Editing Middleham

{{Short description|Market town in North Yorkshire, England}}
{{for|the former settlement in Devon|Middleham, Devon}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2014}}
{{Infobox UK place
|country                  = England
|coordinates              = {{coord|54.2859|-1.8087|display=inline,title}}
|official_name            = Middleham
|population               = 825
|population_ref           = ([[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 census]])<ref>{{NOMIS2011|id=1170217169|title=Middleham Parish|access-date=21 February 2018}}</ref>
|unitary_england           = [[North Yorkshire District|North Yorkshire]]
|region                   = Yorkshire and the Humber
|static_image_name        = Middleham.jpg
|static_image_caption     = Middleham Marketplace
|lieutenancy_england       = [[North Yorkshire]]
|constituency_westminster = [[Richmond and Northallerton (UK Parliament constituency)|Richmond and Northallerton]]
|post_town                = LEYBURN
|postcode_district        = DL8
|postcode_area            = DL
|dial_code                = 01969
|os_grid_reference        = SE124878
|london_distance          = 
}}
'''Middleham''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɪ|d|əl|ə|m}} {{respell|MID|əl|əm}};<ref>{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Daniel |editor1-last=Roach |editor1-first=Peter |editor2-last=Hartman |editor2-first=James |editor3-last=Setter |editor3-first=Jane |title=English Pronouncing Dictionary |edition=17th |year=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University press |isbn=978-0-521-86230-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/englishpronounci00dani/page/324 324] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/englishpronounci00dani/page/324}}</ref> meaning "middle ''ham''", i.e. "middle village") is a [[market town]] and [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Middleham Parish Council – North Yorkshire |url=https://middlehamtowncouncil.co.uk/ |access-date=2023-04-06 |website=middlehamtowncouncil.co.uk |archive-date=6 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406151035/https://middlehamtowncouncil.co.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref> in the [[North Yorkshire District|district]] and [[North Yorkshire|county]] of [[North Yorkshire]], England. It lies in [[Wensleydale]] in the [[Yorkshire Dales]], on the south side of the valley, upstream from the junction of the [[River Ure]] and [[River Cover]]. There has been a settlement there since [[Roman Britain|Roman times]]. It was recorded in the 1086 ''[[Domesday Book]]'' as ''Medelai''.

==History==
[[File:MiddlehamCJW.jpg|thumb|left|[[Middleham Castle]]]]
Though there is no evidence of civil settlement in the Roman period, a rural villa was discovered in the 19th century some {{convert|300|m|yd|order=flip}} east of the castle, in farmland south of the road to [[Masham]]. A branch road from the major Roman thoroughfare of [[A1 road (Great Britain)|Dere Street]] passed by, across the valley, through the fort of Wensley to the Roman site of Virosidium at [[Bainbridge, North Yorkshire|Bainbridge]].<ref name="home.cogeco.ca">{{PastScape |mnumber=50870 |accessdate=14 September 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Normancastlemiddleham.JPG|thumb|William's Hill is the remaining earthworks of the Motte-and-Bailey Castle Alan Rufus built.]]
Before the [[Norman Conquest]], the lands around were controlled by Gilpatrick. In 1069, [[William the Conqueror]] granted them to his Breton cousin [[Alan Rufus]], who built a wooden [[motte-and-bailey]] castle above the town. By the time of the 1086 Domesday Book, Alan had passed the castle to his brother Ribald. Its earthworks are still visible at William's Hill. Alan also built the [[Richmond Castle|castle]] at [[Richmond, North Yorkshire|Richmond]].

Construction began in 1190 of [[Middleham Castle]], which still dominates the town. The [[House of Neville|Neville]]s, Earls of Westmorland, acquired it through marriage to a female descendant of Ribald in the 13th century. It has been dubbed the "Windsor of the North". The castle belonged to [[Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick]], when his cousin Richard, Duke of Gloucester (the future [[Richard III of England|Richard III]]) came there to learn knighthood skills in 1462. During the [[Wars of the Roses]], both [[Edward IV of England|Edward IV]] and [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]] were held prisoner there. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, became master of the castle in 1471 after Warwick's death at the [[Battle of Barnet]]. He used it as his political base for ruling the North on behalf of his brother Edward IV. Richard married Warwick's daughter, [[Anne Neville]], in 1472. Middleham Castle is where their son [[Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales|Edward]] was born in about 1473 and died in April 1484. Richard III, who died in August 1485 at the [[Battle of Bosworth]], was the last reigning King of England to perish in battle.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.middlehamonline.com/Middleham%20Castle.htm |title=Middleham Castle |work=middlehamonline.com |access-date=13 December 2014 |archive-date=30 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140130170503/http://www.middlehamonline.com/Middleham%20Castle.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Middleham fountain - geograph.org.uk - 347626.jpg|thumb|Middleham fountain]]
Under Richard III, Middleham was a bustling market town and political centre.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Weaver |first1=John |title=Middleham Castle |date=1993 |publisher=English Heritage |location=London |isbn=1-85074-409-2 |page=31}}</ref> In 1389, the Lord of Middleham Manor received a crown grant to hold a weekly market and yearly fair on the feast of St [[Alkelda]] the Virgin.<ref>Chart. R. 11–13 Ric. II, m. 21; cf. Cal. Pat. 1436–1441.</ref> The town has market places: the larger, lower one is dominated by a medieval cross, topped by a modern iron cross in Celtic style. The upper or swine market centres on the remains of a 15th-century market cross and a line of steps. At one end of the cross is a worn effigy of an animal reclining; the other may have had a moulded capital.
[[File:Middleham Old School House - geograph.org.uk - 346197.jpg|thumb|The Old School House]]
Most buildings in old parts of Middleham predate 1600. The old rectory incorporates some medieval features.<ref name="ReferenceA">''A History of the County of York North Riding'': Volume 1, William Page, ed., 1914.</ref> In 1607 Middleham was important enough to house a royal court for residents of the forest of Wensleydale.<ref>Exch. Dep. Mich. 5 Jas. I, no. 8. The earliest lords claimed the forest of Wensleydale by inheritance (Pipe R. 4 John [Yorks.]; Abbrev. Plac. [Rec. Com.], 74; Coram Rege R. Mich. 12 Hen. III).</ref> Middleham and surrounding lands were part of the Crown estates from the accession of Richard III until [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] sold the manor to the [[City of London]] in about 1628.<ref>Pat. 4 Chas. I, pt. xxxiii, Roll B.; Cal. Com. for Comp. 2444; Exch. Dep. East. 13 Chas. II, no. 15.</ref> In 1661 the City of London sold Middleham Manor on to Thomas Wood of Littleton. It has remained in private hands since then.<ref>N. and Q. September 1884; Whitaker, ''Richmondshire''.</ref> In 1915 the annual livestock market was still regionally important, but the weekly market had been discontinued. Today's livestock market is in [[Leyburn]].

==Parish church==
[[File:Middleham, The Collegiate Church St Mary and St Alkeda. - geograph.org.uk - 231927.jpg|thumb|left|[[Church of St Mary and St Alkelda, Middleham|Church of Saints Mary and Alkelda]]]]
The Church of Saints Mary and [[Alkelda]] was founded in 1291. Its mainly 14th and 15th-century architecture includes some stones that indicate a church on the site perhaps a century before.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The only remaining Norman artefact is a section of [[zigzag moulding]] that once surrounded a door or window and now appears above the north aisle. The church has a three-metre [[Perpendicular architecture|Perpendicular]] font cover and a replica of the [[Middleham Jewel]], found locally. West of the church is St Alkelda's Well, whose waters were once said to restore weak eyes.

In 1478 Edward IV gave permission for a leper hospital to be built on the east side of town, in conjunction with the church. The location, Chapel Fields, now holds a horse-training stables. No trace of a hospital or chapel remains.<ref name="home.cogeco.ca"/>

==Middleham today==
[[File:The Richard III Hotel, Middleham - geograph.org.uk - 1032819.jpg|thumb|The Richard III Hotel]]
Today's Middleham is a centre of [[horse racing]] and home to Middleham Trainers' Association. The first [[horse trainer|racehorse trainer]] at Middleham was Isaac Cape in 1765. Today there are several, including [[Mark Johnston (racehorse trainer)|Mark Johnston]], Jedd O'Keefe, [[James Bethell]], and Ben Haslam. Racing is the foremost employer in the town and tourism the second. The castle is a ruin, having been dismantled in 1646, but the [[keep]], built by Robert Fitz Ralph in the 1170s, survives, as do the 13th-century chapel and 14th-century gatehouse.

Middleham has four pubs, a village shop, a fish and chip shop, a tea room, several bed and breakfast suppliers, a primary school and nursery and a community centre called Middleham Key Centre. The picture depicts the ''Richard III Hotel''. The building next door was a tearoom called The Nosebag. It is now a [[Racing Welfare]] office providing support and guidance to hundreds of stable staff based in and around the town.

==Governance==
Middleham is part of the [[Richmond and Northallerton (UK Parliament constituency)|Richmond and Northallerton]] parliamentary constituency. The current [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] is [[Rishi Sunak]], a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]], who is also a former [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]]. His predecessor was [[William Hague]], former Conservative Party Leader and [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|Foreign Secretary]], who represented the constituency from 1989 to 2015.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fellowes |first1=Jon |title=Which constituency is Rishi Sunak the Member of Parliament for? |url=https://metro.co.uk/2022/10/25/where-is-rishi-sunaks-constituency-as-he-becomes-the-new-pm-17626607/ |access-date=30 October 2022 |work=Metro |date=25 October 2022 |archive-date=30 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221030225859/https://metro.co.uk/2022/10/25/where-is-rishi-sunaks-constituency-as-he-becomes-the-new-pm-17626607/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

An [[Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom|electoral ward]] of the name exists, stretching south-west to [[Melmerby in Coverdale]]. Its population in the 2011 census was 1,284,<ref>{{NOMIS2011 |id=1237325139 |title=Middleham 2011 Census Ward |access-date=21 February 2018}}</ref> when the parish population was 825 in the 2011 census, estimated at 781 in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/yorkshireandthehumber/admin/richmondshire/E04007505__middleham/ |title=City Population. Retrieved 2 November 2020. |access-date=2 November 2020 |archive-date=8 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108233821/https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/yorkshireandthehumber/admin/richmondshire/E04007505__middleham/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of [[Richmondshire]], it is now administered by the unitary [[North Yorkshire Council]].

==Treasure and archaeological finds==
===Middleham Jewel===
[[File:Middleham Jewel, obverse YORYM 1991 43-1.jpg|upright|The front of the Middleham Jewel showing the [[Crucifixion of Jesus]]|thumb|left]]
{{main|Middleham Jewel}}
In 1985 the '''Middleham Jewel''' was found on a bridle path near Middleham Castle by Paul Kingston and Ted Seaton using a [[metal detector]].{{sfn |Cherry |1994 |pp=16–17}} A late 15th-century 68-gram gold pendant with a 10-carat blue [[sapphire]] stone, it has since passed to the [[Yorkshire Museum]] in [[York]] for £2.5 million. The lozenge pendant, engraved on the obverse with a representation of the Trinity, is bordered by a Latin inscription warding off the evil of epilepsy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.artfund.org/artwork/2633/the-middleham-jewel |title=Middleham Jewel |publisher=[[Art Fund]] |date=11 June 2013 |access-date=11 June 2013 |archive-date=22 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722041441/http://www.artfund.org/artwork/2633/the-middleham-jewel |url-status=live }}</ref> The reverse has a decorative engraving of the Nativity, bordered by faces of 13 saints.{{sfn |Cherry |1994 |pp=24–26}}

The back panel slides to reveal a hollow interior, which originally contained three-and-a-half tiny discs of silk embroidered with gold thread.{{sfn |Cherry |1994 |pp=24–26}} The textile contents identify the jewel as a [[reliquary]], containing a fragment of reputed holy cloth. It would have been worn by a lady of high social status as the crest for a large necklace.{{sfn |Cherry |1994 |pp=16–17}} The sapphire may represent Heaven,<ref>Cherry, John. ''The Holy Thorn Reliquary'', p. 7, 2010, British Museum Press (British Museum objects in focus), {{ISBN|0-7141-2820-1}}</ref> and have acted as an aid to prayer.

===Other notable finds===
Other notable finds from Middleham include:
*The [[Middleham Hoard]] – three pots containing 5,099 silver coins in total, buried in the [[English Civil War]]. This is the largest such hoard ever found.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Barclay |first=Craig |title=A Civil War Hoard from Middleham, North Yorkshire |journal=British Numismatic Journal |volume=64 |issue=8 |year=1994 |pages=84–98 |url=http://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital%20BNJ/pdfs/1994_BNJ_64_8.pdf |access-date=6 February 2014 |archive-date=3 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203022437/http://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital%20BNJ/pdfs/1994_BNJ_64_8.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
*A [[livery badge]] for pinning to the chest or a hat, in gilded copper high [[relief]], with Richard III's emblem of a [[white boar]] – this is likely to have been worn by one of his household, when he was Duke of Gloucester.<ref>John Cherry (2003), in Richard Marks and Paul Williamson, eds., ''Gothic: Art for England 1400–1547'', p. 204, no. 69, 2003, V&A Publications, London. {{ISBN|1-85177-401-7}}</ref>
*The Middleham ring in the [[Yorkshire Museum]], found in 1990 – this gold ring is decorated with a low-relief inscription along the band reading ''SOVEREYNLY''.{{sfn |Cherry |1994 |pp=10–11}}
*A circular, copper-alloy plaque ({{convert|70|mm|0|order=flip|adj=on}} diameter) bearing the initials "R" and "A" surrounded by the French motto ''A Vo. Plaisir'' (For your pleasure) – this may be a casket mark given by Richard, Duke of Gloucester to his wife Anne.{{sfn |Cherry |1994 |p=40}}

==Media==
Local news and television programmes are provided by [[BBC North East and Cumbria]] and [[ITV Tyne Tees]]. Television signals are received from the [[Bilsdale transmitting station|Bilsdale]] transmitter.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Bilsdale|title=Bilsdale (North Yorkshire, England) Full Freeview transmitter|date=1 May 2004|website=UK Free TV|accessdate=10 April 2024|archive-date=3 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230903034040/https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Bilsdale|url-status=live}}</ref>

Local radio stations are [[BBC Radio York]] on 104.3&nbsp;FM, [[BBC Radio Tees]] can also be received on 95.0&nbsp;FM, [[Minster FM|Greatest Hits Radio York & North Yorkshire]] on 103.5&nbsp;FM and [[Dales Radio]] on 104.9&nbsp;FM.

The town is served by the local newspapers, ''[[The Northern Echo]]'' and ''[[Darlington & Stockton Times]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishpapers.co.uk/england-ne/northern-echo/|title=The Northern Echo|date=12 May 2014|website=British Papers|accessdate=10 April 2024|archive-date=28 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028181312/https://www.britishpapers.co.uk/england-ne/northern-echo/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishpapers.co.uk/england-ne/darlington-stockton-times/|title=Darlington & Stockton Times|date=8 August 2013|website=British Papers|accessdate=10 April 2024|archive-date=29 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029113036/https://www.britishpapers.co.uk/england-ne/darlington-stockton-times/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Geography and geology==
The town lies between {{convert|400|and|500|ft|m}} above [[ordnance datum]]. The valley of the River Ure below the town has an altitude of {{convert|325|ft|m}} and the summit of the hill to the south-west of the town of {{convert|850|ft|m}}. The parish contains {{convert|2155|acre|ha}} of land, mostly permanent pasture with about {{convert|150|acre|ha}} arable. The topsoil is mixed. The valley has modern alluvial terraces and gravel deposits, but the [[subsoil]] is mainly limestone, intersected here and there by sandstone with plate. There is a known vein of lead in the northern part of the parish. Braithwaite lead mine lies just outside the parish borders.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

==Notable people==
In birth order:
*[[Anne Neville]] (1456–1485), consort of King [[Richard III of England]], spent most of her childhood at the castle.
*[[Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales]] (1473–1484) was born and died at the castle.
*[[Tobias Pullen]] (1648–1713), religious controversialist and [[Church of Ireland]] bishop, was born in the town.
*[[John Baynes]] (1758–1787), miscellanist and lawyer, was born in the town.
*[[Job Marson]] (1817–1857), a celebrated jockey, died at Middleham.
*[[John Osborne Jr.]] (c. 1833–1922) jockey.

==Popular culture==
Middleham appeared three times in the UK television series ''[[All Creatures Great and Small (1978 TV series)|All Creatures Great and Small]]''. The episode "Against the Odds" had the Manor House as the home of the Barraclough family.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMERY0_Manor_House_West_End_Middleham_N_Yorks_UK_All_Creatures_Great_Small_Against_The_Odds_1988 |title=Manor House, West End, Middleham, N Yorks, UK – All Creatures Great & Small, Against The Odds (1988) |website=Waymarking.com |access-date=17 September 2013 |archive-date=21 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921061024/http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMERY0_Manor_House_West_End_Middleham_N_Yorks_UK_All_Creatures_Great_Small_Against_The_Odds_1988 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the episode "Where Sheep May Safely Graze", Middleham Antiques, in North Road, became Geoff Hatfield's confectionery shop.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMERY4_North_Rd_Middleham_N_Yorks_UK_All_Creatures_Great_Small_Where_Sheep_May_Safely_Graze_1989 |title=North Rd, Middleham, N Yorks, UK – All Creatures Great & Small, Where Sheep May Safely Graze (1989) |website=Waymarking.com |access-date=17 September 2013 |archive-date=21 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921060939/http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMERY4_North_Rd_Middleham_N_Yorks_UK_All_Creatures_Great_Small_Where_Sheep_May_Safely_Graze_1989 |url-status=live }}</ref> Ferndale became the home of the Darnley sisters in the episode "The Rough and the Smooth".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMERY7_Ferndale_Middleham_N_Yorks_UK_All_Creatures_Great_Small_The_Rough_The_Smooth_1989|title=Ferndale, Middleham. N Yorks, UK – All Creatures Great & Small, The Rough & The Smooth (1989)|website=Waymarking.com|access-date=17 September 2013|archive-date=21 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921060641/http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMERY7_Ferndale_Middleham_N_Yorks_UK_All_Creatures_Great_Small_The_Rough_The_Smooth_1989|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Twin town==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in the United Kingdom}}
Middleham is [[Twin towns and sister cities|twinned]] with [[Azincourt]], France.<ref name="Archant twinning 3">{{cite web |url=http://www.completefrance.com/language-culture/twin-towns |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130705094933/http://www.completefrance.com/language-culture/twin-towns |title=British towns twinned with French towns ''[via WaybackMachine.com]'' |access-date=20 July 2013 |archive-date=5 July 2013 |work=Archant Community Media Ltd}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
*{{citation |last=Cherry |first=John |year=1994 |title=The Middleham Jewel and Ring |publisher= [[Yorkshire Museum]] (York)}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Middleham}}
*[http://www.middlehamonline.com/ Middleham Online]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090210105717/http://northyorkshiretowns.co.uk/towns/middleham.html North Yorkshire Market Towns: Middleham]

{{North Yorkshire}}
{{Yorkshire Dales}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Middleham| ]]
[[Category:Market towns in North Yorkshire]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in North Yorkshire]]
[[Category:Wensleydale]]
[[Category:Towns in North Yorkshire]]