Plompton

Plompton (formerly also spelt Plumpton) is a hamlet and civil parish located south of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. It is close to the A661.

Plompton
Plompton
Location within North Yorkshire
Population124 (2011 census)[1]
OS grid referenceSE355535
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townKNARESBOROUGH
Postcode districtHG5
Dialling code01423
PoliceNorth Yorkshire
FireNorth Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire
UK Parliament

Plompton Hall is a Grade II* listed building designed by the architect John Carr, and built about 1760.[2] The composer John Hebden originates from the parish.

History

Plompton was mentioned in the Domesday Book (as Plontone), and in the Middle Ages was variously spelt Plumton, Plumpton or Plompton. The name is from the Old English plūme and tūn, and means "plum-tree farmstead".[3] Plompton or Plumpton was historically a township in the parish of Spofforth in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and became a separate civil parish in 1866.[4] It was the seat of the Plumpton family from the reign of William the Conqueror until 1749, when it was sold to Daniel Lascelles.[5] The estate was reacquired by the Plumpton family in the 20th century.

Plumpton Rocks
Plompton Rocks, circa 1798 – J.M.W. Turner
A photographer capturing an image of the rocks in 2009.

Plumpton Rocks is a man-made lake and surrounding pleasure gardens designed by Daniel Lascelles against a backdrop of towering Millstone Grit rocks that have been eroded by the wind. The lake was extended by a dam built by John Carr, architect of the hall. The artist J.M.W. Turner was commissioned by Edward Lascelles, 1st Earl of Harewood, to produce two paintings of the lake and rocks.[6] These now hang at Harewood House. The rocks were also painted by Thomas Girtin.[7] A chasm between two rocks is known as Lovers' Leap.[8]

The site is currently operated as a tourist attraction by the owner Robert de Plumpton Hunter. The site is now generally spelt with a 'u' (for the older name of the parish), although Turner referred to it as Plompton Rocks, in keeping with the modern spelling of the parish itself.[9] The gardens reopened on 30 July 2016 following a major restoration of the lake, dam and woods. The garden is open every day in August and on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from March to October. It was a filming location for the 2016 film Swallows and Amazons.

References
  1. "Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  2. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1149836)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  3. Smith, A.H. (1961). The Place-names of the West Riding of Yorkshire. 5. Cambridge University Press. p. 30.
  4. Vision of Britain website
  5. GENUKI website: Plumpton
  6. Brief history at follifoot.org
  7. Morris, Susan. "Girtin, Thomas". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10777. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  8. "Plompton Conservation Area Character Appraisal" (PDF). Harrogate Borough Council. 30 November 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  9. Turner painting at Tate Online

Media related to Plompton at Wikimedia Commons

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