History, heritage and what makes Hutton-Le-Hole the prettiest village in the North York Moors National Park

Anyway, as I chugged up the hill, Chimney Bank as it is called and said to be the steepest hill in England, I could see the point.

But in the safety of sunshine, and as it winds and winds and you get to the top you have to turn around to look back on yourself.

It is totally worth the trek as the vast North York Moors opens right up in front of you.

As I stopped to take it in, the most wonderful thing is that you can’t hear a thing other than silence and sheep.

What goes up, must come down - so they say - and from here I dropped into Hutton-Le-Hole, reputed to be one of the prettiest villages within the whole of the North York Moors National Park.

The village gets its name Anglo-Saxon derision with Hoh-Ton meaning high farm or farm on the projecting ridge of land and Le-Hole is said to have been added by the Norman French to distinguish it from the other Huttons in the north - of which there were many.

Other takes on the name include Hutton-Le-Hole meaning a high farm near the hollow, ie/ hole and Heg Hoton in that a heg was land enclosed for hunting.

That said, there is a listing in the Domesday Book (1086) where it is called Hotun.

The village centre is based around a green with a stream that flows through it and people settled here as there was agricultural land, shelter and water.

By the 1600s the village was mainly inhabited by Quakers working as weavers or in agriculture and some of these homes still stand today but many date back to the 1800s - which is intriguing as other sources suggest the wealthier of the Victorian population would have looked at the inhabitants of Hutton-Le-Hole with disdain perhaps as it was overcrowded with labourers, animals and everything that comes with that.

Nowadays, it is likely that the majority of homes are holiday lets or second homes. The population is around 150 people and a four bedroomed cottage listed for sale will not give you much change from £600,000.

Jake Leonard is the landlord at The Crown pub which is at the centre of the village and admits that tourist business is his main income.

“There are a lot of holiday cottages. Over summer our busiest nights have been Thursdays and Fridays as change over. You can plan to have 20 or 30 (bookings) and end up doing 100 meals. The rule is that if it is nice weather we are busy - so we have done okay this year.”

With the stunning scenery on the doorstep (a couple of motorcyslists pull up at a cafe and as they take their helmets off one says to the other “well that was some road”), quaint cottages with roses over the door, cream hand-painted doors and windows, peaceful day to day activity, a museum, workshops and cafes - it is easy to see the attraction to Hutton-Le-Hole and why the house prices are so high.

But, the reality of it doesn’t always sit well, adds Mr Leonard.

He explains: “It is a chocolate box village with a stream and life is a bit quieter - there are no street lights. People move here and try to get campaigns but it gets squashed. If you want McDonalds and cinemas - you have to move.

“I love it and would not switch it.”

There are also others for whom Hutton-Le-Hole is their place of work.

Kathryn Harrison is an artist who lives in Glaisdale, a few miles drive back over the moors. A farmer’s widow, she is now in her 60s and it has been a life-long dream to have her own gallery.

Two months ago, the space at Hutton-Le-Hole (in a courtyard of former workshops which also house a chocolatier, jewellery-maker and hand-made felt and fleeces) became available and she thought it was “now or never”.

Mrs Harrison said: “I absolutely love it. I am not lonely anymore, I am talking with people every day, people from all over the country - all over Europe. It is astonishing the people you meet.

“The moors and the area have been an inspiration before I ever lived here. As a child we would go to Whitby and take it in turns to choose which way we would go. They would choose the coast road. When it was my turn I always chose the moor road.

“That wilderness always gets to me. If you feel down, go to the hills.”

Further down the main village street is an absolute hidden gem of a find but one that brings the history of Hutton-Le-Hole and the surrounding area back to life.

Ryedale Folk Museum has been recounting the history of the area since the 1960s (well officially anyway). Set over six acres it features 20 buildings from around the region that were taken down, brick by brick, and reconstructed here to create a village within the village.

Prior to this local man Wilfred Crossland who lived in Hutton-Le-Hole had been collecting old farm tools and implements, laying them out on a table in the evening and charging people a shilling to look at them from around the 1930s.

This stopped during the Second World War and it was following the war that moves were made to look at opening a museum.

Museum director, Jennifer Smith says: “Hutton-Le-Hole is often reported as the prettiest in Yorkshire. Conde-Nast and various other national publications have listed the village like that.

“But, it grew like any other village. There was a reason people were here, they needed water and farm land. It grew slowly over time because there was work for agriculture, flax, weavers and ironstone mining.

“I am very privileged to work here. There is no better place to drive to work.”

The village noticeboard gives a snapshot of the community life on offer here. A film night which all were welcome to watch was held last Thursday and the weekend just gone saw an Evening of 1940s Dance with the York Vintage Dance Group.

In some respects it is the same way that village life went for years before it.

In 1890, Rev J S Salman became the vicar of Lastingham and for 14 years kept a log book of events within the parish, under which Hutton-Le-Hole came.

Services were held in the school until in 1901 when a disused chapel, known as Zion Chapel, was purchased by Rev Salman for £25. This was situated next to the site of the present church and was dedicated to St Chad. In 1934 it was replaced by the present building, also dedicated to St Chad.

Some of the entries in his parish records read:

“9 October 1892 - The Vicar has celebrated the Holy Communion at Hutton School Room three times this year.”

“9 December 1901 - Tea was served in the schoolroom at 4.15. The Sunday School children and their parents were invited.

"13 December 1901 – Litany at St Chad’s Chapel, Hutton t 7pm. Very wet and stormy night.”

“3 April 1903 - The vicar sent the first telephone message to the postmaster at Kirbymoorside from Hutton-Le-Hole. The telephone between the two places was completed today.”

If the pace of life in Hutton-Le-Hole is anything to go by, the village nature and heritage of this remote spot will be safe-guarded for years to come just yet.