AYTON, a parish in the western division of the liberty of LANGBAURGH, North riding of the county of YORK, comprising the chapelry of Nunthorpe, and the townships of Great Ayton, and Little Ayton, and containing 1201 inhabitants, of which number, 1023 are in the township of Great Ayton, 3 miles (N. B. by E.) from Stokesley. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry of Cleveland, and diocese of York, endowed with £600 royal bounty, and £800 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Rev. W. Marwood. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is a neat unadorned edifice of considerable antiquity, and contains a handsome monument to the memory of W. Wilson, Esq., a distinguished naval commander in the service of the Hon. East India Company. There are places of worship for the Society of Friends, Independents, and Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists. At the extremity of a ridge of hills, in this parish, is a quarry of hard blue whin-stone, or granite, which is much used in making and repairing roads. There are some linenmanufactories and oil-mills in the parish. Iron-ore has been obtained at Cliffrigg-woods, but the mine is not worked at present. There were also alum-works, but these have been abandoned. A charity school, founded in 1704, by Michael Postgate, was rebuilt in 1785; it has an endowment, of about £10 per annum, for the education of eight boys belonging to the township. At this school, the celebrated navigator, Captain Cook, received a portion of his education, at the expense of Thomas Scottowe, Esq., whom his father served as manager of a farm. Adjoining the school are three almshouses.