Beal is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the District of Selby in

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. It is situated on the

River Aire The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England, in length. The ''Handbook for Leeds and Airedale'' (1890) notes that the distance from Malham to Howden is direct, but the river's meanderings extend that to . Between Malham Tarn and Ai ...

, north-east of

Knottingley Knottingley is a market town in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England on the River Aire and the old A1 road before it was bypassed as the A1(M). Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a population of 13,503, inc ...

, south-west of

Selby Selby is a market town and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse, with a population at the 2011 census of 14,731. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until ...

, and south of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. The parish includes the village of Kellingley, and borders the City of Wakefield in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

. At the 2001 census it had a population of 720, increasing to 738 at the 2011 census.

Overview

The name "Beal" is of

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

origins and means "Nook of land in a river-bend". It is composed of the elements ''bēag'' ("river-bend") and ''halh'' ("nook of land"). The village was recorded as ''Begale'' 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 ...

of 1086.

Kellingley Colliery Kellingley Colliery was a deep coal mine in North Yorkshire, England, east of Ferrybridge power station. It was owned and operated by UK Coal. The colliery closed on 18 December 2015, marking the end of deep-pit coal mining in Britain. The ...

, the last operating deep coal mine in the United Kingdom, was located in the parish until its closure in December 2015. Fishing on the River Aire is controlled by Leeds and District Amalgamated Society of Anglers. The main catches are roach and

bream Bream ( ) are species of freshwater and marine fish belonging to a variety of genera including '' Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), '' Acanthopagrus'', ''Argyrops'', '' Blicca'', '' Brama'', '' Chilotilapia'', ''Etelis'', '' L ...

. Bus service 476 operated by

Arriva Yorkshire Arriva Yorkshire is a major bus operator providing services primarily within and across West Yorkshire, although it also provides service in some parts of South Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire and southern areas of North Yorkshire. It is a ...

, connects the village with Pontefract, Ferrybridge, Knottingley, Kellingley, Beal, Kellington, Eggborough, Burn, Brayton and Selby.

Governance

The village of Beal was a township in the ancient parish of

Kellington Kellington is a small village and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, on the banks of the River Aire. Situated almost equidistant between the towns of Pontefract and Selby, the village dates back to at least the 11t ...

in 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, ...

of Osgoldcross and

liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the towns in the City of Wak ...

in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

. It became a separate parish in 1866, and was incorporated into Pontefract poor law union in 1869. In 1875, the area of the poor law union became a

rural sanitary district Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

, which in 1894 was superseded by Pontefract Rural District. The rural district was abolished in 1938, and Beal became part of Osgoldcross Rural District, which was itself abolished under local government reorganisation in 1974, with the eastern part incorporated into the District of Selby in the new county of

Nigel Adams Nigel Adams (born 30 November 1966) is a British politician who served as Minister of State without Portfolio at the Cabinet Office from 2021 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Selby and Ains ...

has been the member of parliament for Selby and Ainsty since the constituency was created in 2010; he represents the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. In 2009 an Independent, John McCartney, was elected for the North Yorkshire County Council seat of Osgoldcross. At the 2011 Selby District Councillocal elections, Gillian Ivey and Susan Ryder, both Conservatives, were elected; six

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

councillors were elected unopposed to the parish council.

References

External links

*
A Vision of Britain Through Time

Genuki

Geograph

Office for National Statistics
{{authority control Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Selby District Villages in North Yorkshire