Wath, Ryedale

Wath is a small hamlet in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated at the northern edge of the Howardian Hills AONB, about 0.6 mi (1 km) east of Hovingham on the B1257 road which crosses here over Wath Beck. Limestone is quarried here which in the 1950s was in demand by the steel industry for lining the furnaces.[1]

A limestone quarry near Wath

In the late 19th century there were only two houses, later just one farm. The population in 1880 was 11 persons, increasing to 20 in 1914 and decreasing to six in 1950. The area of Wath covered about 300 acres (121 ha) and included the northeastern part of Wath Wood. Until 1866 the place was considered a township, then a civil parish, and later became part of the Hovingham parish.[2]

The farm on the northern side of the road is now used as business premises by a fabric store.[3]

The abandoned Wath Old Quarry is an important site for the study of the stratigraphy and the fauna of the Upper Jurassic of the Cleveland Basin.[4]

References
  1. Nick Catford. "Hovingham Spa". Disused Stations.
  2. "History of Wath, in Ryedale and North Riding". A Vision of Britain through Time.
  3. Martin Dawes (15 February 2017). "Entrance to Wath Court Business Units". geograph.org.uk.
  4. J. K. Wright. "Wath Quarry, Hovingham" (PDF). Volume 21: British Upper Jurassic Stratigraphy (Oxfordian to Kimmeridgian). Geological Conservation Review. Chapter 4: Upper Jurassic stratigraphy in North Yorkshire. JNCC, 1980-2007. p. 2731.

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