Cheshire Stone

On the lip of Urra Moor, overlooking the village of Urra.

I wonder what came first: the moor or the village?

It is said the name might derive from the Norse ‘haugr‘ meaning a hill. Or it could from the Old English word for dirty — ‘horheht‘/’horhig‘/’horuweg‘ — apparently

Try speaking the words without pronouncing most of the consonants¹North. 2020. ‘A to Z: A Variety of Us and Vs’, The Official Blog for the North York Moors National Park (The official blog for the North York Moors National Park) <https://northyorkmoorsnationalpark.wordpress.com/2020/05/05/a-to-z-a-variety-of-us-and-vs/> [accessed 4 November 2022].

Walter Espec was the big landowner after the Norman Conquest, owning all of Bilsdale. At the suggestion of King Henry I, he gave almost all of Bilsdale from Newgate Bank to William Beck Farm to Rievaulx Abbey for the salvation of his soul. Perhaps hedging his bets he later gave upper Bilsdale including Chop Gate and Urra to the Augustinian monks at Kirkham Abbey²Warrack, Lucy. “Monks in Bilsdale”. Bilsdale Local History Group. Summarised at ‘Local History Articles’, Bilsdale.org.uk <http://www.bilsdale.org.uk/history/article/73/> [accessed 4 November 2022]..

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  North. 2020. ‘A to Z: A Variety of Us and Vs’, The Official Blog for the North York Moors National Park (The official blog for the North York Moors National Park) <https://northyorkmoorsnationalpark.wordpress.com/2020/05/05/a-to-z-a-variety-of-us-and-vs/> [accessed 4 November 2022]
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  Warrack, Lucy. “Monks in Bilsdale”. Bilsdale Local History Group. Summarised at ‘Local History Articles’, Bilsdale.org.uk <http://www.bilsdale.org.uk/history/article/73/> [accessed 4 November 2022].