Wath (near Ripon)
The parish church is dedicated to St Mary.
History
The name Wath derives from Old Norse and means "ford", which has led to speculation that the name associates with a crossing through water, most likely Wath Beck at the east end of the village. The village is noted in the Domesday Book where it was in the ownership of Count Alan, having previously been owned by Archil and Rothschil in 1066. William the Conqueror granted to Count Alan.
The manor and village were in dispute about ownership through the first half of the 13th century. These disputes culminated in a Papal Court which decided that the two warring parties would submit a champion each in a duel. The abbot of Mont St Michel feared for his life, and that of his champion, and so renounced all claims on the village. The winner was Sir Robert Marmion, whose family were already resident at West Tanfield and who built their castle (Marmion Tower).
Wath was historically a large ancient parish in the North Riding of Yorkshire, which also included the townships of Melmerby, Middleton Quernhow and Norton Conyers. Wath and the other townships became separate civil parishes in 1866.
Governance
Wath is part of the electoral ward of Wathvale. This ward stretches south to Norton-le-Clay with a total population taken at the 2011 Census of 3,479.
References
- ^ "99" (Map). Northallerton & Ripon. 1:50,000. Landranger. Ordnance Survey. 2016. ISBN 978-0-3192619-7-2.
- ^ "Wath". ordnancesurvey.co.uk. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
- ^ "Population estimates" (PDF). North Yorkshire County Council. Retrieved 10 July 2017. In the 2011 census the population was included with Middleton Quernhow and Norton Conyers, and not counted separately."Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
- ^ "Photograph of St Mary's Church, Wath, Yorkshire". GENUKI. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
- ^ Ekwall, Eilert (1960). The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names (4 ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 501. ISBN 0-19-869103-3.
- ^ Wath ca 2011, p. 3.
- ^ Powell-Smith, Anna. "Wath Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
- ^ William Page, ed. (1914). "Parishes: Wath". Victoria County History. A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 1. pp. 390–396. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- ^ Wath ca 2011, p. 4.
- ^ Vision of Britain website
- ^ UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Wathvale Ward (as of 2011) (E05006271)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
Sources
- Wath (Ripon) Conservation Area Character Appraisal (PDF) (Report). Harrogate Borough Council. 21 September 2011.
External links
Media related to Wath juxta Ripon at Wikimedia Commons
