{{Short description|Village in North Yorkshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}} {{Use British English|date=May 2018}}

{{Infobox UK place | country = England | static_image_name = GillingWest.jpg | static_image_caption = Gilling West | coordinates = {{coord|54|26|28|N|1|43|09|W|display=inline,title}} | official_name = Gilling West | population = 534 | population_ref = (2011 census)<ref name="2011 census"/> | unitary_england = North Yorkshire | lieutenancy_england = North Yorkshire | region = Yorkshire and the Humber | constituency_westminster = Richmond and Northallerton | post_town = RICHMOND | postcode_district = DL10 | postcode_area = DL | dial_code = | os_grid_reference = NZ183050 }} '''Gilling West''' is a village about {{convert|3.5|mi}} north of Richmond in North Yorkshire, England. It is located in the civil parish of Gilling with Hartforth and Sedbury. It is named "West" to distinguish it from Gilling East near Helmsley, some 32 miles away.

A 2018 report states that the community houses people who commute to Darlington, Teesside and Richmond via the A66 and A1(M). The settlement "retains a village hall, two public houses and a shop but there is no longer a post office. There is a limited bus service to the village." The report adds that Gilling West is a Conservation Area with the High Street of particular significance. "A substantial percentage of the buildings [in the community] are listed as being of special architectural or historic interest".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.richmondshire.gov.uk/media/8994/adopted-gilling-west-conservation-area-appraisal-web.pdf|title=Gilling West: Conservation Area Appraisal|date=4 April 2018|publisher=Richmondshire District Council|accessdate=6 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/gilling-with-hartforth-and-sedbury-richmondshire-north-yorkshire|title=Listed Buildings in Gilling with Hartforth and Sedbury, Richmondshire, North Yorkshire|website=britishlistedbuildings.co.uk}}</ref>

==History== [[File:Village pinfold at the northern end of Gilling West - geograph.org.uk - 94066.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|left|Remains of the village pinfold, used to hold stray animals, dating from around 1897]] The name Gilling derives from the Old English ''Getlaingas'' meaning 'the people of Getla'.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Yorkshire+NR/Gilling|title=Key to English Place-names|website=kepn.nottingham.ac.uk|accessdate=14 October 2025}}</ref>

Gilling was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 under the name of ''Ghellinges'' "in the hundred of Land of Count Alan" as a tiny village with "16 villagers. 3 freemen. 6 smallholders". The tenant-in-chief was named Count Alan of Brittany.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://opendomesday.org/place/NZ1805/gilling/|title=Gilling &#124; Domesday Book|website=opendomesday.org}}</ref>

thumb|upright=1.3|right|St Agatha's Church The parish church is St Agatha's Church, Gilling West. The Domesday Book records a place of worship in the village as of 1086. The C of E website in early 2021 states "it is mentioned in the Domesday Book and parts of St Agatha’s date back to this period". It was subsequently restored and modified. The Historic Listing states: "Late C11, early C14, late C14, late C15, restoration and additions 1845". This is a Grade I listed property.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/3208/about-us/|title=Gilling: St Agatha|website=www.achurchnearyou.com}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE|num=1316927 |desc=CHURCH OF ST AGATHA Gilling West|accessdate=6 February 2021}}</ref> The 2018 archeological report adds specifics about St Agatha's: "a number of pre-Conquest carved stones and a medieval grave cover" were discovered here. "The west tower probably belonged to the church at Gilling recorded in the Domesday Book as stylistically it belongs to the late 11th Century."<ref name="Historic Development">[https://www.richmondshire.gov.uk/media/8994/adopted-gilling-west-conservation-area-appraisal-web.pdf Historic Development]</ref>

St Agatha's Church features a monument to Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock (1862-1914), who was born in the parish, at Hartforth.<ref>{{cite web|last=Webster|first=Dave|title=Gilling West Cradock monument|date=2009-01-03|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/davewebster14/3164697292/|access-date=2021-08-04}}</ref>

In earlier times, the area was one of some importance in the Anglo-Saxon period of British history. In the 7th&nbsp;century it was a seat of the Deira in the southern region of the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria, and from the 9th&nbsp;century, the surrounding area known as ''Gillingshire'' was ruled by the Earls of Mercia, specifically Edwin, who was the last of the Earls to have a seat of power at Gilling before the Norman Conquest saw Edwin's lands given to William the Conqueror's kinsman, Alan Rufus.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gillingwest.org.uk/7.html|title=Village History|accessdate=14 June 2013|archive-date=10 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810122431/http://gillingwest.org.uk/7.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> One report adds some specifics, indicating that this was an administrative area or 'wapentake'. In 1976, "a C9th Anglican cross ... a C10th hogback tombstone and a Viking sword" were discovered.<ref name="Historic Development"/>

The sword was found by nine-year-old Garry Fridd in the beck while playing close to the bridge in Gilling. It turned out to be a double-edged, iron-bladed sword with a silver-decorated handle, dating from the 9th&nbsp;century. It is regarded as being amongst the best Anglian weapons ever to be discovered in England. The restored Gilling sword is in the collection of the Yorkshire Museum in York.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk/collections/collections-highlights/the-gilling-sword/ |title=Collections Highlights: The Gilling Sword |publisher=Yorkshire Museum |accessdate=5 October 2018}}</ref>

The area had a number of quarries that were used until the mid 1800s for stone used in construction. One survives, the Dunsa Bank Quarry.<ref name="Historic Development"/>

The manor house Sedbury Hall, on the edge of the village, was described by one historical report as "the seat of the lords of Sedbury Manor" as of 1914. Formerly associated with the Darcy, Aske, Conyers and Nevil families,<ref>{{cite web|title='Parishes: Gilling', in A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 1, ed. William Page (London, 1914), pp. 71-84.|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/north/vol1/pp71-84|website=British History Online|accessdate=15 May 2018}}</ref> it is now home to the Baker Baker family (formerly of Elemore Hall, Pittington, Co. Durham).<ref>{{cite web|title=Baker Baker papers: Durham University Archives|url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/7f9250b1-13bd-3c2f-9478-f52e503ea4e4|website=JISC Archives Hub|accessdate=15 May 2018}}</ref> The present house was designed by John Carr, and its grounds were laid out in the 18th&nbsp;century by William Sawrey Gilpin.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sedbury Hall, Richmond, Giling West, near Richmond, North Yorkshire, England|url=https://www.parksandgardens.org/places/sedbury-hall-richmond|website=Parks & gardens|date=31 December 1699 |accessdate=12 December 2023}}</ref>

Gilling Lodge, a Grade II listed building, was constructed in the mid 1800s for the Roper family, according to the listing.<ref>{{NHLE|num=1166425 |desc=GILLING LODGE|accessdate=6 February 2021}}</ref> The archeological report about the area adds that Roper was part of a family of Richmond bankers.<ref name="Historic Development"/> The house has since been "restored to National Trust guidelines" by owners who listed the property for sale in 2020. It was described as a 6,300 square foot home with "six bedrooms, five bathrooms and a cinema room".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.countrylife.co.uk/property/a-superb-country-house-with-a-village-location-immaculately-restored-to-national-trust-guidelines-222218|title=A superb country house with a village location, immaculately restored to National Trust guidelines|first=Penny|last=Churchill|date=4 February 2021|website=Country Life}}</ref>

==Governance==

The village lies within the Richmond and Northallerton parliamentary constituency, which has been under the control of the Conservative Party for more than a century. The current Member of Parliament, since the 2015 general election, is Rishi Sunak, the constituency's previous incumbent being William Hague. Gilling West also lies within the Richmondshire North electoral division of North Yorkshire Council.<ref name="Survey">{{cite web | url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/business-government/tools-support/open-data-support | title=OpenData support &#124; OS Tools & Support }}</ref> From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of Richmondshire.

==Geography==

Gilling West is located on the B6274 road that links nearby Richmond with the A66 trunk road and eventually continues on to Staindrop in County Durham. Nearby settlements to Gilling include Hartforth {{convert|1.1|mi}} north-west, Whashton {{convert|2.6|mi}} to the west, and the market town of Richmond {{convert|3.6|mi}} to the south. Gilling Beck flows through the village. Further upstream the same watercourse is known as Hartforth Beck as it passes through the settlement of Hartforth, whilst downstream of Gilling West it becomes Skeeby Beck before its ultimate confluence with the River Swale just west of Brompton-on-Swale. The village is also prone to major flooding.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Evening Standard|title=Homes evacuated as floods chaos hits UK|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/homes-evacuated-as-floods-chaos-hits-uk-8174645.html?action=gallery&ino=18|date=26 September 2012}}</ref>

==Demography== For the parish of Gilling with Hartforth and Sedbury: {| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto;" ! colspan="11" | Population<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10427812/cube/TOT_POP|title=Population at Censuses|publisher=Vision of Britain|year=2009|accessdate=12 June 2013}}</ref><ref name="2001 Census">{{NOMIS2001|id=36UE047|title=Gilling with Hartforth and Sedbury Parish|accessdate=21 May 2020}}</ref><ref name="2011 census">{{NOMIS2011|id=E04007486|title=Gilling with Hartforth and Sedbury Parish|accessdate=21 May 2020}}</ref> |- ! Year !! 1881 !! 1891 !! 1901 !! 1911 !! 1921 !! 1931 !! 1951 !! 1961 !! 2001 !! 2011 |- | Total || 872 || 754 || 736 || 714 || 721 || 739 || 669 || 665 || 555 || 534 |- |}

In 2015, North Yorkshire County Council estimated the population of the parish to have fallen to 510.<ref>{{cite web |title=2015 Population Estimates Parishes |url=https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/sites/default/files/fileroot/About%20the%20council/North%20Yorkshire%20statistics/Parish_mid-year_population_estimates_2015.pdf |website=northyorks.gov.uk |access-date=21 May 2020 |page=15 |date=December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604015709/https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/sites/default/files/fileroot/About%20the%20council/North%20Yorkshire%20statistics/Parish_mid-year_population_estimates_2015.pdf|archive-date=4 June 2022|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Community and culture== thumb|left|The Village Hall Education for the children of the village is provided by three primary schools in nearby Richmond (CE, Methodist and St Mary's). There was formerly a village school known as ''Gilling School'', built in 1847,<ref>BBC Domesday Reloaded [https://web.archive.org/web/20120318133938/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/domesday/dblock/GB-416000-504000/page/19]</ref> but it has since closed and been redeveloped into housing. Pupils receive secondary education at Richmond School & Sixth Form College.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.northyorks.gov.uk/article/26699/Secondary-admission-arrangements-for-the-Northallerton-area|title=Secondary admission arrangements for the Northallerton area|publisher=North Yorkshire County Council|accessdate=17 January 2017|archive-date=16 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116103342/http://www.northyorks.gov.uk/article/26699/Secondary-admission-arrangements-for-the-Northallerton-area|url-status=dead}}</ref> The village has two pubs, the ''Angel Inn'' and the ''White Swan'', and had a post office/village shop until its closure in 2013.

==Notable people== *Ralph Hedley, painter<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cass |first1=Eddie |title=Ralph Hedley and His Sword-Dance Paintings |journal=Folk Music Journal |date=2003 |volume=8 |issue=3 |page=335 |publisher=English Folk Dance and Song Society |location=London |issn=0531-9684}}</ref>

==See also== *Listed buildings in Gilling with Hartforth and Sedbury

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==References== {{reflist|2}}

==External links== {{commons category|Gilling West}} * {{Genuki|county=NRY|Gilling West|Gillingwest}} * [http://www.gillingwest.org.uk/index.html Gilling West Village Website]

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Category:Villages in North Yorkshire Category:Civil parishes in North Yorkshire