| Guisborough | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
.jpg) .jpg)  | |
.svg)  Guisborough Location withinNorth Yorkshire | |
| Population | 16,979 (town 2011)[1] |
| OS grid reference | NZ610159 |
| • London | 255.1 miles |
| Civil parish |
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| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | GUISBOROUGH |
| Postcode district | TS14 |
| Dialling code | 01287 |
| Police | Cleveland |
| Fire | Cleveland |
| Ambulance | North East |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Guisborough Town Council |
| 54°32′06″N1°03′23″W / 54.5350°N 1.0563°W /54.5350; -1.0563 | |
Guisborough (/ˈɡɪzbərə/ ⓘGHIZ-bər-ə) is amarket town andcivil parish in theborough ofRedcar and Cleveland,North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of theNorth York Moors National Park.Roseberry Topping, midway between the town andGreat Ayton, is a landmark in thenational park. It was governed by anurban district andrural district in theNorth Riding of Yorkshire.
Assessing the origin of the nameGuisborough,Albert Hugh Smith commented that it was "difficult". From its first attestation in theDomesday Book into the 16th century, the second part sometimes derived from the originallyOld English wordburh ('town, fortification') and sometimes from the Old English word -burn ('stream'). It seems that the settlement was simply known by both names, the -burh/-borough forms predominate in the historical record and this survives today.
The origin of the first element is uncertain: Smith's best guess was from theOld Norsepersonal nameGígr in itsgenitiveGígs. If so,Guisborough once meant "Gígr's town".[2] To this day the first element has a different spelling for the town fromGisborough Priory andGisborough Hall in the town.
At the 2011 census, the civil parish with outlyingUpleatham,Dunsdale andNewton under Roseberry had a population of 17,777, of which 16,979 were in the town's built-up area.[1]
Some archaeologists date the town to theRoman occupation, when it may have been a military fortification. The discoveries of a few Roman artefacts such as the elaborate ceremonial Guisborough Helmet, support this but proof is still lacking.
The Guisborough Helmet is a Roman cavalry helmet found near the town in 1864. Its original protective cheek-pieces have not survived but the attachment holes can be seen in front of the helmet's ear guards. It is lavishly decorated with engraved and embossed figures indicating that it was probably used for display or cavalry tournaments, although possibly for battle as well. It was unearthed in what appears to be a carefully arranged deposition in a bed of gravel, distant from any known Roman sites. After its recovery during roadworks it was donated to theBritish Museum for restoration and display.[3]
Gighesbore is recorded in theDomesday Book in 1086 as a place withinLangbaurgh Wapentake or hundred.[4]
The ruinedGisborough Priory dates from the 12th century.[5]
The town shared in the prosperity of theIndustrial Revolution by being close to the ironstone mines of theNorth York Moors. One of the area's ironfounders, SirJoseph Whitwell Pease, chose as his country seat the Gothic revivalHutton Hall designed byAlfred Waterhouse, atHutton Lowcross, near Guisborough.
Gisborough Hall, aVictorian mansion, owned by the Chaloner family, was built in aJacobean revival style in 1856. It is aGrade II listed building, but has undergone conversion into a hotel.[6]
Guisborough station was on the Middlesbrough–Guisborough branch of theNorth Eastern Railway; it closed in 1964. Extensive residential development occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, linked to the expansion of the chemical industry at Wilton and the steel industry at Redcar.
Guisborough Town Council | |
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Guisborough's county authority since 1889, theNorth Riding of Yorkshire, was disbanded in 1974. The town was in thecounty of Cleveland's Langbaurgh borough from 1974 to 1996 and is now in the Redcar and Clevelandunitary authority borough of North Yorkshire.
Guisborough Town Hall was built on Westgate in 1821. When built, it was arcaded withshambles on the ground floor and an assembly room on the first.[7] The two-storey building was topped with a third storey in 1870.[8] In 2015Redcar and Cleveland Council acquired the building at auction and subsequently announced plans to redevelop it with financial support from theNational Lottery Heritage Fund andTees Valley Combined Authority,[9] the building reopened in April 2022. This building now hosts tea afternoons on Thursdays.
TheAnglican Church of St Nicholas houses the De Brus Cenotaph.[10] A church may have existed here in 1290. Thechancel of the present one dates from the late 15th century and thenave and interior have been altered. The church in its present form resulted from major rebuilding in 1903–1908, to a design byTemple Moore.
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Guisborough is the home of the East Cleveland Explorer Scout Unit for those aged 14–18, affiliated to theScout Association. Activities include work onThe Duke of Edinburgh's Award, Young Leaders volunteering, and over 200 different adventure activities. It has about 30 members. The 3rd Guisborough Scout Group (The Pioneers) at Belmangate was established in 1974.[11]
There is also a group of volunteer trail builders working to provide free mountain-bike trails in the local forest. Local musicians are catered for at an open mic/jam session every Wednesday night.[12]
Primary education is provided at Belmont, Galley Hill, Highcliffe, St Paulinus (Roman Catholic) and Chaloner Primary which is an amalgamation of the previous Park Lane Infants & Northgate Junior School.Laurence Jackson School, situated at the eastern end of the town, is the only secondary school, and doubles as aSpecialist Sports College.[13]
Prior Pursglove College, a sixth-form college forGCSE,A level andAS level students, stands next to the parish church and priory ruins on the former site of GuisboroughGrammar School, which it replaced after changes in the education system. It had been founded in 1561 byRobert Pursglove, the last Prior of Gisborough, as a charitable school for poor boys. It was accompanied by a set ofalmshouses for twelve pensioners.[14]
Askham Bryan College of Agriculture operates a Guisborough Centre on the same site as Prior Pursglove College.[15] It consists of an animal management centre and a modern building, the Priory Centre, which the two colleges share.[16]
Two main roads cross at Guisborough, theA171 leading west toMiddlesbrough and east toWhitby, and theA173 south-west toStokesley and north-east as far asSkelton, where it joins theA174 coast road. Before the bypass was built, the A171 ran along Westgate, the town's main street, crossing the A173 at Chapel Beck Bridge. Just beyond the bypass to the north-east, a B-road heads north from the A173 toRedcar. Another minor route out of town, Wilton Lane, is a winding, almost single-track road running north to the village ofWilton and on to theICI Wilton chemical works. There are two other lanes that lead out of town into the hills. Hutton Lane ends at Hutton Village, built mostly for local mining, agricultural and estate workers. Belmangate is an ancient funeral route.
The south of the town is bounded by theNorth York Moors National Park. Guisborough Forest, which isForestry England land, clothes the edge of the moors. Through the forest, the ground climbs sharply from the plain to the moors behind. There are several rocky outcrops on the steep slope, including Highcliff Nab and the Hanging Stone. The woods are crossed by several rights of way, includingCleveland Way, but other paths and commission tracks are also open to walkers. Beyond the woods, the ground levels out to formGisborough Moor.
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Until 1964, Guisborough was served by trains from Middlesbrough – theMiddlesbrough & Guisborough Railway had its terminus at the now-demolishedGuisborough station. Before 1958 it was possible to travel from Guisborough to Whitby andScarborough, along the scenic North Yorkshire coast railway.
Guisborough market is held on Thursday and Saturday with a few stalls on Tuesday. Originally selling cattle and other livestock, the market developed into a general market for fruit and vegetables, clothing and flowers. It opens from early morning to late afternoon on the restored cobbles of Westgate,[citation needed] the main shopping street.[citation needed] Guisborough Museum, behind Westgate's Sunnyfield House, shows photographs of Guisborough's history and inhabitants.
One main employer in the town was The Shirt Factory. Towards the end of its existence it was acquired byMontague Burton ofLeeds, but it closed in 1999.[17] Other former employers were Blackett Hutton and Co., maker of medium high-integrity castings, and the civil engineering firm Henderson Campbell.[18]
There is a workingwatermill at Tocketts Mill. On 15 January 2004, Guisborough was grantedFairtrade Town status. It is acommuter town for nearbyMiddlesbrough and has many working in thechemical plants aroundTeesside.
Guisborough Town FC, founded in 1973, play inNorthern League Division One as of the2023-24 season. TheKing George V Ground, which hosts the club's home matches, is named after the king.
King George's Fields, adjacent to the football club, is a playing field with a small playground and a skate park. There is a swimming pool, built in 1968, at the fields. An eight-year campaign led by the late MP, Dr Ashok Kumar, secured the pool's refurbishment, which was completed in 2008–2009.[19]
Guisborough Rugby Union Football club plays inDurham/Northumberland 2 division in the 2021–22 season. The area's constituent body is theYorkshire Rugby Football Union, able to compete in the region's Silver Trophy.
Guisborough Cricket Club plays in theNYSD cricket league. In 2001–04 it equalled its record of four successive league wins. Past players have included the professionalsMurray Goodwin (Sussex and Zimbabwe),Desmond Haynes andPhil Simmons (both West Indies),Imran Jan (Trinidad and Tobago),Sean Clingeleffer (Tasmania) and Greg Todd (Otago).
Local news and television programmes are provided byBBC North East and Cumbria andITV Tyne Tees. Television signals are received from theBilsdale and the local relay TV transmitters.[20][21]
Local radio stations areBBC Radio Tees,Capital North East,Smooth North East,Heart North East, andZetland FM, a community based radio station which broadcast from its studio inRedcar.[22]
The town is served by the local newspapersTeessideLive andThe Northern Echo.[23][24]
The area generally has warm summers and relatively mild winters. During the year, on average there is around 650mm ofrainfall.
| Climate data for Guisborough | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 6 (43) | 6 (43) | 8 (46) | 11 (52) | 15 (59) | 18 (64) | 19 (66) | 19 (66) | 17 (63) | 13 (55) | 9 (48) | 7 (45) | 9 (48) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 0 (32) | 0 (32) | 2 (36) | 3 (37) | 6 (43) | 9 (48) | 11 (52) | 11 (52) | 9 (48) | 6 (43) | 3 (37) | 1 (34) | 0 (32) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 47 (1.9) | 33 (1.3) | 44 (1.7) | 48 (1.9) | 39 (1.5) | 73 (2.9) | 69 (2.7) | 64 (2.5) | 50 (2.0) | 65 (2.6) | 60 (2.4) | 51 (2.0) | 643 (25.3) |
| Source 1: Weather.com[25] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: WorldWeatherOnline.com[26] | |||||||||||||
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