Extracts about Great Ayton from various writers

History and Antiquities of Cleveland – J W Ord transcribed by Yvonne Bentley
Great Ayton, Stokesley & District, Past and Present – John F Blakeborough transcribed by Ian Pearce
The Parish of Ayton – Canon Atkinson
The Parish of Ayton – Graves (1808) transcribed by Mary Van Loo

The first important written source for most English villages is, inevitably, Domesday Book. This was compiled by the Normans in 1087 to give William the Conqueror a precise idea of the taxable wealth of England. Quite a 1ot of information can be gleaned from its highly abbreviated, and often cryptic statements.