Guisborough: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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GBP 94 - 212 Macdonald Gisborough Hall
 Located 20 minutes’ drive from Middlesbrough, Gisborough Hall is set in peaceful private grounds. It offers a spa, a bar and an award-winning restau… More | ||||||
Guisborough: Guide
Guisborough is a market town within the borough of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial counties of England|ceremonial county of North Yorkshire.
The civil parish of Guisborough has a population of 18,108 and includes the outlying villages of Upleatham, Dunsdale, and Newton under Roseberry as well as Guisborough itself.
History
It is in the North Riding of Yorkshire. It is listed in the Domesday Book and the heavily-ruined Gisborough Priory dates back to the 12th century. The priory's name is spelt without the first U, as that was the old spelling of the town's name. Some other old sites and names use the same spelling.
Other historic sites include Saint Nicholas' Anglican Church, built mainly from stone taken from the priory and home of the de Brus cenotaph, and Gisborough Hall, the ancestral home of Baron Gisborough|Lord Gisborough, which now serves as a hotel and a popular venue for wedding receptions.
The town shared in the prosperity of the industrial revolution through its proximity to the ironstone mines of the North Yorkshire Moors. One of Teesside's leading ironfounders, Sir Joseph Pease, chose Guisborough as the site of his country seat, the Alfred Waterhouse-designed Gothic revival Hutton Hall, situated at Hutton Lowcross. This house had its own station on the erstwhile Middlesbrough-Guisborough branch of the North Eastern Railway (closed in 1964).
More modern residential development occurred during the 1960's and 1970's as the chemical industry (at Wilton) and steel industry (at Redcar) expanded.
Guisborough market, held every Thursday and Saturday, has long been a focal point of the surrounding area. Originally selling cows and other livestock, the market has gradually developed into a hubub of fruit and vegetable, clothes and flower stalls. The recently resurfaced cobbles line the principal shopping thoroughfare (Westgate) and host this event from early morning to late afternoon.
Also of note is Guisborough Museum, located behind Sunnyfield House (Westgate), which regularly exhibits photos of long-gone Guisborough and its inhabitants.
Education
Primary
The town is well served with primary education|primary schools
Belmont
Galley Hill
Highcliffe
Chaloner Primary School (Priory base and Kings Base)
St. Paulinus (Roman Catholic)
Kemplah Primary School (Knocked down)
Secondary
Laurence Jackson is the only secondary education school. It was recently acknowledged as a specialist sports college.
Further
Prior Pursglove College (or PPC) (formerly Guisborough Grammar School), a sixth form college serving East Cleveland, Redcar, and Middlesbrough, is situated near the church and priory. The Askham Bryan agricultural college has a site in Guisborough, adjacent to PPC.
Access
Two main roads cross at Guisborough, the A171 road|A171 and the A173 road|A173. The A171 leads west to Middlesbrough and east to Whitby whilst the A173 goes south-west to Stokesley and north-east as far as Skelton, Redcar and Cleveland|Skelton where it joins the A174 road|A174 coast road. Before the Bypass route|bypass was built, traffic on both of these had to pass through the town. Just outside the bypass to the north-east, a B-road heads north from the A173 to Redcar. As well as these, there is a short road that ends at Hutton Village, a tiny settlement built mostly for local mining, agricultural and estate workers. There is yet another route out of the town - Wilton Lane, a very windy almost single-track which leads north to the small village of Wilton, North Yorkshire|Wilton, whence one can either join the A174 or continue onto the Imperial Chemical Industries|ICI Wilton Redcar and Cleveland|Wilton chemical works. Until 1964, Guisborough was also served by trains from Middlesbrough; prior to 1958 it was even possible to travel all the way to Whitby and Scarborough along the highly scenic North Yorkshire coast railway.
For those travelling on foot, the south of the town is bounded by the North York Moors National Park. Guisborough Woods, which are Forestry Commission land, clothe the edge of the moors. In the woods, the ground rises sharply and at one point forms a cliff, known as Highcliffe. The woods are crossed by several rights-of-way, including the Cleveland Way, though other paths and commission tracks are considered fair game for walkers. Beyond the woods, the ground levels out to form Gisborough Moor.
Economy
The two main employers in the town used to be "The Shirt Factory" - towards the end of its working life this clothing factory was acquired by Montague Burton of Leeds - and the Blackett Hutton steel works.
There are no longer any large employers in the town, Guisborough has become a dormitory town for nearby Middlesbrough, with many people working in the chemical plants that are located around Teesside.
On January 15, 2004, Guisborough was granted Fairtrade Town status.
Sports and recreation
Guisborough has a List of King George V Playing Fields (North Yorkshire)|King George's Field in memoriam to George V of the United Kingdom|King George V, and the town's football team Guisborough_Town_F.C.|Guisborough Town FC plays on the King George V Ground, adjacent to the playing fields.
Well known Guisborians
Bob Champion, the jockey who rode to triumph in the 1981 Grand National, despite having recently been diagnosed with cancer
Footballing midfield powerhouse Sean Gregan
Former BBC news editor Rod Liddle
Former newsreader and The Clothes Show presenter Selina Scott. In her teenage years she was head girl at Laurence Jackson School
Mark Benton, actor
External links
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "Guisborough". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.