A GROUP of history enthusiasts are gathering together photos, documents and stories of a village which is mentioned in the Domesday Book.

The recently formed Historical Rillington Study Group has already collected an impressive amount and variety of photographs, maps, and documents, mostly donated or lent by local people and also from people further afield. The group is also collecting and compiling local stories about life in the village.

Rillington is divided into north and south sections by the A64, which runs from York to Scarborough. The parish historically contained the township of Rillington and the chapelry of Scampston and was in the Buckrose Wapentake and the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Ecclesiastically both were in the archdeaconry of the East Riding and the Diocese of York and Rillington was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 as Redlinton(e) and Renliton.

Historical Rillington Study Group's latest exhibition, held in the Church Rooms, Rillington, was entitled “A walk through history from Lowmoor to the Coach and Horses”.

The exhibition included some fascinating items about the workhouse, the railway station, shops and The Retreat, which was for a time a private asylum.

Organisers said that from the beginning of the day the exhibition attracted a constant crowd of people until the end of the afternoon.

Valerie Gilbert, one of the group's founders, said: "We were delighted by the response to the exhibition and there were many highlights to the day including a gentleman who could still recite lines from a play staged many years ago by the Drama Group in Rillington.

"A number of people renewed acquaintances who hadn’t seen each other for years and a couple of people found out that they were related.”

The group is already planning more exhibitions on other areas of the village, including Scarborough Road/Lamb Lane, High Street/Ratten Row and Westgate.

The next exhibition will look at Rillington Talent, including the football and cricket clubs, the school, the drama group and special events and celebrations.

Pam Smith, who is also a founder member and has established the One Place Study for Rillington, said: “We would like to thank everyone who came along and to the many people who have lent us information, and to all those who volunteered their time to make the event a success. We are very grateful to receive any material that relates to the village."

Contact can be made through the website rillingtonops.org or email Pam Smith at pam.smith@one-place-studies.org