The Ryedale Roman Bronzes, a ritual Roman metalwork assemblage, was found by two metal detectorists in a field near Ampleforth in May 2020.[4]
Ampleforth is mentioned in the Domesday Book as belonging to the Archbishop of York, but that the land was possibly waste.[5] The name ‘Ampleforth’ derives from a combination of the Old English words ampre (sorrel) and ford meaning ‘(place by) ford where sorrel grew.’[6]
Until immediately after the Second World War Ampleforth mainly consisted of houses built along the main road which serves as the principal thoroughfare. Here there are several buildings dating back to the 19th century including the village's shop and the adjoining Coram Cottage, constructed in 1856.
After the Second World War the village began to spread southwards and further east along what now are called Mill Lane and East Lane. At the southern end of the village there is a former council estate constructed in the 1960s which formed the greatest part of the development. Construction of new houses continues today. Along East Lane small farms are gradually being developed into large homes so that the rural and residential split becomes less marked.
Stained glass window from St Hilda's Church depicting the Crucifixion
There are two public houses in the village,[12] the White Swan and the White Horse. The latter takes its name from the large white horse which was carved into the hillside a few miles to the west.
Ampleforth had a Quaker settlement on the edge of the village, in Shallowdale to the west. The 16th century Carr House Farm was occupied by flax workers to weave flax into linen.[14]
The village was the setting of the Ampleforth Sword Dance, traditionally held at Christmas. The dance was of a Long Sword type which had the back story of a traveller killed by the six swordsmen and when a doctor is called for to revive the dead traveller, a clown pushes him aside and brings the traveller back to life through his mystical moves. Cecil Sharp documented the dance in his book, The Sword Dances of Northern England, and he is credited with finding the last surviving man to have taken part in the dance (as the clown).[15][16]
The village used to have a railway station on the Thirsk and Malton Line that was 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of Ampleforth.[17] Services ran between York and Pickering from the 1930s onwards and the station closed in 1950, some years before the rest of the line did to passengers.[18]
Governance
An electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward stretches south-east to Coulton with a total population taken at the 2011 census of 2,153.[19]
The village was part of the Ryedale district between 1974 and 2023. It is now administered by the unitary North Yorkshire Council.
^Sharp, Cecil (1913). "The Ampleforth Sword Dance". The Sword Dances of Northern England, together with the Horn Dance of Abbots Bromley. London: Novello & Co. p. 50. OCLC758925.
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