Kilburn is a village in the

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 ...

of Kilburn High and Low, in the county of

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. It lies on the edge of the

North York Moors The North York Moors is an upland area in north-eastern Yorkshire, England. It contains one of the largest expanses of Calluna, heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a national parks of England and Wales, National P ...

National Park, and north of

Easingwold Easingwold is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically, part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it had a population of 4,233 at the 2001 census, increasing to 4,627 at the 2011 Census. I ...

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 ...

of 1086 as "Chileburne" in the Yalestre

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

. At the time of the Norman invasion, the

lord of the manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

was Arnketil, but was subsequently granted to Hugh, son of Baldric. During the reign of

Henry I Henry I or Henri I may refer to: :''In chronological order'' * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry ...

the manor was passed to

Rouen Cathedral Rouen Cathedral () is a Catholic church architecture, church in Rouen, Normandy, France. It is the Episcopal see, see of the Archbishop of Rouen, Primate of Normandy. It is famous for its three towers, each in a different style. The cathedral, b ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

and subsequently to Roger de Mowbray who passed the lands to the Colvilles. In return for receiving these lands, Thomas de Colville had to swear allegiance to Roger de Mowbray. The Colvilles held the manor until 1405 when the eighth Thomas Colville was murdered outside York and died without male heirs. The lands were held by the Archbishop of York after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century. Kilburn was historically a township and parish 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, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and in Cumberland County in the British Colony of ...

of Birdforth in the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire was a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point was at Mickle Fell at . From the Restoration it was used as a lieutenancy area, having b ...

. After 1837 it was part of the Thirsk and Helmsley

Poor Law Union A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in Great Britain and Ireland. Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of poor relief. Prior to the Poor Law Amendment ...

s. The parish, which covered acres, comprised Kilburn, Oldstead, Thorpe-le-Willows, and Wass, of which Kilburn had the largest population. The etymology of the name comes from two

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

words, ''ciele & burna'', meaning "cool stream". Robert de Alneto, a monk from

Whitby Abbey Whitby Abbey was a 7th-century Christian monastery that later became a Benedictine abbey. The abbey church was situated overlooking the North Sea on the East Cliff above Whitby in North Yorkshire, England, a centre of the medieval Northumbrian ...

, lived in a hermitage at Hood Grange, from the village. In 1138 Robert de Mowbray converted it into a

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

, which later moved to Old Byland and subsequently moved again to Byland.

Governance

The village lies within the Thirsk and Malton UK Parliament constituency. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of Hambleton, it is now administered by the unitary

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 ...

Geography

The village consists of High Kilburn, situated on a hillside, and Low Kilburn in the valley on the banks of a stream. It lies about east from

Thirsk Thirsk is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England; it is known for its racecourse and depiction as local author James Herriot's fictional Darrowby. History Archeological finds indicate there was a settlement in Thirsk aro ...

. The nearest settlements are Wass to the east;

Coxwold Coxwold is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England, in the North York Moors National Park. It is 18 miles north of York and is where the Rev. Laurence Sterne wrote '' A Sentimental Journey''. History The villag ...

to the south-east;

Carlton Husthwaite Carlton Husthwaite is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England, about seven miles south-east of Thirsk. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 167, increasing to 180 at the 2011 Census. History The vi ...

to the south-west and Thirkleby to the west. There was a sandstone-quarry at

Hood Hill Hood Hill is a small peak on the western side of the Hambleton Hills in North Yorkshire. The hill is high, and is a layer of Coralline Oolite on top of sandstone. The hill is noted for being conically-shaped, and being part of the view westwar ...

. The 1881 UK Census recorded the population as 387. The 2001 UK Census recorded the population as 180, of which 162 were over sixteen years old and 84 of those were in employment. There were 105 dwellings of which 73 were detached. There are a total of 18 Grade II listed buildings in the area. The village is known for the

White Horse A white horse is born predominantly white and stays white throughout its life. A white horse has mostly pink skin under its hair coat, and may have brown, blue, or hazel eyes. "True white" horses, especially those that carry one of the dominant w ...

. The White Horse is a figure cut into the hillside to the north of the village, and visible for many miles around on a clear day.

Religion

St Mary's Church, Kilburn 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 ...

which was erected in the early 12th century and underwent restoration in 1869. A

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...

chapel was built in the village in 1838.

Notable people

* Robert Thompson, whose trade-name was "the Mouseman", lived in the village. He manufactured

furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...

English oak ''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It grows on soil ...

mainly for

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

use. His work is distinguished by a carving of a

mouse A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus'' ...

somewhere on the piece. Examples can be seen on the wooden

candlestick A candlestick is a device used to hold a candle in place. Candlesticks have a cup or a spike ("pricket") or both to keep the candle in place. Candlesticks are sometimes called "candleholders". Before the proliferation of electricity, candles wer ...

s in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

. These pieces were commissioned directly by the widow of the captain of HMS ''Barham'' as a memorial to the lost ship and her crew. The Mouseman Visitor Centre lies in the village. *

John Harte (mayor) Sir John Harte (active 1575 – January 1604) was a 16th-century English merchant who was one of the principal founders of the English East India Company as well as a Lord Mayor of London. He was a native of Kilburn who became a grocer in the ci ...

References

External links

{{Authority control Villages in North Yorkshire