GILLING, a parish in the wapentake of RYEDALE, North riding of the county of YORK, comprising the townships of Cawton, Gilling, and Grimston, and containing 329 inhabitants, of which number, 168 are in the township of Gilling, 5 miles (S.) from Helmsley. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Cleveland, and diocese of York, rated in the king's books at £13. 10., and in the patronage of the Master, and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge. The church, dedicated to the Holy Cross,,contains a vault belonging to the family of Fairfax. The castle was built by Alan, Earl of Richmond, soon after the Conquest, to repel the frequent attacks of the Saxons and Danes, for the recovery of their lost estates. The Hon. Anne Fairfax, in 1793, left £400, now producing £20 a year, for teaching thirty children.