Arrathorne is a hamlet and civil parish in the former Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. The settlement is 6 miles (9 km) south of Richmond, 6 miles (9 km) north-west of Bedale and 6 miles (9 km) east of Leyburn.[1] The name has been recorded variously as Ergthorn, Erchethorn, Erghethorn, Erethorn and Arrowthorne.[2] It means The Thornbush by the Shieling.[3] Historically, the hamlet was in the Parish of Patrick Brompton in the Wapentake of Hang East.[4]
The nearest city to Arrathorne is Ripon. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 61. The population in 2011 census was 90 with an estimated population of the same number in 2015.[5] It has neither pub nor public telephone box and is not on a bus route. The nearest bus stop is in Hunton, just over a mile away. The nearest national rail station on the East Coast Main Line is in Northallerton 11 miles (18 km) away.[1]
There is one recorded descriptive gazetteer entry, in John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles, "Arrathorne, township, North-Riding Yorkshire, 5 miles NE. of Leyburn, 671 ac., pop. 62."[6]