Croft-on-Tees - Izeria

Croft-on-Tees is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It has also been known as Croft Spa, and from which the former Croft Spa railway station took its name. It lies 11 miles (18 km) north-north west of the county town of Northallerton.

1. History

The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Crofst. It makes no mention of any lord of the manor prior to the Norman Conquest, but names Enisant Musard as lord after 1086, granted to him by Count Alan of Brittany. The lands were subject to many years of dispute until the 13th century. In 1205, King John settled the issue by granting the lands to Roald the Constable of Richmond. His heirs inherited the title until 1299 when they were succeeded by Henry le Scrope of Bolton. Thereafter the lands were held under the Scropes by the Clervaux family. They held the manor until 1590 when the direct male line ceased, but Clervaux inheritance continued via marriage to the Chaytor family into the 20th century. Numerous historic houses survive, including Croft Hall, Jolby Manor, and Monk End Hall. The etymology of the village name comes from the Old English word Croft meaning a small enclosed field. Croft was once significant for its spa, first noticed in 1668, and as early as 1713 the sulphurous spring water had acquired such fame that it was sold in London as a cure for ailments and diseases, as described in Robert Willan's study of the sulphur water at Croft, published in London in 1782. A.B. Granville's description of the "Old Well" and the "New Well" described the Croft Spa for which the railway station was both opened and named. It was published in 1841. The village was once served by its railway station on the East Coast Main Line. The railway still passes near Croft but the station, which was opened in 1841, closed in 1968 and has been demolished. The 1861 Epsom Derby winner Kettledrum was bred at Croft in 1858.

1. Geography and governance

3 miles (4.8 km) south of Darlington, Croft stands on the opposite side of the River Tees from Hurworth-on-Tees between Clow Beck and Spa Beck and is situated on the A167. The bridge over the Tees between Croft and Hurworth marks the boundary between North Yorkshire and County Durham. The exact point of transition is the fourth of the seven arches. It is a Grade I listed building. The settlements of Eryholme and Dalton-on-Tees are also within three miles of the village. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of Richmondshire, it is now administered by the unitary North Yorkshire Council. The village lies within the Richmond and Northallerton UK Parliament constituency and the Richmondshire North electoral division of North Yorkshire Council. An electoral ward in the name of Croft exists. This ward stretches south to North Cowton with a population taken at the 2011 census of 1,272.

1. Demography


1. = 2001 Census =

According to the 2001 UK Census, the parish was 50.6% male and 49.4% female of the total population of 427. The religious make-up was 86.4% Christian with the rest stating no religion. The ethnic distribution was 100% White. There were 180 dwellings.

1. = 2011 Census =

According to the 2011 UK Census, the parish had a total population of 466 with 50% male and 50% female. The religious make-up was 75.5% Christian, a small Hindu minority, with the rest stating no religion. The ethnic distribution was 97.8% White with a small Mixed Ethnic and British Asian minority . There were 198 dwellings.

1. Community

The village is served for Primary education by Croft CE Primary School which caters for ages 3 to 11 and has a capacity of 105. It lies within the catchment areas of both Northallerton School and Richmond School for secondary education. Croft has two hotels, of which, Croft Hotel is a Grade II listed building. Croft motor racing circuit is built on the former aerodrome, RAF Croft.

1. Religion

The village church, St Peter's, is a 14th-century style building situated on the bank of the Tees. It is a Grade I listed building. Whilst not a job in Yorkshire, the incoming Bishop of Durham meets the Mayor of Darlington to be presented with the falchion that John Conyers used to despatch the Sockburn Worm. The ceremony, which is performed on the bridge over the River Tees in the village, has been carried out since 1790.

1. Notable residents

Lewis Carroll lived in Croft from 1843 to 1850. His father the Revd Charles Dodgson was Rector of Croft and Archdeacon of Richmond from 1843 to 1868. Carroll's photo of the niece of Alfred Lord Tennyson's wife was taken at Croft. Historians believe Lewis Carroll's Cheshire Cat in the book Alice in Wonderland was inspired by a carving in Croft Church.

1. See also

Listed buildings in Croft-on-Tees

1. References


1. External links

Media related to Croft-on-Tees at Wikimedia Commons

Village website Croft Circuit BBC article about the Croft carving

Nearby Places View Menu

Church of St Peter, Croft-on-Tees

The Church of St Peter, Croft-on-Tees is a 12th century grade I listed parish church in the village of Croft-on-Tees in North Yorkshire, England. Artefacts and carvings inside the church are believed to have given rise to many of the characters created by Lewis Carroll, who as a child, attended St Peter's in the 1840s when his father was rector of the church. The church also features in Simon Jenkins' book "England's Thousand Best Churches".

Church Historic Site

Croft Hotel

The Croft Hotel is a historic building in Croft-on-Tees, a village in North Yorkshire in England. The hotel was constructed in 1835 by Ignatius Bonomi, to accommodate visitors to the old and new spas. In about 1860, a ballroom range was added to the west. The building was grade II listed in 1988. In 2023, it was purchased by the Apartment Group, which spent £2 million restoring the building. As of 2024, it offered 24 rooms, a function suite, gym and restaurant, and was marketed as a wedding venue. The building is roughcast with a Welsh slate roof, and has two storeys and an irregular plan. The main entrance block projects slightly, and has a coped gable acting as a pediment. There are three bays, and in the centre is a porch with square Tuscan porch and a flat roof. The block is flanked by two bays on the left and three on the right. All the windows are sashes, the window above the doorway with an architrave and a pediment. To the left is the ballroom block, taller, with four bays, and in the right bay is a Tuscan doorway with a pediment. To the right is the former coach house, also lower, with a pantile roof and six bays. In the ground floor are segmental-arched openings, and the upper floor contains horizontally-sliding sash windows.

Event Hotel

Croft Bridge

Croft Bridge is a road bridge over the River Tees, straddling the border between North Yorkshire and County Durham, in the north of England. The road over the bridge is now the A167, previously a second branch of the Great North Road, meeting the old road in Darlington. The bridge dates back to Medieval times, and is the setting for the awarding of a sword to the incoming Bishop of Durham.

Bridge Historic Site

Monk End Hall

Monk End House is a historic building in Croft-on-Tees, a village in North Yorkshire, in England. In the mediaeval period, a house on the site was owned by St Mary's Abbey, York. The current building may retain some 15th century material, but mainly dates from the early 18th century. At one time, the conservatory was used as a schoolroom. The house was grade II listed in 1968. In 2011, it was sold for £2.25 million, the most expensive property in the Darlington area between 2000 and 2024. The house is built of brown brick, with a dentilled eaves course and a hipped Westmorland slate roof. There is a U-shaped plan, with a main range of three storeys and five bays. In the centre of the east front is a round-arched doorway with Roman Doric three-quarter columns with fluted capitals, an entablature with paterae, a fanlight with decorative glazing, and an open pediment. The windows are sashes with flat brick arches. At the rear is a chamfered mullioned basement window, and in the left return is a two-storey canted bay window.

Historic Site Landmark