Ruswarp ( ) is a village in the

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 ...

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...

, in

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 around from Whitby, at the junction of the B1410 and B1416 roads, on the River Esk and the Esk Valley Line, with trains stopping at Ruswarp railway station. Originally it was called Risewarp (

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

hrīs wearp, ) meaning 'silted land overgrown with brushwood'. Northern Rail serves the station and Bus services connect the village to the surrounding area. The village is served by local shops including Jackson's of Ruswarp, and Colin Duck Grocer and Off-licence. There is a pub, the ''Bridge Inn'' and a parish church, the Church of St Bartholomew. Primary education is catered for by Ruswarp

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, ...

primary school. There was a

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

on the high street which closed down several years ago after losing the franchise, and is now converted into a private residence. Crossing the River Esk downstream is a railway viaduct, 120 feet high, built (using 5,250,000 bricks) to carry the Scarborough-to-Whitby line, which closed in 1965. The viaduct is now owned by

Sustrans Sustrans ( ) is a United Kingdom-based walking, wheeling and cycling charity, and the custodian of the National Cycle Network. Its flagship project is the National Cycle Network, which has created of signed cycle routes throughout the United ...

and carries "The Cinder Track", a walk/cycleway along the former Whitby-to-Scarborough railway line. The River Esk was used to power corn mills in the village but the last closed in 1962. The weir that was built to channel water into a

mill race A mill race, millrace or millrun, mill lade (Scotland) or mill leat (Southwest England) is the current of water that turns a water wheel, or the channel ( sluice) conducting water to or from a water wheel. Compared with the broad waters of a m ...

has been adapted to power a hydro-electric project on its southern bank. The Ruswarp Hydro project started generating electricity in December 2012. The village lies on the Esk Valley Walk, a national hiking trail. There is a physically undemanding walk between Ruswarp and Whitby (approximately 1½ miles) mostly along a stone pannierway, known as Monks Trod, signposted from the main street in Ruswarp. The village also hosts one of the area's tourist attractions, Esk Leisure, which consists of Mini Monsterz Indoor Play with pottery painting and laser tag. Also at Esk Leisure is Outdoor Laser Combat and a Farm Park which previously was 9-hole Pitch and Putt golf that closed in October 2009. Opposite Esk Leisure is Ruswarp Pleasure Boats. Established in 1874 customers can rent rowing boats or canoes to explore the sheltered waters that offer a unique opportunity to access the only migratory Salmon river in Yorkshire. There is also a miniature steam railway for children and adults. Ruswarp Village Hall caters for community events and classes. The local

parish is Whitby with Ruswarp, which falls under the boundaries of the Diocese of York and is overseen by the suffragan Bishop of Whitby. Ruswarp was formerly a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in the parish of Whitby, in 1866 Ruswarp became a separate civil parish, on 1 April 1925 the parish was abolished and merged with Whitby. In 1921 the parish had a population of 6195. Until 1974 it was in the North Riding of Yorkshire. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the Borough of Scarborough, it is now administered by the unitary North Yorkshire Council. File:High Street, Ruswarp - geograph.org.uk - 657855.jpg, High Street File:Viaduct over the River Esk - geograph.org.uk - 1495045.jpg, Former rail viaduct

References

External links

Ruswarp CofE School
{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Tourist attractions in North Yorkshire Former civil parishes in North Yorkshire Whitby