Richmond and Swaledale
Above: Richmond market place and castle from an old postcard
Swale is a river name of Anglo-Saxon origin and is thought to mean whirling, swirling swallowing river. It is one of the fastest flowing rivers in England and is the home to many waterfalls. In ancient times it was within a Celtic kingdom called Catraeth along with the River Tees but was eventually conquered by the Anglo-Saxons (See historical chronicles).
The Swale rises near the villages of Keld and Muker in the west, where it is fed by a number of streams which rise near the Cumbrian border, a few miles further west. Across the bleak and remote moors to the north is Stainmore but there are no roads across these moors to Teesdale and the region we call the North East.
Many of the places in upper Swaledale are of Viking origin, as they are in neighbouring Teesdale and Wensleydale. Keld, for example derives from the Viking word 'Kelda' meaning a spring. The place was once called Appletre Kelde - the spring near the apple trees. Muker derives from the Viking Mjor-aker (acre). It means a small piece of land. A road from Muker leads across the moors to Wensleydale, through the Buttertubs Pass, where limestone potholes were once used for cooling tubs of butter. Further east is Gunnerside, meaning the slope belonging to a Viking called Gunnar.
Crackpot can be found in Swaledale to the east of Gunnerside and has two parts to its name, both of which occur in a number of other Northern place names. In 1298 the place was called Crakepot and its name derives from the Old English ‘Kraka’, a crow and the Viking word ‘Pot’. A ‘pot’ was usually a cavity or deep hole often in the bed of a river, but in Crackpot's case refers to a rift in the limestone. Pot also occurs in the place name Potto near Hutton Rudby in the Cleveland district, at Sand Pot near Northallerton and in Pot Hall and the Pot Beck near Masham. The word is still used in Swedish dialects today. Crake meaning crow occurs in many place names throughout the North, although Crayke near Easingwold derives from the old Celtic word ‘Kraik’ meaning ‘rock’. This can also occur in the form Craig. Sometimes places containing the word Crake result from a person’s name. Crakehill, near Dishforth for example means the hill belonging to a Viking called Craca. Crakethorn near Pickering means the thorn bushes frequented by crows and this may also be the meaning of Crathorne near Yarm.
Reeth is located a few miles to east of Crackpot and was a former leadmining settlement. Lead was extensively mined in the dales of Yorkshire and in Teesdale and Weardale in the neighbouring County Durham. Reeth is an obscure Anglo-Saxon place name and means something like 'at the stream'. At Reeth the Swale is joined from the north by the Arkle Beck, which forms the valley of Arkengarthdale. Arkentgathdale means Arkle's enclosure in the valley. Arkle was a common Viking personal name. Garth is a Viking word for an enclosure. The moors to the north of Arkengarthdale separate Swaledale's watershed from the River Greta,, a tributary of the Tees. South of Reeth a road leads to Redmire in the valley of Wensleydale.
The villages of Marrick and Marske to the east of Reeth add to our collection of Viking place names. Marrick is corrupted from Marr - rigg, meaning horse ridge. It was the site of a Benedictine or Cistercian monastery founded in the 1150s. Materials from the monsatery were used to build a church in Victorian times.
Richmond, the capital of Swaledale was originally called Hindrelac, an Anglo-Viking name which is thought to describe a woodland clearing frequented by a hind or female deer. The present name of this historic Swaledale town is Old French and derives from Riche-Monte, a common French place name which means strong hill. It was here in 1071 that a Norman French Count called Alan the Red (Rufus) built a castle on the lofty hill overlooking the River Swale. Alan the Red also built a castle at Middleham in Wensleydale, which belonged to his brother Ribald.
The territory surounding Richmond became Alan the Red's land and was known as Richmond Shire, a Shire comprised of the former Viking wappentake districts of Gilling and Hang. Subsequent Lords of Richmondshire were known as the Earls of Richmond and included King Henry the Seventh. In 1499, four years after his coronation, King Henry, the Earl of Richmond constructed a palace at a place called Sheen in the county of Surrey. Sheen was renamed Richmond and is now the famous London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Richmond in Surrey therefore takes its name from Richmond in Yorkshire.
Richmond in set around a large market place with Georgian and Victorian buildings. Apart from the prominent castle, which towers above the market place. The most striking features in the market place itself are the large obelisk erected in 1771 (the market cross) and the medieval Holy Trinity Church, which now serves as a museum dedicated to Yorkshire's historical Green Howard's Regiment. Richmond also has a famous Georgian Theatre located in Victoria Road. Regarded as the oldest working theatre in its original form in Europe, it was built in 1788 and closed in 1848. For a time it served as an auction room and a furniture warehouse, but was restored and reopened in 1968. History abounds in Richmond and its street names like Friar's Wynd, Frenchgate, Newbiggin and Cravengate are all reminders of the past. Gate was an old Anglo-Viking word for a street.
SCOTCH CORNER AREA (NORTHERN RICHMONDSHIRE)
The northern part of Richmondshire lies between Richmond and Darlington and has its northern boundary on the River Tees. It is centred on Scotch Corner, historically a famous coaching stop situated at an important road junction. Here you could make a choice - you could either follow the road north into Durham and Northumberland and from there continue north to Edinburgh in Scotland (hence Scotch Corner), or you could follow the road west across Stainmore and on into Cumbria. This road is the A66, and is a former Roman road which crosses Stainmore Gap, one of the main Pennine crossing points - the Viking king Eric Bloodaxe was murdered on Stainmore.
Notable places in North Richmondshire include the little village of Croft on Tees , just inside Richmondshire but covered in the Darlington section. Croft was the home village of Lewis Carroll, who went to school in Richmond. His poem the Jabberwocky is thought to be based on the legend of the legendary dragon of County Durham called the Sockburn Worm. He was also inspired by Whitby, Beverley and Sunderland.
Other interesting places in the area include Piercebridge which is in County Durham, but with a famous hotel called The George situated on the south side of the River Tees in Yorkshire. The George Hotel has links with the famous song 'My Grandfather's Clock' (See Darlington )
ROMANS AND BRIGANTES AT SCOTCH CORNER
In AD 71 the Romans took control of the North when they defeated the Brigantes, a great Northern Celtic tribe at The Battle of Scotch Corner. Brigantes were Welsh-speaking ancient Britons who occupied most of Yorkshire and South Durham and were the largest single tribe in Roman Britain. One of their main forts was just to the north of Scotch Corner at a place called Stanwick St John. When the Romans first arrived in northern Britain, the fort of Stanwick was the most important stronghold of the Brigantes. It was from here that the tribe fought the Romans at the Battle of Scotch Corner.
Nearby is Aldbrough St. John, its name being Anglo-Saxon and referring to 'old burgh' - an old fortified site and a reference to the earthworks at Stanwick. When the Brigantian Queen, Cartimandua handed over the British rebel Caractacus to the Romans in the year 51 AD she infuriated her husband Venutius, who captured Stanwick and rebelled against the Romans. The Romans eventually forced the Brigantes to abandon the fort in 73 AD. As the Romans gradually took control of Northern Britain, the Brigantes were surpressed and a Roman town called Isurium was built at the Brigantian tribal capital of Aldborough near Boroughbridge.
Catterick, to the south of Richmond was a place of importance in Roman times and is now famous as the home of Catterick Garrison, a nearby army base. Catterick is thought to take its name from the Latin Cataracta meaning waterfall. It may be named from its proximity to the River Swale, which flows very swiftly nearby. In ancient times Catterick gave its name to the Celtic kingdom of Catraeth, located in the Tees and Swale valleys. Catraeth held out against the invading Anglo-Saxons for some time before it was finally seized by the invaders and incorporated into the expanding kingdom of Northumbria. Ancient Britons had a reputation for fierce resistance in this area in an earlier century and created much trouble for the Romans who built a fort called Cataractonium nearby.
