Danby,

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Danby
Yorkshire
North Riding
The Village Shop and Post Office, Danby - geograph.org.uk - 908382.jpg
Danby village shop
Location
Grid reference: NZ707085
Location: 54°28’4"N, 0°54’35"W
Data
Population: 1,411  (2011)
Post town: Whitby
Postcode: YO21
Local Government
Council: North Yorkshire
Parliamentary
constituency:
Scarborough and Whitby

Danby is a village in the North Riding of Yorkshire. The wider civil parish includes Ainthorpe, Botton, Castleton, Commondale, Danby, Fryup and Westerdale: the 2011 census recorded this parish with a population of 1,411.

The village sits within the North York Moors National Park and the Moors National Park Centre is here.[1]

The village is served by a rail network between Middlesbrough and Whitby

The village pub is The Duke of Wellington. The Esk Valley Walk runs through Danby.

Danby Castle

Danby Castle

A little over a mile to the south-east are the remains of Danby Castle.[2]

Danby Castle occupies a commanding position on the far slopes of Danby Rigg. It was built in the 14th century for Lord Latimer as a sign of his great wealth and, in its day, was of pioneering architectural design, combining both defence and comfortable living. Catherine Parr once lived at the castle, before she became the sixth wife of Henry VIII. The castle is now a wedding venue; part of the building is now a farmhouse and the venue owners' family home. Danby court leet, the all male, baronial court whose origins were as a manorial court, but whose functions are now restricted to the management of common land,[3] regularly meets in the castle's courtroom.[4]

Danby Show

The Danby Agricultural Show is held every year in August, with traditional country entertainments and activities such as show jumping, sheepdog trials, exhibitions of farm animals and machinery as well as horticultural, craft and produce competitions. The show was inaugurated in 1848 by the then vicar of Danby, Canon John Atkinson, and regularly attracts 6,000 visitors.[5]

Danby Beacon

The Danby Beacon was erectoed on the hill in the 1600s, to warnin case of French invasion. It is now a landmark that is used as a waymarker by thousands of walkers each year. Over time, the old wooden beacon decayed so much that it fell down and the original landmark was lost.[6] A new beacon was unveiled in 2008.[7]

During the Second World War, RAF Danby Beacon was established here: one of first radar stations guarding the north-east coast. The station was responsible for guiding Group Captain Peter Townsend, when he intercepted and shot down the first enemy aircraft to fall on British soil during the War.[8]

The radar station, which continued to function until 1957, was the precursor of the RAF Fylingdales early warning station, 15 miles south-east, whose three giant golf balls became one of the most striking sites on the North York Moors.

Outside links

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References

  • Wesley Historical Society Notes and Queries June 1841, p. 94
  • Ord's History of Cleveland (1840)
  • Atkinson, John Christopher: Forty years in a Moorland Parish: reminiscences and researches in Danby in Cleveland (Macmillan, 1891)
  • Stainsby, Michael: 'More Than An Ordinary Man: Life and Society in the Upper Esk Valley, 1830–1910' (North York Moors National Park Authority, 2006) ISBN 1 904622 08 9