Great Ayton 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. The River Leven (a tributary 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 ...

) flows through the village, which lies just north of the

North York Moors The North York Moors is an upland area in north-eastern Yorkshire, England. It contains one of the largest expanses of Calluna, heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a national parks of England and Wales, National P ...

. According to the 2021 Census, the parish has a population of 4,346.

Etymology

Great Ayton's name derives from Old English ''Ea-tun'', meaning 'river farm'. The river flowing through Great Ayton is the Leven, a tributary of the

. A later addition of the word 'great' differentiates the village from nearby Little Ayton.

History

In the 18th and 19th centuries Great Ayton was a centre for the industries of

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

, tanning,

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...

, and

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, Rock (geology), stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, wal ...

making. Subsequently,

whinstone Whinstone is a term used in the quarrying industry to describe any hard dark-coloured Rock (geology), rock. Examples include the igneous rocks, basalt and dolerite, as well as the sedimentary rock chert. Etymology The Northern English/Scots term ...

for road surfacing was also quarried from the Cleveland Dyke along with

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be c ...

, jet and

alum An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double salt, double sulfate salt (chemistry), salt of aluminium with the general chemical formula, formula , such that is a valence (chemistry), monovalent cation such as potassium ...

from the Cleveland Hills. Great Ayton was home to the Great Ayton Friends' School run by the

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

, from 1841 until it closed in 1997. The village serves as the base for Cleveland Mountain Rescue Team. 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 ...

Geography

Great Ayton is at the foot of the

Cleveland Hills The Cleveland Hills are a range of hills on the north-west edge of the North York Moors in North Yorkshire, England, overlooking Cleveland and Teesside. They lie entirely within the boundaries of the North York Moors National Park. Part of the ...

beneath Easby Moor and the distinctively-shaped Roseberry Topping. The River Leven, a tributary of the

, flows through the village and links its two centres, High Green and Low Green. The Cleveland Dyke, a narrow band of hard

rock that runs for about 31 miles between Robin Hood's Bay and Eaglescliffe lies to the north-east of the village. The village lies near

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

's built-up area, south-east by less than , from its centre. It is also north-east of

Stokesley Stokesley is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire, on the River Leven, North Yorkshire, River Leven. An Wards and ...

and from Guisborough. From 1894 to 1974, it was in the Stokesley Rural District of the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire was a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point was at Mickle Fell at . From the Restoration it was used as a lieutenancy area, having b ...

. The centre is from the nexus of

Redcar and Cleveland Redcar and Cleveland is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. Its council has been a unitary authority since 1996. The borough was created in 1974 as Langbaurgh, and was one of four ...

borough of Middlesbrough The Borough of Middlesbrough is a district in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It is part of the Tees Valley region, along with the boroughs of Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool and Darlington. The district ...

and the Hambleton districts. This is in keeping with the Langbaurgh hamlet as a historic meeting place of the Langbaurgh Wapentake. An

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

, of the same name, stretches east to Kildale with a population of 4,973 at the 2011 census .

Transport

The village is served by Great Ayton railway station on the

Esk Valley Line The Esk Valley Line is a railway line located in the north of England, covering a total distance of approximately , running from Middlesbrough to Whitby. The line follows the course of the River Esk for much of its eastern half. The Esk Vall ...

Landmarks

The village landmarks below all relate to James Cook. * A granite obelisk now marks the original site of the Cook family cottage in Great Ayton. ' Cooks' Cottage' is now to be found in Fitzroy Gardens in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, having been dismantled in England and rebuilt in Australia in 1934. The obelisk is constructed from granite taken from Point Hicks, the first land sighted by Cook in Australia. * The Captain Cook Schoolroom Museum is within a former

charity school Charity schools, sometimes called blue coat schools, or simply the Blue School, were significant in the history of education in England. They were built and maintained in various parishes by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants to ...

, founded in 1704 by landowner Michael Postgate. James Cook received his early education here from 1736 to 1740. * Unveiled on 12 May 1997 on High Green is a statue depicting James Cook at the age of 16 looking towards

Staithes Staithes () is a village in North Yorkshire, England, situated by the border between the unitary authorities of North Yorkshire and Redcar and Cleveland. The area located on the Redcar and Cleveland side is known as Cowbar. Formerly a hub for f ...

where, according to tradition, he first felt the lure of the sea. This was commissioned by Hambleton District Council and is the work of sculptor Nicholas Dimbleby.

Religion

Anglican

The

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

of Christ Church was built in 1876 and now designated 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 ...

. It holds a number of services during the day that attract a total attendance of about 200. In the summer months, the evening service takes place in All Saints' Church, Great Ayton, the former parish church, which dates back to the 12th century. The church has an organ built by James Jepson Binns. James Cook's mother and siblings are buried in the churchyard of All Saints' Church.

Methodist

The

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

opened over one hundred years ago and has seen many developments over the years. In the 1960s, the ‘youth hall’ was built providing the church with facilities for events, activities, meetings and catering. The kitchen was improved to allow the preparation of full meals and later still a great deal of work was done to modernise and improve access to the building. In September 2024, Easby Methodist Chapel and Great Ayton Methodist Church formally became one church on two sites under minister Rev Rob Weir.

Catholic

St Margaret Clitherow's Church is a

Chapel of Ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

for St Joseph's Church, Stokesley. Until the 1960s, Catholics in Great Ayton worshipped at St Joseph's Church, Stokesley. In 1966, a Sunday mass was instituted in the ambulance station in the village. In 1970, a purpose-built timber-framed church was opened on Race Terrace, and in 1971 it was dedicated to

Margaret Clitherow Margaret Clitherow (''née'' Middleton, ''c.'' 1556 – 25 March 1586) was an English Catholic recusant known as The Pearl of York. She was pressed to death for refusing to enter a plea to the charge of harbouring Catholic priests. She was can ...

, becoming the first church in the world dedicated to the recently canonised saint. In 2002, part of the church was demolished, and a new octagonal building was constructed, the remainder of the old building being retained as a church hall. The new church was designed by DKS Architects and is in red brick with stone details, and a grey tile roof. Two stained glass windows were installed, with designs by Kyme Studios.

Society of Friends

The Society of Friends meets at the

Quaker Meeting House A Friends meeting house is a meeting house of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), where meeting for worship is usually held. Typically, Friends meeting houses are simple and resemble local residential buildings. Ornamentation, spires, a ...

, which is on High Green. Meetings take place each Sunday at 10:30 am, as well as each Wednesday, 10-10:30 am followed by refreshments. A monthly half-hour silent contemplative meeting is held in Guisborough.

Great Ayton Churches Gallery

Notable people

The village was the boyhood home of

Captain Cook Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 1768 and 1779. He complet ...

, the British

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

and

navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prim ...

, who was born in nearby Marton.

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

and his family moved to the village when he was eight years old and lived there until he was sixteen. The Cook family home on Bridge Street was built by James' father in 1755. The cottage was dismantled in 1934 to be shipped to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Each stone was numbered so that the cottage could be reconstructed exactly in its new home in the Fitzroy Gardens in

. Commodore William Wilson retired to Great Ayton in 1762, after a varied maritime career with the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

He lived there for over 30 years, and became friends with James Cook, who maintained his ties with the area. Cyclist brothers Harry and Charlie Tanfield, were born in the village. They share a birthday, 17 November, 1994 and 1996 respectively.

References

External links

Great Ayton Tourism, Parish Council, and Community Website

* ttp://www.captaincookschoolroommuseum.co.uk/ The Captain Cook Schoolroom Museum Website {{navboxes , list1 = {{Geographic location , Northwest =

Nunthorpe Nunthorpe is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, England. It is part of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Yorkshire, North Riding. It is near to the villa ...

, North = Newton under Roseberry , Northeast = '' Roseberry Topping'' , West = , Centre = Great Ayton , East = '' Easby Moor'',
Captain Cook's Monument , Southwest =

, South = Great Broughton , Southeast = Little Ayton,
Easby,
Ingleby Greenhow {{North Yorkshire {{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Obelisks in England Monuments and memorials in North Yorkshire