Guisborough, United Kingdom
Guisborough is a town of 16,979 people in England, United Kingdom.
Why visit Guisborough
Townapedia lists 5 museums and landmarks, 13 places to eat, 1 place to stay and 2 attractions in and around town.
Highlights include Slapewath Viaduct, Gisborough Priory and Guisborough Priory.
Weather in Guisborough
Forecast from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0). Full forecast
About Guisborough
Guisborough is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of the North York Moors National Park. Roseberry Topping, midway between the town and Great Ayton, is a landmark in the national park. It was governed by an urban district and rural district in the North Riding of Yorkshire.
From the Wikipedia article Guisborough (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Travel tips from other travellers: Guisborough on Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Things to do2
Museums and landmarks5
Guisborough Priory
Monument and historic site · 0.4 mi
Ruined Augustinian priory in Guisborough, North Yorkshire, England, UK
Restaurants and cafes13
1 more on the map.
Where to stay1
History
Some archaeologists date the town to the Roman occupation, when it may have been a military fortification. The discoveries of a few Roman artefacts such as the elaborate ceremonial Guisborough Helmet, support this but proof is still lacking.
The Guisborough Helmet is a Roman cavalry helmet found near the town in 1864. Its original protective cheek-pieces have not survived but the attachment holes can be seen in front of the helmet's ear guards. It is lavishly decorated with engraved and embossed figures indicating that it was probably used for display or cavalry tournaments, although possibly for battle as well. It was unearthed in what appears to be a carefully arranged deposition in a bed of gravel, distant from any known Roman sites. After its recovery during roadworks it was donated to the British Museum for restoration and display.
Gighesbore is recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086 as a place within Langbaurgh Wapentake or hundred. To this day the town has two spellings, the more common spelling with a "u" and the spelling without for the priory, Gisborough Hall (16th century, demolished and rebuilt) and some other features associated with the town.
Read more of the history
The ruined Gisborough Priory dates from the 12th century, founded by the Robert de Brus, 1st Lord of Skelton, and burial site of the lord and the next three succeeding lords of Annandale. All four ancestors of King Robert the Bruce (the seventh lord of Annandale).
After the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII, in 1540, the lands of Gisborough Priory were given to Thomas Chaloner. The Chaloner or Challoner name continues to be associated with the town through to present day, as employers of Alum works in the 1600s, the names adoption by the Longe family as barons Gisborough and various iterations of Gisborough Hall being built. The current Gisborough Hall, a Victorian era (built in 1856) Jacobean revival style mansion. It is a Grade II listed building, during WWII it was used by the army, became a nursing home then its current use as a hotel.
The town shared in the prosperity of the Industrial Revolution by being close to the ironstone mines of the North York Moors. One of the area's ironfounders, Sir Joseph Whitwell Pease, chose as his country seat the Gothic revival Hutton Hall designed by Alfred Waterhouse, at Hutton Lowcross, near Guisborough.
Guisborough station was on the Middlesbrough–Guisborough branch of the North Eastern Railway; it closed in 1964. Extensive residential development occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, linked to the expansion of the chemical industry at Wilton and the steel industry at Redcar.
From the History section of Guisborough on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
More about Guisborough
Economy
Guisborough is a commuter town for nearby Middlesbrough and has many people working in the chemical plants around Teesside.
Guisborough market is held on Thursday and Saturday with a few stalls on Tuesday. Originally selling cattle and other livestock, the market developed into a general market for fruit and vegetables, clothing and flowers. It opens from early morning to late afternoon on the restored cobbles of Westgate, the main shopping street. Guisborough Museum, behind Westgate's Sunnyfield House, shows photographs of Guisborough's history and inhabitants.
One main employer in the town was The Shirt Factory. Towards the end of its existence it was acquired by Montague Burton of Leeds, but it closed in 1999. Other former employers were Blackett Hutton and Co., maker of medium high-integrity castings, and the civil engineering firm Henderson Campbell.
There is a fully restored, working, seventeenth-century watermill at Tocketts Mill, set within 38 acres of ancient woodland.
On 15 January 2004, Guisborough was granted Fairtrade Town status.
Education
Primary education is provided at Belmont, Galley Hill, Highcliffe, St Paulinus (Roman Catholic) and Chaloner Primary which is an amalgamation of the previous Park Lane Infants & Northgate Junior School. Laurence Jackson School, situated at the eastern end of the town, is the only secondary school, and doubles as a Specialist Sports College.
Prior Pursglove College, a sixth-form college for GCSE, A level and AS level students, stands next to the parish church and priory ruins on the former site of Guisborough Grammar School, which it replaced after changes in the education system. It had been founded in 1561 by Robert Pursglove, the last Prior of Gisborough, as a charitable school for poor boys. It was accompanied by a set of almshouses for twelve pensioners.
Askham Bryan College of Agriculture operates a Guisborough Centre on the same site as Prior Pursglove College. It consists of an animal management centre and a modern building, the Priory Centre, which the two colleges share.
From the Wikipedia article Guisborough, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Notable people from Guisborough
John Gilbert BakerBritish botanist (1834-1920)Photo: Berthold Carl Seemann (1825-1871), Public domain
Fred PriestEnglish footballer and manager (1874-1922)Photo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain
Mark Robinsonfootballer born 1981Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/juddy666/, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sean GreganEnglish association football player (born 1974)Photo: Ingy The Wingy, CC BY-SA 2.0
Mark KitchingEnglish footballer (born 1995)Photo: Mattythewhite, CC BY-SA 4.0
John Fairfax-BlakeboroughEngland author and folkloristPhoto: Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions- Willie ApplegarthEnglish sprinter (1890-1958)
- Arthur SulleyBritish rower
- Mark BentonEnglish actor
- James CoppingerEnglish footballer (born 1981)
- Alistair HarrisonBritish diplomat (born 1954)
- Katy LivingstonBritish modern pentathlete
Born in Guisborough, according to Wikidata (CC0). Each name links to its Wikipedia article.
Churches and places of worship5
Shopping9
Gas and EV charging3
Schools, colleges and libraries9
Healthcare4
Map of Guisborough
51 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.
Getting there and nearby towns
Teesside International Airport (MME) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 15 miles away.
- Ingleby Greenhow 6 mi south, about 10 min by car
- Middlesbrough 8 mi west, about 12 min by car
- Thornaby-on-Tees 10 mi west, about 16 min by car
- Yarm 12 mi west, about 20 min by car
- Whitby 18 mi east, about 29 min by car
- Peterlee 19 mi northwest, about 31 min by car
- Northallerton 20 mi southwest, about 33 min by car
- Newton Aycliffe 21 mi west, about 35 min by car
- Seaham 24 mi northwest, about 39 min by car
- Spennymoor 25 mi northwest, about 40 min by car
Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.
Towns near Guisborough
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Sources and licences
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, coordinates, regions and time zone
- Mapillary (see each image): photos
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0): places, airports, map data
- Wikidata (CC0 1.0): elevation, founding date, time zone, website, landmarks and historic places
- Wikimedia Commons (see each image): photos
- Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): overview and history text
Photo credits
- Gisborough Priory (nez202), Nez202 at English Wikipedia, Public domain
- Skelton Old Church of all Saints, Simon Armstrong, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Old Church of St Andrew from SE, Simon Armstrong, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Gisborough Priory east view, Prioryman, CC BY-SA 3.0
- CoverdaleBuildingPPC, Lemony123, Public domain
- Guisborough Church of St Nicholas 3, Simon Armstrong, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Street-level photo, southglos, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, southglos, CC BY-SA 4.0
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