Kirkleatham is an area of

Redcar Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority. It is in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England, and is located east of Middlesbrough. The Teesside built-up area's Redcar subdiv ...

in the borough 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 ...

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 approximately north-northwest of

Guisborough Guisborough ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of the North York Moors National Park. Roseberry Topping, midway between the town and Great Ayton, is a landmark i ...

, and south of

centre. It was listed 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. The area has a collection of buildings that formed the Turner Estate, named after the Turner family who lived in the area from 1661. It has one of the best collections of Georgian-style buildings in England.

Demographics

In 1086, the village had "9.1 households" according to the

. The creation of a Free School in 1709 added a further 40 people. In 1951 the civil parish had a population of 403.

History

The name of the village comes from the old Norse ‘kirk’ (church) and ‘hlíð’ (slopes). Literally, "churchslopes." It is thought there has been a church on the site since the 9th century AD, as a location where the body of Saint Cuthbert rested before it was taken to Durham. The parish church is named Saint Cuthbert’s from that connection. The parish records begin in 1559. The village is mentioned in the

of 1086. "It had a recorded population of 9.1 households in 1086, putting it in the smallest 40% of settlements recorded in Domesday, and is listed under 4 owners in Domesday Book." It had, apparently, been laid waste during the

Harrying of the North The Harrying of the North was a series of military campaigns waged by William the Conqueror in the winter of 1069–1070 to subjugate Northern England, where the presence of the last House of Wessex, Wessex claimant, Edgar Ætheling, had encour ...

. The northern

magnate The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

s the

Percy family The Percy family is an old English noble family. They were among the oldest and most powerful noble families in Northern England for much of the Middle Ages. The noble family is known for its long rivalry with the House of Neville, another fam ...

held most of the land in Kirkleatham from 1086 to 1608. In 1232 the

advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a ...

of Kirkleatham parish was at the centre of a dispute that saw local knight Sir Robert de Thweng style himself "Will Wither" and take arms against Italian ecclesiastics, which saw him raid their properties and redistribute their wealth to the poor. Kirkleatham was acquired by the Turner family around 1624 and is the birthplace of Sir William Turner who was

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

in 1669. He gave most of his fortune to found the Sir William Turner's Hospital in June 1676. In present day, it is an independent

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held ce ...

. Turner bequeathed a substantial amount of money to his great nephew, Cholmley Turner, a member of parliament for

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, 1727–1741, to establish a Free School, built in 1709, that now serves as the local museum. His estate established for the care of 40 people: ten old men, ten old women, ten boys, and ten girls. The office of governor or governess falls upon the owner of the estate. Management of the estate was the responsibility of a chaplain, a master, and a mistress. Cholmley Turner added other Grade I listed buildings, the most notable being the Turner Mausoleum, in memory of his son, and adjoining the Church of St Cuthbert. It is a Grade I listed building on Kirkleatham Lane. The mausoleum was built in 1739–40 by

James Gibbs James Gibbs (23 December 1682 – 5 August 1754) was a Scottish architect. Born in Aberdeen, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England. He is an important figure whose work spanned the transition between English Ba ...

, and restored with added internal cladding in 1839. Entered from the church, it is of Baroque style and of an octagonal plan with south and south-west sides that adjoin the church. It is a single storey with a basement burial chamber. The exterior is heavily rusticated, with an unusually large area vermiculated. It contains the inscription, "This mausoleum was erected 1740 to the memory of Marwood William Turner Esquire the best of sons." Cholmley Turner also retained the architect James Gibbs for building of the chapel at the almshouses. Cholmley Turner's nephew

Sir Charles Turner, 1st Baronet, of Kirkleatham Sir Charles Turner, 1st Baronet (11 November 1727 – 26 October 1783) was a British politician and Lord Mayor of York. Early life Turner was the son and heir of Jane (née Bathurst) Turner and William Turner, of Kirkleatham, in present-day R ...

, MP for

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

from 1768 to 1783, continued building upon the estate. His achievement included remodelling Kirkleatham Hall, as well as providing for the further development of the hospital, school, and a library. He also built the adjoining village of

Yearby Yearby is a village in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located half a mile south of Kirkleatham on the B1269 road to Guisborough, close to Marske-by-the-Sea. History Historica ...

. In 1894 Kirkleatham became an

urban district An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...

, but was annexed by

in 1899, after just five years as an independent authority. On 1 April 1974 the parish was abolished and merged with

. Today, by 2024, it is a ward of Redcar and Cleveland council, which also includes

. In 1918, Kirkleatham was the location of a mooring-out station (a secondary base) for airships protecting the east coast based out of

RNAS Howden RNAS Howden (later RAF Howden) was an airship station near the town of Howden south-east of York, England. History It was opened in March 1916 to cover the East Coast ports shipping from attacks by German U-boats during the World War I, Fir ...

. The site was only used during the latter half of 1918 and was closed permanently after the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...

Kirkleatham Old Hall

The Free School, built by Cholmley Turner, is now known as Kirkleatham Old Hall and is 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 ...

. Kirkleatham Old Hall Museum functions as the local history museum for

. Opened in 1981, it became the Museum Service's headquarters. Five years later, a new building was opened, providing exhibition space and offices. The finds from the Street House Anglo-Saxon cemetery – the only known

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

royal burial site in north-east England – are displayed in an exhibition at the museum. The artefacts were discovered in nearby Loftus during excavations which took place between 2005 and 2007. Finds include pieces associated with a rare

bed burial A bed burial is a type of burial in which the deceased person is buried in the ground, lying upon a bed. It is a burial custom that is particularly associated with high-status women during the early Anglo-Saxon period (7th century), although excav ...

in which a decorated female body is laid out on a decorated wooden bed, accompanied by fine gold jewellery. The finds include a gold pendant, which would have belonged to a princess. as well as glass beads, pottery, iron knives, belt buckles and other objects. The Kirkleatham Owl and Endangered Species Centre opened to the public in 1990 and is located on the grounds of Kirkleatham Old Hall. The centre is home to one of Britain's largest collections of

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

s, and is also home to hawks and vultures, a caracara; a talking

raven A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...

, and a

kookaburra Kookaburras (pronounced ) are terrestrial animal, terrestrial tree kingfishers of the genus ''Dacelo'' native to Australia and New Guinea, which grow to between in length and weigh around . The name is a loanword from Wiradjuri language, Wira ...

. The Sir James Knott Lifeboat Museum is also located on the grounds of Kirkleatham Old Hall.

Images

St Cuthberts Church And The Turner Mausoleum, Kirkleatham, Redcar (13383608075).jpg, The Turner Mausoleum, 1740, by

Skull and crossbones gatepost at Kirkleatham.jpg, The skull and crossbones gatepost is from the nearby Church of St. Cuthbert with the Mausoleum. Elderly Man Sir William Turners Almhouses Kirkleatham - Francis Hannaway.jpg, Statue of an elderly man at Sir William Turner's Almhouses Elderly Woman Sir William Turners Almhouses Kirkleatham - Francis Hannaway.jpg, Statue of an elderly woman at the almhouses. The almshouses have been open continuously since 1676.

References

External links

{{navboxes , list1 = {{Redcar and Cleveland {{Teesside Mansions {{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Places in the Tees Valley Unparished areas in North Yorkshire Former civil parishes in North Yorkshire Redcar and Cleveland