RICHMOND
| Population: 8,413 |
Grid
Reference: NZ170009 |
Co-ordinates:
54.403, -1.737 |
Forget Richmond in Surrey, Virginia
and other places, this is the mother of them all
In fact Richmond is the most duplicated UK place
name with 57 around the world. Richmond is the
focal point for Richmondshire, which takes in
Swaledale and Wensleydale. The visitor will be
forgiven for thinking that he has arrived in
another county when he is greeted by elaborate
signs welcoming you to Richmondshire, indeed
people have asked if it is a county within a
county.
There are three museums in Richmond. The Green
Howards Regimental Museum is located in the old
Trinity Church in the centre of the market place
and the Richmondshire Museum is nearby.
The Georgian Theatre Royal was founded by actor,
Samuel Butler in 1788.
The cobbled market place is one of the largest in
the UK and hosts markets on Tuesdays and
Thursdays. There is also a traditional market on
Saturday. In addition there is a traditional
market.
Richmond has been the location for filming in
some episodes of the much-loved BBC TV series, All
Creatures Great and Small
along with several other television programmes.
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Richmond Tourist
Information Centre TELEPHONE:
01748 850252
The huge cobblestone market place.
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Richmond is dominated by
it's Norman castle (below)
built in 1070 by a supporter of William the
Conquerer. The 100 foot high keep which was added
in the 12th century is now the least ruined part
of the castle.
On my regular visits to Richmond, I discovered
this interesting sign on the side of a house (right)
near the town centre on the
road out to Leyburn. The 1927 solar eclipse was
clouded out for most of the path over Britain,
with the best view obtained in Giggleswick in the
south of the Dales. The 1999 eclipse in Devon and
Cornwall was also obscured by cloud. Whether or
not the eclipse of 23 September 2090 will suffer
the same fate remains to be seen however many of
us will not be around to find out then! |
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Richmond Castle
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