Sutton Bank is a hill in the former Hambleton District of the North York Moors National Park,

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 England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is a high point on the Hambleton Hills with extensive views over the

Vale of York The Vale of York is an area of flat land in the northeast of England. The vale is a major agricultural area and serves as the main north–south transport corridor for Northern England. The Vale of York is a broad area of flat land in northe ...

and the Vale of Mowbray. The A170 road runs down the bank with a maximum

gradient In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function f of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p gives the direction and the rate of fastest increase. The g ...

of 1 in 4 (25%), and including a hairpin bend. Vehicles have to keep in low gear whilst travelling up or down the bank, and caravans are banned. At the foot of Sutton Bank lies the village of

Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated on the A170 at the foot of Sutton Bank, about three miles east of Thirsk. History ...

Warning signs on the approach to Sutton Bank - geograph

History

Just to the south of Sutton Bank is Roulston Scar, a massive hillfort built in the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

, around 400 BC. It was the approximate location of the

Battle of Old Byland The Battle of Old Byland (also known as the Battle of Byland Abbey, the Battle of Byland Moor and the Battle of Scotch Corner) was a significant encounter between Scots and English troops in Yorkshire in October 1322, forming part of the War ...

in which the Scots won a major victory over the English on 14 October 1322. King

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (), was King of Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329. Robert led Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence against Kingdom of Eng ...

had made a forced march with his army in an attempt to surprise the English army which was retreating from a failed invasion of Scotland. John of Brittany, Earl of Richmond held the heights of Sutton Bank while

King Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also known as Edward of Caernarfon or Caernarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne follo ...

with his Queen had withdrawn to Rievaulx Abbey about to the south-east. The Scots fought their way up the steep hillside to totally defeat the Earl whom they took prisoner. King Edward fled ahead of Sir Walter Stewart's forces leaving behind in the Abbey the Great Seal of England and much treasure. In 1981, an unidentified body was found at Sutton Bank which became known as the Nude in the Nettles. In 2016, Sutton Bank was included on the route of the third stage of the Tour de Yorkshire cycle race.

Recreation

The Yorkshire Gliding Club is based at the top of the hill. Sutton Bank bank faces the prevailing westerly winds and has been used for ridge soaring since the early 1930s. Sutton Bank National Park Centre's exhibition explains how the distinctive landscape was formed by

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s and provides views of Roulston Scar,

Hood Hill Hood Hill is a small peak on the western side of the Hambleton Hills in North Yorkshire. The hill is high, and is a layer of Coralline Oolite on top of sandstone. The hill is noted for being conically-shaped, and being part of the view westwar ...

, and Gormire Lake. There is a bike skills area and cycle shop. A walking route from the visitor centre takes in what author

James Herriot James Alfred Wight (3 October 1916 – 23 February 1995), better known by his pen name James Herriot, was a British veterinary surgeon and author. Born in Sunderland, Wight graduated from Glasgow Veterinary College in 1939, returning to En ...

called 'The Finest View in England'. In 2025 an accessible trail featuring four new bird-themed artworks by artist Adrian Riley was installed including poems by

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...

and Ian Duhig inspired by the view. There are footpaths close by, including southwards to the White Horse of Kilburn. The long

Cleveland Way The Cleveland Way is a National Trail in the historic area of Cleveland in North Yorkshire, Northern England. It runs between Helmsley and the Brigg at Filey, skirting the North York Moors National Park. History Development of the Cleve ...

National Trail National Trails are long distance footpaths and bridleways in England and Wales. They are administered by Natural England, an agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, UK government, and Natural Resources Wales, a Welsh Government, Welsh ...

crosses over Sutton Bank. The North York Moors National Park Authority has developed cycle trails from the visitor centre. Sutton Bank is a designated Dark Sky Discovery Site, one of three in the North York Moors.

References

External links

Yorkshire Guide - A Walk around the Kilburn White Horse
*Panoramic views from Sutton Ban
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{{Authority control Mountains and hills of North Yorkshire North York Moors

History

Recreation

See also

References

External links