Crakehall

Crakehall is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England, approximately 2 miles (3 km) west of Bedale. The village lies along the route of the A684 and is split into two parts by Bedale Beck, a tributary of the River Swale. The population was estimated at 630 in 2015.[1] The north-west part is known as Little Crakehall, and the south-east part as Great Crakehall. It is 8.3 miles (13.4 km) west-south-west of the county town of Northallerton.

Crakehall
The east end of the village, known as Great Crakehall.
Crakehall Location within North Yorkshire
Population	630
OS grid reference	SE243899
• London	203 mi (327 km) SSE
District	Hambleton
Shire county	North Yorkshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BEDALE
Postcode district	DL8
Dialling code	01677
Police	North Yorkshire
Fire	North Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
UK Parliament	Richmond

The parish also includes the hamlet of Kirkbridge, a mile east of Great Crakehall.

History

The White Cross at Great Crakehall was near the site of Bedale cattle market in medieval times.

The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Crachele. It was part of the head manor of Masham. The manor lands were split between Gilli and Ulfkil before the Norman conquest. After 1086 the manor was tenanted to two men-at-arms of the household of Count Alan of Brittany.[2] The line of descent for the manor follows that of Ribald of Middleham, whose main tenants were named 'Crakehall', until 1624. From then it was granted by the Crown to Edward and Robert Ramsay until they granted it to John Heath and John White around 1658. Records thereafter are unclear until mention of the manor being in the possession of the Place family in the early 18th century. From 1732 to 1810 the manor was passed from Henry Goddard via Mary Turner, Watson Bowman and Anthony Hardolph Eyre to Henry Pulleine. Pulleine's granddaughter, Lady Cowell, inherited in the late 19th century. That part of the manor that was in Little Crakehall was held by the 'Crakehall' Family until the 14th century and it eventually passed to Christopher Conyers of Hornby whose descent it followed thereafter.[3][4]

The etymology of the name of the village is made of the Old Norse word kráka meaning crow or raven and the Anglian word halh meaning a nook of land. Kráka could also have been the given name to a person.[5][6]

On the Bedale Beck is the 17th-century corn mill, once owned by the Neville family of Middleham Castle. The mill closed in 1930 and lay derelict until it was restored in 1980. It is open in the summer.[7]

The Northallerton to Hawes branch line of the North Eastern Railway passes to the south of the village. Crakehall railway station served the village until 1954, located where the Station Cottages now stand.[8] The Wensleydale Railway now runs over the same track.

Geography and governance

Crakehall Beck becomes Bedale Beck as it passes through the village. Bedale Beck is a tributary of the River Swale 4.6 miles (7.4 km) to the east of the village. It lies just 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of the market town of Bedale and 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Leeming Bar on the A1(M) near to RAF Leeming. The smaller settlements of Kirkbridge, Langthorne and Patrick Brompton all lie within a mile of the village.

The village lies within the UK Parliamentary constituency of Richmond (Yorkshire). It also lies within the Bedale electoral division of North Yorkshire County Council and the Crakehall ward of Hambleton District Council.[9] The Parish Council has six members, five represent Crakehall and one for Langthorne.[10] The population of this ward at the Census 2011 was 1,728.[11]

Demography

Population[12][13][14]
Year	1881	1891	1901	1911	1921	1931	1951	1961	2001	2011
Total	484	444	396	420	373	399	384	372	655	677

2001 Census

According to the 2001 UK Census, the parish was 48.2% male and 51.8% female of the total population of 655. The religious make-up was 87.5% Christian with the rest stating no religion. The ethnic distribution was 100% White There were 297 dwellings.

2011 Census

According to the 2011 UK Census, the parish had a total population of 677 with 49.3% male and 50.7% female. The religious make-up was 78.3% Christian, a small Jewish minority with the rest stating no religion. The ethnic distribution was 99.8% White with a small Mixed Ethnic minority. There were 300 dwellings. The wider electoral ward had the greatest proportion of White British residents of any in the whole of England.[14]

Community

Crakehall CE Primary School provides education from age 5 to 11. It is a Voluntary Controlled establishment with a pupil capacity of 90.[15] The school is within the catchment area of Bedale High School for secondary education between age 11 and 16.[16] The village is served by a mobile Post Office which visits three times a week. There is one public house in the village, The Bay Horse. The village field a weekend Cricket team in the Nidderdale League and a midweek evening team in the Wensleydale League.[10]

Religion

Saint Gregory Crakehall

The church in the village is dedicated to St Gregory and was built in 1839-1840.[4] It is part of the Deanery of Wensley and the Archdeaconry of Richmond.[17] The Wesleyan chapel on Station Road was built at the same time in the village, but has now moved to a newer building opposite built in 1935.[4][10] The Primitive Methodists had a chapel in Little Crakehall built in 1855.[4]

Notable buildings

Crakehall Hall, built in 1732, is situated in the village overlooking the 5-acre village green. It was once the country seat of the Duke of Leeds, who lived at Kiveton Park in South Yorkshire. It is a Grade II* listed building.[18]

A Bronze Age round barrow, identified at grid reference SE235886 as a Tumulus and 540 m south-west of the Bay Horse Inn, is a scheduled ancient monument.[19]

The White Cross is a Grade II listed medieval cross which stands at the side of the A684.

Notable people

• Rev Thomas Milville Raven FRSE (1828-1896) pioneer photographer, was vicar of Crakehall from 1867.

References

1. "Population Estimates" (PDF). North Yorkshire County Council. 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2019. In the 2011 census the population was included with the parish of Rand Grange and not counted separately.
2. "[Great] Crakehall | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
3. "History". Retrieved 14 December 2013.
4. Bulmer's Topography, History and Directory (Private and Commercial) of North Yorkshire 1890. S&N Publishing. 1890. pp. 411–413. ISBN 1-86150-299-0.
5. Watts (2011). Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-names. Cambridge University Press. p. 128. ISBN 978-0521168557.
6. A.D. Mills (1998). Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford Paperbacks. p. 136. ISBN 978-0192800749.
7. "Water Mill". Retrieved 21 December 2013.
8. Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
9. "Archived copy". Ordnance Survey Open Viewer. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
10. "Parish Council". Retrieved 21 December 2013.
11. UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Crakehall 2011 Census Ward (1237325064)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
12. "Population at Censuses". Vision of Britain. 2009. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
13. "2001 UK Census". Office for National Statistics. 2002. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
14. UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Crakehall Parish (1170216822)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
15. "Crakehall CE Primary School". Retrieved 21 December 2013.
16. "North Yorkshire Secondary School Catchment Areas". North Yorkshire County Council. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
17. "St Gregory's Crakehall". The Church of England. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
18. Historic England. "Crakehall Hall and garden walls (1150922)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
19. Historic England. "Round barrow 1/3 mile (540m) SW of Black Horse Inn (1004150)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 December 2013.

External links

Media related to Crakehall at Wikimedia Commons

• History of Crakehall