Population 80 Civil parish Eryholme Sovereign state United Kingdom Shire county North Yorkshire Dialling code 01325 | OS grid reference NZ321083 Country England Local time Tuesday 6:09 PM District Richmondshire UK parliament constituency Richmond | |
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Region Yorkshire and the Humber Weather 8°C, Wind SW at 13 km/h, 65% Humidity | ||
Eryholme is a village and civil parish in the district of Richmondshire in North Yorkshire, England. As the population remained less than 100 in the 2011 census information is included with that of Dalton-on-Tees.
Map of Eryholme, UK
The village is situated on the south bank of the River Tees opposite Hurworth, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south-east of Darlington.
In this part of the Tees valley the river forms many loops called 'holmes'. The word 'holm' is of Viking origin and means "island formed by a river". Eryholme's name is, however, a corruption of its original name 'Erghum'. This name means shieling - a shelter for livestock, which comes from the Old Irish word 'airgh'. This word was introduced into Yorkshire place names by Norwegian Vikings who had lived in Ireland for a number of generations and adopted many Irish words.
The Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Eryholme is a grade II* listed plain sandstone building, originally built c.1200 and modified in the 13th, 14th and 16th centuries. The registers at the church date from 1565.
There are the remains of a Victorian era brick and tile works in the village. There used to be a railway station called Eryholme, but this was located at Dalton-on-Tees some 1.9 miles (3 km) south west of the village. Passengers services ceased in 1911, but were restarted during the Second World War for personnel serving at the nearby RAF Croft.
The chief activity is farming; the farms forming part of the Neasham estate owned by the Wrightson family. Famous for the breeding of shorthorn cattle, a cow sold to the Colling brothers became part of the original stock from which was bred the Durham Ox and Comet.