Cowesby 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in the county of
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...
, England. Part of the village including The Cowesby Hall Estate is within the
North York Moors National Park
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
and about north of
Thirsk
Thirsk is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England; it is known for its racecourse and depiction as local author James Herriot's fictional Darrowby.
History
Archeological finds indicate there was a settlement in Thirsk aro ...
. The population of the civil parish was estimated at 70 in 2014.
[ In the 2011 census the population of Cowesby was included with ]Kirby Knowle
Kirby Knowle is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England, on the border of the North Yorkshire Moors and near Upsall, about four miles northeast of Thirsk. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the Nort ...
parish and not counted separately.
History
The village is mentioned 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
'' as being in the ''Allerton'' Hundred and listed as ''Cahosbi''. At the time of the Norman invasion the lands were recorded as belonging to
Edwin, Earl of Mercia
Edwin (Old English: ''eadwine'') (died 1071) was the elder brother of Morcar, Earl of Northumbria, son of Ælfgār, Earl of Mercia and grandson of Leofric, Earl of Mercia. He succeeded to his father's title and responsibilities on Ælfgār's de ...
, but were ceded soon afterwards to
King William I, though the manor was in the hands of ''
Hugh, son of Baldric''.
Governance
The village lies within the Thirsk and Malton UK Parliament constituency. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of
Hambleton, it is now administered by the unitary
North Yorkshire Council
North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the council has been a unitary authority, being a county coun ...
.
The parish shares a
grouped parish council
A parish council is a civil local authority found in England, which is the lowest tier of local government. Parish councils are elected corporate bodies, with variable tax raising powers, and they carry out beneficial public activities in geogr ...
, known as Hillside Parish Council, with the civil parishes of
Boltby,
Felixkirk,
Kirby Knowle
Kirby Knowle is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England, on the border of the North Yorkshire Moors and near Upsall, about four miles northeast of Thirsk. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the Nort ...
and
Upsall
Upsall is a Hamlet (place), hamlet in and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately four miles north-east of Thirsk. Upsall is part of the Upsall and Roxby estates owned by the Turton family. The popu ...
.
Geography
According to the 2001 UK Census, the population was 60. There are no local amenities or access to public transport.
The village lies at the foot of the Hambleton Hills in a natural, and thus sheltered bend
The nearest settlements are
Kepwick, to the north-north-east;
Kirby Knowle
Kirby Knowle is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England, on the border of the North Yorkshire Moors and near Upsall, about four miles northeast of Thirsk. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the Nort ...
, to the south and
Knayton and
Borrowby to the south-west.
The Cowesby Hall Estate
Cowesby Hall sits around half-a-mile from the centre of the village, the large Tudor-style
country house
image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...
sits prominently atop a hill in the centre of its 1,300 acre estate and was erected in 1832 from the designs of
Anthony Salvin
Anthony Salvin (17 October 1799 – 17 December 1881) was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on Middle Ages, medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations, such as those of the ...
, the hall and the majority of its land falls within the
North York Moors National Park
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
. The present manor house is believed to be the 4th built on the site, with the first documented to have being built in the
12th century
The 12th century is the period from 1101 to 1200 in accordance with the Julian calendar.
In the history of European culture, this period is considered part of the High Middle Ages and overlaps with what is often called the Golden Age' of the ...
for
William de Stuteville, whose son Robert died without issue, by the end of the 17th century, the manor was under the ownership of
Nathaniel Crew, 3rd Baron Crew, who is also noted as the founder of Cowesby Hospital, a village-hospital built in the late 1700s to treat the impoverished estate workers.
By the early 1800s the manor was under ownership of George Lloyd, Esq, who built the present hall between 1828 and 1832, he died in 1844 and left the estate to his eldest son William, whose son, also called William was Lord of the Manor until the 1940s, when the hall and estate was purchased by Sir John Watson Cameron, the son of Watson Cameron of
Camerons Brewery
Camerons Brewery is an English brewery established by John William Cameron in Stranton, Hartlepool, County Durham, in 1865. It is the largest independent brewer in the North East of England, with a brewery capacity of 1.5 million hectolitres ...
, it remained in ownership of the Camerons until 1999, when it was purchased by Robert Adair, a Yorkshire-based
oil tycoon and his wife Lucy, a
solicitor
A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...
, the Adair's later divorced, which resulted in the £10m sale of The Cowesby Hall Estate in 2009 to a member of the billionaire
Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited, trading as Morrisons, is the List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom, fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Sco ...
family, the sale included the main house, several estate cottages in the adjoining village, two working farms and 1,298 acres of land, including
woodland
A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...
, parkland,
farmland
Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bot ...
and
moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of Habitat (ecology), habitat found in upland (geology), upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and the biomes of montane grasslands and shrublands, characterised by low-growing vegetation on So ...
.
The 24,000 square foot, 10-bedroom manor house and its sprawling gardens have undergone an extensive renovation and restoration programme by its current owners, the hall sits prominently atop a hill and is sheltered on the north and east facade, whilst the south and west facade enjoy expansive and far reaching views over the
Hambleton Hills.
Religion
St Michael's Church, Cowesby was rebuilt by the widow of George Lloyd of Cowesby Hall to the designs of
Anthony Salvin
Anthony Salvin (17 October 1799 – 17 December 1881) was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on Middle Ages, medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations, such as those of the ...
in 1846 on the site of a Saxon and a 13th-century church.
The church is now a Grade II
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Cowesby
References
External links
{{authority control
Villages in North Yorkshire
Civil parishes in North Yorkshire