Roseberry Topping
Roseberry Topping | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Elevation | 320 m (1,050 ft) |
Prominence | 81 m (266 ft) |
Coordinates | 54°30′20″N 1°06′26″W / 54.50542°N 1.10736°W |
Geography | |
Roseberry Topping within North Yorkshire | |
Location | North York Moors, England |
OS grid | NZ579126 |
Topo map | OS Landranger 193 |
Roseberry Topping is a distinctive
At 1,049 feet (320 m), Roseberry Topping was traditionally thought to be the highest hill on the North York Moors;[4] however, there are 15 higher peaks with the nearby Urra Moor being the highest, at 1,490 feet (450 m). Roseberry Topping offers views of Captain Cook's Monument at Easby Moor and the monument at Eston Nab, previously a beacon.
Geology
The hill is an outlier of the
Until 1912, the summit resembled a
History
The Roseberry area has been inhabited for thousands of years and the hill has long attracted attention for its distinctive shape. A
The hill was perhaps held in special regard by the
In 1736, explorer James Cook's family moved to Airey Holme Farm at nearby Great Ayton. When he had time off from working on the farm with his father, young James took himself off up Roseberry Topping, which gave him his first taste for adventure and exploration, which was to stay with him for life.
Roseberry Topping can be seen from many miles away and was long used by sailors and farmers as an indicator of impending bad weather. An old rhyme commemorates this usage:
- When Roseberry Topping wears a cap, let Cleveland then beware of a clap![11]
The hill was private property for many years, formerly being part of a game estate owned by the Cressy family. In the early 18th century, Dorothea Cressy married
A spur of the
The site was
During the Napoleonic Wars, the Wensleydale volunteers responded to a false alarm when the beacon on Penhill in North Yorkshire was lit in response to a supposed lit beacon on Roseberry Topping, 40 miles distant. This turned out to be burning heather.[15]
In popular culture
In Joseph Reed's 1761 farce, The Register-Office, the character Margery Moorpout, who hails from 'Yatton', sings the praises of 'Roseberry', which she claims to be a mile and a half high:
Certainly God! ye knaw Roseberry? I thought ony Fule had knawn Roseberry!—It's t' biggest Hill in oll Yorkshire—It's aboun a Mile an a hofe high, an as coad as Ice at' top on't i't hettest Summer's Day—that it's.[16]
In 1783, Thomas Pierson, a blacksmith, a watchmaker and schoolmaster from the nearby town of Stokesley wrote an eponymous poem about the hill. Pierson's work was much-admired locally and it was re-published in 1847.[17]
Roseberry Topping has also featured in popular music. It is mentioned in a song by the folk-rock group America on their Hat Trick album. Chris Rea also dedicated the song "Chisel Hill" from the album Shamrock Diaries to Roseberry Topping. The guitarist Gordon Giltrap released an instrumental track named "Roseberry Topping" on his 2010 album Shining Morn.[citation needed]
The hill also appears in the 2018 videogame Forza Horizon 4 although it is referred to as ‘The Great Ridge'.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b Howard Peach, Curious Tales of Old North Yorkshire, p. 39 (Sigma Leisure, 2004)
- ^ "Teesside Airport gets its name back - and connections to London, Dublin and Belfast could be next". Teesside Live Website. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
- ^ "Welcome to Tees Valley". Teesside International Airport Website. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
- ^ See e.g. J. J. Sheahan and T. Whellan, History and Topography of the City of York; the Ainsty Wapentake; and the East Riding of Yorkshire, p. 10. 1855.
- ^ "The '˜Yorkshire Matterhorn' that inspired Cook". Yorkshire Evening Post. 15 May 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
- ^ Johnstone, Charlotte (22 August 2018). "Why you must visit the picturesque Yorkshire village where Captain Cook grew up". The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
- ISBN 0408031107.
- ISBN 87-7492-339-0
- ^ A. H. Smith, English Place-Name Elements, 2 vols, English Place-Name Society, 25–26 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1956), s.v. topping.
- ISBN 0-415-12034-9
- ^ G. F. Northall, English Folk Rhymes 1892, p. 91
- ISBN 978-0-9554153-0-2.
- ^ Brome's Travels, vol. 8. London, 1700
- ^ "SSSI citation sheet for Roseberry Topping" (PDF). English Nature. Retrieved 15 February 2007.
- ^ Pontefract, Ella (1936). Wensleydale. London: Dent. p. 176.
- ^ Joseph Reed (1771), The register-office: a farce of two acts. Acted at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane. By Joseph Reed. A new edition. London: T. Davies and T. Becket and Co. ECCO Print Editions. ESTCID: T064222 [Reproduction from British Library], p. 14
- ^ Pierson, Thomas (18 June 1847). Roseberry Topping: A Poem. (Originally Pub. 1783). With Notes, and Also a Notice of the Author and a Memoir of the Late Thomas Jennett. Jennett – via Google Books.