Northallerton, North Yorkshire retains its place as a busy market town today, but at its very roots is an historic town with ancient connections beyond traditions of commerce. Saxons first settled here, then Romans may have used Northallerton as a signal station. King Charles I sought shelter in the city during the seventeenth century. Across the centuries Northallerton has seen war and grieving as a thoroughfare from south to north. Today, find modern pleasures amid reminders of historic people and important times.
Places such as Kiplin Hall take visitors back a four hundred years to Jacobean influences. View collections of paintings and furniture from across the centuries or take part in family activities established to bring history to life for younger visitors. Push back further in time to a fourteenth century Carthusian priory, Grace Priory, or even further: almost 900 years to a former residence of Richard III, Middleham Castle. Richmond Castle represents the best in Norman fortification: you are close to this busy sight complete with exhibitions and activities for curious tourists.
Reminders of sacred history abound, including the ruins of another twelfth-century site, Easby Abbey. View the largest remains of a Cistercian Abbey in Europe at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, also home to a sombre Victorian church. Here explore ponds, landscaped gardens, follies and temples replete with natural beauty.
Turn your time machine forward several hundred years, not quite to modern England. Visit The World of James Herriot set in the former surgery of Alf Wight. The animal hospital and surrounding area allow visitors to walk in the footsteps of a well-loved literary figure, where they too can gain inspiration, perhaps to write their own novels.
If you love animals, this area provides plenty of opportunity to get close. Take little children to Monk Park Animal Center for visits with rare and modern farm creatures such as sheep and goats. Feed lambs and even bathe a pig at The Big Sheep and Little Cow Farm.
Sports play an important part in Northallerton life. Cricket is well represented, while football, hockey and golf also make up some of the many local pursuits. Watch or play: your choice depends on the activity. Try angling, horseback riding or go for a vigorous ramble through the Vale of York.
Choose from numerous hotels in Northallerton, or try something different. Guest houses and inns welcome visitors, while some tourists like to go it alone with self-catering cottages. Take a rougher approach, staying in your caravan at an approved site or even camping-out like an ancient soldier. One difference will be the several restaurants serving Chinese, Indian and traditional cream teas, not to mention several pubs the Romans never had the benefit of.
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