Cropton, St Gregory's Church c.1955

Photo ref: C753003

More about this scene

Down a tiny lane off the main street, we find the charming 19th-century church of St Gregory. The picture was taken from Castle Hill, the site of an old manor house lookout, probably also used in Roman times during the construction of Wade's Causeway over the moors past Goathland. Buried in the churchyard here is William Scoresby (1732-1816), the mariner who invented the crow's nest lookout for his arctic whaling ships. Scoresby was born near Cropton, and so was his son, who went to sea at the age of 12. William Junior later became the Bishop of Bradford. The trees around the church were planted around 1950, the same time as the nearby forests were established by the Forestry Commission.