Aiskew and Leeming Bar is a civil parish within the Bedale ward of

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England. The parish only has two settlements (

Aiskew Aiskew is a village in the civil parish of Aiskew and Leeming Bar, in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. The village is situated to the immediate north-east of Bedale and separated from it by Bedale Beck. History Remains of ...

and Leeming Bar), but prior to the changes in the 19th century, the area it contains belonged to the parish of Bedale. At the 2011 Census, the population of the parish was 2,427

History

Aiskew village is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

, but Leeming Bar came about after the Domesday survey, being a point on the crossroads of the Great North Road and the turnpike road to Kendal. A large part of the parish on the western, southern and eastern sides, has a boundary division through

Bedale Beck Bedale Beck is a river that flows through the eastern end of Wensleydale and passes through Crakehall, Bedale and Leeming before entering the River Swale at a point between Morton-on-Swale and Gatenby. Between source and mouth its length is . ...

; this means that certain buildings deemed to be in Bedale, such as the Bedale signalbox and

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

, and the Leech House, are actually within the parish of Aiskew and Leeming Bar. A bypass for the

A684 road The A684 is an A road that runs through Cumbria and North Yorkshire, starting at Kendal, Cumbria and ending at Ellerbeck and the A19 road in North Yorkshire. It crosses the full width of the Yorkshire Dales, passing through Garsdale and the f ...

between Leeming Bar and Bedale, was built in 2016 to connect with Junction 51 of the A1(M) motorway. At that time, over 14,000 vehicles a day were using the road, which significantly reduced traffic flow through Leeming Bar and Aiskew (on a west-east axis). There are only two settlements in the parish; Aiskew and Leeming Bar. An area of the parish known as Aiskew Moor, is in the planning stages to be developed from fields into an industrial estate. Between 2010, and 2021, new housing estates have been built in the parish; between 2013, and 2015, the number of houses increased by 25% (up from 962, to 1,200).

Local authority

Aiskew and Leeming Bar civil parish, is part of the Bedale Ward within

Hambleton District Council Hambleton may refer to: Places *Hambleton District, a local government district of North Yorkshire, England ** Hambleton Ales, a brewery originally based in Hambleton *Hambleton, Lancashire, England *Hambleton, Rutland, England * Hambleton, Crave ...

. At the 2011 census, the ward had a population of 4,606. Historically it was in the Liberty of Richmondshire, and the

wapentake A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Southern Schleswig, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek, ...

Hang East Hang EastSometimes referred to as East Hang. was a Wapentake (Hundred), which is an administrative division (or ancient district), in the historic county of the North Riding of Yorkshire. It was one of the smaller wapentakes by area and consist ...

, though it was not separated out from the large Bedale Parish of until 1866. Previous to becoming its own parish, when it was within Bedale Parish, it was afforded the status of

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

. The Aiskew township also consisted of the hamlet of ''Little Leeming'', which was another name for Leeming Bar. At the 2001 census (which lists the parish simply as ''Aiskew''), the population was 2,136. At the 2011 census, this had increased to 2,427. In 2015,

North Yorkshire County Council North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) is the county council governing the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire; an area composing most of North Yorkshire in England. The council currently consists of 90 councillors. The council is current ...

estimated that the number had dropped to 2,310. The Aiskew and Leeming Bar Parish Council was under threat in the 2003 local elections after several members did not stand for re-election. This stemmed from a government ruling about declarations of interest by local councillors. Also, in 2017, an unsuccessful petition called for the amalgamation of the parish council with Bedale Parish Council. In 2018, a request was passed to Hambleton District Council (HDC) to rename the parish from simply ''Aiskew'', to ''Aiskew and Leeming Bar''. The request for the name change, which was granted, was because the new name would reflect the actual geographical area of the parish.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Aiskew and Leeming Bar
Parish map and boundariesAiskew and Leeming Bar Parish Council PageList of powers of the parish council1948 map showing the parish simply as ''Aiskew''
Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Hambleton District