Lealholm is a small village in the Glaisdale civil parish, in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is sited at a crossing point of the River Esk, in Eskdale which is within the North York Moors National Park. It is by road from the nearest town of Whitby, and approximately from both Middlesbrough and Scarborough. The village is typical of those found all across the North York Moors which straddle the main through-routes along the valley bottoms. It is mostly built of local stone with pantiled or slate roofs.
Settlement around modern-day Lealholm can be traced back to the Domesday Book of 1086, with entries concerning the Manor of Crumbeclive and "Lelum" at the site of Lealholm Hall, Lealholmside. Lealholmside is a hamlet by Lealholm, and was a popular location with the photographer Francis Meadow Sutcliffe. A honeypot during the summer months, Lealholm is located midway along the Esk valley between the villages of Glaisdale, to the east and Danby to the west. Lealholm is on the route of the Esk valley railway line, which runs from Whitby to Middlesbrough, and is served by Lealholm railway station. A large part of the community is involved in farming due to the high fertility of the slopes in Eskdale, whilst other members of the community are involved in tourism or commute to industrial centres such as Middlesbrough. This led to the economy of the area being hard hit by the 2001 UK foot and mouth crisis.
Lealhom was a place of affection for Irish-born poet John Castillo, who wrote "Ah lovely Lealholm! Where shall I begin. To say what thou art now and once hast been?".
History
The origins of this community stretch back to a period when farming and the movement of stock was almost exclusively the main source of activity. Lealholm was a convenient place for travellers to cross the River Esk. People set up residence here in the hope and expectation of earning a living from such travellers. The etymology of the Lealholm name is uncertain but "lǣl" was the word for a willow twig or withy in the Old English language and holm was a settlement, thus the settlement by or near the willow trees. At the time of the Domesday survey, the site of the current village was heavily wooded, but with five charcoal-hungry iron smelting furnaces operating at the manor by 1274 AD, the valley floor was cleared quickly of trees enabling drainage, cultivation and settlement of the land. Fulling mills, hostelries and other traders set up bases around this river crossing and thereby formed the nucleus of today's village centre. Until the middle of the 19th century Lealholm was the main centre of the parish of Glaisdale and many of the parish offices and functions were administered from here. Lealholm was home to at least one mill for centuries, and the earliest records show a water mill located within the village in 1336 belonging to the Lord of the Manor, William le Latimer, 3rd Baron of Danby. As the mill was fed by the small Cow Beck, water could have been in short supply during dry summer months, and by 1709 it was demolished. A Quaker, Thomas Whatson, built a new mill on the old site, constructing a long mill-race from Crunkly Ghyll through the village to join Cow Beck. The mill-race now forms the boundary of the cricket pitch surrounding it on most sides as it passes the mill. The mill owners had the authority to clean and remove any woodland, earth or rubbish within of the mill-race. Also, "all persons that shall grind corn and grain at the mill" had the right "to sieve and sift on two parcels of ground called Adam Rigg and Ellergates". Thus, the outcrop of hillside rising towards the station became known as Oatmeal Hill. When the semi-detached houses at 3 and 4 Railway Cottages were purchased 1970, they were combined and the building became known as "Oatmill Cottage". The village also had a paper mill, which employed up to 20 people in its heyday. The site is now a garden centre, known as "Poet's Cottage" after John Castillo, who lived in a cottage on the site, now demolished. In more recent times, a mill, owned by the Nelson family, was used as the village hall, and became known as Nelson Hall. In the late 1980s it was sold and converted into a house. The historic Shepherds Hall was built in 1873 and was a meeting place for the Loyal Order of Ancient Shepherds Friendly Society. It is a unique building housing a tea rooms and riverside tea gardens.
The way of life in the village changed little over the centuries as the farming was always the mixed inbyland and open moors system. Village craftsmen such as blacksmiths and joiners provided for the needs of their own farming community and combined their specialist skills with subsistence farming. An 1823 trade directory lists 17 farmers, four shoemakers, three corn millers, two blacksmiths, two butchers, two victuallers (one also a tallow chandler), a tailor, a wheelwright, and a "blue, brown, and shop paper manufacturer" in Lealholm. The Industrial Revolution absorbed some of the local population as the nearby boom town of Middlesbrough expanded its iron and steel industry but essentially, in this remote area, the farming economy survived until after the Second World War and the mechanisation of agriculture.
Despite Queen Elizabeth I's Penal laws, Catholicism flourished across many parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire during the 1600s, thanks to the support of local gentry and priests such as Fr. Nicholas Postgate. Today, Catholic churches are sited at both Lealholm and Egton Bridge along the Esk Valley.
On Friday 27 April 1979, an USAF Phantom aircraft from Alconbury was performing low level tactical reconnaissance over the North York Moors when the engine stalled. The aircraft banked left, striking the ground to the west of Lealholmside before cartwheeling in a fireball across fields for almost half a mile below the houses. Pilot Major Donald Lee Schuyler and Navigator Lt Thomas Wheeler were killed in the crash. A memorial stone, erected by villagers, stands on the site of the crash alongside the road between Lealholm and Lealholmside.
Governance
Lealhom's first tier of local government is Glaisdale Parish Council, where Lealholm ward elects three of the seven councillors, the others representing Glaisdale ward. Unusually, the two wards are represented separately at the next tier of government, the borough (non-metropolitan district).
From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the Borough of Scarborough, it is now administered by the unitary North Yorkshire Council.
Lealholm is in the Scarborough and Whitby parliamentary constituency.
Geography
At the head of the village stands the woodland and steep sided valley of Crunkly Ghyll, a ravine carved by the River Esk through the hillside where the river drops from the valley above to reach the village. It was formed during the last great ice age as a huge wall of ice moved across the landscape carving out what is now the Esk Valley as far as Lealholm. At its head it formed a massive dam blocking the flow of water from above and creating a lake running back up the valley to Commondale. As the ice melted, the river forced its way out carving the present-day ravine.
The main village of Lealholm is situated at the bottom of Crunkly Ghyll (sometimes spelled "Crunkley" and "Gill"), a deep cutting where the river emerges into the flat bottom of a glacial U-shaped valley. This was crucial to its development as a settlement, becoming an important crossing point over the River Esk where the valley flattens out, becoming shallow at end of a sharp bend in the river before slowing to a deeper meandering course further downstream. The remains of the fording point are still visible next to the arched bridge used today, which dates back to the 17th century. Three roads lead from the centre of the village, one follows the river up the valley towards Danby; the second heads north past the hamlet of Lealholmside and across the moors towards Whitby; and the third leads south, towards Fryup and Rosedale.
Typical of the area are the medieval cruck-built longhouses of Lealholm. These were constructed as single storey combined dwelling and beast houses and made of the local Jurassic limestone. Originally they had ling thatched roofs, but they were mostly re-roofed in the 19th century with slate or pantiles.
Despite having less than 50 houses within the boundaries of the main settlement, Lealholm has a selection of amenities, including a village shop, post office, petrol station and farm goods store. It also has the Forge Art Gallery (formerly a pottery), an Infant and Primary School, a cricket and football pitch, and three churches. The historic Shepherds Hall housing a tea rooms and riverside tea gardens. A village green, where the local team play quoits, sits alongside the river. The Ley Hall is the venue for public gatherings. It is used for the local playgroup, young farmers, the parish council and the WI among others. The Board Inn public house – a former coaching inn. – dates from the 18th century, and as the only public house in the village and it is a popular venue and regularly holds domino drives.
Lealholm is in the Anglican parish of Glaisdale, within the deanery of Whitby, the Archdeaconry of Cleveland, and the Diocese of York. There are three churches located within the main settlement, the Roman Catholic Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, the Church of England St James' Church, and Lealholm Methodist Chapel. Close to the chapel, between the River Esk and the mill race stands a Quaker Friends Burial Ground, donated by Thomas Whatson.
Climate As part of the United Kingdom, the North York Moors area, in which Lealholm lies, generally has cool summers and relatively mild winters. Weather conditions vary from day to day as well as from season to season. The latitude of the area means that it is influenced by predominantly westerly winds with depressions and their associated fronts, bringing with them unsettled and windy weather, particularly in winter. Between depressions there are often small mobile anticyclones that bring periods of fair weather. In winter anticyclones bring cold dry weather. In summer the anticyclones tend to bring dry settled conditions which can lead to drought. For its latitude this area is mild in winter and cooler in summer due to the influence of the Gulf Stream in the northern Atlantic Ocean. Air temperature varies on a daily and seasonal basis. The temperature is usually lower at night and January is the coldest time of the year. The two dominant influences on the climate of Lealholm are the shelter against the worst of the moist westerly winds provided by the higher ground and the proximity of the North Sea. Late, chilly springs and cool summers are a feature of the area but there are often spells of fine autumn weather. Onshore winds in spring and early summer bring mists or low stratus clouds (known locally as sea frets) to the area. Within the area variations in climate are brought about by local differences in altitude, aspect and shelter. Snowfall is variable from year to year. Heavy falls are associated with north-easterly winds off the North Sea.
River Esk The River Esk dog-legs through the village. In the centre stands the bridge which crosses the Esk a few yards south of the old fording point. further upstream lies a set of stepping stones. Between these two the river becomes very deep as it bends sharply to the right.