Downholme 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 ...

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. It is situated approximately west from the

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 rura ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

and west from the

county town In Great Britain and Ireland, a county town is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county, and the place where public representatives are elected to parliament. Following the establishment of county councils in ...

Northallerton Northallerton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the River Wiske in the Vale of Mowbray and had a population of 16,832 in 2011. Northallerton is an administrative centre for York and North Yorkshire ...

. The village lies close to the edge of the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales are a series of valleys, or Dale (landform), dales, in the Pennines, an Highland, upland range in England. They are mostly located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, but extend into C ...

. The population as taken in the ONS Census of 2011 was less than 100, so details are included in the parish of Hudswell. In 2015,

North Yorkshire County Council North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the ...

estimated the population of the village to be 50.

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 "Dune" with the manor belonging to

Count Alan of Brittany Alan Rufus, alternatively Alanus Rufus (Latin), Alan ar Rouz (Breton language, Breton), Alain le Roux (French Language, French) or Alan the Red (c. 1040 – 1093), 1st Lord of Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond, was a Bretons, Breton nobleman, ...

. The

lordship A lordship is a territory held by a lord. It was a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and judicial unit in rural areas. It originated as a unit under the feudal system during the Middle Ages. In a lordship, the functions of eco ...

of the manor was granted by the Count to ''Gospatric, son of Arnketil'' around the time of the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

. There were two ploughlands with a taxable value of 3 geld units. The manor came into the possession of Thomas de Richeburg before passing to the Leyburn family around 1184. Over the following years they granted the manor piecemeal to the abbey of St Agatha at Easby. The abbey then granted the manor lands to the Cleasby family by the middle of the 13th century. Around 1314, the Cleasby's passed the manor on to the Scrope family of

Castle Bolton Castle Bolton is a village in North Yorkshire, England. It is in Wensleydale, one of the Yorkshire Dales. The village takes its name from Bolton Castle, which overlooks the west end of the village green. The population of the civil parish was le ...

. The etymology of the name is derived from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

word ''dūn'' meaning ''hill''. As can be seen from the ''Domesday Book'' entry, the suffix of ''-holme'', Old English ''holegn'' for ''holly'', was added a later date.

Geography and governance

The village lies on the

A6108 road The A6108 road is an A roads in Great Britain, A road in North Yorkshire, England. It runs from the south of Scotch Corner to Ripon going via Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond and Leyburn across the moors and the valleys of Swaledale and Wens ...

between

Leyburn Leyburn is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, sitting above the northern bank of the River Ure in Wensleydale. Historic counties of England, Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the name was derived from 'Ley' ...

and

on a section called Walburn Head. The nearest settlements of Marske, Hudswell, Stainton and

Marrick Marrick is a village and List of civil parishes in North Yorkshire, civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England, situated in lower Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, the village is approximately west of Richmond, North ...

all lie within of the village. Church Gill, which has a small waterfall, runs north through the village to join the nearby

River Swale The River Swale in Yorkshire, England, is a major tributary of the River Ure, which becomes the River Ouse, Yorkshire, River Ouse, that empties into the North Sea via the Humber Estuary. The river gives its name to Swaledale, the valley throu ...

, whilst other small waterways to the east of the village drain away to

Risedale Beck Risedale Beck is a small river that rises on Hipswell Moor, near Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire, England. The name derives from Old Norse as meaning either ''Risi's Valley'' (a personal name) or translated as ''a valley overgrown with br ...

. The village gives its name to the Moor between it and nearby Hudswell Moor. The high point is Seat How at to the south-east of the village. There are visible signs of old quarries and coal and lead mining shafts on the hillsides surrounding the village. There is also evidence of a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

univallate hill fort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

on How Hill to the immediate west of the village. The geology of the area is made of Yoredale rock,

Limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

Shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...

and

Millstone Grit Millstone Grit is any of a number of coarse-grained sandstones of Carboniferous age which occur in the British Isles. The name derives from its use in earlier times as a source of millstones for use principally in watermills. Geologists refer to ...

covered by

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

. The village lies within the

Richmond and Northallerton Richmond and Northallerton is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election, when it was won by Rishi ...

UK Parliament constituency. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of

Richmondshire {{Infobox settlement , name = Richmondshire District , type = Non-metropolitan district , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_blank_emblem= Richmondshire arms.png , blank_em ...

, 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 ...

. In 2012, the neighbouring Hudswell Parish Council put forward a proposal to merge the two parishes.

Demography

For the 2001 and 2011 UK Censuses, the Parishes of Hudswell and Downholme were combined.

Community

The village of Downholme has its own public house, the Bolton Arms, which first featured in the UK ''

Good Pub Guide ''The Good Pub Guide'' is a long-running critical publication which lists and rates public houses (pubs) in the United Kingdom.St Michael and All Angels' Church, Downholme, to the north of the village, is within the

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Downholme and Maske, in the Diocese of Leeds. Of

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

construction with a substantial restoration in 1886, it is 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, H ...

References

External links

The Bolton Arms Official Website
{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Swaledale