Downholme

The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book as "Dune" with the manor belonging to Count Alan of Brittany. The lordship of the manor was granted by the Count to Gospatric, son of Arnketil around the time of the Norman Conquest. There were two ploughlands with a taxable value of 3 geld units.{{OpenDomesday|OS=SE1197/downholme/|display=Downholme|accessdate=2 January 2014}} The manor came into the possession of Thomas de Richeburg before passing to the Leyburn family around 1184. Over the following years they granted the manor piecemeal to the abbey of St Agatha at Easby. The abbey then granted the manor lands to the Cleasby family by the middle of the 13th century. Around 1314, the Cleasby's passed the manor on to the Scrope family of Castle Bolton.{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=64746|title=History|accessdate=2 January 2014}}{{cite book|title=Bulmer's Topography, History and Directory (Private and Commercial) of North Yorkshire 1890 |pages=420–421|date=2002|orig-date=1890 |publisher= S&N Publishing|isbn= 1-86150-299-0}}

The etymology of the name is derived from the Old English word dūn meaning hill. As can be seen from the Domesday Book entry, the suffix of -holme, Old English holegn for holly, was added a later date.{{cite book|author=Watts|title= Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-names|page=193|publisher =Cambridge University Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0521168557}}{{cite book|author=A.D. Mills|title=Dictionary of English Place-Names|page=160|publisher=Oxford Paperbacks|year=1998|isbn=978-0192800749}}

File:Bolton Arms , Downholme - geograph.org.uk - 206801.jpg

The village lies on the A6108 road between Leyburn and Richmond on a section called Walburn Head. The nearest settlements of Marske, Hudswell, Stainton and Marrick all lie within {{convert|2.5|mi|0}} of the village. Church Gill, which has a small waterfall, runs north through the village to join the nearby River Swale, whilst other small waterways to the east of the village drain away to Risedale Beck. The village gives its name to the Moor between it and nearby Hudswell Moor. The high point is Seat How at {{convert|312|m}} to the south-east of the village. There are visible signs of old quarries and coal and lead mining shafts on the hillsides surrounding the village. There is also evidence of a Bronze Age univallate hill fort on How Hill to the immediate west of the village.{{NHLE|num=1012604|desc=Remains of Hill Fort|accessdate=2 January 2014}} The geology of the area is made of Yoredale rock, Limestone, Shale and Millstone Grit covered by Clay.{{cite web | url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/business-government/tools-support/open-data-support | title=OpenData support | OS Tools & Support }}

The village lies within the Richmond and Northallerton UK Parliament constituency. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of Richmondshire, it is now administered by the unitary North Yorkshire Council.

In 2012, the neighbouring Hudswell Parish Council put forward a proposal to merge the two parishes.{{cite web|url=http://www.richmondshire.gov.uk/images/files/council-and-democracy/elected-representatives/parish-and-town-councils/hudswell/2013-2014/Hudswell_and_District_Parish_Council_Minutes_2013_14.pdf|title=Hudswell Parish Council Meeting May 2013|page=2|accessdate=19 September 2017}}

File:St Michael and All Saints - geograph.org.uk - 1049641.jpg

For the 2001 and 2011 UK Censuses, the Parishes of Hudswell and Downholme were combined.{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadAreaSearch.do?a=7&r=1&i=1001&m=0&s=1388672951235&enc=1&areaSearchText=hudswell&areaSearchType=16&extendedList=true&searchAreas=|title=Hudswell Parish Statistics|publisher = Office for National Statistics|accessdate=2 January 2014}}

The village of Downholme has its own public house, the Bolton Arms, which first featured in the UK Good Pub Guide 2011 and in the current online edition.{{cite web|url=http://thegoodpubguide.co.uk/pub/view/Bolton-Arms-DL11-6AE|title=Bolton Arms |publisher= 2008–2014 The Good Pub Guide|accessdate=2 January 2014}} St Michael and All Angels' Church, Downholme, to the north of the village, is within the ecclesiastical parish of Downholme and Maske, in the Diocese of Leeds.{{cite web|url=http://www.achurchnearyou.com/downholme-st-michael-all-angels/|title= Downholme: St Michael & All Angels|publisher = Archbishops' Council|accessdate=2 January 2014}}[http://www.riponleeds.anglican.org/directory_parish_info.php?id=34 "Parish of Downholme and Marske"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103072122/http://www.riponleeds.anglican.org/directory_parish_info.php?id=34 |date=3 January 2014 }}, The Diocese of Ripon and Leeds. Retrieved 2 January 2013 Of Norman construction with a substantial restoration in 1886, it is a Grade II listed building.{{NHLE |num= 1179437 |desc= Church of Saint Michael and All Angels |grade= II |accessdate= 2 January 2014}}

• Listed buildings in Downholme

{{reflist}}

• [http://boltonarmsdownholme.com/ The Bolton Arms Official Website]

{{Commons category|Downholme}}

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Category:Villages in North Yorkshire

Category:Civil parishes in North Yorkshire

Category:Swaledale