Great Barugh – how to pronounce North Yorkshire village

Great Barugh – a few miles north-west of Malton on the road to Kirkbymoorside and about 25 miles north of York – is home to a handful of streets and a scattering of farms.

Small as it is, it has been on the map for centuries: it appears in the Domesday Book and has links to both Roman Britain and the great age of coaching roads.

Roland Coates, landlord of the Golden Lion in 1978, promoting a ‘Guess the number of seeds in a pomegranate’ competition to raise funds for a senior citizens Christmas party. Photo: Newsquest (Image: Newsquest)

Today it’s the kind of place most people flash through on the way to the A170, without realising the layers of history in the surrounding fields.

Yet for all its quiet, one thing continues to trip visitors up: how on earth do you pronounce it?

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So how do you say Great Barugh?

At first glance, “Barugh” looks like it should rhyme with “Bar-oo” or “Barg”, and many first‑timers have a go at something like “Bar-uff”, “Bar-oo” or even “Bar-rogue”.

Locals, however, tend to settle on something simpler: “Great BAR-uh” or “Great BAR-uff” – or ‘BAR-f’ to the untrained ear – with the “gh” effectively disappearing and the final vowel almost swallowed.

As with many Yorkshire place‑names, there is room for variation from family to family as records over the centuries show several forms of the name – often closer to “Barug” or “Baruch” – all pointing back to an older word – ‘berg’ – for a hill or mound.

A van negotiating the flooded road near Great Barugh after a water main burst in January 1983. Photo: Newsquest

What is Great Barugh known for?

Great Barugh’s story stretches back at least to Domesday, when it and nearby Little Barugh were recorded as small but valuable farming settlements on the higher ground above the River Derwent.

Their position gave good views across the valley and relatively dry land compared with the wetter low ground towards Malton and the river.

Mike and Sarnia Stanyon, left, with Bill and Sue Monkman, in July 1989, after taking over the Golden Lion. Photo: Newsquest

Long before that, the Romans were here. Archaeologists have found evidence of a Roman villa and a camp in the area, and a Roman road is believed to have passed close by, linking Malton’s fort with sites on the Moors.

In the centuries that followed, agriculture shaped Great Barugh. Fields were enclosed and farmsteads expanded. Unlike some villages that have become commuter hubs, Great Barugh has retained its farming feel through the patterns of fields and lanes.

Chief among the village buildings is its 17th-century coaching-style pub, The Golden Lion, that dates back to 1632. Low‑beamed and traditional, it stands close to the main road and has long provided a stopping‑off point between Malton and the western fringe of the Moors. For many visitors it was their only direct contact with the place: a Sunday lunch or an evening pint, coupled with that sense of being “out in the country”.

A field opposite the pub is classed as an ancient monument with some grounds for belief that it was a Roman cemetery or settlement.

In 1998, The Golden Lion, Great Barugh, raised £500 for St Catherine’s Hospice in Scarborough. Pictured, L-R, Landlord Martin Hawkins, St Catherine’s Fundraiser Jackie Hutchinson and Landlady Jane Hawkins.

Written records show it belonged to the Swales family from the 1840s to the 1870s, with a John Skelton, who was also a butcher, taking over as landlord from 1890 to 1900. His ancestors included Mrs Martha Skelton who, according to 1903 records, applied for an hour’s extension of opening times one day a year for the benefit of the village club feast which involved a march to the church and back to the inn, with band and banners, for speeches, toasts and a meal provided by Martha.

In more recent times, the pub was well placed for custom from nearby villages and racing stables, with Press archives from the 1980s and 1990s showing that it was also a base for clubs such as The Derwent Beagles and Ryedale Hare Coursing Club.

A Victorian parish church, built in the 19th century, adds to the village skyline.

All of this sits at a crossroads of routes: minor roads that lead towards Kirkbymoorside, Pickering and Malton, and lanes that thread out into Ryedale’s farms.

In recent years even the peloton has found its way here, with world‑class riders passing through the village that once hosted Roman traffic – stage one of the 2017 Tour de Yorkshire came through Malton and then out via Amotherby to Great Barugh, before swinging towards the Dalby/Pickering section.

Why you might visit Great Barugh?

People tend to know – or stumble across – Great Barugh for a few reasons.

Some come for the drive itself. The road out of Malton towards Kirkbymoorside runs through lovely countryside, with Great Barugh as one of the natural places to break a journey.

Others arrive for the walking and cycling. From Great Barugh you can fan out on footpaths and minor roads towards the Derwent, up towards the Moors or across to villages nearer Malton.

There is also the historical draw for anyone interested in Roman Yorkshire; for those who enjoy old pubs and village churches, it offers a stop on a slow tour of Ryedale. And for near-locals, it is simply one of those names that pops up on weather forecasts and road‑closure notices, prompting the occasional “How do you say that again?”

Small it may be, but Great Barugh’s name, layered landscape and unhurried crossroads give it a quiet appeal – however you choose to pronounce it.