Bempton

Bempton is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, near the border with North Yorkshire. It is near the North Sea coast and Flamborough Head, and is situated about north of Bridlington. It lies on the B1229 road between Speeton and Flamborough. It is served by Bempton railway station which is on the Yorkshire Coast Line that runs between Hull and Scarborough.

The parish of Bempton also contains Buckton village, which is situated directly to the west of Bempton. According to the 2011 UK census, Bempton parish had a population of 1,040, a slight decrease on the 2001 UK census figure of 1,050.

History

Bronze Age pit dwellings have been discovered near Bempton.

Bempton used to be home to RAF Bempton, an early warning station. It was established in the Second World War as a radar station. It was finally closed in 1972. Some of the old buildings are still visible from the cliff top. The former RAF camp site is now a caravan park.

From the mediaeval era until the 19th century Bempton was part of Dickering Wapentake. Between 1894 and 1974 Bempton was a part of the Bridlington Rural District, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Between 1974 and 1996 it was part of the Borough of North Wolds (later Borough of East Yorkshire), in the county of Humberside.

Amenities

The village is well known for its cliffs which are located one mile from the centre of the village. Bempton Cliffs is an RSPB nature reserve, established in 1970. It is best known for its breeding seabirds, including northern gannet, Atlantic puffin, razorbill, common guillemot, black-legged kittiwake and fulmar. In places the cliffs are 400 foot high and it is the only mainland gannetry in the UK where these birds breed every year.

The parish church of St Michael is a Grade II* listed building and dates back to the 13th century.

Bempton has a post office and general store, a garage, a hairdresser, antique shop and snooker club. It is home to Bempton Primary School, which was completely rebuilt in 2004 at a cost of over £1 million.

It also has a public house, The White Horse, which has a distinctive vivid blue Dutch tiled roof. It is local folklore that no other tiles were readily available at the time of construction so the it was decided to use the blue tiles instead of waiting for delivery of standard tiles.

In 2014, after many years of fundraising and a lottery grant of £408,000, Bempton and Buckton Community Village Hall was opened on land between the two villages. There is also a children's playground close to the village hall.

Bempton, along with a number of other places in Yorkshire, was a filming location for the 2016 film ''Dad's Army'', starring Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Gallery

File:Historic 18th Century Houses in Bempton High Street.jpg, 18th-century houses, High Street
File:The Mere - geograph.org.uk - 1778508.jpg, The mere
File:Old Windmill at Mill Farm - geograph.org.uk - 1115279.jpg, Old windmill at Mill Farm
File:White Horse pub - geograph.org.uk - 6907290.jpg, White Horse pub

See also

* Bempton Cliffs
* RAF Bempton

References

*

External links

*
*
Bempton Primary School websiteBempton and Buckton Community Village Hall

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Villages in the East Riding of Yorkshire
Civil parishes in the East Riding of Yorkshire