Foston is a small 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, England. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 263. Details are included in the civil parish of

Whitwell-on-the-Hill Whitwell-on-the-Hill is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. The civil parish population (including Crambe and Foston) at the 2011 Census was 311. It is near the A64 road. It was part of the Ryedale district ...

. It is situated close to the A64 road and is approximately north-east from

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

History

The 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

'' as "Fostun" in the Bulford hundred. At the time it was the possession of Earl Morcar, but had passed to

Count Alan of Brittany Alan Rufus, alternatively Alanus Rufus (Latin), Alan ar Rouz (Breton language, Breton), Alain le Roux (French Language, French) or Alan the Red (c. 1040 – 1093), 1st Lord of Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond, was a Bretons, Breton nobleman, ...

by 1086. It was also recorded that there was a church here. The etymology of the name is from

Old Scandinavian Old Scandinavian may refer to: * Proto-Norse, a language spoken from the 3rd to the 7th century * Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germa ...

meaning "Fotr's settlement".

Governance

The village lies within the Thirsk and Malton UK Parliament constituency. It also lies within the

Sheriff Hutton Sheriff Hutton is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It lies about north by north-east of York. History The village is mentioned twice in the Domesday Book of 1086, as ''Hotun'' in the Bulford hundred. Before the Norman i ...

& Derwent electoral division of

North Yorkshire Council North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the council has been a unitary authority, being a county coun ...

. Between 1974 until 2023 the village was part of the

Ryedale Ryedale was a non-metropolitan district in North Yorkshire, England. It was in the Vale of Pickering, a low-lying flat area of land drained by the River Derwent, Yorkshire, River Derwent. The Vale's landscape is rural with scattered villages ...

district.

Geography

According to the 1881 UK Census the population was 99. Local council estimates the current population as 50. The nearest settlements are Thornton-le-Clay to the west;

Bulmer, North Yorkshire Bulmer is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 174, increasing to 202 at the census 2011. The village is about south-west of Malton. History Bulmer was the seat of the ...

to the north;

to the east and

Barton Hill, North Yorkshire Barton Hill is a village in North Yorkshire, off the A64 road, near Barton-le-Willows. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of Ryedale, it is now administered by the unitary North Yorkshire Council. Barton Hill was served by Barton H ...

to the south-east. To the east of the village is Spittal Beck, a tributary of the River Derwent. The village is the site of a

Scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

, this being a medieval settlement and moated

monastic grange Monastic granges were outlying landholdings held by Monastery, monasteries independent of the Manorialism, manorial system. The first granges were owned by the Cistercians, and other orders followed. Wealthy monastic houses had many granges, mo ...

. In addition to the church, Foston Rectory is Grade II* listed and Foston Hall is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Religion

The presence of a church in the village was recorded at the time of the

Norman invasion The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, French, Flemish, and Breton troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conquero ...

, but the present building, All Saints' Church, Foston, dates from the 12th century with subsequent renovations. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Notable residents

The noted English writer and

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

cleric,

Sydney Smith Sydney Smith (3 June 1771 – 22 February 1845) was an English wit, writer, and Anglican cleric. Besides his energetic parochial work, he was known for his writing and philosophy, founding the ''Edinburgh Review'', lecturing at the Royal Inst ...

, was rector of the parish from 1806 until 1829 and resident in the village from 1809.Alan Bell, ''Sydney Smith: A Biography'' (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1980), pp. 72, 84–147.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire