Topcliffe 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

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in the Hambleton

Hambleton

Hambleton is a local government district of North Yorkshire, England. The main town and administrative centre is Northallerton, and includes the market towns and major villages of Bedale, Thirsk, Great Ayton, Stokesley and Easingwold....

 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 village is situated on 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....

, close to the A168

A168 road

The A168 is a major road in North Yorkshire, England. It runs from Northallerton to Wetherby, acting as a local access road for the A1.-History:...

 and about five miles south-west of Thirsk

Thirsk

Thirsk is a small market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. The local travel links are located a mile from the town centre to Thirsk railway station and to Durham Tees Valley Airport...

. It has a population of 2,690.

History

A motte and bailey

Motte-and-bailey

A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...

 castle was built at the strategic location of the junction of the River Swale and Cod Beck about 1071, soon after the Harrying of the North

Harrying of the North

The Harrying of the North was a series of campaigns waged by William the Conqueror in the winter of 1069–1070 to subjugate Northern England, and is part of the Norman conquest of England...

 and re-fortified in 1174. This was the principal residence of the Percy family until the early part of the fourteenth century, when Henry de Percy purchased the barony and castle of Alnwick. The castle was succeeded by a moated manor house on an adjacent site, of which earthworks also remain.

Topcliffe Airfield

During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 an airfield was constructed 1.5 miles from the village which was for some time a Royal Canadian Air Force

Royal Canadian Air Force

The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...

 base. After the war it had a number of roles until 1972 when much of it was taken over by the army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 and converted into Alanbrooke Barracks

Barracks

Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...

. The airfield continues to be used for RAF glider training.

Buildings and Amenities

Topcliffe has a park and two pubs, The Angel and The Swan. The old school house of Topcliffe is now a post office, the toll house is now an ordinary cottage. There is a primary school at Topcliffe for years 1–6, and a playgroup.

Topcliffe has been extended over the years. East Lea was built in the 1950s and has been developed over the years, by the demolition of some old houses on a sizeable plot of land, to make way for extra houses. The bypass (A168) was built in the 1960s/1970s to stop a lot of traffic going through Topcliffe.
in the late 1980s Manor Close and a small part of Winn Lane were built on the site of a farm.

Record Low Temperature

On the early morning of Friday 3 December 2010, the weather station

Weather station

A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for observing atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, wind speed, wind...

air temperature was -19 C, making it the lowest temperature ever recorded in Yorkshire.

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