Ebberston is a small village straddling the A170 between Scarborough and Pickering, It forms part of the Parish of Ebberston with Yedingham, the other villages being Yedingham and Bickley.
Ebberston is a small village (population 400) situated on the eastern boundary of Ryedale and in the fertile Vale of Pickering. The Main Street runs directly north to south and largely consists of stone-built properties with red pantiled roofs. There are some brick-built and slate-roof properties which appeared when planning laws were less rigid. The County Plan designates the village as one "worthy of preservation" and only "in-filling" development is permitted.
There are several working farms (mixed type) as well as market gardens and local craftsmen such a blacksmith, carpenters and builders.
The village school was closed some years ago, hut after a struggle with various authorities, it was taken over by the parish and is now the Village Hall , used regularly by the Evergreens Club, the Women’s Institute, the Dog Training Club and for evening classes and fund raising events. In 1989 more than £7000 was raised for various charities in this community.
The Parish Church is St.Mary’s, situated some distance from the village at the foot of Kirkdale (site of the former village). The church is most attractive - it has many beautiful stained glass windows and is of Norman origin with Norman pillars and font.
In the village is the Wesleyan Chapel and the Mission Room - formerly the Primitive Methodist Chapel but later acquired by the Church Commissioners and used as Sunday School by St. Mary’s.
Close to the church is Ebberston Hall built by a member of the Hotham family in the style of a Palladian Villa, reputedly for the owner's mistress , although apparently the lady in question was not sufficiently impressed to live there. The present owner is Michael West. de Wend Fenton and the property, known as "the smallest stately home in the country" it is open to the public. A former owner was the colourful Squire George Osbaldestone, known for his sporting activities as the "Hunting Squire of England". He was a noted amateur rider of races and a great gambler, to the detriment of his financial status.He married late in life and his wife took over the management of his affairs and doled out to him a daily allowance. His great pride was his dogs and in a local plantation is the tombstone to “Dargo” inscribed:
"Enclosed beneath this peaceful shade
Dargo my Faithful dog is laid
Who in his day performed a part
And gained applause from every heart
He was steady to scent and always true
For well his business Dargo knew
But now lie’s gone, his work is o‘er
My faithful Dargo is no more
Here snug be rests beneath these sods
And leaves the sport to other dogs."
To the north of the village is an area known to local people as ‘The Dale” but now re-named Chafer Wood and leased to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust which has undertaken some restoration and renewal work to encourage native flora and fauna to re-establish. Within the area of Chafer Wood is the remains of the pinfold where the Pinder enclosed stray animals, to return them to their careless owner on payment of a fine.
Also within the wood, at a high point with a fine view of the village right across the Vale of Pickering to the Wolds. is a stone-built cairn built to mark the site of a cave in the Hillside where in A .D. 704 Alchfrid, King of Northumbria rested after being wounded in a battle fought in a field opposite St.Mary’s Church and known as Bloody Field. Alchfrid was taken to Little Driffield where he died and is buried. The stream through Bloody Field is known as Bloody Beck and was reputed to have "run red with the blood of long-dead warriors". The more prosaic would say that the colour arose from traces of iron found in bore-hole planting!
The Stone Cave where Alchfrid reputedly rested
There are many old cottages in the village and several larger houses, one of which is Church House with its very large chimney, which was the home of monks. Children in the village for years believed that a tunnel led from the cellar of Church House to Abbey Farm at Yedingham, to facilitate clandestine meetings between the respective monks and nuns! It is known that a 9ft well in the cellar was filled in in modern times.
Westwood Farm is a substantial Queen Anne period house which retains most of its original wood panelling and wooden beams.
The Grapes Inn is the only surviving public house and has been owned by the Thorpe family for many years, though not now run by them. There is also a small hotel, The Foxholme, and several holiday cottages and caravan sites. The local cricket team flourishes and there is a golf driving range within the parish.
A small plantation on a hill to the north is a landmark for miles around and Ebberstonians know they’re home when they see the “”Plump”. There are many old trees including a Wellingtonia in the churchyard and a beech in the garden of Fern Croft. These were added to by plantings by the W.I. some years ago and last years aquisition of 5 English hardwoods as part of the award for winning the Tidy Village competition. Everywhere there is the sound of running water from the stream which arises at the spring in the dale and joins the Derwent at Yedingham. Every small boy in the village enjoys fishing for trout in the beck and falling in!
