Ryton village

HER Number

629

District

Gateshead

Site Name

Ryton village

Place

Ryton

Map Sheet

NZ16SE

Class

Domestic

Site Type: Broad

Settlement

Site Type: Specific

Village

General Period

MEDIEVAL

Specific Period

Medieval 1066 to 1540

Form of Evidence

Documentary Evidence

Description

The earliest reference to Ryton is in Boldon Buke (1183 survey of land belonging to the Bishop of Durham, Hugh du Puiset) , where it is described as a town held at farm by the men of Ryton. There is specific reference to a mill, and an implicit one to a pound. Hatfield's 14th century Survey records some 36 messuages plus a water mill and a communal forge. It was one of the largest and most important of the bishop of Durham's villages, and the centre of a parish. In plan it was a regular 2 row plan with green. This layout is still apparent, with the east-west long axis widening into a triangle at the west end, giving access to the rectory, church and motte to the north-west, although the village core is now largely 18th-19th century.

Easting

415100

Northing

564800

Grid Reference

NZ415100564800

Sources

<< HER 629 >> W. Greenwell, ed. 1852, Boldon Buke, Surtees Society, 25, 68-9
W. Greenwell, ed. 1856, Bishop Hatfield's Survey, Surtees Society, 32, 90-92
D.A. Kirby, 1972, Parliamentary Surveys of the Bishopric of Durham, Surtees Society,II 185, 55-79
W. Hutchinson, 1787, History of...Durham, II, 435, 550-53
R. Surtees, 1820, History of...Durham, II, 259-66
E. Mackenzie & M. Ross, 1834, View of...Durham, I, 181-2
W. Bourn, 1896, History of the Parish of Ryton, Jan-43
Dept. Pal. & Dip. Durham, Tithe Awards, 1840, Ryton
Dept. Pal. & Dip. Durham, Ordnance Survey maps, 1st ed. 1:2500 I.12
B.K. Roberts & D. Austin, 1975, A Preliminary Check-List of Rural Clusters in County Durham, 35; Ian Nairn, 1964, A Townscape Gazetteer - County Durham, Architectural Review, Vol. 135 (1964) p 120; Mike Griffiths & Associates Ltd., 2012, Jolly Fellows Inn, Ryton, Gateshead - Archaeological Assessment and Building Recording