Appleton le Moors

This book is a detailed study of a village on the limestone hills from Domesday to the end of the 19th century. The aim was to explore its history and development, beginning with the medieval planning of the village and its fields. The chapters on field-names, woodlands and boundaries reveal a complex picture of who lived there and how they occupied the terrain in Medieval, Tudor and Georgian times. It illustrates when and why change took place.

The longest chapter covers individual houses and garths. In exploring the houses and the families who built them, there has emerged a rich and intricate series of village patterns and characteristics.

255 pages - illustrated with maps - bibliography and index.

Available from Margaret Allison, Hamley, Appleton-le-Moors, North Yorkshire YO62 6TG

Send cheque for Ł15.45 (Ł12.95 + Ł2.50 postage to UK addresses)

Other enquiries, e-mail: jrmrallison@btinternet.com

A Brief History collated from other sources:

The layout of the village appears to have been planned as a whole, probably in medieval times as part of the reshaping of earlier settlements that followed the Norman Conquest. On the street front, the tofts are subdivided into gardens for many houses and cottages.

One of the village's earlier names was Dweldapilton (revived and used for a while by the former hotel).

Appleton Common is one of the few that survives, with some households retaining grazing rights. The verges along the street are part of the common and sheep roam freely.

The villages of Appleton le Moors, Hutton le Hole, Spaunton, Lastingham and Rosedale together form the Manor of Spaunton that has been in existence since the Conquest.

A famous former resident was Joseph Shepherd (1804 - 1862). Born in Appleton, he went to sea and became a very prosperous seafaring merchant and shipowner. Returning to the village, he built the Hall and lived there until his death. Later, his widow built the school (now the Village Hall) and schoolhouse as well as Christ Church, commissioning the famous Victorian architect J.L.Pearson, RA.

The church, "a little gem among moorland churches" according to John Betjeman, is distinctive in style (French Gothic) and is visible from as far away as Ana Cross above Rosedale.

The earlier Methodist Chapel was built in 1832.

References:

North Yorkshire Federation of Women's Institutes
(Countryside Books, Newbury and NEYFWI and NWYFWI, 1991)

History of Appleton le Moors

Newly published:

References: