Hambleton District Council

• Crathorne Parish

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About the Parish  

Crathorne is an attractive village, designated as a conservation zone. The village is situation in the north of the country of North Yorkshire, close to the A19 trunk road and bordering the Tees Valley. The village has a long history as an agricultural community, for instance playing a significant part in the linen industry during the 18th and 19th centuries. Crathorne is the hub of the Crathorne Estates, who farm extensively in the district.

The village is distinguished by a mix of period and modern housing.

The residents of the village include those employed in agriculture, in healthcare and medicine, in engineering, in the public service, in education, in hotel and catering management, and in a variety of business activities. The village is also home to people with artistic, literary and publishing connections. Some of the products of the local artistic output are to be found for sale in the village Post Office. Other work is instead carried out for international clients in such places as New York and Hollywood!

Crathorne village was a noted centre of Roman Catholic recusancy. As a result, by the time that the Dugdale family from Lancashire had replaced the Catholic Crathorne family as Lords of the Manor in 1844, the local Anglican All Saints Church had fallen into disrepair. The church was restored by Lionel Dugdale and rededicated in 1889. St. Mary's Catholic Church, built in 1821, continues to serve a flourishing congregation drawn from the villages of this part of North Yorkshire and is supported by Franciscan monks from nearby Osmotherly. Both churches are popular venues for weddings.

The Dugdale family continue to live in the village as Lords of the Manor. In addition to restoring the Anglican church, Lionel Dugdale built the Reading Room, added to the School buildings built by his father in 1874-75, and constructed Crathorne Hall.

Crathorne Hall, completed in 1906, was the largest country house built in Edwardian England. Lionel's son, Thomas, served as Minister of Agriculture in Winston Churchill's post-war cabinet. St Thomas Dugdale became the first Lord Crathorne in 1959.

Further information about Crathorne is contained in the book "A Present from Crathorne: a pictorial history of the North Yorkshire village of Crathorne", written by James Crathorne and Michael Orr and published by the Crathorne Hall Hotel.