Part 2 Index:
- Ramsdale Hamlet, Fylingdales Parish, North Yorkshire
- Ramsdale Megalithic Standing Stones, North Yorkshire
- Ramsdale Valley, Scarborough, North Yorkshire
- Ramsdale & Ramsdell Chapelries, Hampshire
Part 1 Index:
- Etymology
- Teutonic Sources
- Viking Influence
- Danish or Norwegian Origin ?
- Topographical and Habitation Surnames
- Heraldry
- Bibliography
Ramsdale Hamlet, Fylingdales Parish, North Yorkshire
The most probable source of the surname is Ramsdale Hamlet in Fylingdales Parish, North Yorkshire [NZ 927037] - Figclinge (11th century); Figelinge, Fielinge (11-12th centuries); ?Saxeby (12th century). This parochial chapelry lies south of Whitby parish and contains the villages of Robin Hood's Bay and Thorpe, or Fyling Thorpe (Presterthorpe, 13th century, and the hamlets of Normanby, Parkgate, Ramsdale, Raw (Fyling Rawe, 16th century), and Stoupe Brow.
The abbot's park is mentioned in 1804, the woods of Middlewood, Ramsdale and "Marchescow" in 1240, when the abbot granted Richard de Fyling estover in the last two and pasture in the first (Feet of F. Yorks. 24 Hen. III, No 124). Ascending the hill to the south, Fyling (new) Hall, Park Hill, the former residence of Mr John Warren Barry, J.P., High Park Wood and Ramsdale Wood and mill are reached. Ramsdale Water-mill was stated in the 17th century to have belonged to Whitby Abbey (Pat. 10 Jas. I, pt xxv).
There are three waterfalls here, the highest (Stevenson's Piece) about 14 ft. Ramsdale Beck rises on Kirk Moor and as Leith Rigg Beck flows through Leith Rigg Wood, then as Ramsdale Beck descends through Ramsdale and Low Park Woods, to the south of which are Fyling Park and the hamlet of Ramsdale. From Thorpe Middlewood Lane goes south past the old Middlewood Farm to Mill Beck, which enters the sea south of Robin Hood's Bay and has at its mouth a mill, rebuilt, according to the inscription, in 1839.
On Easter Monday, 12 April 1993 I visited Ramsdale hamlet, beck and woods. The weather was overcast and very misty. I traced Ramsdale beck, Ramsdale woods and Ramsdale mill farm which was unnamed (but identifiable by its solitary location) and very dilapidated. Unfortunately, I did not have time to visit what remains of Ramsdale hamlet which, from the map, appears to be only two or three closely spaced houses with access only down a long track.
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| Ramsdale Mill Farm |
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Set along a mile long country track, in the very heart of the North York Moors National Park, this attractive cottage offers an idyllic base for a walking holiday or romantic break. Adjoining the owners' home, it lies surrounded by ancient woodland with river flowing through, and footpaths winding amid wild flowers and open countryside. Robin Hood's Bay 3 miles is a maze of picturesque cobbled streets and 18th-century cottages leading down to the sandy beach. North York Moors Steam Railway at Grosmont 8 miles. Cliff-top golf course at Whitby 7 miles. Scarborough 15 miles. Inns and restaurants 1½ miles. |
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External stone staircase to first floor entrance: Open-plan beamed living room with open fire, rugs on wooden floor, well-fitted kitchen/dining area and double bedroom with vaulted beamed ceiling. Ladder access to galleried twin-bedded room (for +2) with low sloping ceiling. Shower room/W.C. |
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In 1210 King John gave 60 acres of Falsgrave Manor to Scarborough, along with its Ramsdale Mill and common pasture rights. This meant that Scarborough had its own arable land and no longer had to rely on trade with its neighbours for barley and wheat. In a reversal of the relationship implied in the Domesday report of 1086 (which seems, by omission, to have considered Scarborough a part of Falsgrave manor), Falsgrave was now a part of Scarborough. |
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Mervyn Edwards (ed.), Scarborough 966-1966, Scarborough and District Archaeological Society. Research Report No. 6, (1966), 29-30 |
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Joseph Newington Carter (1835-1871): "Ramsdale Mill and House, Scarborough" before Valley Bridge was erected in 1861, watercolour, signed and dated '61, 19cm x 27cm |
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| Ordnance Survey, First Edition |
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| Robin Hood's Bay from West |
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Ramsdale woods are privately owned. The track through the woods is almost a road and, although very wet with numerous streams and springs, a four wheel drive vehicle could be driven along its length to Ramsdale mill farm and beyond.
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Ramsdale beck crosses the track at Ramsdale mill farm and is very scenic. The beck falls sharply through a series of waterfalls and rapids down a steep narrow gorge lined on both sides by Ramsons (wild garlic) which completely cover the beck's banks up and down stream. It is likely that the river and woods (Oak Wood, formerly called Ramsdale Wood) take their name from this wild plant as it is the dominant plant life in the woods. An unnamed house occupies the hairpin bend in the track which crosses, via a stone bridge, Ramsdale beck. The house appears to be occupied but is small and serves no apparent purpose despite its close proximity to the beck. This house and Ramsdale Mill Farm are the only two buildings in the woods at this remote location. Ramsdale Beck joins and becomes Mill Beck and enters Robin Hood's Bay at Boggle Hole. |
| Transcript of the entry of
"professions and trades" for ROBIN HOOD'S BAY in Pigot's Directory of 1834. |
| Shopkeepers, Traders, &c., |
| Leadsom William, miller, Ramsdale mill |
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| Mill (Ramsdale) Beck and Mill Farm at Boggle Hole, Robin Hood's Bay |
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| Mill (Ramsdale) Beck, Robin Hood's Bay, April 1917 |
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| Mill Farm - Robin Hood's Bay |
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| Mill (Ramsdale) Beck, Robin Hood's Bay |
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| Satellite Image of Robin Hood's Bay, Ramsdale Hamlet, Ramsdale Beck and Ramsdale Megalithic Standing Stones |
Ramsdale Megalithic Standing Stones, North Yorkshire
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Access: Off the A171 to Whitby, just after B1416 junction a gate off to the right signposted Ramsdale leads through a cattle grid to a track across the moor. Half a kilometre on, just over the brow of the hill the track widens out where a small path crosses it. Turn right down the path and continue for 400 metres. Branch off across the moorland to the right another few hundred meters, and up to a raised area near a tumulus. Nearest town: WhitbyNearest village: Robin Hood's Bay OS Sheet: 94 OS Map reference: NZ 921038 |
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| The Moorland Road near Whitby | |||
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| Location of Ramsdale Megalithic Standing Stones | |||
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| Click on any of the thumbnails to view full size images of the Ramsdale Megalithic Standing Stones | |||
Ramsdale Valley, Scarborough, North Yorkshire
In Scarborough there is a park on each side of the Ramsdale valley, which is crossed by the Cliff Bridge, built in 1827, and the Ramsdale Valley Bridge, opened in 1865.
Ramsdale Valley (once the scene of corn mills) became the People’s Park in 1860. The main road through the valley (formerly Mill Lane) was completed in 1861. People’s Park was named Valley Gardens in 1912.
Bulmer's History and Directory of North Yorkshire (1890): The People's Park. - This name has been given to Ramsdale Valley, commencing near the Aquarium and extending towards Falsgrave. It is thickly wooded, and tastefully laid out, with numerous walks and seats. A path branching to the right, under a splendid avenue of lofty trees, leads to the railway station. Further up is the fish pond, while many rare swans, geese, and other fowls of various plumage add picturesqueness to the scene.
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| Click on image to view other Edwardian postcards of Ramsdale Valley, Scarborough and Ramsdale Mill, Robin Hood's Bay |
Ramsdale & Ramsdell Chapelries, Hampshire
The surname may also indicate an individual from one of the following Hampshire parishes
Ramsdell: Part of the parish of Wootton St Lawrence, Chuteley Hundred, Hampshire - Wudutune, Wudetone (x cent); Odetune (xi cent); Wutton, Wotton (xiii cent); Laurence Wotton (xvi cent).
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| Click on map for other contemporary maps of Ramsdell |
The parish of Wootton St Lawrence covers a long strip of land stretching from Tadley and Baughurst in the north to Deane and Kempshott in the south. Tadley is a parish in the north of Hampshire on the borders of Berkshire situated about 4 miles south from Aldermaston station on the Newbury and Devizes branch of the Great Western Railway and 6½ miles north west from Basingstoke.
The place-name Rammesdelle (Kitchin, op. cit. 58) (xiii cent) appears in local records. Ramsdell, formerly a tithing in the north of this parish, was formed into a separate ecclesiastical district in 1868. The church, Christ Church, was built in 1867 of flint with stone dressings in 13th century style, and consists of chancel, nave and tower with spire. The registers date from 1868. The living of Ramsdell is a vicarage, net yearly value £275, in the gift of the Bishop of Winchester. There is also a Congregational chapel at Ramsdell.
Ramsdale: The consolidated chapelry of Ramsdale, in the parish of Tadley, Overton Hundred, Hampshire - Taddele, Tadeleye (xiii cent); Tadelegh, Taddelegh (xiv cent); Tadele (xv cent).
| Ramsdale Church, Hampshire |
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| The Rose Inn, Ramsdale |
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Tadley is a parish in the north of Hampshire on the borders of Berkshire situated about 4 miles south from Aldermaston station on the Newbury and Devizes branch of the Great Western Railway and 6½ miles north west from Basingstoke. Part of the parish was assigned to the consolidated chapelry of Ramsdale on 15 January 1869 (London Gazette 15 January, 1869 at page 219).
The following description is taken from History, Gazeteer and Directory of the County of Hampshire by William White (1878, Simpkin Marshall & Co):
"RAMSDALE or Ramsdell is a pleasant village, 4 miles N. of Wootton Church, in Wootton St. Lawrence parish, but its ecclesiastical district, formed in 1869, comprises also parts of the mother parishes of Monk (or West) Sherborne and Tadley, and had 555 inhabitants in 1871. The church (Christchurch), a neat Early English structure of flint, with red brick facings and Bath stone dressings, consists of nave, chancel, and south porch, and was erected in 1867, at the cost of £1100, raised by subscription, chiefly through the exertions of the Rev. W. B. Wither, the late vicar of Wootton St. Lawrence. The east window, a triplet, is filled with beautiful stained glass, representing the Resurrection, in memory of the mother and sister of the vicar; the two single lights in the south wall of the chancel are similarly enriched, as memorials of his father and son. The living is a vicarage, valued at £300 a year, in the patronage of the Bishop of Winchester, and incumbency of the Rev. Joseph Fuller M.A., who has a vicarage house, erected in 1869, at a cost of £2000, mainly contributed by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. Attached to the residence are pleasant grounds; with a glebe of 30 acres, part of the above-mentioned endowment. The United School Board district of Wootton and Tadley has a school here. In the village are very large brick and lime works, and near it a chalk-pit, in which fossils have been found. The heath is let out in allotments to poor people."