Pickering, North Yorkshire
Encyclopedia
Pickering is an ancient market town
and civil parish in the Ryedale
district of the county
of North Yorkshire
, England
, on the border of the North York Moors National Park. It sits at the foot of the Moors, overlooking the Vale of Pickering
to the south. According to legend
the town was founded by a certain king Peredurus
around 270BC; however the town as it exists today is of medieval origin
The tourist venues of Pickering Castle
, the North Yorkshire Moors Railway
and Beck Isle Museum
have made Pickering popular with visitors in recent years. Nearby places include Malton
, Norton, Scarborough.
Pickering at the end of the last Ice Age
, the settlement was in an ideal place for early settlers to benefit from the multiple natural resources of the moorland
s to the north, the wetland
s to the south, the running water in the beck
and the forest
s all around. It had wood, stone, wildfowl, game, fish, fresh water and fertile easily worked soil
s. The east west route from the coast inland ran along the foothills of the North York Moors past the site at a place where the beck could be forded.
There is evidence of Celtic and Roman era habitation in the areas surrounding Pickering but very little remains in the town itself. Legendary sources suggest a very early date for the establishment of a town here but traces of earlier settlements have been erased by subsequent development.
The town of Pickering probably existed throughout the Anglo-Saxon
period of British history. According to the Domesday Book
there was enough arable land
to need 27 ploughs, meadows and extensive woodland
s. The present town may have grown up to service the Norman castle.
After 1066 when William I
became the king of England the town and its neighbourhood was in the personal possession of the king. A castle
and the church were built at this time and the medieval kings occasionally used to visit the area. In 1267 the manor
, castle and forest of Pickering were given by Henry III
to his youngest son, Edmund, First Earl of Lancaster. In times of trouble this estate was first confiscated by the King and then returned. Eventually, it passed to Henry, Duke of Lancaster who later became King Henry IV of England
. It has belonged to the monarch ever since.
In 1598 the streets of Pickering were named as:
Many of the older small houses of the town were built at this time, some of stone with thatched roofs. The stocks
, the shambles and the market cross stood in the centre of the town in the Market Place. The castle fell into disrepair yet the town flourished. In the English Civil War
, Parliamentary soldiers were quartered in the town and did damage to the church and castle and Pickering was the subject of a minor skirmish but it was not the scene of a pitched battle.
In the 1650s George Fox the founder of Society of Friends, or Quakers, visited the town to preach on at least two occasions.
Blessed Nicholas Postgate
, the Catholic martyr, lived for a time in Pickering. He was hanged, drawn and quartered in York in 1679.
and agricultural centre. It had watermill
s and several inn
s and was a centre for coaching travel, Mail coach
traffic and trade. At this time the beck served as an open sewer and it remained so until the early part of the 20th century.
The townspeople tended towards the adoption of Non-conformist religious sects and were visited by John Wesley
on several occasions, the first being in 1764 and the last in 1790.
The Quakers held meetings in a cottage in the town long before they built their present Meeting House in Castlegate in 1793.
In 1789 the first Congregational Church was built in Hungate and for several years following 1793 a private residence was licensed for Divine Worship by Protestant Dissenters. The Pickering Methodist Circuit was formed in 1812.
The Whitby and Pickering Railway
was opened in May 1836. At first the carriages and wagons were horse drawn but steam locomotive
s were used from 1847. The Forge Valley Line
ran from 1882 to 1950, connecting Pickering to the Whitby-Scarborough line in an attempt to encourage residents to visit the coast.
The local Health Board (the forerunner of the Urban District Council) was formed in 1863. A Gas and Water Company provided gaslight
to light the town and piped drinking water. The shop fronts became closed in and glass windows were used to display goods for sale.
, Pickering had 3491 people and by 1911 this had risen to 3674 people who were living in 784 households. There were in excess of 60 shops. In the early 20th century the growth of non-conformist religious sects, particularly Methodism, generated a political spirit of Liberalism
and Pickering built a great Liberal tradition.
In 1901 the Catholic priest Fr Edward Bryan came to the town and established a Catholic school, parish and, in 1911, St Joseph's Church, the work of the architect Leonard Stokes.
In 1922 an old mill was converted to the Memorial Hall in memory of the Pickering men killed in the First World War. This hall, now much modernised, serves as a community centre for the town. The Castle Cinema
was built in 1937 in Burgate. Electricity had arrived a few years earlier.
The years from 1920 to 1950 saw a decline in Pickering’s role as an agricultural market town and the population fell slightly from a peak of 4,193 in 1951 to 4,186 in 1961. The closure of the railway in 1965 under the Beeching axe
was a blow to the area.
The economy
of the town saw a turn around in the following decades with the greater mobility of the working population and a rise in tourism due to increasing car ownership. Tourism has been a major occupation in the town since the reopening of the North York Moors Railway as a restored steam railway and the filming of the television series “Heartbeat” on the moors. In 1991 the population was 6269.
The parish church
is located at the eastern end of the Market Place and dominates views of Pickering from all directions. It is a Grade I Listed building that dates from the 12th century. It is most notable for its mid-15th century wall paintings which are extensive, covering both the north and south walls. To the north of the church at the top of the hill is Pickering Castle
which was built in the late 11th century to defend the area against the Scots
and Danes. The sloping Market Place between the church and the beck is lined with two and three storey buildings which date from a variety of periods. Most are listed for their historical or architectural interest. This area is the centre of the town's main Conservation Area.
are:
The Member of the UK Parliament is
Until the 2010 general election Pickering was in the Ryedale constituency
but due to boundary changes was moved to the new Thirsk and Malton constituency
.
The town of Pickering is situated at the junction between the A170
, which links Scarborough with Thirsk
, and the A169 linking Malton
and Whitby
. It occupies a broad strip of land between the Ings and Low Carrs to the south of the main road and a ridge of higher, sloping ground which is surmounted by the castle to the north. It is sited where the older limestone
and sandstone
rocks of the North York Moors
meet the glacial deposits of the Vale of Pickering
. The limestone rocks form the hill on which the higher parts of the town and the castle are situated. Pickering beck is an attractive natural watercourse that runs north to south through the centre of the town. This beck rises on the moors and drains southwards through Newton Dale before reaching Pickering. It is prone to flooding at times of exceptional rainfall and at these times areas of the town close to the beck become flooded. The town centre lies to the east of the beck though the population is almost equally divided between the east and west wards of the town. Pickering has developed around the old Market Place but the majority of houses are now in the form of residential estates off the main A170 road.
of the North York Moors
, rising from 50 metres above sea level
at its southern edge to over 430 metres on Urra Moor. It is dissected by a series of south flowing stream
s which include Pickering Beck. Most of the moorland consists of Jurassic
sandstone with occasional cappings of gritstone on the highest hills.
To the south these rocks are overlaid with oolitic
limestone which forms flat-topped Tabular Hills
with a scarp
slope to the north and gentler slopes to the south. Ice action in the last glaciation deepened pre-existing valleys, and determined the line of the present river
s and streams. Newtondale to the north of Pickering was cut by meltwater
from the ice in Eskdale gouging a deep channel as it flowed southwards to the extensive lake
which then filled the Vale of Pickering. This lake was blocked by ice and glacial deposits near the coast so it drained through the Kirkham Gorge towards the River Ouse.
South of Pickering were extensive marshes but these have been drained and exploited as fertile agricultural land.
maritime climate which is dominated by the passage of mid-latitude depressions. The weather is very changeable from day to day and the warming influence of the Gulf Stream
makes the region mild for its latitude. The average total annual rainfall is 729 mm with rain falling on 128 days of the year. January is usually the coldest month and December the wettest. The warmest month is August and the driest is February.
Pickering Beck has a long history of flooding which occurs on average every 5 years. However, out of bank flows are experienced on some sections of the watercourse annually. These areas include Potter Hill and the grassed area just upstream of Pickering Bridge. The flood in March 1999 caused widespread damage to the town.
Areas affected were
Further flooding in 2006 caused extensive damage to properties in the Market Place as well as the above areas.
demographically Pickering had a population
of 6,846 people in 3,071 households. There were 3,213 males and 3,633 females. The mean age of the population for the East Ward was 45.30 years and for the West Ward it was 43.47 years. Both of these ages are significantly higher than the national mean age of 38.6 years. In the census year 25.39% of Pickering's population was over 65 years compared with 15.89% nationally. There were 1183 people below the age of 16 and 886 over the age of 75.
off the Market Place.
There are very few large employers within the town. Most people find jobs in retailing, tourism and small industries that are based in the two industrial development areas at Westgate Carr Road and Thornton Road to the west and east of the town respectively.
Pickering is an important tourist centre and there are banking, insurance
and legal services in the town as well as an outdoor market each Monday. In 2008, plans were put forward to build a new supermarket in the area of an old coal yard.
venues in the town offering a very wide range of amateur and professional productions. In July the annual Jazz
Festival
is held in Pickering.
There is a leisure centre
, a swimming pool
and a modern library and information centre. Sports activities include athletics (track and field)
, football (soccer)
, cricket
, badminton
and bowls
. Pickering is home to Pickering Town F.C.
, who currently play in the Northern Counties East Football League Premier Division, Level 9 of the football league pyramid.
Notable sports-people from the town include, footballing brothers Craig Short
and Chris Short
, Great Britain 400 metre runner Richard Buck
, and snooker
player Paul Davison
.
Local newspaper
s are
The Beck Isle Museum is housed in a handsome Regency period residence near the centre of Pickering, adjacent to the Pickering Beck, a stream that flows under a four arched road bridge. It was here that William Marshall
planned England's first Agricultural Institute in the early 19th century. This house contains a collection of bygones relating largely to the rural crafts and living style of Ryedale. The collection is not restricted to a particular period of interest, it aims to reflect the local life and customs and to trace many of the developments in social and domestic life during the last 200 years. A selection of photographs from the extensive Sidney Smith collection held in the museum are displayed around the building - particularly the photography and model rooms. Sidney Smith was born in Pickering and his work is appreciated world wide. He is thought of as a successor to Frank Meadow Sutcliffe of Whitby. The museum is owned by the Beck Isle Museum Trust and is staffed and operated completely by volunteers.
Dalby Forest is situated on the southern slopes of the North York Moors National Park. The southern part of the forest
is divided by a number of valley
s creating a 'Rigg and Dale' landscape whilst to the north the forest sits on the upland
plateau
. Although comprising mostly pine
s and spruce
s there are many broadleaf trees such as oak
, beech
, ash, alder
and hazel
both in the valleys and on the 'Riggs'. Clear stream
s arising in springs
run north and south out of the forest. The forest is a home for birds such as the crossbill
and that elusive summer visitor the nightjar
. Roe deer
abound and badger
s, the symbol of the forest, are a very common but nocturnal resident. The signs of past residents are all around. Burial mounds, linear earthworks of unknown purpose and the remains of a flourishing rabbit
warrening industry can be found throughout the wood. A network of forest roads including the 9 miles (14.5 km) Dalby Forest Drive provide access to this outstanding landscape. Formed in the Ice Age
and shaped by the people from the Bronze Age
to the present day
The National Park
Authority works in many ways to promote enjoyment and encourage understanding of the area by the public and to balance this with conservation of what makes the place special. This includes producing information and interpretation, managing public rights of way and access areas, car parks and toilets and having a Ranger Service.
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway
is a heritage railway. The 18 miles (29 km) line is the second-longest heritage line in the United Kingdom and runs across the North York Moors from Pickering
via Levisham
, Newton Dale
and Goathland
to Grosmont
. It is run by the North York Moors Historical Railway Trust but is mostly operated and staffed by volunteers.
Pickering station has been a terminus since 1965 when the Malton-Pickering route connecting to the York to Scarborough main line was closed. Trains only head north from here.
Prior to the station becoming a terminus, the double-track railway took up the space now occupied by The Ropery (a road) and the car park to the east of it.
Photographs that show what part of the area looked like when the railway still extended south, can be seen in the book 'An Illustrated History of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway'. This was written by Philip Benham, General Manager of the railway.
Trains run every day from mid-March to early November, plus selected dates through the winter. Trains are mostly steam-hauled; however in some cases heritage diesel engine is used. At the height of the running timetable, trains depart hourly from each station. Recently, during summer months, steam services have extended to the seaside town of Whitby
. Passenger numbers have topped 300,000 in recent years. The busy summer days will see trains running through from Pickering and Goathland to Whitby
.
Pickering Castle is set in an attractive moors-edge position. It is a classic and well-preserved example of an early earthwork motte and bailey castle
refortified in stone during the 13th and 14th centuries, centred upon a shell keep
crowning an impressive motte. There is an exhibition in the chapel with family-friendly books and activities.
Pickering church was a Saxon
foundation, but the earliest phases of the present building date to the 12th and 13th centuries, with substantial additions of the 14th and 15th. In 1853 restoration work revealed a series of wall paintings on the north and south walls of the nave. Despite a local and national outcry, the paintings were subsequently whitewashed, and only rediscovered and restored in 1876-8. They have been called “the most complete collection of medieval wall paintings in England”.
Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, on Potter Hill, was built by the architect Leonard Stokes in 1911, on the instructions of the parish priest, Fr Edward Bryan. It contains a stone font by the sculptor Eric Gill, and the portable altar-stone of the seventeenth-century martyr, Blessed Nicholas Postgate; also a fine icon, painted in Rome, of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, and a mosaic of Christ blessing the loaves and fishes by local artist Audrey Murty. Outside the church is a statue of Saint Joseph designed by Peter Paul Pugin, son of the more famous Augustus Welby Pugin. The church features in the book 'A Glimpse of Heaven' by Christopher Martin (English Heritage 2006).
Bus
services connect Pickering to York
via Malton
(#840, operated by Yorkshire Coastliner
), and to Scarborough (#128, operated by Scarborough and District), Whitby
(also served by #840) and Thirsk
.
There is also a town bus which travels a circular route around the town.
The nearest mainline railway station is at Malton, 8 miles (12.9 km) away and the North Yorkshire Moors heritage railway runs seasonal services to Grosmont and Whitby
.
Plans to reopen the Pickering-Rillington Junction railway line (connecting to the Scarborough line near Rillington
village) have surfaced multiple times but rail reopenings in England as a whole are exceptional, so no funds have been secured to rebuild the line. If rebuilt in the current climate of rail industry fragmentation and inflexibility in the United Kingdom, the line would cost £21 million despite being just six miles long. The track does not follow the same corridor as the A169 road. A monorail
has been suggested as a cheaper alternative, but this would completely prevent interoperability of through services from York and Malton to Pickering and Whitby.
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
and civil parish in the Ryedale
Ryedale
Ryedale is a non-metropolitan district of the shire county of North Yorkshire in England. Settlements include Helmsley, Kirkbymoorside, Malton, Norton-on-Derwent, Pickering, and Terrington.-Derivation of name:...
district of the county
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
of North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, on the border of the North York Moors National Park. It sits at the foot of the Moors, overlooking the Vale of Pickering
Vale of Pickering
The Vale of Pickering is a low-lying flat area of land in North Yorkshire, England. It is drained by the River Derwent. The landscape is rural with scattered villages and small market towns. It has been inhabited continuously from the Mesolithic period...
to the south. According to legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
the town was founded by a certain king Peredurus
Peredurus
Peredurus is a legendary king of the Britons in Geoffrey of Monmouth's pseudohistorical chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae. According to Geoffrey he was the youngest son of King Morvidus and brother of Gorbonianus, Archgallo, Elidurus, and Ingenius....
around 270BC; however the town as it exists today is of medieval origin
The tourist venues of Pickering Castle
Pickering Castle
Pickering Castle is a motte-and-bailey fortification in Pickering, North Yorkshire, England.- Design :Pickering castle was originally a timber and earth motte and bailey castle. It was developed into a stone motte and bailey castle which had a stone shell keep. The current inner ward was originally...
, the North Yorkshire Moors Railway
North Yorkshire Moors Railway
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway is a heritage railway in North Yorkshire, England. First opened in 1836 as the Whitby and Pickering Railway, the railway was planned in 1831 by George Stephenson as a means of opening up trade routes inland from the then important seaport of Whitby. The line...
and Beck Isle Museum
Beck Isle Museum
Beck Isle Museum of Rural Life is a social history museum in Pickering, North Yorkshire, England. The museum features period business displays including the shops of a barber, blacksmith, chemist, cobbler, cooper, printer, gentleman's draper, dairy and hardware store...
have made Pickering popular with visitors in recent years. Nearby places include Malton
Malton, North Yorkshire
Malton is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The town is the location of the offices of Ryedale District Council and has a population of around 4,000 people....
, Norton, Scarborough.
History
Positioned on what would have been the shores of the glacial lakeLake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
Pickering at the end of the last Ice Age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
, the settlement was in an ideal place for early settlers to benefit from the multiple natural resources of the moorland
Moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...
s to the north, the wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
s to the south, the running water in the beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
and the forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s all around. It had wood, stone, wildfowl, game, fish, fresh water and fertile easily worked soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
s. The east west route from the coast inland ran along the foothills of the North York Moors past the site at a place where the beck could be forded.
There is evidence of Celtic and Roman era habitation in the areas surrounding Pickering but very little remains in the town itself. Legendary sources suggest a very early date for the establishment of a town here but traces of earlier settlements have been erased by subsequent development.
The town of Pickering probably existed throughout the Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
period of British history. According to the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
there was enough arable land
Arable land
In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...
to need 27 ploughs, meadows and extensive woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
s. The present town may have grown up to service the Norman castle.
After the conquest
William I of England
William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...
became the king of England the town and its neighbourhood was in the personal possession of the king. A castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
and the church were built at this time and the medieval kings occasionally used to visit the area. In 1267 the manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
, castle and forest of Pickering were given by Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
to his youngest son, Edmund, First Earl of Lancaster. In times of trouble this estate was first confiscated by the King and then returned. Eventually, it passed to Henry, Duke of Lancaster who later became King Henry IV of England
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...
. It has belonged to the monarch ever since.
In 1598 the streets of Pickering were named as:
- East Gate
- Hall Garth
- Hungate
- Birdgate
- Borrowgate (the present Burgate)
- and West Gate.
Many of the older small houses of the town were built at this time, some of stone with thatched roofs. The stocks
Stocks
Stocks are devices used in the medieval and colonial American times as a form of physical punishment involving public humiliation. The stocks partially immobilized its victims and they were often exposed in a public place such as the site of a market to the scorn of those who passed by...
, the shambles and the market cross stood in the centre of the town in the Market Place. The castle fell into disrepair yet the town flourished. In the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, Parliamentary soldiers were quartered in the town and did damage to the church and castle and Pickering was the subject of a minor skirmish but it was not the scene of a pitched battle.
In the 1650s George Fox the founder of Society of Friends, or Quakers, visited the town to preach on at least two occasions.
Blessed Nicholas Postgate
Nicholas Postgate
Blessed Nicholas Postgate was an English, Catholic priest. He is one of the 85 English Catholic Martyrs of England and Wales, beatified by Blessed Pope John Paul II, in November 1987....
, the Catholic martyr, lived for a time in Pickering. He was hanged, drawn and quartered in York in 1679.
Early Modern
Pickering continued to prosper as a market townMarket town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
and agricultural centre. It had watermill
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
s and several inn
INN
InterNetNews is a Usenet news server package, originally released by Rich Salz in 1991, and presented at the Summer 1992 USENIX conference in San Antonio, Texas...
s and was a centre for coaching travel, Mail coach
Mail coach
In Great Britain, the mail coach or post coach was a horse-drawn carriage that carried mail deliveries, from 1784. In Ireland, the first mail coach began service from Dublin in 1789. The coach was drawn by four horses and had seating for four passengers inside. Further passengers were later allowed...
traffic and trade. At this time the beck served as an open sewer and it remained so until the early part of the 20th century.
The townspeople tended towards the adoption of Non-conformist religious sects and were visited by John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
on several occasions, the first being in 1764 and the last in 1790.
The Quakers held meetings in a cottage in the town long before they built their present Meeting House in Castlegate in 1793.
In 1789 the first Congregational Church was built in Hungate and for several years following 1793 a private residence was licensed for Divine Worship by Protestant Dissenters. The Pickering Methodist Circuit was formed in 1812.
19th century
Non-conformist religion flourished in Pickering during the 19th century and Meeting Houses and chapels were enlarged. There were both Wesleyan and Anglican schools in the town from the middle of the century.The Whitby and Pickering Railway
Whitby and Pickering Railway
The Whitby and Pickering Railway was built as the culmination of attempts to halt the gradual decline of the port of Whitby on the east coast of the United Kingdom...
was opened in May 1836. At first the carriages and wagons were horse drawn but steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s were used from 1847. The Forge Valley Line
Forge Valley Line
The Forge Valley Line was a 16 mile long branch of the North Eastern Railway between Seamer and Pickering. The line was intended to link Scarborough with Pickering...
ran from 1882 to 1950, connecting Pickering to the Whitby-Scarborough line in an attempt to encourage residents to visit the coast.
The local Health Board (the forerunner of the Urban District Council) was formed in 1863. A Gas and Water Company provided gaslight
Gas lighting
Gas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas was the most...
to light the town and piped drinking water. The shop fronts became closed in and glass windows were used to display goods for sale.
20th century
At the 1901 censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, Pickering had 3491 people and by 1911 this had risen to 3674 people who were living in 784 households. There were in excess of 60 shops. In the early 20th century the growth of non-conformist religious sects, particularly Methodism, generated a political spirit of Liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
and Pickering built a great Liberal tradition.
In 1901 the Catholic priest Fr Edward Bryan came to the town and established a Catholic school, parish and, in 1911, St Joseph's Church, the work of the architect Leonard Stokes.
In 1922 an old mill was converted to the Memorial Hall in memory of the Pickering men killed in the First World War. This hall, now much modernised, serves as a community centre for the town. The Castle Cinema
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
was built in 1937 in Burgate. Electricity had arrived a few years earlier.
The years from 1920 to 1950 saw a decline in Pickering’s role as an agricultural market town and the population fell slightly from a peak of 4,193 in 1951 to 4,186 in 1961. The closure of the railway in 1965 under the Beeching axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
was a blow to the area.
The economy
Economy
An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...
of the town saw a turn around in the following decades with the greater mobility of the working population and a rise in tourism due to increasing car ownership. Tourism has been a major occupation in the town since the reopening of the North York Moors Railway as a restored steam railway and the filming of the television series “Heartbeat” on the moors. In 1991 the population was 6269.
Conservation
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
is located at the eastern end of the Market Place and dominates views of Pickering from all directions. It is a Grade I Listed building that dates from the 12th century. It is most notable for its mid-15th century wall paintings which are extensive, covering both the north and south walls. To the north of the church at the top of the hill is Pickering Castle
Pickering Castle
Pickering Castle is a motte-and-bailey fortification in Pickering, North Yorkshire, England.- Design :Pickering castle was originally a timber and earth motte and bailey castle. It was developed into a stone motte and bailey castle which had a stone shell keep. The current inner ward was originally...
which was built in the late 11th century to defend the area against the Scots
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
and Danes. The sloping Market Place between the church and the beck is lined with two and three storey buildings which date from a variety of periods. Most are listed for their historical or architectural interest. This area is the centre of the town's main Conservation Area.
Governance
Pickering is represented at European, national, county, district and town levels. The Members of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the HumberYorkshire and the Humber
Yorkshire and the Humber is one of the nine regions of England and formally one of the government office regions. It covers most of the historic county of Yorkshire, along with the part of northern Lincolnshire that was, from 1974 to 1996, within the former shire county of Humberside. The...
are:
- Timothy KirkhopeTimothy KirkhopeTimothy John Robert Kirkhope is a British lawyer and politician, currently serving as Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber for the Conservative Party. After serving for ten years as Member of Parliament for Leeds North East, he was first elected to the European Parliament...
(Conservative) - Edward McMillan-ScottEdward McMillan-ScottEdward Hugh Christian McMillan-Scott is a British Member of the European Parliament and one of the Vice-Presidents of the European Parliament...
(Conservative) - Richard CorbettRichard CorbettRichard Corbett was a Member of the European Parliament for the Labour Party for Yorkshire and the Humber, serving between 1996 and 2009...
(Labour) - Linda McAvanLinda McAvanLinda McAvan is a British Labour Party politician, who is a Member of the European Parliament for the Labour Party for Yorkshire and the Humber...
(Labour) - Diana Paulette WallisDiana WallisDiana Paulette Wallis is a British Liberal Democrat politician who is a Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber. Wallis was first elected in 1999 and re-elected in 2004 and in 2009....
(Liberal Democrat) - Godfrey BloomGodfrey BloomGodfrey Bloom is a Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber for the United Kingdom Independence Party...
(UKIP)
The Member of the UK Parliament is
- Anne McIntoshAnne McIntoshAnne Caroline Ballingall McIntosh is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. She is the Member of Parliament for the Thirsk and Malton constituency, having previously been MP for Vale of York from 1997 to 2010, and a Member of the European Parliament from 1989 to 1999.-Early...
(Conservative)
Until the 2010 general election Pickering was in the Ryedale constituency
Ryedale (UK Parliament constituency)
Ryedale was a constituency in North Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
but due to boundary changes was moved to the new Thirsk and Malton constituency
Thirsk and Malton (UK Parliament constituency)
Thirsk and Malton is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
.
Situation
A170 road
The A170 is an A road in North Yorkshire, England. It begins at Thirsk, spouting off from the A19 road after about it reaches the very steep viewpoint Sutton Bank, after a steep climb it enters the North Yorkshire Moors and the Hambleton Hills then it reaches the small town of Helmsley and the...
, which links Scarborough with Thirsk
Thirsk
Thirsk is a small market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. The local travel links are located a mile from the town centre to Thirsk railway station and to Durham Tees Valley Airport...
, and the A169 linking Malton
Malton, North Yorkshire
Malton is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The town is the location of the offices of Ryedale District Council and has a population of around 4,000 people....
and Whitby
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a combined maritime, mineral and tourist heritage, and is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey where Caedmon, the...
. It occupies a broad strip of land between the Ings and Low Carrs to the south of the main road and a ridge of higher, sloping ground which is surmounted by the castle to the north. It is sited where the older limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
and sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
rocks of the North York Moors
North York Moors
The North York Moors is a national park in North Yorkshire, England. The moors are one of the largest expanses of heather moorland in the United Kingdom. It covers an area of , and it has a population of about 25,000...
meet the glacial deposits of the Vale of Pickering
Vale of Pickering
The Vale of Pickering is a low-lying flat area of land in North Yorkshire, England. It is drained by the River Derwent. The landscape is rural with scattered villages and small market towns. It has been inhabited continuously from the Mesolithic period...
. The limestone rocks form the hill on which the higher parts of the town and the castle are situated. Pickering beck is an attractive natural watercourse that runs north to south through the centre of the town. This beck rises on the moors and drains southwards through Newton Dale before reaching Pickering. It is prone to flooding at times of exceptional rainfall and at these times areas of the town close to the beck become flooded. The town centre lies to the east of the beck though the population is almost equally divided between the east and west wards of the town. Pickering has developed around the old Market Place but the majority of houses are now in the form of residential estates off the main A170 road.
Physical geography
To the north of Pickering lies the high moorlandMoorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...
of the North York Moors
North York Moors
The North York Moors is a national park in North Yorkshire, England. The moors are one of the largest expanses of heather moorland in the United Kingdom. It covers an area of , and it has a population of about 25,000...
, rising from 50 metres above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
at its southern edge to over 430 metres on Urra Moor. It is dissected by a series of south flowing stream
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
s which include Pickering Beck. Most of the moorland consists of Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
sandstone with occasional cappings of gritstone on the highest hills.
To the south these rocks are overlaid with oolitic
Oolite
Oolite is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, spherical grains composed of concentric layers. The name derives from the Hellenic word òoion for egg. Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of diameter 0.25–2 mm; rocks composed of ooids larger than 2 mm are called pisolites...
limestone which forms flat-topped Tabular Hills
Tabular Hills
The Tabular Hills are an east west line of distinct hills on the southern boundary of the North Yorkshire Moors, running from Scarborough in the east all the way to Black Hambleton in the west. The name refers to their flat tabular shaped summits composed of hard Corallian limestone known...
with a scarp
Escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations.-Description and variants:...
slope to the north and gentler slopes to the south. Ice action in the last glaciation deepened pre-existing valleys, and determined the line of the present river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
s and streams. Newtondale to the north of Pickering was cut by meltwater
Meltwater
Meltwater is the water released by the melting of snow or ice, including glacial ice and ice shelfs over oceans. Meltwater is often found in the ablation zone of glaciers, where the rate of snow cover is reducing...
from the ice in Eskdale gouging a deep channel as it flowed southwards to the extensive lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
which then filled the Vale of Pickering. This lake was blocked by ice and glacial deposits near the coast so it drained through the Kirkham Gorge towards the River Ouse.
South of Pickering were extensive marshes but these have been drained and exploited as fertile agricultural land.
Climate
Located in the northern part of the UK, Pickering has a temperateTemperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...
maritime climate which is dominated by the passage of mid-latitude depressions. The weather is very changeable from day to day and the warming influence of the Gulf Stream
Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Drift, is a powerful, warm, and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates at the tip of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland before crossing the Atlantic Ocean...
makes the region mild for its latitude. The average total annual rainfall is 729 mm with rain falling on 128 days of the year. January is usually the coldest month and December the wettest. The warmest month is August and the driest is February.
Flooding
Areas affected were
- Park Street
- Beck Isle
- Bridge Street
- Potter Hill
- The Ropery
- Hungate
- Vivis Walk
- Undercliff
Further flooding in 2006 caused extensive damage to properties in the Market Place as well as the above areas.
Demography
According to the United Kingdom Census 2001United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
demographically Pickering had a population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
of 6,846 people in 3,071 households. There were 3,213 males and 3,633 females. The mean age of the population for the East Ward was 45.30 years and for the West Ward it was 43.47 years. Both of these ages are significantly higher than the national mean age of 38.6 years. In the census year 25.39% of Pickering's population was over 65 years compared with 15.89% nationally. There were 1183 people below the age of 16 and 886 over the age of 75.
Economy
There are two main shopping areas which are Market Place, which is by far the larger, and Eastgate Square, which is a mixed housing and retail development. There is a small supermarketSupermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
off the Market Place.
There are very few large employers within the town. Most people find jobs in retailing, tourism and small industries that are based in the two industrial development areas at Westgate Carr Road and Thornton Road to the west and east of the town respectively.
Pickering is an important tourist centre and there are banking, insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
and legal services in the town as well as an outdoor market each Monday. In 2008, plans were put forward to build a new supermarket in the area of an old coal yard.
Culture, media and sport
There are three theatreTheatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
venues in the town offering a very wide range of amateur and professional productions. In July the annual Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
Festival
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
is held in Pickering.
There is a leisure centre
Leisure centre
A leisure centre in the UK and Canada is a purpose built building or site, usually owned and operated by the city, borough council or municipal district council, where people go to keep fit or relax through using the facilities.- Typical Facilities :...
, a swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
and a modern library and information centre. Sports activities include athletics (track and field)
Athletics (track and field)
Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
, football (soccer)
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
, cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, badminton
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
and bowls
Bowls
Bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls so that they stop close to a smaller "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a pitch which may be flat or convex or uneven...
. Pickering is home to Pickering Town F.C.
Pickering Town F.C.
Pickering Town Football Club is an English football club based in Pickering, North Yorkshire. The club was founded in 1888 and are currently in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division.- History :...
, who currently play in the Northern Counties East Football League Premier Division, Level 9 of the football league pyramid.
Notable sports-people from the town include, footballing brothers Craig Short
Craig Short
Craig Jonathan Short is a former football player who played as a central-defender...
and Chris Short
Chris Short
Christopher Joseph "Style" Short was a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies , and in his final year, for the Milwaukee Brewers . He was a left-handed pitcher, but batted righty. He was born in Milford, Delaware.Short was considered a top pitcher from 1964 through 1968 with...
, Great Britain 400 metre runner Richard Buck
Richard Buck
Richard Thomas Buck is a British sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres event. He is from York, and trains in Loughborough, his current club is City of York A.C, , previously he had an 18 month spell at Scarborough A.C. He has been trained by his grandfather, Geoff Barraclough...
, and snooker
Snooker
Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...
player Paul Davison
Paul Davison
Paul Davison is a professional snooker player from Pickering, North Yorkshire.He has qualified for the snooker main tour on a few occasions, and has managed to do so for the 2008/2009 and 2010/2011 season.-Career:...
.
Local newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s are
- Ryedale Mercury (weekly)
- Scarborough Evening News (daily)
- Evening Press (daily)
- Gazette and Herald (weekly)
Places of interest in and around Pickering
- Beck Isle Museum
The Beck Isle Museum is housed in a handsome Regency period residence near the centre of Pickering, adjacent to the Pickering Beck, a stream that flows under a four arched road bridge. It was here that William Marshall
William Marshall (agricultural writer)
William Marshall was a leading writer on 18th century English agriculture. He was an early proponent of the establishment of a state-sponsored body to promote improved farming standards and agricultural colleges. He was born the younger son of William and Alice, yeoman farmers, in Sinnington, in...
planned England's first Agricultural Institute in the early 19th century. This house contains a collection of bygones relating largely to the rural crafts and living style of Ryedale. The collection is not restricted to a particular period of interest, it aims to reflect the local life and customs and to trace many of the developments in social and domestic life during the last 200 years. A selection of photographs from the extensive Sidney Smith collection held in the museum are displayed around the building - particularly the photography and model rooms. Sidney Smith was born in Pickering and his work is appreciated world wide. He is thought of as a successor to Frank Meadow Sutcliffe of Whitby. The museum is owned by the Beck Isle Museum Trust and is staffed and operated completely by volunteers.
- Dalby Forest
Dalby Forest is situated on the southern slopes of the North York Moors National Park. The southern part of the forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
is divided by a number of valley
Valley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...
s creating a 'Rigg and Dale' landscape whilst to the north the forest sits on the upland
Highland (geography)
The term highland or upland is used to denote any mountainous region or elevated mountainous plateau. Generally speaking, the term upland tends to be used for ranges of hills, typically up to 500-600m, and highland for ranges of low mountains.The Scottish Highlands refers to the mountainous...
plateau
Plateau
In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...
. Although comprising mostly pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
s and spruce
Spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...
s there are many broadleaf trees such as oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
, beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
, ash, alder
Alder
Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to...
and hazel
Hazel
The hazels are a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels into a separate family Corylaceae.They have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins...
both in the valleys and on the 'Riggs'. Clear stream
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
s arising in springs
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
run north and south out of the forest. The forest is a home for birds such as the crossbill
Crossbill
The crossbill is a bird in the finch family . The three to five species are all classified in the genus Loxia. These birds are characterised by the mandibles crossing at their tips, which gives the group its English name...
and that elusive summer visitor the nightjar
Nightjar
Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds with long wings, short legs and very short bills. They are sometimes referred to as goatsuckers from the mistaken belief that they suck milk from goats . Some New World species are named as nighthawks...
. Roe deer
Roe Deer
The European Roe Deer , also known as the Western Roe Deer, chevreuil or just Roe Deer, is a Eurasian species of deer. It is relatively small, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapted to cold environments. Roe Deer are widespread in Western Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and from...
abound and badger
Badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are nine species of badger, in three subfamilies : Melinae , Mellivorinae , and Taxideinae...
s, the symbol of the forest, are a very common but nocturnal resident. The signs of past residents are all around. Burial mounds, linear earthworks of unknown purpose and the remains of a flourishing rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
warrening industry can be found throughout the wood. A network of forest roads including the 9 miles (14.5 km) Dalby Forest Drive provide access to this outstanding landscape. Formed in the Ice Age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
and shaped by the people from the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
to the present day
- North York Moors National Park
The National Park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
Authority works in many ways to promote enjoyment and encourage understanding of the area by the public and to balance this with conservation of what makes the place special. This includes producing information and interpretation, managing public rights of way and access areas, car parks and toilets and having a Ranger Service.
- North York Moors Railway
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway
North Yorkshire Moors Railway
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway is a heritage railway in North Yorkshire, England. First opened in 1836 as the Whitby and Pickering Railway, the railway was planned in 1831 by George Stephenson as a means of opening up trade routes inland from the then important seaport of Whitby. The line...
is a heritage railway. The 18 miles (29 km) line is the second-longest heritage line in the United Kingdom and runs across the North York Moors from Pickering
Pickering railway station
Pickering railway station is the southern terminus of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and serves the town of Pickering in North Yorkshire, England.-Whitby and Pickering Railway :...
via Levisham
Levisham railway station
Levisham railway station is a station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and serves the village of Levisham in North Yorkshire, England. Holiday accommodation is available in the form of a camping coach.-Origins :...
, Newton Dale
Newton Dale Halt railway station
Newton Dale Halt railway station is a request stop on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and serves as a stopping off point for walkers around Newton Dale and Cropton Forest in North Yorkshire, England....
and Goathland
Goathland railway station
Goathland railway station is a station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and serves the village of Goathland in North Yorkshire, England. It is famous for appearing in the television series Heartbeat and as Hogsmeade station the Hogwarts Express stop at in the Harry Potter films...
to Grosmont
Grosmont railway station
Grosmont railway station serves the village of Grosmont in North Yorkshire, England. It is located on the Esk Valley Line which serves one platform and is operated by Northern Rail who provide the station's passenger services...
. It is run by the North York Moors Historical Railway Trust but is mostly operated and staffed by volunteers.
Pickering station has been a terminus since 1965 when the Malton-Pickering route connecting to the York to Scarborough main line was closed. Trains only head north from here.
Prior to the station becoming a terminus, the double-track railway took up the space now occupied by The Ropery (a road) and the car park to the east of it.
Photographs that show what part of the area looked like when the railway still extended south, can be seen in the book 'An Illustrated History of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway'. This was written by Philip Benham, General Manager of the railway.
Trains run every day from mid-March to early November, plus selected dates through the winter. Trains are mostly steam-hauled; however in some cases heritage diesel engine is used. At the height of the running timetable, trains depart hourly from each station. Recently, during summer months, steam services have extended to the seaside town of Whitby
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a combined maritime, mineral and tourist heritage, and is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey where Caedmon, the...
. Passenger numbers have topped 300,000 in recent years. The busy summer days will see trains running through from Pickering and Goathland to Whitby
Whitby railway station
Whitby railway station serves the town of Whitby in North Yorkshire, England. It is the terminus of the Esk Valley Line, connecting with the North Yorkshire Moors Railway at Grosmont, and provides mainline running for NYMR trains during the summer months...
.
- Pickering Castle
Pickering Castle is set in an attractive moors-edge position. It is a classic and well-preserved example of an early earthwork motte and bailey castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
refortified in stone during the 13th and 14th centuries, centred upon a shell keep
Keep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
crowning an impressive motte. There is an exhibition in the chapel with family-friendly books and activities.
- Pickering Church
Pickering church was a Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
foundation, but the earliest phases of the present building date to the 12th and 13th centuries, with substantial additions of the 14th and 15th. In 1853 restoration work revealed a series of wall paintings on the north and south walls of the nave. Despite a local and national outcry, the paintings were subsequently whitewashed, and only rediscovered and restored in 1876-8. They have been called “the most complete collection of medieval wall paintings in England”.
- Saint Joseph's Church
Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, on Potter Hill, was built by the architect Leonard Stokes in 1911, on the instructions of the parish priest, Fr Edward Bryan. It contains a stone font by the sculptor Eric Gill, and the portable altar-stone of the seventeenth-century martyr, Blessed Nicholas Postgate; also a fine icon, painted in Rome, of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, and a mosaic of Christ blessing the loaves and fishes by local artist Audrey Murty. Outside the church is a statue of Saint Joseph designed by Peter Paul Pugin, son of the more famous Augustus Welby Pugin. The church features in the book 'A Glimpse of Heaven' by Christopher Martin (English Heritage 2006).
Transport
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
services connect Pickering to York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
via Malton
Malton, North Yorkshire
Malton is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The town is the location of the offices of Ryedale District Council and has a population of around 4,000 people....
(#840, operated by Yorkshire Coastliner
Yorkshire Coastliner
Yorkshire Coastliner is a bus operator based in Malton in North Yorkshire, England. It is owned by the Blazefield Group who also own, amongst others, Harrogate & District and Keighley & District in Yorkshire....
), and to Scarborough (#128, operated by Scarborough and District), Whitby
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a combined maritime, mineral and tourist heritage, and is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey where Caedmon, the...
(also served by #840) and Thirsk
Thirsk
Thirsk is a small market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. The local travel links are located a mile from the town centre to Thirsk railway station and to Durham Tees Valley Airport...
.
There is also a town bus which travels a circular route around the town.
The nearest mainline railway station is at Malton, 8 miles (12.9 km) away and the North Yorkshire Moors heritage railway runs seasonal services to Grosmont and Whitby
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a combined maritime, mineral and tourist heritage, and is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey where Caedmon, the...
.
Plans to reopen the Pickering-Rillington Junction railway line (connecting to the Scarborough line near Rillington
Rillington
Rillington is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England.-Transport:Rillington is on the A64 road, approximately 3 miles east of Malton and south-west of Scarborough....
village) have surfaced multiple times but rail reopenings in England as a whole are exceptional, so no funds have been secured to rebuild the line. If rebuilt in the current climate of rail industry fragmentation and inflexibility in the United Kingdom, the line would cost £21 million despite being just six miles long. The track does not follow the same corridor as the A169 road. A monorail
Monorail
A monorail is a rail-based transportation system based on a single rail, which acts as its sole support and its guideway. The term is also used variously to describe the beam of the system, or the vehicles traveling on such a beam or track...
has been suggested as a cheaper alternative, but this would completely prevent interoperability of through services from York and Malton to Pickering and Whitby.
Pre-school
- Parish Hall Toddler and Playgroup
- Methodist Hall Toddler and Playgroup
- St Josephs Church Hall Toddlers
- Humpty Dumpty Nursery, Firthlands Road
Primary Schools
- Pickering Community Infant School, Ruffa Lane
- Pickering Community Junior School, Middleton Road
- St Josephs Roman Catholic Primary School, Swainsea Lane
External links
- Pickering Parish Church Home to the Famous 15th century Wall Paintings, a history of Pickering since pre-historic times, by Gordon Home.
- Pickering Town Guide (Needs Adobe Acrobat.)
- Pickering Town Council