Gilling West

North Yorkshire

Gilling West is a village in the Richmondshire former district of North Yorkshire.

Gilling West is 3 miles north of Richmond.

The West suffix distinguishes the village from Gilling East, 32 miles to the south-east in the Ryedale district.

Although a quiet village today, Gilling West is seen to be the scene of a significant turning point in Yorkshire history, the murder of a Yorkshire king.

While there is no tangible evidence of the 7th century crime, Gilling West is seen by many historians to be Ingetlingum, described in Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England as the location where King Oswine, who governed Deira (Yorkshire), was killed on the orders of King Oswiu of Bernicia (Northumberland).

Both kings having gathered armies, King Oswine had assembled 10 miles north-west of the village of Cataract (Catterick) but, facing a bigger army, sent home his troops and went into hiding at Ingetlingum only to be betrayed by his host and slain by Oswiu's commander Ethilwin.

To atone for the killing a monastery was built. Again there is no evidence today of a monastery in Gilling West, but then early religious houses were subject to destruction in Danish invasions in the 860s. St Agatha's Church in Gilling West does, however, have fragments of Anglo-Saxon crosses from the 9th and 10th centuries and there has been evidence of a larger burial site than the current churchyard.

Another historic find from the 9th century was the Gilling Sword, discovered by a nine-year-old boy in Gilling Beck in 1976 and now preserved in the Yorkshire Museum in York. With an iron blade and five silver bands on the grip, it is one of the finest Anglian weapons of its age ever found.

From the 9th century to the Norman conquest, West Gilling was the centre of a wide area controlled by the Earls of Mercia known as Gillingshire. The last Earl, Edwin, was implicated in a rebellion against the Normans, dispossessed of his lands and died in 1071. The land was given to the Count of Brittany whose castle was built at Richmond, the area becoming known as Richmondshire.

More recent history in the village includes a stone water fount built in 1897 in the wall of its former pinfold at the north end of the village, where a sign also records Gilling West's win of the Yorkshire Best Kept Village award in 1999.

Village features

Gilling West has an old parish church.

The village is at a bridge over the Gilling Beck.

The village has Post Office services - within hours of opening at Village Hall.

Gilling West has a choice of pubs. (The Angel Inn, The White Swan)

Pub food is available in Gilling West.

Gilling West has a village hall.

Place of worship: Anglican.

Gilling West was formerly in the North Riding of Yorkshire.

Travel

Bus travel

The village has buses to neighbouring towns and villages.

Road travel

Gilling West can be reached via the B6274

Places to visit

Richmond Castle

Tower Street, Richmond, North Yorkshire
One of the finest and most complete Norman castles in Britain, around which the town of Richmond developed. Its vast square keep, 100ft (30 metres) high, is a dominant feature of the town with magnificent views. The castle was built for the Count of Brittany, Alan Rufus, high above the River Swale in 1071, just 5 years after the Battle of Hastings and Norman conquest. There are substantial remains of 11th century walls and its domestic hall. This was added around the 1150s by Conan, Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond, the great-nephew of Alan Rufus. After Conan's death in 1171 the castle came under the control of King Henry II. Many years on, a Victorian addition to the castle was an armoury which was later used in World War I to imprison conscientious objectors who became known as the Richmond 16. A Victorian barrack block built at castle in 1855 was demolished in 1931. The castle is managed by English Heritage.

More information at these

English Heritage - Richmond Castle web pages.
Find on map:

Richmond Castle

Easby Abbey

Easby, near Richmond
Situated about 1.5 miles from the centre of Richmond beside the River Swale, Easby Abbey has some magnificent and quite substantial stonework remaining from its refectory, gatehouse and canon's dormitory. The abbey was founded in 1152 and was of the Premonstratensian order. As with most monasteries it was a target of Henry VIII and soon after its supression in 1536 most of its buildings were stripped for stone or demolished. Within the abbey complex is the Parish Church of St Agatha, founded before the abbey and still in use as a church today. Inside are 13th century wall paingtings and a fragment of 12th century glass. The abbey church, however, was mostly demolished after the supression. The abbey is managed as a free entry site by English Heritage.

Find out more at the

English Heritage - Easby Abbey website.
Find on map:

Easby Abbey

The Roman Bridge ruins at Cliffe, North Yorkshire, near Piercebridge

Piercebridge Roman Bridge

Cliffe, North Yorkshire, near Piercebridge
Remains of a Roman bridge which took the Roman road Dere Street across the River Tees can be found at Cliffe, a hamlet at the North Yorkshire side of the Tees at Piercebridge, about 9 miles north-north-east of Richmond. The remains can be found along a short footpath near to the end of the car park adjoining the The George, an old coaching inn and hotel on the B6275 which follows the route of Dere Street. The remains were discovered during digging for gravel in the early 1970s. The piles of original bridge stones and a short causeway are now high and dry on the Yorkshire bank of the Tees, the river having carved a way north of its path of around 1,800 years ago. The site is now managed by English Heritage and there is free access during daylight hours.
More information at these

English Heritage - Piercebridge Roman Bridge web pages.
Find on map:

Piercebridge Roman Bridge

Richmondshire Museum

Ryder's Wynd, Richmond
The museum is just a short walk from the Market Place in Richmond and tells a fascinating story of the Richmond area from the Stone Age to the present day. It also has a treasure trove of other exhibits such as a history of toys, how lead was mined in the Yorkshire Dales, a transport gallery with historic model of Richmond Station, shop reconstructions, including Grinton Post Office, a chemist shop from Catterick and a grocer and chandler from Richmond and the Herriott Set from the film All Creatures Great And Small.

Website

Yorkshire Dales National Park

The western half of Richmondshire is all within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Richmond is at the gateway to some of its most remote and peaceful areas of the National Park in Swaledale. Leyburn is the gateway to the Wensleydale area of the National Park, the wide and beautiful upper valley of the River Ure into which many tributaries flow. Find out more on our Yorkshire Dales National Park page.

Emergency services

North Yorkshire Police

North Yorkshire Police website.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service website.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust website.

Local government

Civil parish council

Gilling with Hartforth and Sedbury
Provides some local services in the area.

Unitary authority

North Yorkshire Council

The North Yorkshire Council is a new unitary authority formed from the previous County Council from April 1, 2023. It covers the existing county duties including highways, schools, libraries and transport planning over an area of 3,109 square miles while also taking over the responsibilities of the seven huge district authorities also created in 1974 — Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough and Selby — these including local planning, waste collection, street cleaning, parks and car parks, housing and markets serving a population of around 615,500*.

Councillors were elected to the County Council in 2022 and continue as councillors of the new North Yorkshire Council unitary authority. There have been a few by-elections to fill councillor vacancies since then.

Places in North Yorkshire

Link to council website: North Yorkshire Council

^ Area figure from ONS Standard Area Measurements 2022 (converted from hectares).
* Population figure from Census 2021 (combined total of former districts).
Contains public sector information licensed under the

Open Government Licence v3.0.

Political composition:

453CI 1311 NY Ind92 LC421

90 members

CI = Conservative & Independent NY Ind = North Yorkshire Independents group LC = Labour & Cooperative
Composition and groupings - source North Yorkshire Council (February 2024)

Strategic authority

York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority
The York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority was created in December 2023 combining the unitary authority of York and the unitary authority of North Yorkshire — that created in April 2023 after the abolition of the county authority and its seven district authorities. The combined authority will run some functions under the new mayor elected in May 2024 as part of the government's so-called "Devolution deal" which ties the availablity of funding to the new governance arrangements. As well as having powers over housing development, transport and boosting skills and education across the 3,214 square miles of York and North Yorkshire, the elected mayor also takes on the role and functions of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner across the area.

Elected mayor: ❚ David Skaith Labour & Cooperative

York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority website.

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner North Yorkshire
Covers the county of North Yorkshire and City of York. This role is being transferred to the new elected mayor of York and North Yorkshire in 2024.

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner North Yorkshire website.

Parliamentary constituency

Richmond and Northallerton
Elected MP: ❚ Rishi Sunak Conservative

National government region

Yorkshire and the Humber

Ceremonial county

North Yorkshire

Historic

- 1974: Within the North Riding of Yorkshire.
1974 - 2023: In the Richmondshire shire district of the North Yorkshire county.

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