Mickley is a village in the

Harrogate District The Borough of Harrogate is a local government district with borough status in North Yorkshire, England. Its population at the census of 2011 was 157,869. Its council is based in the town of Harrogate, but it also includes surrounding towns and v ...

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 village is on the south bank of the River Ure between

Masham Masham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 1,205 at the 2011 census. Etymology In Wensleydale, on the western bank of the River Ure, the name derives from the An ...

and

West Tanfield West Tanfield is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. The village is situated approximately six miles north of Ripon on the A6108, which goes from Ripon to Masham and Wensleydale. The parish inclu ...

History

Whilst Mickley is not 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 manusc ...

(although neighbouring

Azerley Azerley is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate (borough), Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is about north-west of Ripon. The civil parish includes the larger village of Galphay, and also the village of Mickley. The ...

is), the village name is recorded as far back as the 12th century as ''Michelhach'', a combination of ''Michel'' and ''Haga'', meaning ''Great Enclosure''. The village was historically in the

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, Ca ...

of Azerley in the ecclesiastical parish of Kirkby Malzeard, 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, C ...

of Claro, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Since the boundary changes of 1974, it has been in the Harrogate District of North Yorkshire, south of

and north-west of

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...

. The village is now in the civil parish of Azerley, and in the Skipton and Ripon Constituency. A Wesleyan chapel was built in the village in 1815, followed in 1841, by the Church of St John the Evangelist, an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

place of worship. The church is still a place of worship and is a grade II listed building in the Early English style. The Methodist chapel, itself grade II listed, is now a private residence. A large mill was in the village with its own mill-race. The mill processed linen and flax, and was operating by 1841, when a court case arose between the mill-owner and a seller of flax in London, who shipped the flax to Ripon by boat, and thence taken to Boroughbridge by cart. Unfortunately the flax-owner went bankrupt, and the flax was seized before it could be delivered.

Environment

The village is on the Ripon Rowel long-distance path, which forms a circular walk which starts and ends in Ripon. The section through Mickley follows the River Ure through Mickley Barras Wood, which is to the west of the village. The wood is designated as a site of important nature conservation (a wet wood).

References

{{reflist

External links

Sketchmap of the villageAzerley Parish Council page
Villages in North Yorkshire