Helmsley
Encyclopedia
Helmsley is a market town and civil parish
in the Ryedale
district of North Yorkshire
, England
. The town is located at the point where the valleys of Bilsdale and Ryedale leave the higher moorland and join the flat Vale of Pickering
. It is situated on the River Rye
and lies on the A170 road
, 14 miles (22.5 km) east of Thirsk
, 13 miles (20.9 km) west of Pickering
and some 24 miles (38.6 km) due north of York
. The settlement grew up largely as a result of its position at a road junction and river crossing point. Helmsley is a compact town, retaining its medieval layout around the Market Place with more recent development having taken place to the north and south of its main thoroughfare, Bondgate. It is an historic town of considerable architectural character whose centre has been designated as a Conservation Area
. The town is associated with the Earls of Feversham
whose ancestral home Duncombe Park
was built overlooking the castle. A statue of William Duncombe, 2nd Baron Feversham
stands in the town's square.
The town is a popular tourist centre and has won Gold medals in the Large Village category of Yorkshire in Bloom for the last three years. The town square is a popular meeting place for motorcyclists as it is at the end of the B1257 road from Stokesley
, which is a favourite with local bikers.
The Cleveland Way
National Trail starts at Helmsley, and follows a horseshoe loop around the North York Moors
National Park for 110 miles (325,178.9 kn) through to Filey
. The remains of Helmsley Castle
tower over the town. Other nearby places of interest include Rievaulx Abbey
and Helmsley Arts Centre.
The ancient settlement, whose original Old English name was Elmeslac, pre-dates the Domesday Book
. The name means ‘Helm’s forest clearing’ and indicates the nature of the landscape at that time. Norse speaking Vikings also left their mark in the "gate" ending of the names of many of the town’s older streets. The ownership of much of the town and its surrounding land has changed hands only twice since the Norman Conquest. Following the conquest it was in the hands of William the Conqueror’s half brother the Count of Mortain and the land to the west of Helmsley was a royal deer park. The ancient pollarded oak trees in Duncombe Park date from this period and the park is now a national nature reserve. In about 1100 the estate fell into the hands of Walter Espec
, the founder of Rievaulx Abbey. Walter Espec’s heirs were the eldest surviving sons of his three sisters and the Helmsley properties devolved upon Robert De Ros
, the son of the youngest sister, Adeline. In 1191 Robert de Ros granted Helmsley its Borough Charter, which established it as the market town for the area.
The charter also created the ‘burgage plots’ — long, narrow plots which can still be seen in the property boundaries on the west side of Castlegate and the east side of Bridge Street. Large-scale sheep farming, wool production and weaving were the mainstay of Helmsley’s economy for several centuries. Despite setbacks, including marauding Scots and the Black Death
, Helmsley grew steadily throughout the Middle Ages
. When wool production declined following the dissolution of Rievaulx Abbey
, Helmsley’s weavers turned to flax, much of which had to be imported. The weavers were mainly located along Bondand Bridge Street. By the beginning of the 17th century the overall form of Helmsley was largely complete, and many buildings in use today date from this period. The oldest surviving house is Canon's Garth, the present vicarage. The town remained with the holders of the barony of De Ros through the Earls of Rutland and the Dukes of Buckingham until it was sold to the city financier, Sir Charles Duncombe in about 1689.
The ruined Norman castle is the most significant medieval survival of the buildings in the town, although parts of the parish church and Canon’s Garth are mediaeval in origin. The 18th and 19th centuries saw major developments and expansion in the hands of the Duncombe family, commencing with the construction of Duncombe Park outside the town. At the beginning of the 19th century the cottage weaving industry declined in the face of competition from new industrial cities. Despite this, the 19th century saw various major developmens in the town, notably the rebuilding of All Saints' Church, and at the end of the century, building of the town hall. More houses were built along Bondgate and, following the arrival of the railway in 1871, along Station Road. This period also saw older houses remodelled so that little thatch remained in the town. With the decline of weaving, agriculture became the mainstay of the local economy.
On 30 June 2011 the BBC2 programme "History Cold Case" featured an archaeological investigation into four two-thousand year-old skeletons found in the nearby Windy Pits
caves, concluding that at least one had been the victim of a ritual killing, including scalping
. The team's findings, including the facial reconstruction of the scalping victim, were presented, at Duncombe Park, to local history experts.
Helmsley nestles in a hollow amongst undulating open countryside, flanked by imposing heather moor to the north and the rolling farmland of the Howardian Hills
to the south. The flat lowland of the Vale of Pickering
stretches eastwards from the town towards Malton. The River Rye
runs by the town to the south where it is joined by Boro' Beck, which flows southwards through the town from the moors, at Rye Bridge. The meadows to the south of the Rye form an important buffer and create an attractive setting for the town from the southern approach.
The Helmsley area was badly affected by flash flooding on the night of 19 June 2005.
There is an award winning council house development at Elmslac Road built in the 1950s and a new primary school and a new health centre, as well as provision of new housing on the outskirts of the historic town including ‘affordable housing’ at Storey Close, development of housing for the elderly at Elm Green and in Pottergate and steady progress in the industrial sector of the town, particularly Thomas Bakery and, now, the new veterinary surgery. More recently the opening of the new castle visitor centre has brought not only an important new attraction for the town. Helmsley is well provided with retail space but less well provided with office space. The main employers in the Helmsley ward are Duncombe Park Estate, Thomas’s Bakery and the National Park Authority. The industrial estate is a vital economic asset of Helmsley.
Tourism plays an important role in the economy of the Helmsley area. The national park as a whole receives around 9 million day-visits each year. Day visitors make up 40% of all visitor days, with people staying within the park making up 31% and people staying outside the park making up 29%. 31% of park visitors stay in serviced accommodation, compared with 64% who stay in self-catering accommodation. Daily expenditure in the national park is approximately £9.10 per person, which excludes accommodation costs. Visitor revenue within the national park was £169 million in 1998, £152 million in 1997 and £119 million in 1996. This can be compared to the figure for the whole of North Yorkshire, which stood at £1,054 million in 1996. However, employment in tourism is, by nature, seasonal. The town of Helmsley draws the largest number of day visitors (32%) within the year, for the North York Moors National Park as a whole. It attracts 37% of longer stay visitors.
The band One Night Only
is from the town.
The five acre Helmsley Walled Garden, originally built in 1756, has undergone extensive restoration as a fully working kitchen garden. The Walled Garden for the Castle stood along the banks of the river to the south of the current garden. Soon after the family moved out of the castle into Duncombe Park this walled garden was built. The present garden, incorporates glass houses designed in 1850 as a vine house. There is an ongoing programme of restoring the garden, using appropriate plants where possible.
There is an open air swimming pool in the Helmsley as well as a recreation ground providing facilities for tennis, bowls, cricket and football. The Cleveland Way is a horseshoe-shaped route around the edge of the North York Moors National Park. Beginning in Helmsley, the trail follows the western escarpment of the North York Moors to meet the coast at Saltburn-by-the-Sea
, and then takes in the whole of the North Yorkshire and Cleveland Heritage Coast to finish at Filey
.
Local newspapers are the Malton and Pickering Mercury and the Gazette and Herald. Helmsley Library is situated at the front of the town hall, in the centre of the Market Place in Helmsley. Staff at Helmsley Library and Customer Services Centre have received an award for running North Yorkshire County Council's Library of the Year for 2010.
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
in the Ryedale
Ryedale
Ryedale is a non-metropolitan district of the shire county of North Yorkshire in England. Settlements include Helmsley, Kirkbymoorside, Malton, Norton-on-Derwent, Pickering, and Terrington.-Derivation of name:...
district of North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The town is located at the point where the valleys of Bilsdale and Ryedale leave the higher moorland and join the flat Vale of Pickering
Vale of Pickering
The Vale of Pickering is a low-lying flat area of land in North Yorkshire, England. It is drained by the River Derwent. The landscape is rural with scattered villages and small market towns. It has been inhabited continuously from the Mesolithic period...
. It is situated on the River Rye
River Rye, Yorkshire
The River Rye is a river in the English county of North Yorkshire. It rises just south of the Cleveland Hills, east of Osmotherley, and flows through Hawnby, Rievaulx, Helmsley, Nunnington, West and East Ness, Butterwick, Brawby, and Ryton, before joining the River Derwent at near Malton.On some...
and lies on the A170 road
A170 road
The A170 is an A road in North Yorkshire, England. It begins at Thirsk, spouting off from the A19 road after about it reaches the very steep viewpoint Sutton Bank, after a steep climb it enters the North Yorkshire Moors and the Hambleton Hills then it reaches the small town of Helmsley and the...
, 14 miles (22.5 km) east of Thirsk
Thirsk
Thirsk is a small market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. The local travel links are located a mile from the town centre to Thirsk railway station and to Durham Tees Valley Airport...
, 13 miles (20.9 km) west of Pickering
Pickering, North Yorkshire
Pickering is an ancient market town and civil parish in the Ryedale district of the county of North Yorkshire, England, on the border of the North York Moors National Park. It sits at the foot of the Moors, overlooking the Vale of Pickering to the south...
and some 24 miles (38.6 km) due north of York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
. The settlement grew up largely as a result of its position at a road junction and river crossing point. Helmsley is a compact town, retaining its medieval layout around the Market Place with more recent development having taken place to the north and south of its main thoroughfare, Bondgate. It is an historic town of considerable architectural character whose centre has been designated as a Conservation Area
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
. The town is associated with the Earls of Feversham
Baron Feversham
Baron Feversham is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation, in the Peerage of Great Britain, came in 1747 in favour of Anthony Duncombe, who had earlier represented Salisbury and Downton in the House...
whose ancestral home Duncombe Park
Duncombe Park
Duncombe Park is the seat of the Duncombe family whose senior member takes the title Baron Feversham. It is situated near Helmsley, North Yorkshire, England and stands in a commanding location above deeply incised meanders of the River Rye....
was built overlooking the castle. A statue of William Duncombe, 2nd Baron Feversham
William Duncombe, 2nd Baron Feversham
William Duncombe, 2nd Baron Feversham was a British peer and Tory politician.-Background:Feversham was the eldest son of Charles Duncombe, 1st Baron Feversham, and Lady Charlotte, daughter of William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth. The Hon. Arthur Duncombe and the Hon...
stands in the town's square.
The town is a popular tourist centre and has won Gold medals in the Large Village category of Yorkshire in Bloom for the last three years. The town square is a popular meeting place for motorcyclists as it is at the end of the B1257 road from Stokesley
Stokesley
Stokesley is a small market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Leven. Stokesley is located about two miles south of the boundary of the borough of Middlesbrough and ten miles south of Middlesbrough town centre. Stokesley is located...
, which is a favourite with local bikers.
The Cleveland Way
Cleveland Way
The Cleveland Way is a National Trail in ancient Cleveland in Northern England. It runs 110 miles from Helmsley to Filey, skirting the North York Moors National Park.-History:The trail was opened in 1969...
National Trail starts at Helmsley, and follows a horseshoe loop around the North York Moors
North York Moors
The North York Moors is a national park in North Yorkshire, England. The moors are one of the largest expanses of heather moorland in the United Kingdom. It covers an area of , and it has a population of about 25,000...
National Park for 110 miles (325,178.9 kn) through to Filey
Filey
Filey is a small town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the borough of Scarborough and is located between Scarborough and Bridlington on the North Sea coast. Although it started out as a fishing village, it has a large beach and is a popular tourist resort...
. The remains of Helmsley Castle
Helmsley Castle
Helmsley Castle is a medieval castle situated in the market town of Helmsley, North Yorkshire, England.-History:...
tower over the town. Other nearby places of interest include Rievaulx Abbey
Rievaulx Abbey
Rievaulx Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey headed by the Abbot of Rievaulx. It is located in Rievaulx , near Helmsley in North Yorkshire, England.It was one of the wealthiest abbeys in England and was dissolved by Henry VIII of England in 1538...
and Helmsley Arts Centre.
History
Archaeological discoveries indicate that the site where Helmsley now lies was first settled in around 3,000 BC and that small farming communities existed here throughout the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages and into Roman times. Finds of beehive querns confirm local agriculture and the milling of grain since at least the Iron Age. There are also reports of finds of Roman pottery and a 2nd century Roman coin.The ancient settlement, whose original Old English name was Elmeslac, pre-dates the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
. The name means ‘Helm’s forest clearing’ and indicates the nature of the landscape at that time. Norse speaking Vikings also left their mark in the "gate" ending of the names of many of the town’s older streets. The ownership of much of the town and its surrounding land has changed hands only twice since the Norman Conquest. Following the conquest it was in the hands of William the Conqueror’s half brother the Count of Mortain and the land to the west of Helmsley was a royal deer park. The ancient pollarded oak trees in Duncombe Park date from this period and the park is now a national nature reserve. In about 1100 the estate fell into the hands of Walter Espec
Walter Espec
Walter Espec was a prominent military and judicial figure of the reign of Henry I of England.His father was probably William Speche, a follower of William I of England In the years up to 1120 he with Eustace Fitz John controlled northern England. He was the builder of Helmsley Castle; he built...
, the founder of Rievaulx Abbey. Walter Espec’s heirs were the eldest surviving sons of his three sisters and the Helmsley properties devolved upon Robert De Ros
Robert de Ros
Sir Robert de Ros, or de Roos of Helmsley, , was the grandfather and ancestor of the Barons Ros of Helmsley that was created by writ in 1264. In 1215, Ros joined the confederation of the barons at Stamford...
, the son of the youngest sister, Adeline. In 1191 Robert de Ros granted Helmsley its Borough Charter, which established it as the market town for the area.
The charter also created the ‘burgage plots’ — long, narrow plots which can still be seen in the property boundaries on the west side of Castlegate and the east side of Bridge Street. Large-scale sheep farming, wool production and weaving were the mainstay of Helmsley’s economy for several centuries. Despite setbacks, including marauding Scots and the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
, Helmsley grew steadily throughout the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. When wool production declined following the dissolution of Rievaulx Abbey
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
, Helmsley’s weavers turned to flax, much of which had to be imported. The weavers were mainly located along Bondand Bridge Street. By the beginning of the 17th century the overall form of Helmsley was largely complete, and many buildings in use today date from this period. The oldest surviving house is Canon's Garth, the present vicarage. The town remained with the holders of the barony of De Ros through the Earls of Rutland and the Dukes of Buckingham until it was sold to the city financier, Sir Charles Duncombe in about 1689.
The ruined Norman castle is the most significant medieval survival of the buildings in the town, although parts of the parish church and Canon’s Garth are mediaeval in origin. The 18th and 19th centuries saw major developments and expansion in the hands of the Duncombe family, commencing with the construction of Duncombe Park outside the town. At the beginning of the 19th century the cottage weaving industry declined in the face of competition from new industrial cities. Despite this, the 19th century saw various major developmens in the town, notably the rebuilding of All Saints' Church, and at the end of the century, building of the town hall. More houses were built along Bondgate and, following the arrival of the railway in 1871, along Station Road. This period also saw older houses remodelled so that little thatch remained in the town. With the decline of weaving, agriculture became the mainstay of the local economy.
On 30 June 2011 the BBC2 programme "History Cold Case" featured an archaeological investigation into four two-thousand year-old skeletons found in the nearby Windy Pits
Ryedale Windypits
The Ryedale Windypits are archaeologically significant natural underground features within the North York Moors National Park. This series of fissures in the Hambleton Hills, near Helmsley, is located on the Western slope above the river Rye. Their name is a local one, derived from their tendency...
caves, concluding that at least one had been the victim of a ritual killing, including scalping
Scalping
Scalping is the act of removing another person's scalp or a portion of their scalp, either from a dead body or from a living person. The initial purpose of scalping was to provide a trophy of battle or portable proof of a combatant's prowess in war...
. The team's findings, including the facial reconstruction of the scalping victim, were presented, at Duncombe Park, to local history experts.
Conservation Area
The Conservation Area covers an approximate area of 91.2 acres (36.9 hectares) and contains some 433 buildings within its bounds. It contains all 51 of the listed buildings located within the town, which represents approximately 12% of the building stock, as well as two Scheduled Ancient Monuments. Of the listed buildings 48 are classified as Grade II and 3 are Grade II*. The large majority of buildings within the Conservation Area are small scale and constructed of local stone which is cream and honey in colour. The majority of buildings, even most of those of higher status, are constructed using rubble stone which has been laid to course. Most roofs are covered with pantiles although some of the larger, more imposing town houses and civic buildings have been constructed using ashlar stone and slate as a demonstration of affluence.Geography
Helmsley is situated on the southern boundary of the North York Moors National Park approximately 200 feet (60 metres) above sea level. The town's local geology is sandstone. To the west and the north of the settlement the moorland areas are predominantly limestone.Helmsley nestles in a hollow amongst undulating open countryside, flanked by imposing heather moor to the north and the rolling farmland of the Howardian Hills
Howardian Hills
The Howardian Hills form an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in North Yorkshire, England. located between the Yorkshire Wolds, the North York Moors National Park and the Vale of York. The AONB includes farmland, wooded rolling countryside, villages and historic houses with parkland...
to the south. The flat lowland of the Vale of Pickering
Vale of Pickering
The Vale of Pickering is a low-lying flat area of land in North Yorkshire, England. It is drained by the River Derwent. The landscape is rural with scattered villages and small market towns. It has been inhabited continuously from the Mesolithic period...
stretches eastwards from the town towards Malton. The River Rye
River Rye, Yorkshire
The River Rye is a river in the English county of North Yorkshire. It rises just south of the Cleveland Hills, east of Osmotherley, and flows through Hawnby, Rievaulx, Helmsley, Nunnington, West and East Ness, Butterwick, Brawby, and Ryton, before joining the River Derwent at near Malton.On some...
runs by the town to the south where it is joined by Boro' Beck, which flows southwards through the town from the moors, at Rye Bridge. The meadows to the south of the Rye form an important buffer and create an attractive setting for the town from the southern approach.
The Helmsley area was badly affected by flash flooding on the night of 19 June 2005.
Population
The population of the larger Helmsley ward area was recorded by the 2001 Census as being 3,097. North Yorkshire County Council, however, estimated in 2000 that the population of the actual urban town area was approximately 1,500.Economy
In the late 20th century the settlement witnessed a relatively large amount of housing development both on underused backland sites in the older part of the town and by means of larger residential schemes outside the historic core of the town and a small industrial estate has been developed at the south-eastern corner of the settlement.There is an award winning council house development at Elmslac Road built in the 1950s and a new primary school and a new health centre, as well as provision of new housing on the outskirts of the historic town including ‘affordable housing’ at Storey Close, development of housing for the elderly at Elm Green and in Pottergate and steady progress in the industrial sector of the town, particularly Thomas Bakery and, now, the new veterinary surgery. More recently the opening of the new castle visitor centre has brought not only an important new attraction for the town. Helmsley is well provided with retail space but less well provided with office space. The main employers in the Helmsley ward are Duncombe Park Estate, Thomas’s Bakery and the National Park Authority. The industrial estate is a vital economic asset of Helmsley.
Tourism plays an important role in the economy of the Helmsley area. The national park as a whole receives around 9 million day-visits each year. Day visitors make up 40% of all visitor days, with people staying within the park making up 31% and people staying outside the park making up 29%. 31% of park visitors stay in serviced accommodation, compared with 64% who stay in self-catering accommodation. Daily expenditure in the national park is approximately £9.10 per person, which excludes accommodation costs. Visitor revenue within the national park was £169 million in 1998, £152 million in 1997 and £119 million in 1996. This can be compared to the figure for the whole of North Yorkshire, which stood at £1,054 million in 1996. However, employment in tourism is, by nature, seasonal. The town of Helmsley draws the largest number of day visitors (32%) within the year, for the North York Moors National Park as a whole. It attracts 37% of longer stay visitors.
Culture, media and sport
Helmsley Arts Centre has a 140-seat auditorium and 40-seat studio/exhibition space.It provides film screenings, live music, theatre performances, comedy clubs, art exhibitions and workshops/classes. The 1812 Theatre Company is the resident amateur theatre company of Helmsley's Arts Centre. The company mounts at least three productions per year in the main theatre and about two smaller ones in the studio. It also houses the 1812 Youth Theatre that meet on a regular basis, putting on at least two shows a year in the main house.The band One Night Only
One Night Only (band)
One Night Only is a British Indie rock band from Helmsley, North Yorkshire formed in 2003.-History:One Night Only formed in summer 2003, consisting initially of Mark Hayton, Daniel “Pob” Parkin, Sam “Gunner” Ford and Kai "Kai" Smith. The band did not have a vocalist until George Craig, a friend of...
is from the town.
The five acre Helmsley Walled Garden, originally built in 1756, has undergone extensive restoration as a fully working kitchen garden. The Walled Garden for the Castle stood along the banks of the river to the south of the current garden. Soon after the family moved out of the castle into Duncombe Park this walled garden was built. The present garden, incorporates glass houses designed in 1850 as a vine house. There is an ongoing programme of restoring the garden, using appropriate plants where possible.
There is an open air swimming pool in the Helmsley as well as a recreation ground providing facilities for tennis, bowls, cricket and football. The Cleveland Way is a horseshoe-shaped route around the edge of the North York Moors National Park. Beginning in Helmsley, the trail follows the western escarpment of the North York Moors to meet the coast at Saltburn-by-the-Sea
Saltburn-by-the-Sea
Saltburn-by-the-Sea is a seaside resort in the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. The town is around east of Middlesbrough, and had a population of 5,912 at the 2001 Census.-Old Saltburn:...
, and then takes in the whole of the North Yorkshire and Cleveland Heritage Coast to finish at Filey
Filey
Filey is a small town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the borough of Scarborough and is located between Scarborough and Bridlington on the North Sea coast. Although it started out as a fishing village, it has a large beach and is a popular tourist resort...
.
Local newspapers are the Malton and Pickering Mercury and the Gazette and Herald. Helmsley Library is situated at the front of the town hall, in the centre of the Market Place in Helmsley. Staff at Helmsley Library and Customer Services Centre have received an award for running North Yorkshire County Council's Library of the Year for 2010.