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Great Ayton is a village
Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or Residential community, larger than a hamlet , but smaller than a town or city. Though generally located in rural areas, the term urban village may be applied to certain urban area neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New York City and the Saifi Village in Beirut, Lebanon....
 and civil parish
Civil parish

In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a civil parish is usually the lowest unit of local government, below district and county councils....
 in the Hambleton
Hambleton

Hambleton is a Non-metropolitan district of North Yorkshire, England. The main town and administrative centre is Northallerton, and includes the market towns and major villages of Bedale, Thirsk, Great Ayton, Stokesley and Easingwold....
 district of North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire is a shire county or shire county, located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial counties of England in that region and also partly in North East England....
 on the edge of the North York Moors
North York Moors

The North York Moors is a National parks of England and Wales in North Yorkshire, England. The moors are one of the largest expanses of Calluna moorland in the United Kingdom....
 in England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
. The name Great Ayton is thought to derive from Ea-tun, tun meaning farm and 'ea' meaning river.

It is known as the boyhood home of the British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 explorer
List of explorers

This list of explorers is sorted by surname. See also the links #See also.A B C D E F G ...
 and navigator
Navigator

A navigator is the person onboard a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation. The navigator's primary responsibility is to be aware of ship or aircraft position at all times....
 Captain Cook
James Cook

Captain James Cook Royal Society Royal Navy was an English explorer, navigator and cartographer, ultimately rising to the rank of Captain in the Royal Navy....
 and in the 18th and 19th centuries was a centre for the industries of weaving
Weaving

Weaving is the textile arts in which two distinct sets of yarn, called the Warp and the filling or weft , are interlaced with each other to form a textile....
, tanning
Tanning

Tanning is the process of making leather, which does not easily Decomposition, from the skins of animals, which do. Often this uses tannin, an acidic chemical compound....
, brewing
Brewing

Brewing is the production of alcoholic beverages and alcohol fuel through fermentation . The term is used for the production of beer, although the word "brewing" is also used to describe the fermentation process used to create wine and mead....
 and tile
Tile

A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, Rock , metal, or even glass. Tiles are generally used for covering roofs, floors, and walls, showers, or other objects such as tabletops....
 making.

Great Ayton was home to the Great Ayton Friends' School
Great Ayton Friends' School

Great Ayton Friends' School in Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, England. It was an independent school, co-educational, agricultural boarding school, run by the Religious Society of Friends ....
 (Quaker) from 1841 until its closure in 1997.

t Ayton is situated at the foot of the Cleveland Hills beneath Easby Moor and the distinctively-shaped Roseberry Topping
Roseberry Topping

Roseberry Topping is a distinctive hill on the border between North Yorkshire and the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, England, of which it has long been a symbol....
.






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Encyclopedia


Great Ayton is a village
Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or Residential community, larger than a hamlet , but smaller than a town or city. Though generally located in rural areas, the term urban village may be applied to certain urban area neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New York City and the Saifi Village in Beirut, Lebanon....
 and civil parish
Civil parish

In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a civil parish is usually the lowest unit of local government, below district and county councils....
 in the Hambleton
Hambleton

Hambleton is a Non-metropolitan district of North Yorkshire, England. The main town and administrative centre is Northallerton, and includes the market towns and major villages of Bedale, Thirsk, Great Ayton, Stokesley and Easingwold....
 district of North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire is a shire county or shire county, located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial counties of England in that region and also partly in North East England....
 on the edge of the North York Moors
North York Moors

The North York Moors is a National parks of England and Wales in North Yorkshire, England. The moors are one of the largest expanses of Calluna moorland in the United Kingdom....
 in England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
. The name Great Ayton is thought to derive from Ea-tun, tun meaning farm and 'ea' meaning river.

It is known as the boyhood home of the British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 explorer
List of explorers

This list of explorers is sorted by surname. See also the links #See also.A B C D E F G ...
 and navigator
Navigator

A navigator is the person onboard a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation. The navigator's primary responsibility is to be aware of ship or aircraft position at all times....
 Captain Cook
James Cook

Captain James Cook Royal Society Royal Navy was an English explorer, navigator and cartographer, ultimately rising to the rank of Captain in the Royal Navy....
 and in the 18th and 19th centuries was a centre for the industries of weaving
Weaving

Weaving is the textile arts in which two distinct sets of yarn, called the Warp and the filling or weft , are interlaced with each other to form a textile....
, tanning
Tanning

Tanning is the process of making leather, which does not easily Decomposition, from the skins of animals, which do. Often this uses tannin, an acidic chemical compound....
, brewing
Brewing

Brewing is the production of alcoholic beverages and alcohol fuel through fermentation . The term is used for the production of beer, although the word "brewing" is also used to describe the fermentation process used to create wine and mead....
 and tile
Tile

A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, Rock , metal, or even glass. Tiles are generally used for covering roofs, floors, and walls, showers, or other objects such as tabletops....
 making.

Great Ayton was home to the Great Ayton Friends' School
Great Ayton Friends' School

Great Ayton Friends' School in Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, England. It was an independent school, co-educational, agricultural boarding school, run by the Religious Society of Friends ....
 (Quaker) from 1841 until its closure in 1997.

Geography

Great Ayton is situated at the foot of the Cleveland Hills beneath Easby Moor and the distinctively-shaped Roseberry Topping
Roseberry Topping

Roseberry Topping is a distinctive hill on the border between North Yorkshire and the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, England, of which it has long been a symbol....
. The River Leven
River Leven, North Yorkshire

The River Leven flows through North Yorkshire, and is a tributary to the River Tees at Yarm....
, a tributary of the River Tees
River Tees

The Tees is a river in Northern England. It source on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the Pennines, and flows eastwards for about 85 miles to the North Sea, between Hartlepool and Redcar....
, flows through the village and links its two centres, High Green and Low Green. It is served by Great Ayton railway station
Great Ayton railway station

Great Ayton railway station serves the village of Great Ayton in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located on the Esk Valley Line and is operated by Northern Rail who provide all of the station's passenger services....
.

The Captain Cook connection


James Cook and his family moved to the village when he was 8 and lived there until he was 16. James' father, James Sr., was a Scottish
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
 migrant farm labourer married to Grace, a local Yorkshire
Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a Historic counties of England of northern England and the largest in Great Britain. Because of its great size, over time functions were increasingly undertaken by its subdivisions, which have been subject to History of local government in Yorkshire....
 woman, and had moved to the village to take up a position on one of the local farms. His employer, one Thomas Skottowe, financed the younger James' schooling. After completing this tuition James stayed on at the farm for several years helping out his father (who was now farm manager), before leaving in 1745 to take up an apprenticeship at a haberdasher
Haberdasher

A haberdasher is a person who sells small articles for sewing, such as buttons, ribbons and zippers. In U.S. English, haberdasher is another term for a men's outfitter....
 and grocer
Grocer

Beginning as early as the 14th century, a grocer was a dealer in comestible dry goods such as spices, pepper, sugar, and cocoa, tea and coffee....
y store 20 miles away in the fishing village of Staithes
Staithes

||-||-||-||}Staithes is a seaside village in North Yorkshire, England. Roxby Beck running through Staithes is the border between the Scarborough and neighbouring Redcar and Cleveland....
, near Whitby
Whitby

Whitby is a town and civil parish in the Scarborough district of North Yorkshire on the north-east coast of England. Nowadays it is a fishing port and tourist destination....
.

Museum and monuments


The Captain Cook Schoolroom Museum

The building in which the museum is situated in what was once a charity school founded in 1704 by landowner Michael Postgate. James Cook received his early education here from 1736 to 1740.

The Captain Cook Sculpture

This sculpture, located on High Green, depicts James Cook at the age of 16 looking towards Staithes
Staithes

||-||-||-||}Staithes is a seaside village in North Yorkshire, England. Roxby Beck running through Staithes is the border between the Scarborough and neighbouring Redcar and Cleveland....
 where, according to tradition, he first felt the lure of the sea. The sculpture was commissioned by Hambleton District Council and is the work of sculptor Nicholas Dimbleby. It was unveiled on May 12 1997.

Captain Cook's Monument

The monument is a 51 ft high obelisk located on Easby Moor and visible for miles around. It was constructed from local sandstone and was erected in 1827. The inscription on the monument reads:
In memory of the celebrated circumnavigator Captain James Cook F.R.S. A man of nautical knowledge inferior to none, in zeal prudence and energy, superior to most. Regardless of danger he opened an intercourse with the Friendly Isles and other parts of the Southern Hemisphere. He was born at Marton Oct. 27th 1728 and massacred at Owythee Feb. 14th 1779 to the inexpressible grief of his countrymen. While the art of navigation shall be cultivated among men, whilst the spirit of enterprise, commerce and philanthropy shall animate the sons of Britain, while it shall be deemed the honour of a Christian Nation to spread civilisation and the blessings of the Christian faith among pagan and savage tribes, so long will the name of Captain Cook stand out amongst the most celebrated and most admired benefactors of the human race.


Site of the Cook family's cottage

The Cook family home
Cook's Cottage

Cooks' Cottage is located in the Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. The cottage was constructed in 1755 in the England village of Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, by the parents of Captain James Cook, James and Grace Cook....
 on Bridge street was built by James' father in 1755. The cottage was dismantled in 1934 to be shipped to Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
. Each stone was numbered so that the cottage could be reconstructed exactly in its new home in the Fitzroy Gardens
Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne

The Fitzroy Gardens are 26 hectares located on the southeastern edge of the Melbourne Central Business District in East Melbourne, Victoria, Victoria , Australia....
 in Melbourne
Melbourne

Melbourne is the more common name for the geographic region and Census in Australia of the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area. It is the second List of cities in Australia by population in Australia, with a population of approximately 3.8 million and serves as the List of Australian capital cities of Victoria ....
. A granite obelisk now marks the original site of the cottage in Great Ayton. The obelisk is constructed from granite taken from Point Hicks
Point Hicks

Point Hicks , formerly called Cape Everard, is a coastal headland on the eastern coast of Victoria , Australia, located within the Croajingolong National Park....
, the first land sighted by Cook in Australia.

External links