Gisborough Medieval Town : In-depth Information

The town is first recorded in 1042 AD when land there was given to the church at Durham. In 1066 AD Guisborough had been a prosperous settlement. However in 1069 the Normans were driven from the North and seeking revenge, King William destroyed the crops, burnt villages and killed people and animals. In 1119 AD Robert de Brus founded Gisborough Priory. The priory dominated the settlement physically and economically, since it owned all the land in the town.

The early medieval town appears to have originated along Belmangate, Westgate being a later creation. Limited excavation has been carried out in the area of the medieval town at the rear of Westgate but this did not provide any clear evidence earlier than the fifteenth century. This however could be due to a fire in Westgate in 1413, which destroyed a large number of houses.

Although an initial expansion of the town occurred in the late twelfth century the town remained essentially a small market town with some small scale crafts and industry such as textile manufacture and brewing. These would have been carried out in the rear of properties. The market began in 1263 and the market place was thought to have been originally outside the Priory gates, later spreading further down Westgate.

After the dissolution of the Priory in 1540, its lands were purchased by Thomas Chaloner in 1550. The buildings of the Priory were largely demolished leaving only the east end standing. A hall was built by the Chaloners fronting onto Bow Street, with ornamental gardens behind and in front a court with a fountain at its centre, from which Fountain Street gets its name. Most of the stone from the partially demolished Priory seems to have been reused in further building in the town.

The discovery of alum in 1606 did not greatly alter the size of the town and although the alum industry continued into the eighteenth century, it never flourished. Some evidence remains of the industry, in the form of alum burning, at Belman Bank.

During the English Civil War, (1641-1644), the town was divided in its loyalties between King and Parliament. The major events passed the Tees Valley by. However, on the 16th January 1643 the royalist regiment of Colonel Slingsby was defeated at Guisborough by Parliamentarian forces led by Sir Hugh Cholmley. The Colonel was carried back to Guisborough where he died of his wounds three days later. He was buried in York Minster where his memorial can still be seen.

During the post medieval period Guisborough retained its form of a small market town. The town lacked a wealthier class of merchants and the type of housing in Guisborough reflected this. Small cottage type dwellings with only a few superior town houses developing around the Market Place later in the eighteenth century.

The discovery of ironstone in the Eston Hills in 1850 led to a transformation of the town. The mining of ironstone was carried out at three pits; Chaloner to the north-west of the town, Belmont to the south and Spa Wood to the east. The industry not only brought an increase in the population, necessitating the building of new housing to the north of Westgate, but also brought the railways.

In 1853 the Middlesbrough and Guisborough Railway was opened and a station built in Guisborough; subsequently, the rival Cleveland Railway linked Guisborough to Skelton and ran along the southern fringes of the Eston Hills. This closed in 1873 when the North Eastern railway absorbed both companies. Rail services were withdrawn from Guisborough in 1964.

Gisborough

Medieval Town

In-depth Information