Hambleton Hills

{{Short description|Range of hills in North Yorkshire, England}} {{Use British English|date=July 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} [[File:Royston Scar Yorkshire.jpg|thumb|The Hambleton Hills and [[Kilburn White Horse]] from near [[Coxwold]], North Yorkshire]]

The '''Hambleton Hills''' are a range of hills in [[North Yorkshire]], England. They form the western edge of the [[North York Moors]] but are separated from the moors by the valley of the [[River Rye, Yorkshire|River Rye]]. They are the eastern boundary of the low-lying [[Vale of Mowbray]] which they abut with a precipitous escarpment.

They run in a north–south direction for about {{convert|15|mi}} and merge with the [[Cleveland Hills]] in the north and [[Howardian Hills]] in the south. The entire range is within the [[North York Moors National Park]].

The hills are made up of rocks of middle and late [[Jurassic]] age with the hard [[Corallian Limestone]] forming the cap at the highest points. The highest point is '''Black Hambleton''' which rises to {{convert|1,308|ft|m}} at the northern end of the range. Roulston Scar reaches {{convert|919|ft|m}} and Whitestone cliff is {{convert|1,063|ft|m}}.<ref>{{cite book|last=Stephens|first=Nicholas |editor=Nicholas Stephens |title=Natural landscapes of Britain from the Cambridge air surveys|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0yE9AAAAIAAJ&q=hambleton+hills&pg=PA40|year=1990|publisher=CUP Archive|isbn=0-521-32390-8|page=40}}</ref> The Corallian Limestone also outcrops along the southern edge of the [[North York Moors]] forming the [[Tabular Hills]] which run from Black Hambleton eastwards to Scarborough, although much broken through by river valleys.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Hambleton Hills was the production centre for [[York Glazed Ware]], a type of [[Medieval]] [[ceramic]].<ref>Jennings, S. 1992. ''Medieval Pottery in the Yorkshire Museum'', York, 18-21.</ref>

==Points of interest== [[File:2014-whitestone-cliff-north-york-moors.jpg|right|thumb|Whitestone Cliff near Sutton Bank, western slope of the Hambleton Hills]] [[Sutton Bank]] (aka Roulston Scar) is a high point on the Hambleton Hills with extensive views over the [[Vale of York]] and the Vale of Mowbray. The hill is the site of one of the most important prehistoric monuments in the region, an [[Hill fort|Iron Age hill fort]] built in around 400 BC.

The Hambleton [[Drove Road]] runs along the summit of the hills, it is part of an ancient highway running from Scotland to the south of England. It is thought to be prehistoric and various burial grounds from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages are evident along its route. Large-scale movement of cattle from Scotland to market in England during the 18th and 19th centuries have given it the name by which it is known today.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.darlingtonandstocktontimes.co.uk/leisure/8131115.A_walk_through_time_on_Hambleton_Drove_Road/|title=A walk through time on Hambleton Drove Road|last=Cockerill|first=Carl|date=30 April 2010|work=Darlington and Stockton Times|access-date=2 August 2010}}</ref>

The Pass of Byland was seized in 1322, by the invading army of Scotland's Sir [[James Douglas, Lord of Douglas|James Douglas]] "the Good", Lord of Douglas, in the [[Battle of Old Byland]] which ended in the defeat of the English king [[Edward II]]'s army.

In 1857 a Giant [[Kilburn White Horse|white horse]] hill figure was carved in the limestone above the village of [[Kilburn, North Yorkshire|Kilburn]] by the village schoolmaster John Hodgson.

The [[Cleveland Way]] long distance footpath follows the hills from the Kilburn White Horse north to [[Osmotherley, North Yorkshire|Osmotherley]].

==Literary references== On 4 October 1802 the poet [[William Wordsworth]] composed the poem entitled '' Composed After a Journey Across the Hambleton Hills, Yorkshire''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wordsworth |first=William |author-link=William Wordsworth|editor=William Knight|title=The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4D2AraoQOVAC&q=William+Wordsworth+hambleton&pg=PA383|volume=2|year=2006|publisher= Echo Library |isbn=1-84637-480-4|page=383}}</ref>

The vet Alf Wight whose pen name was [[James Herriot]], famed for the ''[[All Creatures Great and Small (1978 TV series)|All Creatures Great and Small]]'' series of books, TV programmes and films, lived and worked in the nearby market town of [[Thirsk]], and many of his stories take place in the Hambleton Hills.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.herriotdaysout.com/|title=Welcome to Yorkshire's Herriot Country|year=2010|publisher=Yorkshire's Herriot Country Group|access-date=2 August 2010}}</ref>

==Hambleton Royal Gold Cup==

A [[horse race]] was run at Black Hambleton from at least the time of [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Queen Anne]]. Known as the Hambleton Royal Gold Cup, it was open to all horses 5 years or younger and was raced for over {{convert|4|mi}}, each horse carrying {{convert|10|stone}}. The first race was won by the stallion Syphax, owned by [[Sir William Strickland, 3rd Baronet|Sir William Strickland]]. The race was traditionally held on the Saturday preceding the August [[York Racecourse|York]] race meeting.<ref>{{cite book |last=Whyte |first=James Christie |title=History of the British turf, from the earliest period to the present day, Volume I |year=1840 |publisher=H. Colburn |location=[[London]] |page=402|ol=6544990M }}</ref> The race was run until 1776 at Black Hambleton, thereafter alternately at Black Hambleton and [[York Racecourse|the Knavesmire in York]], and eventually, by the mid-19th century exclusively at York.<ref>{{cite book |title=Horse-Racing: Its History and Early Records of the Principal and other Race Meetings with Anecdotes etc. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S7IUAAAAYAAJ&q=horse+racing |access-date=26 April 2013 |year=1863 |publisher=Saunders, Otley & Co. |location=[[London]] |page=131}}</ref> The training of racehorses continued at stables at Hambleton House and the nearby hamlet of [[Hambleton, Ryedale|Hambleton]].

==Notes==

==External links== {{Commons category-inline|Hambleton Hills}} *{{cite web|url=http://www.north-york-moors.com/hambleton-hills.html |title=The Hambleton Hills| access-date=2 August 2016}}

[[Category:Mountains and hills of North Yorkshire]] [[Category:North York Moors]] [[Category:Droving roads]]