Ryal or Ryall is a village and former

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

about 13 miles from

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administra ...

, now in the parish of

Matfen Matfen is a village and a civil parish in Northumberland, England, near the town of Hexham and the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is an example of a 19th-century planned estate village. It was the birthplace of the 7th Premier of British Colum ...

, in the county of

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, England. In 1951 the parish had a population of 41. The village now has 2 farms, 6 cottages and a church called All Saints' Church. Ryal Church - geograph

History

The name "Ryal" means 'Rye hill'. Ryal was recorded as "Ryhill" in 1242 and "Ryel" in 1256. The village is one of the possible sources of the surnames Ryal, Ryall, Rahill, Rayhill, Reihill, Riall, Royl,

Royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or Royalty (disambiguation), royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Ill ...

, Royall, Royle, Ryle, Ryles and Rymill. Ryall was formerly a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

Stamfordham Stamfordham is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2001 Census was 1,047, rising to 1,185 at the 2011 Census. The place-name ''Stamfordham'' is first attested in the Pipe Rolls for ...

parish, from 1866 Ryal was a civil parish in its own right until it was abolished on 1 April 1955 to form Matfen.

References

Villages in Northumberland Former civil parishes in Northumberland Matfen {{Northumberland-geo-stub