Cropton

Cropton is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is on the border of the North York Moors National Park, 3 mi (5 kilometres) north-west of Pickering.^[1]

History

The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as having three ploughlands, but it does not list any inhabitants.^[2] The name of the village derives from Old English (cropp tūn), which means a swelling, mound or hill with a farmstead, settlement or village.^[3] At the 2001 census, the parish (including Aislaby) had a population of 354,^[4] decreasing to 321 (including Stape) at the 2011 Census.^[5]

The Great Yorkshire Brewery, a microbrewery, is located to the rear of the New Inn on the edge of the village.^[6] 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.^[7] To the rear of the brewery is the site of a Motte-and-bailey castle, known as the Round Hill, which is a scheduled ancient monument.^[8]

Just outside the village and to the north, is the site of a set of Roman practice marching camps at Cawthorne, excavated by universities in recent years.^[9] The camps are thought to be there as the village was on the route of a Roman Road between York and Dunsley Bay (Sandsend), on the Yorkshire Coast near to Whitby.^[10] These have been registered as ancient monuments.^[11] To the north of the village lies Cropton Forest, a 9,050-acre (3,660-hectare) woodland that has a caravan park within it.^[12] The forest is also noted for a programme to reintroduce beavers, which was successful in producing kits (baby beavers) in 2021.^[13][14]

St Gregory's Church, Cropton is a grade II listed structure, and whilst there is no accurate record of its building date, it was rebuilt in 1844.^[15][16] 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.^[17][18]

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.^[19]

From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of Ryedale. It is now administered by the unitary North Yorkshire Council.

Notable people

• William Scoresby, Arctic whaler and navigator who sailed out of Whitby^[20]

See also

• Listed buildings in Cropton

References

1. ^ North York Moors - Eastern area. Explorer. Ordnance Survey. 2016. ISBN 9780319242667.
2. ^ "Cropton". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
3. ^ Ekwall, Eilert (1960). The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names. 4 ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 132. OCLC 1228215388
4. ^
5. ^
6. ^ "VIP trips to brewery for £50,000". York Press. 26 December 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
7. ^ Thomas, Peter (2005). Yorkshire's historic pubs. Stroud: Sutton Publishing. p. 37. ISBN 0750939834.
8. ^
9. ^ "Cawthorn Roman Camps: North York Moors National Park". northyorkmoors.org.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
10. ^ Frank, George (1888). Ryedale and North Yorkshire antiquities. London: E Stock. p. 223. OCLC 4986493
11. ^
12. ^ "Cropton Forest". woodlandtrust.org.uk. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
13. ^ Perrin, Louise (7 July 2021). "Cropton Forest beaver trial welcomes two new additions to the family". The Scarborough News. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
14. ^ Wood, Alexandra (2 January 2021). "Forestry England confirms that Cropton Forest beavers have had fourth baby". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
15. ^ "St Gregory". www.achurchnearyou.com. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
16. ^
17. ^ Mead, Harry (1978). Inside the North York Moors. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 27. ISBN 0715376993.
18. ^
19. ^
20. ^ Laughton, J. K. "Scoresby, William, senior". 24853.

External links

• Map of the village