As we look to develop a new Design Code - a tool that will shape future development within the National Park - we want to get your thoughts on the below profiles and short films that we have created based on our villages.
Within these we have tried to identify the aspects of design that create a village’s ‘sense of place’ and are asking you to think about places in the same way. We are inviting you to look around a village and tell us what you like about the area, and what you notice. What are the 'design cues' which make a place distinctive? What is good design within the context your local area?
You can submit your thoughts via the link at the end of each profile. The villages included on this page include: Carlton in Cleveland, Carlton, Castleton, Charltons, Chop Gate, Church Houses, Cloughton, Cold Kirby, Commondale, Cowesby, Coxwold, Cropton, Danby and Dunsley.
Carlton (Helmsley)
Carlton is in the southwestern part of the National Park, a couple of miles north of Helmsley. It has underlying limestone geology, and sits in an elevated, open landscape with extensive views from the edge of the village. Land use is predominantly agricultural (mixed arable and livestock) with patches of tree cover. Landscape features, including lanes, drovers’ tracks, farms, churches, paths, and walls date from the medieval period. The old smithy lies derelict in the centre of the village.
Carlton is a linear village where houses are set back from the road by narrow grass verges and behind gardens bounded by stone walls. Large open fields provide gaps between buildings creating an open character to the streetscape. Buildings are typically late 18th or early 19th century, with limestone rubble walls and pantile roofs. Windows are a combination of timber painted Yorkshire horizontal and vertical sashes interspersed with casements. Cast iron guttering sits neatly under eaves, fixed with gutter spikes. Roof verges are simple, some with barge boarding, and covered with handmade red clay pantiles with brick chimney stacks. Water tabling is a notable omission. Buildings often were originally for agricultural use, including examples of possible longhouse development such as Top Cottage Low Farm. The Grade II* Listed St. Aidan’s Church, built in 1887 in a simple proto-Arts and Crafts style is now a holiday let. It includes a modern extension built in 2011 which was designed to be visually and aesthetically separate from the church. The only exception to the vernacular character is the timber clad village hall which, like many similar examples across the National Park, likely dates from the early 20th century. Boundaries are entirely small stone walls, mostly of dry stone construction, except Middle Farm which is mortared. Simple and natural picket or 5-bar gates provide access to houses and fields.
Negative factors: Overhead wires and poles. Some loss of traditional style fenestration.
Limestone Hills Landscape Character Type
Submit your thoughts on Carlton (Helmsley)
Carlton in Cleveland
Carlton in Cleveland is a small village located within the Western Escarpment Landscape Character type of the National Park close to Stokesley. In places, there are wide views of the surrounding hills and lowlands. In the isolation from main roads and settlements, there is a strong sense of tranquillity. Carlton in Cleveland itself is a long linear settlement, which is split in two by Alum Beck and many green spaces. There are numerous small bridges which connect each side of the village, with mature trees and vegetation further characterising this natural boundary. The core of the village, which is a Conservation Area, is characterised by traditionally constructed stone and pantile buildings with timber multi-pane sash windows, stone headers, cills, and water tabling, and long unbroken roofscapes.
Dormer windows are not typically found, however there are some bay windows, and some buildings are also rendered or constructed from brick. The buildings are mostly two storeys, with some directly fronting the highway and some stepped back, separated by hedges and low dry stone/brick walling. On the northern approach to the village is a Grade II Listed St. Botolph’s Church, which is located in a prominent, elevated position. Adjacent to this is a row of Grade II Listed cottages known as Manor Cottages and a higher status dwelling known as Manor House. On the southern approach is a collection of 20th century and more modern houses, known as The Crescent.
Negative factors: Decorative barge boards on some properties.
Castleton lies in the Esk Valley to the north of the National Park. Its highly elevated position, especially for those buildings sitting on top of the rigg, means that the village is widely visible in the landscape as roads approach it from all directions. The steep open slopes on either side of the village provide extensive views of the Moorland, Moorland Dale, and Central Valley landscapes, with key glimpses caught between buildings. The village is one of the largest and most prominent in the area, mainly linear in form, with slight nucleation on the periphery. The diversity in the form and character reflects the development of the village, showing influences of the early castle site, market town and later industrial heritage including mills and the railway.
There are a variety of building types, but there is a prominence of stone and pantile, however, some brick and slate arrived with the railway. The sloping nature of the street and the variety of buildings which follow it provide a characterful roofscape. There are many modest but characterful cottages, particularly around the historic core, where there are fine examples of timber boarded doors, windows which are smaller on each storey of the house and chevron tooling, a lot of which bear evidence of a previous surface finish. This central core is especially rich in history, with characterful trods and worn stone steps providing narrow walkways lit by wall mounted iron lamps.
There are many interesting details throughout Castleton including shopfronts, historic glass, varied window types, old horse tie rings, date stones, mounting blocks, iron railings, stone bridges and the commemorative stone post which marks the elevated grassed area associated with the old cheese market (the market was held every October from the late 1800s and the whole of the High Street was lined with cheese wagons). Of note is the date on the old lintel of the former Robin Hood pub with a ghost sign on the gable. On the edges of the village, there is high quality agricultural character and outbuildings, some of which are associated with the old Castleton Mill complex as evident on historic maps. There is also an abundance of green spaces and verges, tying in with the surrounding soft landscape. The presence of several communal and religious institutions remains and although mostly now converted, the church of St Michael and St Gregory remains prominent despite being set back from the high street and shielded by distinctive mature trees.
Negative factors: Dense on street parking. Satellite dishes on roofs. Loss of traditional windows. Modern tarmac.
Charltons sits on the northern edge of the National Park at the bottom of Birk Brow, one of the steep rises that take you onto the moors upland plateau. Sitting next to the busy A171 Guisborough to Whitby Road, Charltons is a small village made up of former miner’s cottages and is named after Thomas Charlton, the original owner of the Slapewath ironstone mine. The community centre sits on the site of the village hall which once included a bath house for the miners.
The village is dual linear in form and includes two rows of terraced cottages, now mostly rendered (many in 2013) in various colours. A third row of houses was demolished in the 1960s due to subsidence. Houses front directly onto the highway with small rear yards bounded by tall brick walls providing a hard character to the streetscape. Some houses retain their original brick surfaces, and others the vertical window proportions, lending some original character to the area. Extensive views out towards farmland are available from the southern edge and to the rear of the village a substantial area of open space including a play area is available. Windows and doors are a mixture of styles but are mostly modern uPVC construction. Benches and pot plants outside homes are a feature, lending a sense of community.
Negative factors: Road noise to the front. Satellite dishes. A few empty properties. Loss of traditional window proportions.
Chop Gate is a small village nestled within the rolling hills of the Moorland Dales within Bilsdale towards the west of the National Park. It lies some distance from other villages and being the only settlement in Bilsdale has a sense of isolation and tranquillity. There are long open views towards mosaics of small green fields, divided by stone walls or hedgerows. The settlement is characterised by its linear form with long, extensive building lines that are gradually stepped. There are some outlying buildings and a small modern housing development to the west of the main highway. Most buildings directly front the highway; however, some have small front curtilages, bounded by hedgerows or stone walling.
Buildings are typically single and two storeys with red clay pantiles as the most common roofing material, alongside the vernacular sandstone construction. Slate as a roof material is limited to key buildings such as the Primary School. Many windows are timber vertical or Yorkshire sliding sashes with timber boarded doors and stone cills and headers. Dormer windows are not a feature in this village and the roofscapes are, on the whole, unbroken. There are many agricultural design features interspersed between the domestic buildings on agricultural barns such as pin backs and ironmongery. Other notable sites include the Grade II Listed Forge Cottage with attached former blacksmiths workshop and the former Grade II Listed Methodist Church.
Negative factors: Overuse of tarmac in some areas. Some departures from the traditional window design. Overhead lines.
Church Houses is a small rural hamlet in the valley of Farndale East. Due to the lack of roads in and out of the Dale, Church Houses has a strong rural character that feels tranquil and secluded. It has a compact and nucleated layout where development is clustered around the two junctions. Its built character has strong farming influences where the majority of the building stock is the Grade II Listed Church Houses Farm and its range of high quality traditional agricultural buildings, now sympathetically converted.
Except for the timber clad village hall, sandstone is the only building material with natural red clay pantiles, stone chimneys, and stone water tabling. Buildings are located close to the road with small garden areas to the side, bounded by dry stone walls or metal railings leading into mature hedging with simple timber picket and 5-bar gates. White or cream painted windows of vertical or horizontal sliding sashes and timber green painted doors reflect estate ownership. The red K6 telephone box is a notable feature.
Negative factors: Introduction of non-traditional detailing such as white fascia boarding and modern roof lights. Erosion of the grassy junction where the signpost sits. Overhead wires and poles.
Only a small part of the village, north of the A171, lies within the National Park. Historically this area looked very different to how it is today and Cober Hill, Cote Greens (now several converted barns) and Cedar Shingles appear to be the only surviving buildings, albeit in a much-altered form. To the west of Newlands Road, buildings are predominantly 20th century detached bungalows of stone, brick and rendered construction set at an angle to the highway. A terrace of modern pebble-dashed dwellings faces the highway set back behind small garden areas. Cloughton is a Conservation Area, designated in 1977 which encompasses the historic core of the village, excluding the 20th century development to the west of Newlands Road. Except for the slate covered Cober Hill all other buildings are covered with traditional red clay pantiles. Stone water tabling can be found on the vernacular buildings with gutters fixed with spikes, and fascia boarding or boxed eaves to the later developments.
Boundary treatments are low dry-stone walls with mature planting which helps to integrate the non-vernacular development and create more of a rural character to this part of the settlement. To the east of Newlands Road is Cober Hill, a brick built Victorian mansion, now a hotel, sits within substantial grounds surrounded by a tall brick and stone wall and mature trees which hide the building from public view. Located down the narrow tree and wall lined Newlands Lane, the converted farmstead of Newlands Farms sits on lower ground below Cober Hill. This part of the settlement has a much more open and pastoral feel, closer to the sea. Here sandstone is the main building material with natural red clay pantile, brick chimney stacks and stone water tabling to principal buildings. Windows are generally white vertical sashes or stained timber but the metal diamond shaped crittal windows of Court Green are particularly noteworthy.
Negative factors: Overhead wires and poles.
Cold Kirby lies to the west of the National Park, a couple of miles northeast of Sutton Bank. It is a spread out, linear settlement which bifurcates into a Y-shaped layout to its eastern side. It contains large vernacular houses and farmhouses with little ornamentation, separated from the roadside by large grass verges and even larger front gardens. Dry stone walls separate the gardens from the road, many with picket gates. The village also has large greens and ‘gap sites’ and together with its many large trees, the feeling is of a green, dispersed, leafy village which is well integrated into the landscape.
Many farms and outbuildings are predominantly still in agricultural use (with some exceptions). The main build material is sandstone with a grey hue under red clay pantile roofs, although there are some slate roofed properties around the church. Houses are of a long rectangular form and narrow in width. Their longest side faces onto the roadside. Driveways are informal with either a cream colour gravel or just tracks through the large gardens. Windows are predominantly of painted timber construction with Yorkshire sliding sashes common to the smaller cottages while larger status farmhouses tend to be vertical sashes. Doors are a mixture of simple painted 4 or 6-panel doors boarded doors or half glazed doors. Finishes tend to be white or cream which provides a coherent character to the built environment. Modern uPVC is evident in the village but is not commonplace.
Cold Kirby contains 5 Listed Buildings, although unusually St. Michael’s Church is not listed. The village hall is an unusual feature with its grey and green corrugated iron construction - once a wartime hospital building in Thirsk, it was moved to the village in 1949 and opened as Cold Kirby Institute.
Negative factors: Loss of traditional outbuildings. Building on gap sites. Loss of traditional window and door styles.
Commondale lies in the Esk Valley. Its character is unlike all other villages in the National Park as its origin as a settlement is entirely a result of the arrival of the brickworks (founded by John Pratt) in the mid-19th century. It became of the Commondale pottery until it closed in 1947. A few traditional vernacular buildings existed pre-brickworks with Beck Cottage likely to be the only building remaining. A bleach mill was built in 1753, sited on the Commondale beck. Weaving from the parishes of Danby, Westerdale and Commondale were sent to be bleached there until 1850. During the building of the railway in 1861 the building on the mill site was used as a public house and called the Diving Duck. The rest of the settlement evolved from the late 19th century onwards. As a result, Commondale’s built character is distinct, made up of orange-red brick construction with decorative tiles, most notably in Coronation Cottages and Ness Terrace but is seen in most of the developments of this time. Render appears later and concrete pantile is the predominant roofing material interspersed with slate and some clay pantiles and brick chimneys. While stone water tabling is evident on some buildings most have simple mortared verges or are finished with timber barge board details.
Buildings are a mixture of sizes ranging from bungalows to substantial two-storey houses. The village is surrounded by moorland, glimpses of which are seen throughout the village. The village core is open with the Grade II war memorial, the green and several mature trees forming key features. Most buildings are set back facing the road, but some buildings are gable-on. Boundary treatments are picket fencing or metal railings with hedging and some drystone walls. Windows and doors are of mixed design and generally of white uPVC construction. Commondale retains its ancient pannier tracks which run past the former school and onto the moors. These were used by smugglers up until as late as 1795 to take contraband from the coast and store goods for distribution.
Negative factors: Overhead wires and poles. Parked cars along Potter’s Side Lane which has eroded the grass verge. Modern highway signs. Loss of traditional style of fenestration.
Cowesby is a small linear village which is formed around a natural bend and set within the Hambleton Foothills. The National Park boundary runs along the road, with the northern side of the village, including Cowesby Hall to the east included within the National Park. At the eastern edge of the village, the road leads into Cowesby Hall estate which a substantial number of dwellings and farmsteads in the village will have been traditionally associated with. Despite the village being small, there are multiple large farms with farmhouses which are central to the village, modest workers’ dwellings, a former hospital with almshouses and a large church to the northern end of the village. Between dwellings and on the edge of farm plots, several traditional one storey agricultural buildings with timber boarded openings and glazed pantiles add to the varied appearance of the built form and atmosphere.
The built character is distinctly sandstone construction with clay and concrete pantile, interspersed with slate, and stone chimneys. Many traditional timber window and door styles remain but overall, the architectural detailing is varied with some stone features. A few more modern dwellings are interspersed within the infill sites which have maintained traditional materials. The surrounding woodland and hills provide vast views between dwellings and around corners, combined with an abundance of large, grassed frontages, soft landscaping, trees, and sections of orchards, with low stone walls and timber picket gates. Of note are the fine glazing bars at Cowesby Grange, the wheelhouse and cart shed openings at Grange Farm and a linear range of dwellings with leaded stone windows sat on the bend which acts as the central triangle of the village.
Negative factors: Loss of traditional style of fenestration, large roof lights. Agricultural buildings in need of repair. Poor rainwater goods with limited cast iron examples.
Coxwold sits on the south western edge of the National Park, in an undulating landscape between the Hambleton and Howardian Hills. The village shares many characteristics with its rubble sandstone buildings and ‘manicured’ feel, more typical of a Cotswold Village, making it unusual for a settlement in the North York Moors. The settlement pattern is little changed from feudal times, and clusters around a hill upon which St. Michael’s church, with its octagonal tower, sits. The main settlement pattern is however linear with development present around the four roads which meet at a crossroad in the middle of the village. The main high street is unusually wide – almost a square sloping upwards with broad green banks and cobble strips adjoining. A combination of vanilla-coloured sandstone buildings, green grass slopes, red clay pantiles and flower baskets and pots add a splash of colour to the village. Many of the houses still retain their garths – long strips of land behind each house.
Roofs are a mix of red pantile and slate with simple eaves. Sliding sash windows, including three light Yorkshire or Victorian sash windows, are a common feature. Doors are usually fully boarded with little or no fenestration. More modern buildings, built from sandstone to the vernacular style are present in the northern part of the village. Notable buildings include the Grade II Listed 17th Century Manor Farm House on Village Street constructed on coursed, rubble sandstone under a pantile roof, Colville Hall (also rubble sandstone) was once a manor house. The Old Hall was built as a grammar school in 1603. The Grade I Listed brick-built and slate roofed Shandy Hall (once the home of vicar and author Laurence Sterne), parts of which date back to the 15th Century is also notable. A signal box remains from the Thirsk to Malton line which ran through the village until its closure in 1964. The rubble and slate roofed almshouses are a standout feature in Village Street. These were founded in 1662 by the Earl of Fauconberg, whose coat of arms is displayed on the porch.
Negative factors: Modern street signage. Loss of traditional style of fenestration.
Cropton lies on the southern boundary of the National Park. Only a very small section of the village is within the National Park - the buildings set to the west of the main road beyond the triangular village green and junction into the village, which has an unusually broad street. The Grade II Listed St. Gregory’s Church sits beyond the village to the northwest, within the National Park, next to the scheduled Cropton Hall Garth - a motte and bailey castle, medieval manor house, a medieval trackway and a pond.
The village green is a key junction with buildings and views orientated towards it, and it contains a centrally dominant mature tree. As such it provides a link between the main high street of Cropton village and the more dispersed buildings on the other side of Cropton Lane that are within the National Park. Between the New Inn public house and the Grade II Listed Corner Cottage there is a public footpath which leads to Grunsty Stile and beyond to Cropton Mill, traditionally a corn mill. Just beyond the pub are remnants of old quarries and limekilns, which influenced the prominent limestone construction material, where many of the houses are rubble limestone with quoins and pantile roofs with stone or brick chimneys.
Many of the dwellings have stone water tabling and stone lintels or cills. Windows are mainly uPVC with a range of timber boarded and panelled doors. Porches are uncommon although some modest canopies and sympathetic lean-to extensions are present, with materials that match the host dwelling. Whilst many of the buildings maintain a traditional long linear form, unusually, many are three stories. This is likely to be the result of former mill and industry uses and takes advantage of the steeper nature of the topography. There are glimpses of the surrounding landscape, particularly the nearby forests which open out as you turn the corner to the north of the junction. Many of the buildings on the western side were once used for farming, leaving a high-quality agricultural character including many modest traditional one-story outbuildings. We know from historic maps that the layout and buildings have remained unaltered for a lengthy period along with many of the traditional stone boundaries, steps, and timber picket gates.
Negative factors: Overgrown hedges, modern infill tarmac, loss of traditional door and window styles and materials
Danby lies in the Esk Valley to the north of the National Park. The historic core is concentrated around Stainton Hall Farm, Bridge Green, the crossroads, and Brier Hill. Danby old parish church stands in the middle of the dale close to where it is thought that original wooden village stood. It is believed the church is built of stone in the old fortress at Castleton. Danby has since developed a mixed character as a result of substantial expansion from the 1950s onwards, primarily along West Lane, The Crescent and more recently Wellington Close.
Sandstone is the only building material in these areas, with natural red clay pantile interspersed with slate, stone chimneys, and stone water tabling. Brick is a rarity, but the buff brick elevations of No’s 14 and 16 Dale End contribute to Danby’s character, brought by the arrival of the railway in the late 19th century. Otherwise, render is common, particularly in later developments. Some traditional window and door styles remain but overall, the architectural detailing is varied with uPVC common throughout. Boundary treatments are generally small drystone walls or timber picket fences. The village is interspersed with large mature trees and much of the open areas are Common Land. This together with the moorland backdrop which surrounds the village provides a very rural character.
Negative factors: Loss of traditional window and door fenestration in the historic areas. Parking, particularly along West Lane has eroded the grass verges. Overhead poles and wires. Urban streetlight columns. Wide highway dominant accesses, particularly to Wellington Close, urbanise this area of the village. Loss of boundaries in some areas.
Dunsley is a small hamlet situated on an elevated position above the coastal village of Sandsend. The village is surrounded by fields used for both arable and grazing. Mulgrave Woods forms a prominent backdrop to the north. Despite its close proximity to the coast, views of the North Sea are limited primarily as a result of the trees which line Dunsley Lane. The village itself is generally set out in a nucleated form, centred around the village green which was once the site of a medieval chapel. Development is low density with large gaps between buildings and with its elevated position has an open and wild character. There are three farmsteads in Dunsley which adds to its agricultural character. Along with the former schoolroom, Sea View and Dunsley Hall, dating from the Victorian era, make up the historic core of the village. There has been little infill development with only another three properties built since. Properties tend to face the highway set back behind grass verges and bordered with timber fencing, hedging and stone walls. The exceptions to this layout are Dunsley Hall and Home Farm which are sat at right angles to the road.
Sandstone is the only building material and both traditional red clay pantile and slate roofs are present. Windows and doors are generally white painted timber and multi-pane timber sashes are the prevailing window detail, but modern white uPVC is also evident in isolated instances. The leaded lights of Dunsley Hall are a notable feature. Porches are also evident with the lattice timber porch at Sea View and the decorative barge boarding to the Old Schoolroom being particularly noteworthy. Also of merit is the architectural detailing of the farm buildings at Home Farm which is unique to this part of the National Park and the Mulgrave Estate.
Negative factors: Poles and overhead wires. Modern window detailing. Modern highway sign on the village green.