What's in a Name?
The peculiar name has nothing to do with chopping. It comes from the Old English 'ceap', meaning a pedlar, suggesting that the village was once a centre for trading. The same root word gives us place names like Cheapside in London.
As a side-note, despite the spelling, the name of the hamlet is not pronounced with a hard 'g' like a garden gate, but like a soft 'y' sound like 'Chop Yat'.
At the southern end of Chop Gate is a car park with toilets and a nearby picnic area. The only other facility for visitors is the Buck Inn pub, which also offers accommodation. There is no Church of England church, but the village is served by a Methodist chapel, on the B1257.
This is a superb walking area, with the Cleveland Way long-distance footpath running a few miles north of the village and minor walking paths crisscrossing the moors.
The closest historic attraction of note is Mount Grace Priory in Osmotherley, 5 miles to the west, but really the attraction here is the superb moorland scenery.
