Kepwick is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England, on 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 ...

and near the A19. The population according to the 2011 Census was fewer than 100 and, whilst the details are included in the civil parish of Nether Silton, North Yorkshire County Council estimated the population to be about 90 in 2015.

History

The village is mentioned twice in the '' Domesday Book'' as either ''Chipuic'' or ''Capuic'' in the ''Allerton hundred''. ''Chipuic'' or ''Capuic'' is translated from Old Scandinavian as meaning ''market-place''. At the time of the Norman invasion the manor was split among ''Orm, son of Gamil'', ''Arnketil'' and ''Gillemicel''. Afterwards some of the land remained with the Crown but some was granted to ''Hugh, son of Baldric'' as the main tenant. Until the 13th century the lands were granted to the ''Mowbray'' family, who installed mesne lordships to the ''Nevill'' and ''Malbiche'' families. The manor then passed to ''Nicholas de Punchardon'', who in turn sold to ''Ingram Knout'' around 1316. After the Knout family ran into financial trouble, Margaret Knout married into the ''Lepton'' family to retain some of the land, with other parts being owned by the ''Bransby'' family at the start of the 15th century. When the Lepton family also ran into financial problems, they sold their land to '' Thomas, Lord Fauconberg'' of Newburgh in 1640 and they retained this land until 1808. Remnants of the quarrying of limestone, sandstone and ironstone can be seen on the hills to the east of the village as well as the line of the tramway that connected them to the lime kilns. The tramway was not used after 1890. The remains of those

Lime Kilns A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone ( calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime called quicklime (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this reaction is : CaCO3 + heat → CaO + CO2 This reaction can take pla ...

to the west of the village are designated a scheduled ancient monument. There a chapel dedicated to St Margaret was built around 1300 but it disappeared at the time of the reformation. A private chapel was built in 1894 by the local landowner where Wesleyans held services. This has since passed into private hands.

Governance

The village is in the Richmondshire UK Parliamentary constituency. It is in the North Hambleton electoral division of North Yorkshire County Council and the Osmotherley ward of Hambleton District Council.

Geography

The nearest settlements are Nether Silton to the north-east and Cowesby to the south-east. The A19 road lies to the west. At the east end of the village Eller Beck runs off the Kepwick Hall Estate to join the Marl Pits Beck to the north. They form part of the Cod Beck tributary system, which flows into the River Swale. The 1881 UK Census recorded the population as 168. At the end of the road to the disused quarries, to the east of the village, lies the old ''Hambleton Drove Road'', which forms part of the Cleveland Way long-distance footpath.

References

External links

Kepwick Website
{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Lime kilns in England