Ryton, Tyne and Wear
Encyclopedia
Ryton is a semi-rural small town near the western border of Tyne and Wear
, England
. Once an independent town in County Durham
it became incorporated into the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear and the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead
in 1974. It has a population of 15,742.
and Blaydon
, both in Tyne and Wear. Nearby settlements include Stargate, Clara Vale
, Stella and Hedgefield. Stargate is located on the outskirts of Ryton and halfway to Blaydon. It has a children's park, a fish shop, a Quarry, allotments and in the neighbouring town of Crookhill there is a primary school and a general store, which can also be used as a post office.
and coal mining
. Some think that coal-mining was taking place in the area as early as Roman
times, however it was not until 1239 when Henry III
granted that coal may be mined outside the walls that mining became extensive. The agriculture industry on Ryton was mixed and included both pastoral farming
and arable farming
.
As well as its coal industry, Ryton formerly contained the lead-smelting reverberatory furnace
s of the Ryton Company, whose mines were on Alston Moor
. This business was amalgamated into the London Lead Company
in 1705.
Ryton soon became a place of migration for the wealthy, who wanted to escape the urban sprawl
of the Industrial Revolution
in Gateshead
and Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.
A reminder of Ryton's affluent past is found in some of the old mansions at old Ryton village, a place rich in rural qualities because of its proximity to Ryton willows on the banks of the River Tyne
.
After the decline of the coal industry during the second half of the twentieth century Ryton became increasingly suburbanised and is now used as a commuter village for those that work in the more urban areas of Tyneside
.
, Ryton is located in the 'Ryton, Crookhill and Stella ward'. The ward is in the outer west of the borough. The ward is served by three councillors, all Liberal Democrats
. Gateshead Council is Labour
controlled.
Ryton is located within the parliamentary constituency of Blaydon. Its current MP is Labour's Dave Anderson
.
nostalgia also. Remnants of several old pits across Ryton and Crawcrook, including Emma, Clara and Addison can still be found. Within a couple of hundred metres of both Crawcrook and Ryton main street there is rich countryside.
Perhaps the most impressive section of this countryside is Ryton Willows Local Nature Reserve located on the banks of the Tyne, just past Old Ryton Village. It consists of 43 hectares of grassland
, ponds, woodland and locally-rare rare species of flora
and fauna
. Because of this it has been designated as a site of special scientific interest
.
Other areas of countryside include nearby Stargate pond and Addison and Hedgefield woods. It is at Addison woods that Alexander Graham Bell
made one of his pioneering telephone calls.
Further up the Tyne Valley, past the village of Crawcrook and into the border of Northumberland
, there are rural market towns such as Prudhoe
, Corbridge
and Hexham
.
.
Despite being a provincial suburb, Ryton remains a vibrant area, with a variety of local amenities. In the more central part of Ryton these include a Cooperative
supermarket, a Sainsbury's Local store and a selection of independent shops such as Dominic Pizza's, Coffee Johnny's, a small giftshop and a Deli as well as a chiropodist, dentist
and various hair and beauty salons. There is also a community library. Ryton also boasts several restaurants and six public houses, four of which are located away from Ryton Main Street, in Ryton Old Village. The nearby village of Crawcrook offers more services, including a doctor's surgery, two veterinary surgeries, another chiropodist, another dentist and a restaurant.
Ryton also has an extensive Edwardian park which includes children's playing equipment, a bowling green
and an aviary
.
Away from the town centre there is a country club hotel and two golf course
s, Tyneside golf club at Ryton, and Ryton golf club in nearby Clara Vale. Both are situated in tranquil areas, near the banks of the Tyne.
Ryton is home to three schools, Ryton Infant's School, Ryton Junior School and Charles Thorp
, all of which occupy the same site in the town. Nearby Crawcrook offers two more primary schools. Crookhill primary is also nearby.
Sport also plays a role in the local community. Apart from its golf facilities and its Edwardian park, Ryton has its own football
club, Ryton F.C.
, who play at Crawcrook, its own rugby union
team, Ryton Rugby Football Club at nearby Barmoor. Ryton also has its own cricket club, situated opposite Ryton Comprehensive School.
Ryton also benefits from good public transport with regular bus services to Crawcrook, Prudhoe and Hexham to the west, and the MetroCentre, Gateshead and Newcastle to the east.
which is 36 m tall. Other well known artefacts include a 13th-century Frosterly marble
effigy
of a deacon
holding a book.
There have been a number of prominent rector
s of Ryton. These include: Thomas Secker
(1727), later the Archbishop of Canterbury
; Charles Thorp
(1807) virtual founder and first warden of the University of Durham; and The Hon. Richard Byron (1769), brother of William Byron, 5th Baron Byron
and great-uncle of Lord Byron.
Both John Wesley
and Charles Wesley
bothy preached at Ryton's village green
, which has a rich history with religious and social significance. Like many greens in similar villages, it played host to an annual fair which included jugglers, dancers and local stalls.
The old pinfold
dates back to the twelfth century. During the second half of the twentieth century the pinfold was restored.
The annual Ryton Music Festival, held over February and March, has been held in the village for more than 60 years. It offers a variety of music and drama including choral singing and mime
.
The Ryton Summer Festival, held at the local comprehensive school usually includes live music, sport and arts and crafts stalls.
Each year on the Tuesday before Christmas Eve villagers gather on the village green to sing traditional carols accompanied by a local brass band.
There are two air raid shelters in Ryton Willows, as well as other Second World War features such trenches and shower/toilet rooms with tiles, etc. still visible, next to a railway line that was apparently used to bring children up from London. A dirt road hidden under trees leading up to the bottom of the village may have been a checkpoint.
Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in north east England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972...
, 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...
. Once an independent town in County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
it became incorporated into the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear and the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead
Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead
The Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead is a metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. It is named after its largest town, Gateshead, but also spans the towns of Rowlands Gill, Whickham, Blaydon and Ryton; suburban areas include Felling, Pelaw, Dunston and Low Fell.It is bordered...
in 1974. It has a population of 15,742.
Location
Ryton lies midway between CrawcrookCrawcrook
Crawcrook is a semi-rural village close to the western border of the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear in England. Traditionally an independent village in County Durham it has since been incorporated into the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead.-Location:...
and Blaydon
Blaydon
Blaydon-on-Tyne is a town in the North East of England in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. The former urban district, however, extends much further, its fourteen and a half square miles constituting the largest administrative district, after Newcastle, on Tyneside...
, both in Tyne and Wear. Nearby settlements include Stargate, Clara Vale
Clara Vale
Clara Vale is a hamlet situated on the south bank of the River Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England. Once an independent village in County Durham it became incorporated into the new metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear in 1974 and later became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead.-Location:Clara...
, Stella and Hedgefield. Stargate is located on the outskirts of Ryton and halfway to Blaydon. It has a children's park, a fish shop, a Quarry, allotments and in the neighbouring town of Crookhill there is a primary school and a general store, which can also be used as a post office.
History
Traditionally, Ryton's economy was built upon agricultureAgriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
. Some think that coal-mining was taking place in the area as early as Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
times, however it was not until 1239 when Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
granted that coal may be mined outside the walls that mining became extensive. The agriculture industry on Ryton was mixed and included both pastoral farming
Pastoral farming
Pastoral farming is farming aimed at producing livestock, rather than growing crops. Examples include dairy farming, raising beef cattle, and raising sheep for wool. In contrast, mixed farming is growing of both crops and livestock on the same farm. Pastoral farmers are also known as graziers...
and arable farming
Agronomy
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...
.
As well as its coal industry, Ryton formerly contained the lead-smelting reverberatory furnace
Reverberatory furnace
A reverberatory furnace is a metallurgical or process furnace that isolates the material being processed from contact with the fuel, but not from contact with combustion gases...
s of the Ryton Company, whose mines were on Alston Moor
Alston Moor
Alston Moor is an area of moorland and civil parish in Cumbria, England, based around the small town of Alston. The parish had a population of 2,156 at the 2001 census. As well as the town of Alston, the parish includes the villages of Garrigill and Nenthead, along with the hamlets of Nenthall,...
. This business was amalgamated into the London Lead Company
London Lead Company
The London Lead Company was an 18th and 19th century British lead mining company. It was incorporated by royal charter. Strictly, it was The Company for Smelting Down Lead with Pitcoal.-Origins:...
in 1705.
Ryton soon became a place of migration for the wealthy, who wanted to escape the urban sprawl
Urban sprawl
Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a...
of the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
in Gateshead
Gateshead
Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Historically a part of County Durham, it lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne and together they form the urban core of Tyneside...
and Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.
A reminder of Ryton's affluent past is found in some of the old mansions at old Ryton village, a place rich in rural qualities because of its proximity to Ryton willows on the banks of the River Tyne
River Tyne
The River Tyne is a river in North East England in Great Britain. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers: the North Tyne and the South Tyne. These two rivers converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'.The North Tyne rises on the...
.
After the decline of the coal industry during the second half of the twentieth century Ryton became increasingly suburbanised and is now used as a commuter village for those that work in the more urban areas of Tyneside
Tyneside
Tyneside is a conurbation in North East England, defined by the Office of National Statistics, which is home to over 80% of the population of Tyne and Wear. It includes the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside — all settlements on...
.
Local politics
In local governmentLocal government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
, Ryton is located in the 'Ryton, Crookhill and Stella ward'. The ward is in the outer west of the borough. The ward is served by three councillors, all Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
. Gateshead Council is Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
controlled.
Ryton is located within the parliamentary constituency of Blaydon. Its current MP is Labour's Dave Anderson
David Anderson (UK politician)
David Anderson is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Blaydon since 2005.-Early life:...
.
Geography
The neighbouring village of Crawcrook is a nexus of coal miningCoal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
nostalgia also. Remnants of several old pits across Ryton and Crawcrook, including Emma, Clara and Addison can still be found. Within a couple of hundred metres of both Crawcrook and Ryton main street there is rich countryside.
Perhaps the most impressive section of this countryside is Ryton Willows Local Nature Reserve located on the banks of the Tyne, just past Old Ryton Village. It consists of 43 hectares of grassland
Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
, ponds, woodland and locally-rare rare species of flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
and fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
. Because of this it has been designated as a site of special scientific interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
.
Other areas of countryside include nearby Stargate pond and Addison and Hedgefield woods. It is at Addison woods that Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone....
made one of his pioneering telephone calls.
Further up the Tyne Valley, past the village of Crawcrook and into the border of Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
, there are rural market towns such as Prudhoe
Prudhoe
Prudhoe is a medium sized town just south of the River Tyne, in the southern part of the county of Northumberland, England about west of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The town is sited on a steep, north-facing hill in the Tyne valley and nearby settlements include Ovingham, Ovington, Wylam,...
, Corbridge
Corbridge
Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, situated west of Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages in the vicinity include Halton, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe.-Roman fort and town:...
and Hexham
Hexham
Hexham is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, located south of the River Tyne, and was the administrative centre for the Tynedale district from 1974 to 2009. The three major towns in Tynedale were Hexham, Prudhoe and Haltwhistle, although in terms of population, Prudhoe was...
.
Ryton today
A relatively affluent area of Gateshead, Ryton has experienced suburbanisation in recent years and is now used as a commuter area for those that work in the more urban areas of TynesideTyneside
Tyneside is a conurbation in North East England, defined by the Office of National Statistics, which is home to over 80% of the population of Tyne and Wear. It includes the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside — all settlements on...
.
Despite being a provincial suburb, Ryton remains a vibrant area, with a variety of local amenities. In the more central part of Ryton these include a Cooperative
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
supermarket, a Sainsbury's Local store and a selection of independent shops such as Dominic Pizza's, Coffee Johnny's, a small giftshop and a Deli as well as a chiropodist, dentist
Dentist
A dentist, also known as a 'dental surgeon', is a doctor that specializes in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity. The dentist's supporting team aides in providing oral health services...
and various hair and beauty salons. There is also a community library. Ryton also boasts several restaurants and six public houses, four of which are located away from Ryton Main Street, in Ryton Old Village. The nearby village of Crawcrook offers more services, including a doctor's surgery, two veterinary surgeries, another chiropodist, another dentist and a restaurant.
Ryton also has an extensive Edwardian park which includes children's playing equipment, a bowling green
Bowling green
A bowling green is a finely-laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of lawn for playing the game of lawn bowls.Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on them...
and an aviary
Aviary
An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds. Unlike cages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flight cages...
.
Away from the town centre there is a country club hotel and two golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
s, Tyneside golf club at Ryton, and Ryton golf club in nearby Clara Vale. Both are situated in tranquil areas, near the banks of the Tyne.
Ryton is home to three schools, Ryton Infant's School, Ryton Junior School and Charles Thorp
Charles Thorp
Charles Thorp was an English churchman, rector of the parish of Ryton and, later, Archdeacon of Durham and the first warden of the University of Durham.-Life:...
, all of which occupy the same site in the town. Nearby Crawcrook offers two more primary schools. Crookhill primary is also nearby.
Sport also plays a role in the local community. Apart from its golf facilities and its Edwardian park, Ryton has its own football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
club, Ryton F.C.
Ryton F.C.
Ryton & Crawcrook Albion F.C. is an English non-league football club from Crawcrook, Tyne and Wear, currently playing in the Northern League Division Two. The team, nicknamed "Albion", play their home games at Kingsley Park Stadium. They were known as Ryton until 2011.-History:The club was...
, who play at Crawcrook, its own rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
team, Ryton Rugby Football Club at nearby Barmoor. Ryton also has its own cricket club, situated opposite Ryton Comprehensive School.
Ryton also benefits from good public transport with regular bus services to Crawcrook, Prudhoe and Hexham to the west, and the MetroCentre, Gateshead and Newcastle to the east.
Other features of Ryton
The earliest record of a church in Ryton is in 1112. However, the oldest surviving church is The Holy Cross church, the oldest building in Ryton, that dates back to 1220. The most striking feature of the church is its 13th-century broach spireSpire
A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....
which is 36 m tall. Other well known artefacts include a 13th-century Frosterly marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
effigy
Effigy
An effigy is a representation of a person, especially in the form of sculpture or some other three-dimensional form.The term is usually associated with full-length figures of a deceased person depicted in stone or wood on church monuments. These most often lie supine with hands together in prayer,...
of a deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
holding a book.
There have been a number of prominent rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
s of Ryton. These include: Thomas Secker
Thomas Secker
Thomas Secker , Archbishop of Canterbury, was born at Sibthorpe, Nottinghamshire.-Early life and studies:In 1699, Secker went to Richard Brown's free school in Chesterfield, staying with his half-sister and her husband, Elizabeth and Richard Milnes...
(1727), later the Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
; Charles Thorp
Charles Thorp
Charles Thorp was an English churchman, rector of the parish of Ryton and, later, Archdeacon of Durham and the first warden of the University of Durham.-Life:...
(1807) virtual founder and first warden of the University of Durham; and The Hon. Richard Byron (1769), brother of William Byron, 5th Baron Byron
William Byron, 5th Baron Byron
William Byron, 5th Baron Byron , also known as "the Wicked Lord" and "the Devil Byron", was the poet George Gordon Byron's great uncle. He was the son of William Byron, 4th Baron Byron and his wife Hon...
and great-uncle of Lord Byron.
Both John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
and Charles Wesley
Charles Wesley
Charles Wesley was an English leader of the Methodist movement, son of Anglican clergyman and poet Samuel Wesley, the younger brother of Anglican clergyman John Wesley and Anglican clergyman Samuel Wesley , and father of musician Samuel Wesley, and grandfather of musician Samuel Sebastian Wesley...
bothy preached at Ryton's village green
Village green
A village green is a common open area which is a part of a settlement. Traditionally, such an area was often common grass land at the centre of a small agricultural settlement, used for grazing and sometimes for community events...
, which has a rich history with religious and social significance. Like many greens in similar villages, it played host to an annual fair which included jugglers, dancers and local stalls.
The old pinfold
Pinfold
Pinfold, in Medieval Britain, is an area where stray animals were rounded up if their owners failed to properly supervise their use of common grazing land...
dates back to the twelfth century. During the second half of the twentieth century the pinfold was restored.
The annual Ryton Music Festival, held over February and March, has been held in the village for more than 60 years. It offers a variety of music and drama including choral singing and mime
Mime
The word mime is used to refer to a mime artist who uses a theatrical medium or performance art involving the acting out of a story through body motions without use of speech.Mime may also refer to:* Mime, an alternative word for lip sync...
.
The Ryton Summer Festival, held at the local comprehensive school usually includes live music, sport and arts and crafts stalls.
Each year on the Tuesday before Christmas Eve villagers gather on the village green to sing traditional carols accompanied by a local brass band.
There are two air raid shelters in Ryton Willows, as well as other Second World War features such trenches and shower/toilet rooms with tiles, etc. still visible, next to a railway line that was apparently used to bring children up from London. A dirt road hidden under trees leading up to the bottom of the village may have been a checkpoint.
Notable residents
- Francis Bunny - Theologian
- Alfred William Cocks - Clock-maker and bagpipe authority
- George HepplewhiteGeorge HepplewhiteGeorge Hepplewhite was a cabinetmaker. He is regarded as having been one of the "big three" English furniture makers of the 18th century, along with Thomas Sheraton and Thomas Chippendale...
- Furniture designer - Christopher Hopper - Methodist preacher
- Howard KendallHoward KendallHoward Kendall is an English football manager and former player. He is most famous for his connection to Everton, a club that he both played for and managed. His uncle Harry Taylor played for Newcastle United and Fulham in the 1950s....
- footballer - Stan RamsayStan RamsayStanley Hunter "Stan" Ramsay was a footballer and a member of the Norwich City Hall of Fame.Ryton-born Ramsay made 82 appearances for Norwich as a left-half and left-back between 1932 and 1934, scoring once .Before playing for Norwich, Ramsay appeared for Blackpool and Sunderland...
- footballer - John Herd Rotheram - Clergyman
- Thomas SeckerThomas SeckerThomas Secker , Archbishop of Canterbury, was born at Sibthorpe, Nottinghamshire.-Early life and studies:In 1699, Secker went to Richard Brown's free school in Chesterfield, staying with his half-sister and her husband, Elizabeth and Richard Milnes...
- Archbishop of Canterbury - Charles ThorpCharles ThorpCharles Thorp was an English churchman, rector of the parish of Ryton and, later, Archdeacon of Durham and the first warden of the University of Durham.-Life:...
- Founder of Durham University - Robert ThorpRobert Thorp (archdeacon)Robert Thorp was a British clergyman.He attended Durham School and Peterhouse, Cambridge University, obtaining a B.A. in 1758 as senior wrangler and an M.A. in 1761. In 1768 he succeeded his father Thomas Thorp as rector of Chillingham; in 1781 he became rector of Gateshead; in 1792 he became...
- Clergyman - Rachel and Becky Unthank - Folk singers, grew up in Ryton
- Nicholas WoodNicholas WoodNicholas Wood was an English colliery and steam locomotive engineer. He helped engineer and design many steps forward in both engineering and mining safety, and helped bring about the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers, holding the position of President from its...
- Civil and Mining engineer - James Angus Watson - Food manufacturer and philanthropist