Hovingham is a large 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 on the edge of the

Howardian Hills The Howardian Hills are a range of hills in England located between the Yorkshire Wolds, the North York Moors, and the Vale of York. They are named after the Howard family, who still own land locally, and have been designated a National Land ...

and about south of

Kirkbymoorside Kirkbymoorside () is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is north of York; midway between Pickering and Helmsley, and on the edge of the North York Moors National Park. The parish had a population of 3,040 in the 20 ...

History

The name 'Hovingham' is first attested 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 ...

of 1086, where it appears as ''Hovingham''. The settlement lay within the ''Maneshou'' hundred. The lands at the time of the

Norman invasion The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, French, Flemish, and Breton troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conquero ...

belonged to Orm, son of Gamal. After the invasion, the lands were granted to Hugh, son of Baldric. The name 'Hovingham' means 'the village of Hofa's people'. There is evidence of Roman activity around the village which sat on the Malton to Aldburgh road in those times. During the construction of

Hovingham Hall Hovingham Hall is a country house built in the Palladian style in the village of Hovingham, North Yorkshire, England. It has been the seat of the Worsley baronets#Worsley baronets, of Hovingham Hall (1838), Worsley family and the childhood home ...

gardens, a Roman bath, tesselated pavement and other artefacts were uncovered. The village had a

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

on the Thirsk and Malton branch of the North Eastern Railway.

Governance

The village is within the Thirsk and Malton UK Parliament constituency. It is also part of the Hovingham & Sheriff Hutton electoral division of North Yorkshire Council. The local Parish Council is a joint one with nearby Scackleton and the council has seven members including the Chair. 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 ...

in the same name exists. This ward stretches south to

Terrington Terrington is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the Howardian Hills, west of Malton. History The village is mentioned four times in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Teurintone''. The lands were divided ...

with a total population taken at the 2011 Census of 1,656. From 1974 to 2023, it was part of the district of

Ryedale Ryedale was a non-metropolitan district in North Yorkshire, England. It was in the Vale of Pickering, a low-lying flat area of land drained by the River Derwent, Yorkshire, River Derwent. The Vale's landscape is rural with scattered villages ...

Geography

The 1881 UK Census recorded the population as 600. According to the 2001 UK Census, the population was 371, of which 300 were over sixteen years old and 174 of those were in employment. There were 166 dwellings, of which 59 were detached. The population at the 2011 Census had marginally reduced to 362. The nearest settlements are

Slingsby Slingsby may refer to: People * Slingsby (surname) * Slingsby Baronets Places * Slingsby, North Yorkshire * Slingsby Channel, a strait in the Queen Charlotte Strait region of the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada Other uses

* Slingsby ...

to the east;

Stonegrave Stonegrave is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. At the 2011 Census the population was less than 100 and so the details are included in the civil parish of Nunnington. By 2015, North Yorkshire County Council estimated the po ...

to the north;

Cawton Cawton is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, about ten miles west of Malton. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 48. It is due east of Gilling East (where the 2011 Census figures are included), and south ...

to the north-west; Coulton to the west south-west and

Scackleton Scackleton is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is in the Howardian Hills and south-west of Hovingham. History The village is mentioned three times in the ''Domesday Book'' as ''Scacheldene'' or ''Scach ...

to the south-west. The village lies at an elevation of at its highest point and is on the B1257 Malton to Stokesley road. Marrs Beck flows northwards through the village to eventually join the River Rye near Butterwick and Brawby.

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) ...

is quarried in

Wath WATH (970 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Sports radio, Sports format. Licensed to Athens, Ohio, United States, the station is currently owned by Total Media Group and features programming from CBS News Radio, Fox Sports R ...

about east of Hovingham.

Education

There was one school in the village, Hovingham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, built by ''Lady Worsley'' in 1864 and extended in 1888. It is a Grade II Listed Building. The school lies within the catchment area of

Malton School Malton School is an 11–18 co-educational comprehensive school of 1,100 pupils (2024), serving the market town of Malton and the surrounding area in North Yorkshire, England. History Malton School has a history dating back to the end of t ...

for secondary education.

Village services

The village is served by the bus route to Malton only. There is a village shop as well as a bakery and tea room, a hotel, a public house and other local businesses.

Sports

Hovingham Cricket Club run teams at many level, with the Senior team competing in the York & District Cricket League. The village also runs a Tennis Club.

Religion

All Saints' Church, Hovingham All Saints' Church is an Anglican church in Hovingham, a village in North Yorkshire, in England. The church was built in the 11th century, from which period the tower survives. The remainder of the church was rebuilt in 1860, in a 13th-century ...

is Grade II* listed. The majority of the present church building dates back to 1860, when it was rebuilt at the expense of Marcus Worsley. The tower of the

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 ...

is of

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

origin. An interesting feature is the large 10th-century altar cross. There is also a Methodist church in the village, which is a Grade II Listed Building.

Notable buildings

Hovingham has been home to the Worsley family since 1563 and was the childhood home of the

Duchess of Kent Duchess of Kent is the principal Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom, courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Kent. There have been four titles referring to Kent since the 18th century. The current duchess is Katharine, Duchess of Kent ...

. The sixth Thomas Worsley (1710–1778) designed and built the current

. A unique feature of the Grade I

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 ...

is that it is entered through a covered Riding School, once used for training horses. In addition to the Hall, the School and the two Churches, there are a total of 49 other Listed Buildings in the area.

Music

The Hovingham Festival was founded by local clergyman Canon Thomas Percy Hudson in 1887. He persuaded the Worsley family to make their eighteenth-century riding school at Hovingham Hall available for a rural Yorkshire music festival that included leading professional musicians - including

Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian Violin, violinist, Conducting, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely ...

- supplementing the choirs and orchestras with local amateurs to make the cost of putting on ambitious works affordable. The repertoire was ambitious, including works (alongside the classics) by contemporary British composers -

Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

Alan Gray Alan Gray (23 December 1855 – 27 September 1935) was an English organist and composer. Life and career Gray was born in into a well-known York family (the Grays of Grays Court). His father William Gray was a solicitor and (in 1844) Lor ...

Parry Parry may refer to: People * Parry (surname) * Parry (given name) Fictional characters * Parry, protagonist of the movie ''The Fisher King'', played by Robin Williams * Parry in the series '' Incarnations of Immortality'' by Piers Anthony * ...

Somervell Somervell may refer to: People * Alexander Somervell (1796-1854), Texan soldier who led the Somervell Expedition into Mexico * Arthur Somervell (1863–1937), British composer * Brehon B. Somervell (1892–1955), American general * D. C. Somer ...

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

and

William Sterndale Bennett Sir William Sterndale Bennett (13 April 18161 February 1875) was an English composer, pianist, conductor and music educator. At the age of ten Bennett was admitted to the London Royal Academy of Music (RAM), where he remained for ten years. B ...

, and choral works by women composers such as Laura Wilson Barker (also known as Mrs Tom Taylor) and

Alexandra Thomson Alexandra Thomson Studholme (24 May 1867 – 15 October 1907) was a British composer who published her music under the name Alexandra Thomson (also seen as Thompson). She is best remembered today for her work for chorus and orchestra, '' Battle of ...

. Thirteen festivals were held until 1906. The event was revived after 45 years during the 1950s. The Ryedale Festival, founded in 1981, uses Hovingham Hall as one of its concert venues.Rydale Festival: 'About the Festival
/ref>

Gallery

File:Hovingham.jpg, Hovingham ford File:Hovingham Village - geograph.org.uk - 1201292.jpg, Signpost near School in centre of Hovingham File:Hovingham Hall - geograph.org.uk - 557457.jpg, Hovingham Hall File:Marrs Beck, Hovingham - geograph.org.uk - 1063602.jpg, Marrs Beck, Hovingham File:Hovingham Village - geograph.org.uk - 1201290.jpg, View of Brookside from the ford through Marrs Beck

References

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