Castleton is a village on the River Esk, part of the civil parish of Danby in the county of North Yorkshire in England. It can be found 7.1 miles (11.5 km) south-east of Guisborough, in the North York Moors. There was once a medieval castle sited on Castle Hill that is thought to have been abandoned when Danby Castle was constructed.

The River Esk is a river in North Yorkshire, England that empties into the North Sea at Whitby after a course of around 28 miles (45 km) through its valley of Eskdale. The river's name is derived from the Brythonic word "isca" meaning "water". The Esk is the only major river in Yorkshire that flows directly into the North Sea; all other watercourses defined as being major rivers by the Environment Agency, either flow to the North Sea via the River Tees or the Humber Estuary.