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Layerthorpe is a part of the city of
York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
in,
North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...
, England. It is outside the city walls of York. The road through Layerthorpe from the bridge over the River Foss to Heworth is also shares the same name.


Origin of the name

York historian
Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...
suggested in his ''Eboracum'' (1736) that the first part of the name referred to a resting-place (or "lair") used by
deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...
on the edge of the Forest of Galtres. The second part ( "thorpe") is a placename suffix used within the
Danelaw The Danelaw (, ; ; ) was the part of History of Anglo-Saxon England, England between the late ninth century and the Norman Conquest under Anglo-Saxon rule in which Danes (tribe), Danish laws applied. The Danelaw originated in the conquest and oc ...
for small settlements adjacent to larger ones. The earliest known reference (in a charter of 1184–9) calls the area (then a village) "Leirthorp".


History

After
William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...
created a dam in the River Foss in 1069 to create a
moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...
around
York Castle York Castle is a fortified complex in the city of York, England. It consists of a sequence of castles, prisons, court, law courts and other buildings, which were built over the last nine centuries on the north-west side of the River Foss.Coop ...
, the river flooded in the Layerthorpe area, forming a large lake that would become known as the "King's Pool" (or "King's Fishpool"). The King's Pool became an integral part of the city's defences during the Middle Ages – this explains the absence of defensive wall in the area today – and was well known for its abundance of fish. The fourteenth-century Layerthorpe Bridge, a crossing of the Foss, adjacent to the King's Pool, was once attached to a postern in the city wall, known as Layerthorpe Postern. In 1829, the bridge was rebuilt, and the Postern and a short section of wall were demolished. In 1926, the bridge was widened again, and in the 1990s it was completely rebuilt on a different alignment. Layerthorpe bridge led to the area of Layerthorpe on the road, now called Layerthorpe, which runs from York to the suburb of Heworth. There was a medieval church (St. Mary's, Layerthorpe), which was built about fifty yards from the bridge in the fourteenth century or earlier. The church was closed in 1549, and the parish was united with that of St. Cuthbert's, Peasholme Green, in 1586. The church has disappeared, although its foundations were temporarily uncovered in 1920. Meanwhile, the King's Pool declined, as silt from upriver collected and there was not enough water coming down to move it on. In the eighteenth century, the waters were so low that marshy islands had begun to appear, giving the area the additional name of Foss Islands, and during the summer months the river smelled foul and was mostly dry and stagnant. At the end of the eighteenth century, the Foss was canalised and the Pool disappeared. In 1854, the area was drained and Foss Islands Road (now part of the York Inner
Ring Road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...
) was constructed between Layerthorpe Bridge and Walmgate Bar. In 1824, the York Gas Light Company began production on a site between Layerthorpe and Monkgate. This was expanded in 1885, and a siding from the Foss Islands Branch Line was constructed to serve it. The Branch Line had been opened in 1880 to serve the cattle-market at Walmgate Bar and to provide facilities for freight traffic, including deliveries of coal and, later, sand for bottle-making, on the eastern side of the city. On Foss Islands Road, just south of Layerthorpe Bridge, York Corporation built a
power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...
and refuse destructor in the 1890s, again with sidings off the Branch Line. The 55 metres octagonal brick chimney from the refuse destructor has been preserved and was listed as Grade II in 1983. York (Layerthorpe) railway station, the northern terminus of the
Derwent Valley Light Railway The Derwent Valley Light Railway (DVLR) (also known as The Blackberry Line) was a privately owned standard-gauge railway in North Yorkshire, England, and was unusual in that it was never nationalization, nationalised, remaining as a private ...
(DVLR) which connected with the Foss Islands Branch, opened in 1913. It was located on Hallfield Road.


Layerthorpe today

All the railway lines in the Layerthorpe area had been closed by 1989, and the route of the DVLR and part of the Branch Line is now a footpath and cycle-path. The Branch Line's sidings and the Corporation's premises have been replaced by a variety of industrial and retail units (and increasingly, residential). No trace of the railway station remains, and Hallfield Road, a through-route to the
A1079 The A1079 is a major road in Northern England. It links the cities of York and Kingston upon Hull, both in Yorkshire. The road is noted for its past safety issues, and regularly features in the Road Safety Foundations reports on Britain's most ...
since 2007, contains much recent housing. New buildings are also beginning to appear on the gasworks site.


References

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External links

{{commons category, Layerthorpe
Victoria County History page with details of St. Mary's Church
Villages and areas in the City of York