Brignall
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country = England
| static_image_name = St Mary's Church, Brignall.jpg
| static_image_caption = St Mary's Church, Brignall
| coordinates = {{coord|54.50577|-1.89846|display=inline,title}}
| official_name = Brignall
| population = {{Population WD|show=value}}
| population_ref = ({{Population WD|show=year}})
| unitary_england = County Durham
| region = North East England
| lieutenancy_england = County Durham
| constituency_westminster =
| post_town = Barnard Castle
| postcode_district = DL12
| postcode_area = DL
| dial_code =
| os_grid_reference = NZ066122
}}
Brignall is a village and civil parish in the south-west of County Durham, England. It is located in an elevated position adjacent to the River Greta, {{convert|2|km|mile|order=flip}} upstream from Greta Bridge. The nearest town is the market town of Barnard Castle.
At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 54.{{cite web |title=Parish Profiles |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/sources/census_2021_pp |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=5 August 2024}}
The village is known for the scenic valley section of the River Greta known as Brignall Banks, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.{{Cite web|title= MAGiC MaP : Brignall village and Brignall Banks
|url=http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?chosenLayers=CSTsssi,ancwoodIndex,&xygridref=407200,512250&startScale=10000
|publisher=Natural England – Magic in the Cloud }}
Name
The name means "Bridge by the nook of land between the stream and the river". Brig is from Medieval English brig and Old English brycg, meaning bridge; en is a common abbreviation of Medieval English atten ("at the, by the"); hale is from Old English healh ("corner, nook, secret place, corner of land left by the stream in a river valley").{{sfn|Clark Hall|1916|p=323}}
The name was recorded as Bringhenale in the Domesday Book.*{{Cite web|title= Eurvikscire : Page XXIII |publisher=Open Domesday|url= https://opendomesday.org/place/NZ1811/another-stanwick/|access-date= 1 November 2022}}
File:Stone Bridge over Brignall Beck - geograph.org.uk - 3408562.jpg
History
The village was recorded in the Domesday Book (1086) as a settlement in the hundred of land of Alan Rufus in the county of Yorkshire.*{{Cite web|title= BRIGNALL |publisher=Open Domesday
|url= https://opendomesday.org/place/NZ0712/brignall/|access-date= 1 November 2022}} The village had:
- Households: 16 villagers. 3 freemen. 6 smallholders. 1 men
- Ploughland: 152.5 ploughlands. 6 lord's plough teams. 12.5 men's plough teams.
- Other resources: Meadow 12 acres. Woodland 1 * 1 leagues. 1 fishery. 2 churches.
Governance
At the upper tier of local government, Brignall is in the County Durham unitary authority. For elections to Durham County Council, it is part of the Barnard Castle East electoral ward.{{cite web |title=My property |url=https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/26878?uprn=10014556207 |website=Durham County Council |language=en}} At the lower tier, Brignall is a civil parish, which has a joint parish council with the neighbouring Rokeby and Egglestone Abbey parishes.{{cite web |title=Brignall, Egglestone Abbey & Rokeby Parish Plan 2008 |url=https://rokebybrignallandegglestonabbeyparishcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Brignall-Egglestone-Abbey-Rokeby-Parish-Plan-2008.pdf}}
Historically, Brignall was in the Startforth Rural District of the North Riding of Yorkshire from 1894 to 1974. It was then in the Teesdale district of County Durham from 1974 to 2019.
Art and culture
File:John Sell Cotman 002.jpg, c. 1806.]]
The River Greta and the Brignall area were painted by John Sell Cotman[http://artprints.leeds.gov.uk/index.cfm?event=catalogue.product&productID=133282 Brignall Banks on the Greta – John Sell Cotman], Leeds Art Gallery. Retrieved 10 March 2008. and J. M. W. Turner[http://www.antiquemapsandprints.com/TURNER.htm The Turner Gallery. A Series of One Hundred and Twenty Engravings] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411063846/http://www.antiquemapsandprints.com/TURNER.htm |date=2008-04-11 }}, Antiquarian Maps and Prints. Retrieved 10 March 2008.[http://www.antiquemapsandprints.com/p-3310.jpg Brignall Church by J.M.W. Turner] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060215030902/http://www.antiquemapsandprints.com/p-3310.jpg |date=2006-02-15 }}, Antiquarian Maps and Prints. Retrieved 10 March 2008.[http://www.antiqueprints.com/proddetail.php?prod=f3084 Yorkshire, Brignall Church, after Turner, 1855], Steve Bartrick Antique Prints and Maps. Retrieved 10 March 2008. amongst others.
The area features in Sir Walter Scott’s 1813 poem 'Rokeby': "Oh Brignal banks are wild and fair/ and Greta woods are green".
References
= Citations =
{{Reflist}}
= Sources =
- {{Cite book|last1=Reaney |first1=P H |title= The Origin of English Place Names
|date= 1969 |publisher= Routledge & Kegan Paul }}
- {{Cite book|last1= Clark Hall|first1= John R.|title= A Concise Anglo−Saxon Dictionary, Second Edition
|date= 1916 |publisher= The Macmillan Company }}
- {{Cite book |editor1-last= Page |editor1-first= W.H. |editor1-link= William Henry Page
|year= 1914 |pages= 49–51 |series= Victoria County History |publisher= British History Online
|title= 'Parishes: Brignall' ,in A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 1
|url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/north/vol1/pp49-51
|access-date= 1 November 2022 }}
External links
{{Commons category-inline|Brignall}}
{{Civil parishes in County Durham}}
{{Authority control}}