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Plompton

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 31.53.232.92 (talk) at 21:16, 29 February 2016 (Plumpton Rocks). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Plompton
Population124 (2011)[1]
OS grid referenceSE355535
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townKNARESBOROUGH
Postcode districtHG5
Dialling code01423
PoliceNorth Yorkshire
FireNorth Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire

Plompton is a hamlet and civil parish located south of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. It is close to the A661.

Plompton Hall was designed by the architect John Carr, and composer John Hebden originates from the parish.

Plumpton Rocks

Plompton Rocks, circa 1798 - J.M.W. Turner
A photographer capturing an image of the rocks in 2009.

Plumpton Rocks is a man-made lake and surrounding pleasure gardens designed by Daniel Lascelles against a backdrop of towering rocks eroded by the wind. The lake was extended by a dam built by John Carr, architect of the hall. The artist J.M.W. Turner was commissioned by Edward Lascelles, 1st Earl of Harewood to produce two paintings of the lake and rocks.[2] These now hang at Harewood House.

The rocks were also painted by Thomas Girtin.[3]

It is currently operated as a tourist attraction by the owner Robert de Plumpton Hunter. The reason for the 'u' in the current name for the rocks is unknown - Turner referred to it as Plompton Rocks, in keeping with the name of the parish itself.[4]

It has been suggested that the highest point of rock adjacent to the lake is called Lovers' Leap.[5]

The website for the garden is www.plumptonrocks.com

Opening times Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays March to October, 11.00am to 6.00pm

The gardens are currently closed until at least July 2016, to allow a major restoration project to desilt the lake, restore the dam and woodland. This will open up 18th century vistas and restore the view points that Turner painted in his two visits to Plumpton in 1797 and 1816.

References

  1. ^ "Parish population 2011". Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  2. ^ Brief history at follifoot.org
  3. ^ Morris, Susan. "Girtin, Thomas". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10777. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ^ Turner painting at Tate Online
  5. ^ [1]