Grosmont, North Yorkshire

Village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England

Grosmont Priory was a Grandmontine religious house, one of three in England. It was established around 1200 when Joan Fossard and her husband gifted about of land in the Forest of Egton (Eskdale) to the order. A fire destroyed most of the priory in 1360. In 1394 the Abbot of Grandimont gained permission to sell the priory, which was acquired by John Hewitt.#tag:ref|As a result of the disconnection from the French parent order of Grandmontines, the priory was not suppressed as a result of the Suppression of Heresy Act 1414. An unrelated chapel on the banks of the Esk about 0.6 mile (1 km) south west of the priory was dedicated to St Leonard or St Lawrence and possibly connected with the Abbey of Melsa.

The ironworks employed about 500 people and produced about 40,000 tons of iron at its peak between 1865 and 1875. A brickworks was established in 1870, east of the railway line and ironworks, and north of the village. The village population reached a peak of 1600 in 1880; a village cooperative society and Methodist church were founded in 1867, a Working Men's Institute was established in 1871, the church of St Matthew was rebuilt and enlarged in the decade after 1875. A third blast furnace was constructed and began production in 1876. Several negative factors affected the works after the mid 1870s: a drop in iron prices of 75% in the late 1870s; difficulty in obtaining coal during a strike in the Durham Coalfield around 1879, and industrial problems at the works in 1880. The works closed in 1891, and were offered for sale and the buildings demolished in the early 1890s. As a result of its closure, the village population dropped to 872 by 1901. The works produced an estimated one million tons of slag. After closure the slag heaps were reprocessed to make road stone, and slag wool; reprocessing continued until at least the early 1930s. The brickworks expanded during the first decades of the 20th century: its chimney was built in 1902; and a Hoffmann kiln was constructed in 1923; the brickworks operated until 1957. Excluding the building of Ings Terrace in the post second world war period, there has been no urban expansion of the village since the 19th century. In 1963 the railway line to Pickering closed but was reopened by volunteers as the North Yorkshire Moors Railway in 1973.

The parish of Grosmont is located in the valley of the River Esk, near its confluence with the Murk Esk. Excluding farms, the village is the only habitation in the parish. According to the 2011 UK census, the parish had a population of 318, a reduction on the 2001 UK census figure of 335. Several of the road access routes have steep gradients. A number of structures in and near the village are listed, including: the three arch sandstone road bridge over the Esk, dating from around 1700; the early 19th century 'Eskdale Villa' on the eastern outskirts of the village; and in the village the 19th century 'Rose Cottage'. Several railway related buildings and structures are listed, including the 'Station Tavern' public house and outbuildings (originally "The Tunnel Inn"); the Post Office (c. 1835); and the former horse tramway tunnel, now a pedestrian route; all built for the Whitby and Pickering Railway in the 1830s. Also listed are the Murk Esk railway bridge (1845); 1845 railway tunnel, and the G. T. Andrews designed Grosmont Railway station (1846), all built for the York and North Midland Railway.

Grosmont Cricket Club has a history of activity dating back to 1918 and the club's ground is based on Front Street, Grosmont. The club have two senior teams: a Saturday 1st XI that compete in the Scarborough Beckett Cricket League and a Midweek Senior XI in the Esk Valley Evening League.