Out & About …

… on the North York Moors, or wherever I happen to be.

Search results for: “merson”

  • James Emerson of Easby Hall

    James Emerson of Easby Hall

    “Charming and ingeneous” according to the ever euphuistic Pevsner, Easby Hall was built sometime between 1808 and 1823 soon after Robert Campion acquired the Lordship of the Manor. Campion was a Whitby based banker who acquired his money from shipbuilding, sail cloth manufacture and other industries. He also was responsible for the erection of Capt.…

  • Donna Cross—from Medieval cross to a legal feud

    Donna Cross—from Medieval cross to a legal feud

    On the col between Cold Moor and Cringle, one almost stumbles across the stump of Donna Cross hidden amidst the bracken. A boulder, rooted deep in the earth, serves as its natural base, with a socket in which a stone is wedged. This stone, however, is not believed to be a part of the original…

  • From beacons to buried treasure—Tales of Drake Howe

    From beacons to buried treasure—Tales of Drake Howe

    At the highest point of Cringle Moor’s flat summit is a Bronze Age round barrow named Drake Howe. A cairn overlooks the hollow left by Victorian antiquarians in this ancient monument. “Howe,” a term with a Scandinavian etymology, means a mound. But “Drake,” is that a name that carries a folk memory recalling the age-old…

  • Two villages: “Cherchbi” and “Broctune Magna”

    Two villages: “Cherchbi” and “Broctune Magna”

    It’s been a windy day on Cringle Moor, but the sky has been clear. The moving clouds created a beautiful display of shadows over the vale of Cleveland. I could see below me the villages of Kirkby-in-Cleveland and Great Broughton, both of which were mentioned in the Domesday Book. Kirkby-in-Cleveland was referred to as “Cherchbi”…

  • Ailesbury Ironstone Mine

    Ailesbury Ironstone Mine

    Another visit to an old favourite, almost 7 years ago. I read that some conservation work had been done to the mine entrance, some trees cleared and the ditch cleared out. It looks as though some of the stones on the parapet have fallen. Ailesbury Ironstone Mine operated from 1857 to 1885 and named after…

  • Kirby Bank — a battleground between a David and a Goliath

    Kirby Bank — a battleground between a David and a Goliath

    In 1854 there was a legal dispute over the boundary between Bilsdale and Kirby which has been decribed as a ‘David and Goliath’ legal battle. The plaintiff (he who brought the case) was the rich and influential Lord Feversham, Lord of the Manor of Bilsdale. The defendant was James Emerson who was described in the…

  • Easby Chapel

    Easby Chapel

    With a blanket of fog covering the northern North York Moors, today wasn’t a good day for photogenic splendour. So my thoughts turned to the lowlands. I listened last week to a lecture by a University of York professor into medieval church records who revealed that at least eleven plague cemeteries were licensed in 1349…

  • Kirby Bank

    Kirby Bank

    Crossing Emerson’s fence on the climb up Kirby Bank from the Scout camp. I have already posted about the history of this fence before. A posting which although only from May this year, I had completely forgotten about. The fenceline was created as the result of a legal dispute in 1854 over potential ironstone mining…

  • Kirby Bank

    Kirby Bank

    Playing with the panoramic function on my phone. This is looking back on the climb up Cringle Moor. A rather dull drizzly morning brightened by the fields of rape in the Vale of Cleveland. The fence has a bit of history. It is on the line of the old boundary between two Lords. James Emerson,…