Folkton is a small 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 ...

at the foot of the

Yorkshire Wolds The Yorkshire Wolds are low hills in the counties of the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire in north-eastern England. The name also applies to the district in which the hills lie. On the western edge, the Wolds rise to an escarpment wh ...

and on the edge of the

Vale of Pickering The Vale of Pickering is a low-lying flat area of land in North Yorkshire, England. It is drained by the River Derwent. The landscape is rural with scattered villages and small market towns. It has been inhabited continuously from the Mesolithic ...

on an area known as Folkton Carr ( carr meaning low lands) in the

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

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. Until 1974 the village lay in the Historic counties of England, historic county boundaries of the East Riding of Yorkshire. There is a church dedicated to St John the Evangelist. Folkton House, the former rectory is located on Filey Road. Towards Flixton, North Yorkshire, Flixton is the former village school which is now closed, built in 1832. According to the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 UK Census, Folkton parish had a population of 535, an increase on the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 UK Census figure of 461.

Geography

To the south are the Wolds and further north, across the Carrs and up the hills at the other side of the Vale is Scarborough, beyond which to the north-west are the Yorkshire Moors.

History

Prehistoric features

The area has been settled for many thousands of years. Above the village, at the top of Folkton Hill, was where the ''Folkton Drums'' were discovered. They are a set of chalk (the predominant stone in the area) carvings from the Stone Age. Bowl-shaped, they have been called drums as the carvings would be upside down were they to be used as bowls. They were discovered by William Greenwell in 1889. They were buried in a tumulus that sits at the intersection of several natural pathways through the Dales. This tumulus has now been identified as one of a network that acted as a guide through the maze of hills and valleys that make up the Dales which would have been heavily forested at the time. They can now be seen on display at the British Museum."The Folkton drums"
The British Museum

Modern history

The Carr would have historically been lake or marsh depending on which climatic era is being discussed. Its natural state today would be as marsh land but it was drained in the 19th century to make room for agriculture. The village was also the site of a Ancient Rome, Roman military base. Not much is known of this stage as subsequent building works have destroyed any archaeology; however, the regular finds of Roman artefacts such as coins and arrow heads indicate a substantial presence. The village as it stands today was established with a small number of farm houses around 400 years ago. Later building added to and expanded these existing structures into larger houses and farms with attached Barn (building), barns. Many barns were then demolished during the 1800s to avoid the 'Roof Tax'. In 1823 the Folkton parish was in the Hundred (county division)#Wapentake, Wapentake of Dickering Wapentake, Dickering. Population at the time was 144. Occupations included three farmers, and the Licensed victualler, landlady of The Bell public house. Two miles to the west of the village, in the Folkton parish, and separated by one mile, were the settlements of East and West Flotmanby, each listed with a gentleman.

References

External links

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