Cliffe, Richmondshire
| Cliffe | |
|---|---|
 George Hotel at Cliffe |
|
| OS grid reference | NZ213154 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Darlington |
| Postcode district | DL2 |
| Dialling code | 01325 |
| Police | North Yorkshire |
| Fire | North Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| EU Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| UK Parliament |
|
Cliffe is a small village and civil parish in the Tees Valley near Piercebridge in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England, about 6 miles (10 km) west of Darlington, and 10 miles (16 km) north of Richmond and the Yorkshire Dales. The population of the civil parish as taken by ONS at their 2011 Census was less than 100. Information is included in the parish of Manfield.
Cliffe has a long history, as shown by the number and range of archaeological sites from tumuli to an English Civil War battleground, most of which are scheduled monuments. A stream called the Glen runs through the village to the Tees. Together with Manfield, Aldbrough St John and Melsonby it forms the ward of Melsonby whose total population was 1,447 in 2007, and the area is largely agricultural. The village is notable for its 17th-century Grade II listed George Hotel, where the story behind the song, My Grandfather's Clock, is said to have originated in 1875.
There is evidence of Stone Age, Iron Age, Roman and medieval activity here, although the name "Cliffe" appears to be a medieval name possibly referring to Cliffe Hall and its park. Cliffe has no church, but it does have its own parish, possibly due to the previous existence of a chapel at Cliffe Hall. At least part of Cliffe shares the Piercebridge postal address, although Piercebridge is north of the Tees, in County Durham: hence some Cliffe locations are described in some records as Piercebridge locations. This area, being close to Manfield, was part of the Gilling West wapentake at the time of the Norman Conquest, so that the later Manfield parish, which included Cliffe, had 2,754 acres (11.15 km2) in Gilling East wapentake and the 700 acres (2.8 km2) comprising Cliffe in Gilling West wapentake. In 1717 there were places in Cliffe known as Haverfield, Willow Pound, Stonebridge-fields, Scroggy Pasture, Lime Kill-fields and Carlberry, together with the 13th-century mill and mill-dam. In the early 1820s, the village was described thus:
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