Grosmont
North Yorkshire
Grosmont is in the North York Moors National Park around 11 miles north of Pickering and 5½ miles south-west of Whitby.
The small village stretches from the valley floor up the side of the Esk Valley. The Murk Esk river flows through Grosmont and joins the River Esk at the edge of the village.
Grosmont is a relatively small village considering its industriuous past. It had a long history of mining, including ancient alum workings, excavations for jet and until the mid-19th century it had iron mines and iron works. There were also brick and tile-makers in the village.
Before the industrial growth of a village, Grosmont had a priory, which was established in the 13th century on the banks of the River Esk by monks of the order of Grandmont, whose mother abbey was at Grandmont in Limousin, France. The priory continued until King Henry VIII's supression of the monasteries in the 1530s.
Trains have played an important part in Grosmont village life for nearly 200 years, having arrived through one of Yorkshire's earliest railways. The Whitby and Pickering Railway was planned in 1832. Its route was chosen in preference to a line all the way to Stockton-on-Tees, where the famous Stockton and Darlington Railway in County Durham had started steam-hauled passenger trains in 1825.
A horse-drawn railway to Pickering was to provide a route to and from the once-prosperous harbour town of Whitby. There the sea was still the main access as land routes were made difficult because of the high moors. Reaching Pickering would provide a point to transfer to stagecoaches to York. The line from Whitby was opened to Grosmont in 1835 and through to Pickering the following year. Horse-drawn trains, with a rope-worked incline near Goathland, continued for around a decade until the line along Newtondale was rerouted and made suitable for locomotives by the York and North Midland Railway company which had taken over the line. The company also built tracks beyond Pickering to link to the line between Scarborough and Malton, although these have not survived.
Another line from Grosmont, along the Esk Valley, was opened around 1865 by the North Eastern Railway. Initially trains headed towards Stokesley, but with that section of line now closed, today's trains on the Esk Valley Line now reverse at Battersby on a route to Middlesbrough.
The railway continues to dominate the scene in Grosmont with its landmark level crossing at the foot of the steep hill leading into the village. At one side of the crossing is what is now the station of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway heritage line and just beyond, on the line towards Middlesbrough, can be caught the network train services of Northern. The two lines meet beyond the stations with both the heritage line and Northern trains operating into Whitby station.
At the other side of the level crossing, the railway crosses a bridge over the Murk Esk river and enters a tunnel as it heads towards Pickering. Alongside the railway tunnel is a smaller pedestrian tunnel, once that used by the horse-drawn carriages, and this leads to the heritage line's depot.
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway rescued the Pickering to Grosmont section of the railway after it was closed in 1965 by the notorious Beeching cuts to the nationalised British Railways network. A charitable trust was set up in 1967 to run the railway and passenger services were restored in 1973. In 2023 the railway has been celebrating the 50th anniversary of that achievement, which has maintained what is Yorkshire's longest and most-visited heritage railway route.
Village features
Grosmont is in the North York Moors National Park.
The village is on the Murk Esk and where it joins the River Esk.
Grosmont has a pub - The Station Tavern.
The village has shops.
The village has a Post Office.
A choice of cafes can be found in Grosmont.
Places to stay in Grosmont include guest house, cottage, camping accommodation.
There are public toilets in the village.
Locations of toilets and opening times can be found at this North Yorkshire Council - Public toilets web page.
Grosmont has a village hall.
Place of worship: Anglican - St Matthew.
Travel
Grosmont station
Station managed by: NORTHERN. Operator/s: NORTHERN.NATIONAL RAIL - Departure and station info
External link to National Rail live departure board for services at this station (opens in new tab).
Grosmont
Grosmont has a station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, the longest of Yorkshire's heritage railways. See 'Places to visit' below.Bus travel
The village has bus services to neighbouring towns and villages, the Yorkshire coast, York and Leeds.
Road travel
Grosmont is reached on minor roads from the A169 .Places to visit
Heritage coast
A stretch of 36 miles of coastline makes up the North Yorkshire and Cleveland Heritage Coast. This is Yorkshire's Jurassic Coast, where ammonites can easily be found and occasionally bones from marine reptiles and dinosaurs have been discovered. For more see ourNorth York Moors National Park
More information and links on our
North Yorkshire Moors Railway
A heritage railway running for 18 miles through the beautiful scenery of the
For details see the
Whitby Abbey
More information at the
Emergency services
North Yorkshire PoliceNorth Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust
HM Coastguard
Local government
Civil parish council
Grosmont Parish CouncilProvides some local services in the area.
Unitary authority
The North Yorkshire Council is a new unitary authority formed from the previous County Council from April 1, 2023. It covers the existing county duties including highways, schools, libraries and transport planning over an area of 3,109 square miles while also taking over the responsibilities of the seven huge district authorities also created in 1974 — Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough and Selby — these including local planning, waste collection, street cleaning, parks and car parks, housing and markets serving a population of around 615,500*.
Councillors were elected to the County Council in 2022 and continue as councillors of the new North Yorkshire Council unitary authority. There have been a few by-elections to fill councillor vacancies since then.
Places in North Yorkshire
Link to council website: North Yorkshire Council
Political composition:
CI = Conservative & Independent NY Ind = North Yorkshire Independents group LC = Labour & Cooperative
Composition and groupings - source North Yorkshire Council (February 2024)
Strategic authority
York and North Yorkshire Combined AuthorityThe York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority was created in December 2023 combining the unitary authority of York and the unitary authority of North Yorkshire — that created in April 2023 after the abolition of the county authority and its seven district authorities. The combined authority will run some functions under the new mayor elected in May 2024 as part of the government's so-called "Devolution deal" which ties the availablity of funding to the new governance arrangements. As well as having powers over housing development, transport and boosting skills and education across the 3,214 square miles of York and North Yorkshire, the elected mayor also takes on the role and functions of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner across the area.
Elected mayor:
Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner
Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner North YorkshireCovers the county of
Parliamentary constituency
Scarborough and WhitbyElected MP: