Wighill
All Saints' Parish Church in Wighill
Wighill is located in North Yorkshire
Wighill
Wighill
Location within North Yorkshire
Population193 (2011 census)[1]
OS grid referenceSE473465
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townTADCASTER
Postcode districtLS24
PoliceNorth Yorkshire
FireNorth Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire
53°54′47″N 1°16′52″W / 53.91302°N 1.28124°W / 53.91302; -1.28124

Wighill is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is near the River Wharfe and 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Wetherby, West Yorkshire. The village has one public house, the White Swan Inn, which reopened in 2009 after a two-year closure.

Uhtred the Bold was murdered here in 1016.[2]

History

The White Swan, Wighill

In 1016, Uhtred was slain at a place called Wicheal by Cnut and a band of several men who had lain in wait for Uhtred. Several people have suggested that Wicheal is wighill.[3] The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book as belonging to Geoffrey Alselin, and having 18 villagers and nine ploughlands.[4] The name of the village is recorded as deriving from the Old English wic-halh, a nook of land with a dairy farm.[5][6] The south end of the parish borders a meander of the River Wharfe.[7] The old township was sometimes referred to as Wighill-cum-Esedyke, a reference to a place called Easdyke just west of the village, which had a drain into the river.[8] One of the descendants of the Stapleton family recorded his belief that the name could be derived from Battle-hill, but that it was more likely to have meant a village set on a hill overlooking the windings [of the River Wharfe].[9]

The village was historically in the wapentake of Ainsty, and formerly it was in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It was moved into North Yorkshire with the 1974 county boundary changes.[10] Wighill Park, to the north-west of the village, was historically the county seat of the Stapleton family, but by the 19th century, it had been sold on.[11][12]

The Church of All Saints, the Anglican place of worship in the village, is a grade I listed building which has 12th and 15th century origins.[13] A vicarage and tithes were first recorded for Al Saints in the year 1288.[14] The pub in the village was closed in 2007, and re-opened in 2009. It also serves as the local polling station on various voting days.[15][16]

Governance

The village is now in the Harrogate District of North Yorkshire,[17] and is in the Selby and Ainsty for national government purposes.[18]

Population of Wighill 1801–2015
1801 1811 1821 1831 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 1931 1951 1961 2001 2011 2015
216[19] 214[19] 250[19] 276[19] 237[19] 296[19] 280[19] 241[19] 239[19] 137[19] 215[19] 194[20] 170[20] 180[20] 229[20] 220[20] 193[21] 193[1] 190[22]

Notable people

Location grid

References

  1. ^ a b UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Wighill Parish (E04007439)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  2. ^ Aird, William (23 September 2004). "Uhtred, earl of Bamburgh". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/27981. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ^ Speight 1902, p. 334.
  4. ^ "Wighill | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  5. ^ "Wighill :: Survey of English Place-Names". epns.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  6. ^ Ekwall, Eilert (1960). The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names (4 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 518. ISBN 0-19-869103-3.
  7. ^ "289" (Map). Leeds. 1:25,000. Explorer. Ordnance Survey. 2015. ISBN 978-0-319-24486-9.
  8. ^ Speight 1902, pp. 315, 329.
  9. ^ Chetwynd-Stapylton 1884, p. 381.
  10. ^ Chrystal, Paul (2017). The Place Names of Yorkshire; Cities, Towns, Villages, Rivers and Dales, some Pubs too, in Praise of Yorkshire Ales (1 ed.). Catrine: Stenlake. p. 100. ISBN 9781840337532.
  11. ^ "Wighill Park, West Riding of Yorkshire". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  12. ^ "Genuki: Wighill, Yorkshire (Ainsty)". www.genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  13. ^ Historic England. "Church of All Saints (Grade I) (1315379)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  14. ^ Speight 1902, p. 340.
  15. ^ Catton, Richard (5 September 2009). "White Swan pub in Wighill is set to reopen two years after closing". York Press. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  16. ^ "The White Swan". harrogate.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  17. ^ "Wighill". getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  18. ^ "Election Maps Wighill". www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Page, William, ed. (1907). The Victoria history of the county of York. vol 3. London: Constable & Co. p. 502. OCLC 500092527.
  20. ^ a b c d e "Administrative unit Wighill CP/AP". visionofbritain.org.uk. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  21. ^ UK Census (2001). "Local Area Report – Wighill Parish (36UD140)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  22. ^ "2015 Population Estimates Parishes" (PDF). northyorks.gov.uk. December 2016. p. 14. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  23. ^ Speight 1902, p. 252.
  24. ^ Rawcliffe, Carole (23 September 2004). "Stapleton, Sir Brian". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26299. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  25. ^ Chetwynd-Stapylton 1884, p. 81.
  26. ^ Hopper, Andrew (23 September 2004). "Stapleton, Sir Philip". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26304. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  27. ^ Speight 1902, p. 5.

Sources

External links

Media related to Wighill at Wikimedia Commons

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