Briggswath is a village in the Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England. the settlement is on the north bank of the River Esk, upstream of Ruswarp, and opposite Sleights which is on the south bank.

Briggswath
Briggswath on the north bank of the River Esk
Briggswath is located in North Yorkshire
Briggswath
Briggswath
Location within North Yorkshire
OS grid referenceNZ8608
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townWHITBY
Postcode districtYO21
PoliceNorth Yorkshire
FireNorth Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire
54°28′N 0°40′W / 54.46°N 0.67°W / 54.46; -0.67

History

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The name Briggswath is first recorded in 1230 as Briggwath, meaning bridge-ford as it is next to an old bridge which crossed the River Esk over to Sleights.[1] The village is 1-mile (1.6 km) upriver from Ruswarp at the site of the Medieval bridge from which it takes its name,[2][3] and 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Whitby.[4] The bridge was known as Sleights Bridge, and was replaced as the main road bridge by one further upstream in 1937.[5] A great flood in July 1930 swept away the old road bridge.[6]

Historically, the village was in the civil parish of Aislaby and part of the wapentake of Whitby Strand.[7] It is now in the civil parish of Eskdaleside cum Ugglebarnby, and is represented at Parliament as part of the Scarborough and Whitby constituency.[8][9] Just west of the village was the site of an ironstone mine (known as Sleights Bridge). It was worked between 1856 and 1859, producing on average 3,500 tonnes (3,900 tons) of iron ore each year.[10][11]

The village has the A169 to the west, and the B1410 and the River Esk to the south. The River Esk sometimes floods the B1410 closing it to traffic, and the nearby Briggswath measuring station on the Esk recorded an all time high of 13 feet (4 m) on the river in June 1999.[12][13][14][15]

The Wesleyan chapel in the village was first built in 1820 (though the present structure dates from 1905), and includes a roll of ten local men who died in the First World War.[16][17][18]

The village has an hourly bus service on average, with most being a local bus around the Whitby and Ruswarp area, with some services consisting of the longer-distance 840 Coastliner service to Leeds.[19]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Smith, A. H. (1979) [1928]. The Place Names of the North Riding of Yorkshire. English Place Name Society. p. 119. OCLC 19714705.
  2. ^ Page 1968, p. 514.
  3. ^ "Georeferenced Maps - Map images - National Library of Scotland". maps.nls.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  4. ^ Mitchinson, James, ed. (11 July 2020). "Quiet hamlet, valley views". The Yorkshire Post. Property News. p. 4. ISSN 0963-1496.
  5. ^ "Aislaby, Sleights and Ruswarp". Darlington and Stockton Times. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Cloudburst in Yorkshire". britishpathe.com. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  7. ^ Page 1968, p. 506.
  8. ^ "Election Maps". www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  9. ^ UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Eskdaleside cum Ugglebarnby Parish (E04007671)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  10. ^ Tuffs, Peter (1996). Catalogue of Cleveland Ironstone Mines. Guisborough: Tuffs. p. 54. OCLC 35135777.
  11. ^ Whitworth, Alan (2011). Esk Valley Through Time. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. p. 40. ISBN 9781445631455.
  12. ^ Brown, Charles (29 August 2020). "More heavy downpours on the way with warnings of flooding". The Yorkshire Post. p. 2. ISSN 0963-1496.
  13. ^ "B1410 between Briggswath and Ruswarp closed after River Esk bursts banks". The Scarborough News. 8 January 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  14. ^ "River Esk level at Briggswath - GOV.UK". check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  15. ^ "27092 - Esk at Briggswath". National River Flow Archive. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  16. ^ Stokoe, Neil (2015). Journeys around Whitby. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. p. 19. ISBN 9781445646374.
  17. ^ Page 1968, p. 527.
  18. ^ "Briggswath and Sleights Methodist Church". iwm.org.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  19. ^ "Briggswath Sleights Carrhill Lane (E-bound) – Bus Times". bustimes.org. Retrieved 21 May 2023.

Sources

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  • Page, William, ed. (1968). The Victoria history of the county of York, North Riding. London: Dawsons of Pall Mall for the University of London Institute of Historical Research. ISBN 0712903100.
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