Essential Hotels > England > North Yorkshire > Helmsley

The picturesque town of Helmsley takes up a position on the south-eastern edge of the North Yorkshire Moors and is largely based around its central market square. It takes up a good location for exploring the expansive moors and is also within reach of Pickering and Thirsk to the east and west respectively. One of the most famous features of this attractive North Yorkshire town is Helmsley Castle which was built in the 1200s but was later destroyed by the Parliamentarians during the English Civil War. Ruins of the castle remain to this day, overlooking the town.

Set in Yorkshire’s Ryedale district, Helmsley is found near to the River Rye and also has a steam running through, adding another pretty element to the town. In the central market square there is a statue of Lord Feversham of the Duncombe family; the Duncombe Park stately mansion is home to the family and is among the finest historic houses in the county. Indeed, much of the town’s history has been based around this park and mansion, and it even has a site of special scientific interest within its grounds.

Helmsley provides the starting point of the Cleveland Way which works its way around the North Yorkshire region in a 110-mile horseshoe shape, ending up in Filey on the east coast. The walk begins in the centre of Helmsley, a place where you will also find traditional tearooms, pubs, shops and restaurants. There are also a couple of former coaching inns and hotels in this neck of the woods, with the Black Swan Hotel and the Feversham Arms the most famous.

In the 17th century Helmsley reached the height of its prosperity due to its renown as a centre for weaving which inevitably provided the mainstay of the local economy. Today, the town and is surroundings have a series of places to visit in addition to the aforementioned Helmsley Castle and Duncombe Park. There is a beautiful church in the town centre as well as the five-acre Helmsley walled garden, the Helmsley Arts Centre, the Nunnington Hall which is four miles away and the Rievaulx Abbey. Another quirk is Helmsley open-air swimming pool, open at certain points of the year.