Skelton-in-Cleveland or Skelton is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

in the civil parish of

Skelton and Brotton Skelton and Brotton is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland, England. It consists of the town of Skelton-in-Cleveland and village of Brotton, which had a combined population of 18,952 in 2002, reducing to 12,848 at ...

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 ...

and about east of

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 ...

centre. It is in the borough 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 ...

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 first real mention of Skelton is in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086, which details taxes collected. Skelton Castle was built in the 12th century by the de Brus (Bruce) family. It is a town by

market charter A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

. Skelton is made up of villages; including North Skelton, Skelton Green, and New Skelton. Population of the Skelton Built-up area was 6,535, at the 2011 census.

All Saints' Churches

Old All Saints' Church is a redundant

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

church, built in Georgian times; it is set in parkland with views to the 18th-century Gothic-style country house called Skelton Castle. Graves can be seen in the churchyard with skull-and-crossbones motifs. The church was mostly rebuilt in 1785, on a site where two previous churches had been built. The pulpit, the box pews and other furnishings, date from the rebuilding, with slightly earlier text boards and some older monuments on a remaining medieval wall. The outside stonework shows a herringbone tooling in keeping with local styles, in contrast to the 'Venetian' east window and the dark pink colouring of the interior. All Saints' Church, Skelton in Cleveland - geograph

All Saints' Church, Skelton in Cleveland - geograph

A new All Saints' church was built on the other side of the high street, in 1884, by R.J. Johnston of Newcastle. It is in the

decorated style English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...

and of dressed sandstone with ashlar, with plain clay tiled roofs. After the new church was built, the Georgian church fell into disrepair, declared redundant and is now maintained by the Churches Conservation Trust. Both churches are Grade II listed buildings.

Education

The only school in the town is Skelton Primary School which takes on students age 3–11.

Sport

The town has a cricket club, Skelton Castle Cricket Club, who play in the Langbaurgh cricket league. Their grounds, Old Dog Kennels; is accessible via the A174. Skelton United is the town's football club, with junior teams from U7s to U16s.

Local amenities

Skelton's high street hosts various small independent/chain shops, a Cooplands and Co-operative Food store. There are several public houses throughout Skelton and on the edge of town there is a retail estate with a large Asda, Aldi & B&M supermarkets as well as a Harvester Pub, a Greggs bakery and a McDonalds drive through.

Famous son

Skelton-in-Cleveland was the birthplace, in 1873, of Frank Wild, polar explorer and

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age o ...

's right-hand man. In 2016 a statue of Wild was erected in Skelton-in-Cleveland.

Gallery

File:Skelton fire station - geograph.org.uk - 288267.jpg, Skelton Fire Station File:New housing at Skelton - geograph.org.uk - 610684.jpg, New housing in Skelton

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skelton-In-Cleveland Towns in North Yorkshire Places in the Tees Valley Redcar and Cleveland