Whixley | |
---|---|
![]() Whixley Village Hall | |
Location within North Yorkshire | |
Population | 824 (2011 Census) [1] |
OS grid reference | SE443580 |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | YORK |
Postcode district | YO26 |
Police | North Yorkshire |
Fire | North Yorkshire |
Ambulance | Yorkshire |
Whixley is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is near the A1(M) motorway and 10 miles (16 km) west of York. The ancient village of Whixley lies on Rudgate, the old Roman road along which the Roman “Hispania” Legion would have marched to nearby Isurium (Aldborough). [2] [3]
To the Normans it was Cucheslaga (recorded as Cucheslage in the Domesday Book) [4] but by the 14th century it was called Quixley after the Lord of the Manor. [5]
For many years Whixley was famous for cherries which were originally cultivated by the friars from the Priory of Knaresborough, and in later times were sold in London at Covent Garden. A great day of celebration was the annual Whixley Cherry Feast held on the first Sunday in August, The word Feast meant “festival” rather than the scoffing of huge amounts of the fruit.
Many of the houses in Whixley are a reminder of these times with Cherry House, Cherry Cottage, Cherry Tree Farm and many others. [6]
In the 17th century the Tancred family replaced the Quixleys and became Lords of the Manor, living at Whixley Hall. The last of the line was Christopher Tancred, who died in 1754, whose portrait hangs in Christ's College, Cambridge. [7] A stone plaque on the Park Wall commemorates Christopher first having a paling fence around the Park in 1710 and the Park wall being finished in 1744, the Park to be forever stocked with 40 deer. Christopher was quite a character and there are many stories about him. His sarcophagus can be seen in the Church of the Ascension. [8]
The Tancred estate was bought by the West Riding County Council in 1920 [9] and, amid much controversy, four good farms were split up into 50 acre smallholdings to provide a living for men returning from military service in the First World War. The living of the four evicted farmers does not seem to have been given much consideration.
Today, under North Yorkshire County Council, most of these small farm houses have been sold and the land is being absorbed into larger land-ownerships, as it was 100 years ago.
In 1905 a hospital was opened on the hill-top south of Whixley. It was known as the Inebriates Reformatory but it seems to have rapidly become a dumping ground for orphans, waifs and strays for whom society could find no other place and eventually it became a mental hospital. Apart from being displaced, many of the “patients” had little wrong with them and were allowed out to help on farms at harvest time. They were known locally as the “Nibs”, short for Inebriates. Many of them lie in unmarked and forgotten graves in the churchyard. The hospital closed in 1993 and the site now forms the attractive residential development of Whixley Gate. [10]
The Church of the Ascension has looked over Whixley for over 1,000 years. Recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, [11] the Church was burned and destroyed by marauding “Reivers” from the Scottish borders in the 13th and 14th centuries. [12] The present church was rebuilt in the 14th century and is grade II* listed. [13] Only the font and one window remain of the earlier Norman church building. [14] See 'External Links' below for a survey of burials in the churchyard.
Whixley is about a 30 minute walk from Cattal train station where trains operate to York, Knaresborough, Harrogate and Leeds with onward connections provided at York and Leeds. Trains are every 30 minutes each way.
The village is served by the 22 and 23 bus routes to York, Boroughbridge and Ripon approximately every 2 hours. [15] The 23 bus only operates the first and last services of the day. The bus continues from Ripon to Knaresborough but it is recommended to take the train from Whixley to Knaresborough or connect at Boroughbridge due to the long travel time.
Whixley is close to the B6265 to Boroughbridge and Ripon and the A59 to York, Knaresborough, Harrogate and Skipton. The A59 has a nearby junction with the A1M which is a gateway to many major UK cities.
Nether Poppleton is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of the City of York in North Yorkshire, England. It is by the west bank of the River Ouse and is adjacent to Upper Poppleton west of York. It is close to the A59 road from York to Harrogate. The village is served by Poppleton railway station on the Harrogate Line.
Upper Poppleton is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of the City of York in North Yorkshire, England. It is situated by the west bank of the River Ouse adjacent to Nether Poppleton, and west of York close to the A59 from York to Harrogate. The village is served by Poppleton railway station on the Harrogate Line. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 1,961, increasing to 1,997 at the 2011 Census. Before 1996, it was part of the Borough of Harrogate.
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Spofforth is a village in the civil parish of Spofforth with Stockeld in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England, about 3 miles (4.8 km) north west of Wetherby and 5 miles (8 km) south of Harrogate on the River Crimple, a tributary of the River Nidd.
Claro was a wapentake of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was split into two divisions. The Upper Division included the parishes of Farnham, Fewston, Hampsthwaite, Kirkby Malzeard and Pannal and parts of Aldborough, Knaresborough, Otley, Little Ouseburn, Ripley, Ripon, Wetherby and Whixley, many of which formed exclaves. The Lower Division included the parishes of Allerton Mauleverer, Goldsborough, Hunsingore, Kirk Deighton, Kirkby Overblow, Leathley, Spofforth with Stockeld, Weston and parts of Addingham, Aldborough, Harewood, Ilkley, Kirk Hammerton, Otley, Ripley and Whixley.
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Allerton Mauleverer is a village in North Yorkshire, England. It is part of the Allerton Mauleverer with Hopperton parish. The parish is in the district of Harrogate, and lies just 5 miles (8 km) east of the town Knaresborough. From 1947 to 1998, Allerton Mauleverer was part of the Claro Registration District, until it was abolished. The A1(M) runs through the area connecting London and Edinburgh.
Thornborough is a village in Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It is about 7 miles (11 km) south of Bedale and 3 miles (5 km) west of the A1(M) motorway. Thornborough is in the West Tanfield parish. The Thornborough Henges ancient monuments are situated south and west of the village. The village lies just to the south of the B6267 road, which connects the A6055 in the east, with the A6108 road at Masham. The village is served by two buses a day in each direction between Ripon and Masham. When the Masham Branch of the North Eastern Railway was open, Tanfield station would have been the nearest railway station to Thornborough. Now the nearest railway station is at Thirsk.
Farnham is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Knaresborough.
Kirk Hammerton is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is near the River Nidd and the A59 road, 10 miles (16 km) west of York. The village suffix refers to the Hamerton family who owned the land until the 16th century.
Kirby-on-the-Moor, also called Kirby, is a village in the Kirby Hill civil parish about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the market town of Boroughbridge, in North Yorkshire, England. It was formerly in the Harrogate district until 2023.
Little Ouseburn is a small village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated near the A1(M) motorway and 6 miles (9.7 km) south-east of Boroughbridge. It consists of two roads, Main Street which is the residential area, and Church Lane which contains a Holy Trinity Church that is a grade I listed building. It also has a small brick bridge over a stream which leads to Great Ouseburn. According to the 2011 census data the total population of Little Ouseburn is 264.
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Milby is a hamlet and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is situated to the immediate north of Boroughbridge.
Moor Monkton is a village and civil parish in the former Harrogate District of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the River Nidd and 7 miles (11 km) north-west from York city centre.
Pannal is a village in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated to the immediate south of Harrogate. Since 2016 it has formed part of the new civil parish of Pannal and Burn Bridge. The village is served by Pannal railway station on the Harrogate (Railway) Line between Leeds and York.
Mickley is a village in the Harrogate District of North Yorkshire, England. The village is on the south bank of the River Ure between Masham and West Tanfield.
Marton cum Grafton is a civil parish in the Borough of Harrogate of North Yorkshire, England. The parish has only two settlements, and has a magnesian limestone and sandstone geography, which has been used for quarrying. The landform is broadly flat, though there are some small hills with the Marton and Grafton being separated by 98 feet (30 m) despite being only 0.5 miles (0.8 km) apart.
The Church of the Ascension is an Anglican church in the village of Whixley, North Yorkshire, England. Whilst the Domesday Book entry for Whixley mentions the presence of a church, the main fabric of the existing church dates to the 14th century. Up until it was renovated in the 19th century, it was dedicated to St James, but was rededicated as the Church of the Ascension, and it is now a grade II* listed building. Nikolaus Pevsner notes that it is unusual for a village church to be composed of mostly the same style of architecture (Decorated).
Media related to Whixley at Wikimedia Commons