The Vale of Mowbray (sometimes mistakenly referred to as the

Vale of York The Vale of York is an area of flat land in the northeast of England. The vale is a major agricultural area and serves as the main north–south transport corridor for Northern England. The Vale of York is often supposed to stretch from the R ...

) is a stretch of low-lying land between the

North York Moors The North York Moors is an upland area in north-eastern Yorkshire, England. It contains one of the largest expanses of Calluna, heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a national parks of England and Wales, National P ...

and the

Hambleton Hills The Hambleton Hills are a range of hills in North Yorkshire, England. They form the western edge of the North York Moors but are separated from the moors by the valley of the River Rye. They are the eastern boundary of the low-lying Vale of ...

to the east and the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills ri ...

to the west. To the north lie the

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

lowlands and to the south the Vale of Mowbray becomes the Vale of York proper. The Vale of Mowbray is distinguishable from the Vale of York by its meandering rivers and more undulating landscape. The main characteristic of the Vale of Mowbray is the fertile agricultural land used for crops and permanent grassland, though isolated pockets of woodland remain. The roads in the Vale of Mowbray are characteristically contained by low hedges with wide verges. The villages are often linear following the major through road, the houses are generally brick built with

pantile A pantile is a type of fired roof tile, normally made from clay. It is S-shaped in profile and is single lap, meaning that the end of the tile laps only the course immediately below. Flat tiles normally lap two courses. A pantile-covered roo ...

roofs.

Description

The vale takes its name from the family who were granted the rights to the land after 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 ...

of 1066. Robert de Mowbray, whose family had a stronghold at

Thirsk Castle Thirsk Castle was a defensive Medieval castle in the town of Thirsk, in North Yorkshire, England. The castle was one of three held by the de Mowbray family in Yorkshire. History Thirsk Castle belonged to the de Mowbray family, who possessed t ...

, was given the land by

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

in 1086. The

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

definition of the boundaries of the Vale of Mowbray are the edge of the

in the east up to the A19/A172 junction; directly across to the junction at

Scotch Corner Scotch Corner is a Junction (road), junction of the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) and A66 road, A66 Trunk road#United Kingdom, trunk roads near Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond in North Yorkshire, England. It has been described as "the modern gate ...

on the

A1(M) A1(M) is the designation given to a series of four separate motorway sections in England. Each section is an upgrade to a section of the A1, a major north–south road which connects London, the capital of England, with Edinburgh, the capit ...

, then straight down the A1(M) for a western boundary and the rough line from the A168 at

Dishforth Dishforth is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. Dishforth translates from Old English as dic-ford; a ford by a dike or ditch. The population of the parish taken at the 2001 census as 719 and had ...

Thirsk Thirsk is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England known for its racecourse; quirky yarnbomber displays, and depiction as local author James Herriot's fictional Darrowby. History Archeological fin ...

in the east. Geological surveys list the Vale of Mowbray being bounded to the west by the River Ure, and in the east by the foot of the Hambleton Hills.

Features

Settlements

Bedale Bedale ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the district of Hambleton, North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is north of Leeds, south-west of Middlesbrough and south-west of the county town of ...

* Brompton * Catterick *

Crakehall Crakehall is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England, approximately west of Bedale. More known as Thomas Barkers home grounds. The village lies along the route of the A684 road, A684 and is split into t ...

* East Cowton *

Kirkby Fleetham Kirkby Fleetham is a village in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England about east of the A1(M) road. Along with the two nearby villages of Great Fencote and Little Fencote it forms the civil parish of Kirkby Fleetham and Fencote. ...

Kirkby Wiske Kirby Wiske is an English village and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire. It lies beside the River Wiske, about north-west of Thirsk. History The village appears in the 1086 ''Domesday Book'' as Kirkebi in the Allerton ...

* Middleton Quernhow *

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 ...

Romanby Romanby is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. Romanby is situated just south-west of Northallerton, and at the 2001 UK census had a population of 6,051, increasing to 6,177 at the 2011 Census. The ...

* Scorton * Theakston *

Major roads

motorway North-South * A19 North-South *

A167 The A167 and A167(M) is a road in North East England. It is partially a trunk road and partially a motorway, where it is commonly referred to as Newcastle Central Motorway. Most of the road’s route was formerly that of the A1, until it was ...

North-South * A684 East-West

Railways

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...

Northallerton–Eaglescliffe line The Northallerton–Eaglescliffe line runs between and stations. It connects the East Coast Main Line to the Tees Valley Line. It was built by the Leeds Northern Railway as part of their main line from to (via and ) which opened on 2 Jun ...

* Scruton–Redmire * Eryholme–Richmond branch line (closed) *

Leeds–Northallerton railway The Leeds–Northallerton railway is a partly disused railway line between West Yorkshire, West and North Yorkshire, in northern England. History The line was opened by the Leeds Northern Railway, in the 1850s. The Leeds and Thirsk Railway via ...

(closed)

Rivers

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. ...

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 ...

* Cod Beck

References

Sources

* *{{cite report, last=Lake, first=Jeremy, title=Vale of Mowbray, Eastern Arable , date=November 2020, format=PDF, url=https://historicengland.org.uk/research/results/reports/8041/ValeofMowbrayEasternArable, website=historicengland.org.uk, access-date=31 October 2021

External links

Vale of Mowbray pdf
Valleys of North Yorkshire Natural regions of England