East Cowton 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, England. It is north west of the county town of

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 ...

History

The village is mentioned twice 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 ''Cottune'' in the Allerton Hundred. At 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 ...

the lands of the manor were split between ''Earl Edwin'' and a small part to ''Thorkil''. After 1086 the larger part of the manor lands were taken by the Crown and the smaller area granted to ''Landric of Hornby''. The manor was granted by the Crown to the lords of Richmond, notably to Conan, the

seneschal The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...

of the lord of Richmond. From 1324 to 1548, the manor was held by Clervaux family of Croft. Thereafter it was conveyed to the ''Dakyns'' family until 1622 when it was conveyed to Sir Henry Anderson. In 1662 the manor was sold to

Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin Thomas Bruce, 1st Earl of Elgin, 3rd Lord Bruce of Kinloss (2 December 1599 – 21 December 1663), of Houghton House in the parish of Maulden in Bedfordshire, was a Scottish nobleman. Early life Born in Edinburgh in 1599, Thomas Bruce was the ...

who conveyed it five years later to

John Belasyse, 1st Baron Belasyse John Belasyse, 1st Baron Belasyse (or Bellasis) (24 June 1614 – 10 September 1689) was an English nobleman, Cavalier, Royalist officer and Member of Parliament, notable for his role during and after the English Civil War, Civil War. He suff ...

, whose daughter married Sir John Webb of Great Canford in Dorset and Odstock in Wilts whose heirs held it into the twentieth century. The etymology of the village name is a combination of 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 ...

words of ''cū'' and tūn meaning ''Cow farm''. The East is to distinguish it from other Cowton's in the area. The village used to be known as "Long Cowton" and before that "Magna Cowton".

Demography

2001 Census

According to the 2001 UK Census, the parish was 49.9% male and 50.1% female of the total population of 561. The religious make-up was 84% Christian with the rest stating no religion. The ethnic distribution was 99.4% White with a small Mixed Ethnic minority. There were 233 dwellings.

2011 Census

According to the 2011 UK Census, the parish had a total population of 533 with 49.7% male and 50.3% female. The religious make-up was 75.6% Christian, a small minority of Sikh, Buddhist and Muslim with the rest stating no religion. The ethnic distribution was 98.9% White with a small Mixed Ethnic minority. There were 241 dwellings.

Geography and governance

The village lies just to the west of the

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...

and was once served by Cowton railway station about half a mile away. The station building and stationmaster's house is a Grade II listed building. It lies between the

River Wiske The River Wiske is a tributary of the River Swale in Yorkshire, England. The Wiske gives its name to several villages it passes through. The name Wiske is derived from an Old English word ''wisca'' meaning a water meadow. It was once known as t ...

and its tributary, The Stell. The minor road between the A167 and B1263 runs through the village. The villages of Birkby,

Great Smeaton Great Smeaton is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It lies on elevated ground near the River Wiske, which is a tributary of the River Swale. The parish population at the 2011 census was 187. Etymology The name of Great S ...

, Little Smeaton and North Cowton all lie within of the village. 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 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 ...

Community

The village school is called East Cowton Church of England Primary School. It has around 40 pupils. It is within the catchment area of

Northallerton School Northallerton School is a coeducational comprehensive secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, England. The school is located over two sites on Brompton Road and Grammar School Lane. His ...

for secondary education to the age of eighteen. The village post office also functions as the village shop. The village public house is called ''The Beeswing Inn'', it is named after the northern racehorse Beeswing whose most notable victory was the 1842

Ascot Gold Cup The Gold Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 2 miles 3 furlongs and 210 yards (4 ...

. She won an incredible 51 out of the 64 races that she entered. Of the 57 races in which she finished Beeswing only finished lower than 2nd place on one occasion.Ahnert, Rainer L. (editor in chief), "Thoroughbred Breeding of the World", Pozdun Publishing, Germany, 1970 The village is served by the No 72 bus, which runs between

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

and

. There is also a local cricket club.

Religion

All Saints' Church, East Cowton is to the west of the village. A Grade II listed building, it is a red-brick structure erected in 1910. There is evidence of a 13th-century church in the village dedicated to St Mary, which fell into disrepair. Cowton Cemetery is about half a mile west of the village on the road towards North Cowton on the site of the old church. The

Primitive Methodists The Primitive Methodist Church is a Christian denomination within the holiness movement. Originating in early 19th-century England as a revivalist movement within Methodism, it was heavily influenced by American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–18 ...

built a chapel, no longer in use, in 1840.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire