When the Reverend J.C.Atkinson became the vicar of the parish of Danby in 1847 there was no village of Danby and as far as he could ascertain there had never been one. There was a Danby Dale, a Danby Rigg and a Danby Castle. There were several hamlets: Dale End, Little Fryup and Ainthorpe, and the market town of Castleton. When the North Yorkshire and Cleveland Railway came to the Esk valley Danby station was built at Dale End and that is where the modern Ordnance Survey maps now name as “Danby”. The Rev. Atkinson’s church stands isolated part way up the dale. He surmised an ancient village of Danby, the byr or village of the Danes, may have existed just north of his church, but he was just speculating. In the Domesday Book, Danebi has a total tax assessment of 6.8 geld units which apparently was quite a lot so it must have been a valuable parish.
Clear blue skies today spoilt once again by drifting smoke from heather burning on the moors. The one in the distance looks like it’ll be somewhere above Lockwood Beck Reservoir
Leave a Reply