

Yorkshire Coast The Yorkshire Coast runs from the Tees estuary to the Humber estuary, on the east coast of England. The cliffs at Boulby are the highest on the east coast of England, rising to above the sea level. The North York Moors National Park extends ...

near to

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

. These have been registered as ancient monuments. To the north of the village lies Cropton Forest, a woodland that has a caravan park within it. The forest is also noted for a programme to reintroduce beavers, which was successful in producing kits (baby beavers) in 2021. St Gregory's Church is a grade II listed structure, and whilst there is no accurate record of its building date, it was rebuilt in 1844. In the churchyard is the base of a medieval cross. There is a poem and tradition associated with taking a drink and leaving money at the cross.

Governance

An electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward stretches south to Normanby with a total population taken at the 2011 Census of 1,542.

Notable people

William Scoresby William Scoresby (5 October 178921 March 1857) was an English whaler, Arctic explorer, scientist and clergyman. Early years Scoresby was born in the village of Cropton near Pickering south-west of Whitby in Yorkshire. His father, William ...

, Arctic whaler and navigator who sailed out of Whitby

References

External links

Map of the village
{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire