CAWTHORN is a township in the parish of Middleton, 4 miles north-by-west from Pickering station and 8 east-by-north from Kirby Moorside. Occupying a commanding site on the moors to the north are four encampments; one is nearly an oval; the others are square, and of these one is of much superior strength, being fortified with a double trench of excellent workmanship, traversed by a Roman military road from York to Dunsley; in the neighbourhood of these camps are a few barrows. James Mitchelson Mitchelson esq. is lord of the manor and chief landowner. The soil is limestone and sandy; the subsoil is limestone, rock and red sand. The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats, peas and turnips. The area is 1,134 acres; rateable value, £428; the population in 1911 was 14.