{{Short description|Civil parish in North Yorkshire, England}} {{about|the civil parish in North Yorkshire, England|the building in the parish|Ellerton Abbey (building)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}} {{Use British English|date=April 2020}} {{Infobox UK place | country = England | static_image_name = | static_image_caption = | coordinates = {{coord|54.36|-1.89|display=inline,title}} | official_name = Ellerton Abbey | civil_parish = Ellerton Abbey | population = 20 | unitary_england = North Yorkshire | lieutenancy_england = North Yorkshire | region = Yorkshire and the Humber | constituency_westminster = | post_town = Richmond | postcode_district = DL11 | postcode_area = DL | dial_code = | os_grid_reference = SE0796 }} '''Ellerton Abbey''' is a civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located on the River Swale in lower Swaledale, {{convert|6|mi|0}} south-west of Richmond. The population of the parish was estimated at 20 in 2016.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=North Yorkshire County Council|title=Population Estimates|year=2016|url=https://hub.datanorthyorkshire.org/dataset/population-estimates/resource/62a70111-c1b9-43b4-a64d-e8c339694aa2?inner_span=True|accessdate=28 April 2020}} At the 2011 Census the population was not counted separately.</ref> The parish consists of farmland, a few scattered houses and an area of moorland which is part of the army training area associated with Wathgill Camp. The parish includes the site of the deserted medieval village of '''Ellerton''',<ref name=beresford/> not to be confused with the modern village of Ellerton-on-Swale 11 miles to the east, but there is no modern village in the civil parish.
From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of Richmondshire, it is now administered by the unitary North Yorkshire Council.
The parish includes Ellerton Abbey House and the adjacent ruins of Ellerton Priory.
== Etymology == The place-name ''Ellerton'' derives from the Old English words ''elri'' "alder" and ''tun'' "farm or enclosure".<ref>{{cite book|last=Smith|first=A. H.|authorlink=Albert Hugh Smith|title=The Place-names of the North Riding of Yorkshire|publisher=English Place Name Society|orig-year=First published 1928|year=1979|page=270|url=https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/groups/epns/documents/north-riding-of-yorkshire.pdf}}</ref> The place was mentioned in the Domesday Book, as ''Elreton'', when it was held by Count Alan of Brittany.<ref name=vch/>
==History== Ellerton appears to have been a village in the Middle Ages.<ref name=Watson>{{cite book|last1=Watson|first1=Emma|title=Ellerton Priory; a study of a monastic landscape|date=2014|publisher=Swaledale and Arkengarthdale Archaeology Group|isbn=978-1-291-77259-3|pages=6–7|edition=1}}</ref> It was historically a township in the parish of Downholme in the wapentake of Hang West in the North Riding of Yorkshire. At least some of the land was held by Ellerton Priory, although the priory was never well endowed. After the dissolution, the manor passed to the Brackenbury family, who sold it in 1654 to James Drax, whose descendants hold it today.<ref name=vch>{{cite web |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/north/vol1/pp225-232 |title=Parishes: Downholme |editor-first=William|editor-last=Page |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |date=1914 |work=Victoria County History. A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 1 |accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref> In 1801 the census recorded 116 inhabitants in the township.<ref name=beresford>{{cite web|url=https://dmv.hull.ac.uk/dmvDetail.cfm?dbkey=5012&county=true|title=Beresford's Lost Villages. Ellerton|publisher=University of Hull|accessdate=29 April 2020}}</ref> In 1830 the Drax family built Ellerton Abbey house, now a Grade II listed building.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1179295|accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref>
Ellerton Abbey became a separate civil parish in 1866.<ref>{{cite vob|name=Ellerton Abbey CP/Tn| url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10420398| accessdate=28 April 2020}}</ref> In 1974 it was transferred to the new county of North Yorkshire.
==See also== *Listed buildings in Ellerton Abbey
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category-inline|Ellerton Abbey (civil parish)}}
Category:Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Category:Swaledale +