Great Ayton is a 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 ...

in the

Hambleton District Hambleton is a local government district in North Yorkshire, England. The administrative centre is Northallerton, and the district includes the outlying towns and villages of Bedale, Thirsk, Great Ayton, Stokesley, and Easingwold. The ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four co ...

, England. The River Leven (a tributary of the

River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has bee ...

) flows through the village, which lies just north of 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 heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a National Park in 1952, through the National Parks and ...

Etymology

Great Ayton's name derives from Old English ''Ea-tun'', meaning 'river farm'. The river flowing through Great Ayton is the

Leven Leven may refer to: People * Leven (name), list of people with the name Nobility * Earl of Leven a title in the Peerage of Scotland Placenames * Leven, Fife, a town in Scotland * Leven, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England * Leven st ...

, a tributary of the

. A later addition of the word 'great' differentiates the village from nearby

Little Ayton Little Ayton is a village and civil parish in Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England and lies immediately south of Great Ayton. The population of this civil parish taken at the 2011 Census was less than 100. Details are included in the ...

History

In the 18th and 19th centuries Great Ayton was a centre for the industries of

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

, tanning,

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer ...

, and

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or ...

making. Subsequently, whinstone for road surfacing was also quarried from the Cleveland Dyke along with

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...

, jet and

alum An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double sulfate salt of aluminium with the general formula , where is a monovalent cation such as potassium or ammonium. By itself, "alum" often refers to potassium alum, with the ...

from the Cleveland Hills. Great Ayton was home to the

Great Ayton Friends' School Great Ayton Friends' School (1841–1997) in Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, England, was an independent, co-educational, agricultural boarding school, run by the Religious Society of Friends (the Quakers). The school was situated on High Gr ...

(

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

) from 1841 until it closed in 1997. The village serves as the base for Cleveland Mountain Rescue Team.

Geography

Great Ayton is at the foot of the

Cleveland Hills The Cleveland Hills are a range of hills on the north-west edge of the North York Moors in North Yorkshire, England, overlooking Cleveland and Teesside. They lie entirely within the boundaries of the North York Moors National Park. Part of the ...

beneath

Easby Moor Easby Moor is a hill located in the civil parish of Little Ayton in the North York Moors national park within the Cleveland Hills, North Yorkshire, England. At the peak, above sea level, is a monument to Captain James Cook, who was native to ...

and the distinctively-shaped

Roseberry Topping Roseberry Topping is a distinctive hill in North Yorkshire, England. It is situated near Great Ayton and Newton under Roseberry. Its summit has a distinctive half-cone shape with a jagged cliff, which has led to many comparisons with the much h ...

. The River Leven, a tributary of the

, flows through the village and links its two centres, High Green and Low Green. The Cleveland Dyke, a narrow band of hard whinstone rock that runs for about 31 miles between Robin Hood's Bay and

Eaglescliffe Eaglescliffe is a village in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. It is in the civil parish of Egglescliffe. The village was formerly known as Eaglescliffe Junction, being formed around . In 2011, the Office for National ...

lies to the north-east of the village. The village lies near

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the ...

's built-up area, south-east by less than , from its centre. It is also north-east of

Stokesley Stokesley is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England, formerly a part of the historic North Riding of Yorkshire. It lies on the River Leven. An electoral ward, of the same name, stretches north to ...

and from

Guisborough Guisborough ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of the North York Moors National Park. Roseberry Topping, midway between the town and Great Ayton, is a landmar ...

. From 1894 to 1974, it was in the Stokesley Rural District of the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres). From the Restoration it was used ...

. The centre is from the nexus of

Redcar and Cleveland Redcar and Cleveland is a borough with unitary authority status in North Yorkshire, England. Its main settlements are Redcar, South Bank, Eston, Brotton, Guisborough, the Greater Eston part of Middlesbrough, Loftus, Saltburn and Skelton. Th ...

borough of Middlesbrough The Borough of Middlesbrough is a borough with unitary authority status in North Yorkshire, England, based around the town of Middlesbrough in the north of the county. It is in the Tees Valley mayoralty along with Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar and ...

and the Hambleton districts. This is in keeping with the Langbaurgh hamlet as a historic meeting place of the Langbaurgh Wapentake. According to the 2011 Census, it has a population of 4,629. An

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

, of the same name, stretches east to Kildale with a population of 4,973 at the 2011 census .

Transport

The village is served by

Great Ayton railway station Great Ayton is a railway station on the Esk Valley Line, which runs between Middlesbrough and Whitby via Nunthorpe. The station, situated south-east of Middlesbrough, serves the village of Great Ayton, Hambleton in North Yorkshire, England. ...

on the Esk Valley Line.

Landmarks

The village landmarks below all relate to James Cook. * A granite obelisk now marks the original site of the Cook family cottage in Great Ayton. The obelisk is constructed from granite taken from Point Hicks, the first land sighted by Cook in Australia. * The Captain Cook Schoolroom Museum is within a former

charity school Charity schools, sometimes called blue coat schools, or simply the Blue School, were significant in the history of education in England. They were built and maintained in various parishes by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants to ...

, founded in 1704 by landowner Michael Postgate. James Cook received his early education here from 1736 to 1740. * Unveiled on 12 May 1997 on High Green is a statue depicting James Cook at the age of 16 looking towards

Staithes Staithes is a seaside village in the borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Easington and Roxby Becks, two brooks that run into Staithes Beck, form the border between the Borough of Scarborough and Redcar and Cleveland. The area l ...

where, according to tradition, he first felt the lure of the sea. This was commissioned by Hambleton District Council and is the work of sculptor Nicholas Dimbleby.

Religion

The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of Christ Church was built in 1876 and now designated a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. It holds a number of services during the day that attract a total attendance of about 200. In the summer months, the evening service takes place in All Saints' Church, the former parish church, which dates back to the 12th century. The church has an organ built by

James Jepson Binns James Jepson Binns (c. 1855–11 March 1928) was a pipe organ builder based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Organs Pipe organs at the following locations were either built or rebuilt by James Jepson Binns or his JJ Binns company. A number o ...

. There is also a

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

, Catholic and

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

in the village. James Cook's mother and siblings are buried in the churchyard of All Saints' Church.

Notable people

The village was the boyhood home of

Captain Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...

, the British

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

and

navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prima ...

, who was born in nearby Marton.

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...

and his family moved to the village when he was eight years old and lived there until he was sixteen. The Cook family home on Bridge Street was built by James' father in 1755. The cottage was dismantled in 1934 to be shipped to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. Each stone was numbered so that the cottage could be reconstructed exactly in its new home in the

Fitzroy Gardens The Fitzroy Gardens are 26 hectares (64 acres) located on the southeastern edge of the Melbourne central business district in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The gardens are bounded by Clarendon Street, Albert Street, Lansdowne Street, and ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

. Cyclist brothers

Harry Tanfield Harry Tanfield (born 17 November 1994) is a British cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team . Career From Great Ayton in Yorkshire, England, Tanfield rode for in 2015 and in 2016, before joining for the 2017 season. At the Br ...

(born 1994) and

Charlie Tanfield Charles Tanfield (born 17 November 1996) is a British Track & Road racing cyclist, who rides for UCI Continental team Saint Piran (cycling team). He competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in the Mens Team Pursuit. He rode in the men's ...

(born 1996), were born in the village. They both share a birthday, 17 November.

References

External links

Great Ayton Tourism, Parish Council, and Community Website

* ttp://www.captaincookschoolroommuseum.co.uk/ The Captain Cook Schoolroom Museum Website* {{navboxes , list1 = {{Geographic location , Northwest = Nunthorpe , North = Newton under Roseberry , Northeast = ''

'' , West = , Centre = Great Ayton , East = ''

'',
Captain Cook's Monument , Southwest =

, South = Great Broughton , Southeast =

,
Easby,
Ingleby Greenhow {{North Yorkshire {{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Obelisks in England Monuments and memorials in North Yorkshire