In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Bilsdale like this:
BILSDALE, a mountain-vale, a township, a hamlet, two constablewicks, and a chapelry in Helmsley district, N. R. Yorkshire. The vale begins about 5 miles SE by S of Stokesley; and extends 11 miles southward to Rivaulx, 3½ miles NW of Helmsley. Its head is overhung by Whinston and Botton-Head, mountains 2,300 and 1,485 feet high; and its sides are flanked by other heights, and cut by lateral vales. The view at its head is very magnificent; and the scenery in some other parts of it is grand.-The township is called Bilsdale-Midcable; the hamlet, Bilsdale-Kirkham; the constablewicks, Bilsdale-East-side and Bilsdale-High-Westside; and all are in the vale or on its sides.—The chapelry also is called Bilsdale-Midcable; and it includes all the Bilsdales, and likewise the hamlets of Crossett, Chapelgate, Chapelgate and Urra, and the constablewick of Raisdale: and is in the parish of Helmsley. ...
The nearest railway station to it is Stokesley; and the nearest Post Towns, Stokesley, under Northallerton, and Helmsley, under York. Acres, 18,971. Real property, £4,018. Pop., 738. Houses, 126. The property is not much divided. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of York. Value, £130. Patron, the Vicar of Helmsley. The church is good; and there is a Quakers' chapel.
Bilsdale through time
A Vision of Britain through Time includes a large library of local statistics for administrative units. For the best overall sense of how the area containing Bilsdale has changed, please see our redistricted information for the modern district of Hambleton. More detailed statistical data are available under Units and statistics, which includes both administrative units covering Bilsdale and units named after it.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Bilsdale, in Hambleton and North Riding | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/11588
Date accessed: 24th May 2013
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