Bolton-on-Swale is a village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 and civil parish in the Richmondshire

Richmondshire

Richmondshire is a local government district of North Yorkshire, England. It covers a large northern area of the Yorkshire Dales including Swaledale and Arkengarthdale, Wensleydale and Coverdale, with the prominent Scots' Dyke and Scotch Corner along the centre. Teesdale lies to the north...

 district of North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The local MP is William Hague

William Hague

William Jefferson Hague is the British Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. He served as Leader of the Conservative Party from June 1997 to September 2001...

.

As the name suggests it is near the River Swale

River Swale

The River Swale is a river in Yorkshire, England and a major tributary of the River Ure, which itself becomes the River Ouse, emptying into the North Sea via the Humber Estuary....

. Bolton Beck

Beck

Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...

 is a tributary of the Swale which passes underneath a small bridge at the north of the village. The village is situated on the B6271 road between Scorton and Northallerton

Northallerton

Northallerton is an affluent market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of Mowbray and at the northern end of the Vale of York. It has a population of 15,741 according to the 2001 census...

. The Coast to Coast Walk

Coast to Coast Walk

The Coast to Coast Walk is a 192-mile unofficial and mostly unsignposted long distance footpath in Northern England...

 passes through the village and walkers are a common sight in the summer season.

Buildings

The village church is dedicated to St. Mary; it serves the village and a number of other small villages, hamlet

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

s and farmsteads in the surrounding countryside.

The church is a Grade II* Listed Building built on the site of previous Norman

Normans

The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...

 and Saxon

Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...

 structures. The present building was probably erected during the early 14th century and was enlarged and restored by George Fowler Jones

George Fowler Jones

George Fowler Jones, was an architect , who was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, but based for most of his working life in York.-Biography and work:...

 in 1859. Some interesting sarcophagi were found during the restoration and may now be found on the interior wall by the door. In the vestry

Vestry

A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....

 a curious stone roof exists which is apparently a portion of the original Saxon structure.

In the graveyard is the tomb of Henry Jenkins who, it is claimed, lived to be 169 years old. The dates on the tomb are 1500-1670.

Nearby is Bolton Old Hall, a 15th century pele tower

Peel tower

Peel towers are small fortified keeps or tower houses, built along the English and Scottish borders in the Scottish Marches and North of England, intended as watch towers where signal fires could be lit by the garrison to warn of approaching danger...

, altered and extended in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Education

Bolton-on-Swale St Mary's C of E (VA) Primary School, located in the village, serves Bolton-on-Swale and Scorton. There are under 100 pupils split into 4 classes. Keith Brentnall is the current headteacher

Head teacher

A head teacher or school principal is the most senior teacher, leader and manager of a school....

.

External links

• Bolton-on-Swale St Mary's C of E (VA) Primary School