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A series of views of ancient buildings, and rural cottages in the North of England : Ayton

Publisher: Ackermann, Rudolph · 1764-1834Printmaker: Prout, Samuel

A series of views of ancient buildings, and rural cottages in the North of England : Ayton

a plate from the volume A series of views of ancient buildings, and rural cottages in the North of England. The scene depicted is All Saints' Church…

a plate from the volume A series of views of ancient buildings, and rural cottages in the North of England.

The scene depicted is All Saints' Church in the ancient village of Great Ayton in North Yorkshire.

The church dates to the 12th century and stands on an earlier Christian settlement dating back to at least the 8th century. In 1880 the tower and much of the west end was pulled down.

The village is closely associated with Captain James Cook who was educated in the village where his family moved when he was aged 8. His Scottish father also named James was a stone mason and responsible for carving many of the headstones in the churchyard, where Captain Cook's mother Grace and several of his siblings are buried.

The scene depicted should not therefore be confused with the village of Ayton in Berwickshire, Scotland.

Ackermann published the volume A series of views of ancient buildings, and rural cottages in the North of England in London on 1821-09-01, from which the present work is one of the plates