Eryholme 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. As the population remained less than 100 in the 2011 census, information is included with that of Dalton-on-Tees. The village is situated on the south bank of the

River Tees The River Tees (), in England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea in the North East of England. The modern-day history of the river has been tied with the industries ...

, opposite Hurworth, south-east of

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" ...

. 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 this part of the

Tees Valley Tees Valley is a combined authority area in North East England, around the lower River Tees. The area is not a geographical valley. The combined authority covers five council areas: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland ...

the river forms many loops called 'holmes'. The word 'holm' is of

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

origin and means "island formed by a river". Eryholme's name is, however, a corruption of its original name 'Erghum'. This name means shieling - a shelter for livestock, which comes from the Old Irish word 'airgh'. This word was introduced into Yorkshire place names by Norwegian Vikings who had lived in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

for a number of generations and adopted many Irish words. St Mary's Church is a

grade II* listed 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 ...

plain sandstone building, originally built c.1200 and modified in the 13th, 14th and 16th centuries. Set inside the east wall of the porch is a small, ancient carving of a human figure. A distinct heart outline in the chest proves the identity of Christ. The notion of the sacred heart proliferated in the 13th century. This date is also consistent with the splayed tunic. Pevsner suggested it was Anglo-Danish but the sacred heart excludes this. It represents a time of burgeoning new religious philosophies from the Cistercian leader St Bernard of Clairvaux and the local Saint Godric of Finchale, who was in contact with the Cistercians and active in the Tees Valley. The registers at the church date from 1565. There are the remains of a

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

brick and tile works in the village. There used to be a railway station called Eryholme but it was located at Dalton-on-Tees, some south-west of the village. Passenger services ceased in 1911 but were restarted during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

for personnel serving at the nearby RAF Croft. The chief activity is farming, the farms forming part of the Neasham estate owned by the Wrightson family. The village was famous for the breeding of shorthorn cattle and a cow sold to the Colling brothers became part of the original stock from which were bred the

Durham Ox The Durham Ox (March 1796 – 15 April 1807) was a Cattle#Terminology, steer who became famous in the early 19th century for his shape, size and weight. He was an early example of what became the Shorthorn breed of cattle and helped establish th ...

and Comet.

References

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Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire {{Richmondshire-geo-stub

See also

References

External links