Kirkham is a village 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, close to Malton, situated in the

Howardian Hills The Howardian Hills are an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty located between the Yorkshire Wolds, the North York Moors National Park, and the Vale of York. They take their name from the Howard family who still own local lands. Topography T ...

alongside the River Derwent, and is notable for the nearby ruins of

Kirkham Priory The ruins of Kirkham Priory are situated on the banks of the River Derwent, at Kirkham, North Yorkshire, England. The Augustinian priory was founded in the 1120s by Walter l'Espec, lord of nearby Helmsley, who also built Rievaulx Abbey. Th ...

, an Augustinian establishment. Kirkham was historically an

extra parochial area In England and Wales, an extra-parochial area, extra-parochial place or extra-parochial district was a geographically defined area considered to be outside any ecclesiastical or civil parish. Anomalies in the parochial system meant they had no ch ...

in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

. It became a

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 authority ...

in 1866. In 1935 the civil parish was abolished and merged into the civil parish of Firby. In 1974 it was transferred to the new county of North Yorkshire, and when the parish of Firby was abolished it joined the parish of Westow. Kirkham was served by Kirkham Abbey railway station on the

York to Scarborough Line York is a cathedral city Cathedral city is a city status in the United Kingdom. Cathedral city may also refer to: * Cathedral City, California, a city in Southern California, United States * Cathedral City Cheddar, a brand of Cheddar ch ...

between 1845 and 1930.

John Oxley John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley (1784 – 25 May 1828) was an explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of British colonisation. He served as Surveyor General of New South Wales and is perhaps best known for his two exp ...

(1785-1828), an explorer of south-east

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, was born here.

References

External links

Villages in North Yorkshire Former civil parishes in North Yorkshire {{ryedale-geo-stub