Thirsk is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

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 authority ...

in the Hambleton district of

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

known for its

racecourse A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...

; quirky yarnbomber displays, and depiction as local author

James Herriot James Alfred Wight (3 October 1916 – 23 February 1995), better known by his pen name James Herriot, was a British veterinary surgeon and author. Born in Sunderland, Wight graduated from Glasgow Veterinary College in 1939, returning to Engl ...

's fictional

Darrowby Darrowby is a fictional village in the North Riding of Yorkshire, England, which was created by author Alf Wight under the pen name of James Herriot James Alfred Wight (3 October 1916 – 23 February 1995), better known by his pen name J ...

History

Archeological finds indicate there was a settlement in Thirsk around 500–600 BC. The town's name is derived from the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

word ''þresk'' meaning fen or lake. Thirsk is mentioned twice in the 1086 ''

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 ...

'' as ''Tresche'', in the ''Yarlestre''

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 ...

, a village with ten households. 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 Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...

the manor was split between ''Orm'' and ''Thor'', local Anglo-Saxon landowners. Afterwards, it was split between ''Hugh, son of Baldric'' and the Crown.

House of Mowbray

Most of Thirsk was granted to a

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

from

Montbray Montbray () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. The village has an ancient château which belongs to the commune and houses the town hall and the village nursery school. The village also has a church, a ba ...

for whose descendant

House of Mowbray The House of Mowbray () was an Anglo-Norman noble house, derived from Montbray in Normandy and founded by Roger de Mowbray, son of Nigel d'Aubigny.Clay, C., & Greenway, D. E. (2013). Early Yorkshire Families (Vol. 135). Cambridge University Pres ...

the

vale of Mowbray The Vale of Mowbray (sometimes mistakenly referred to as the Vale of York) is a stretch of low-lying land between the North York Moors and the Hambleton Hills to the east and the Yorkshire Dales to the west. To the north lie the Cleveland low ...

is named. By 1145, what is now Old Thirsk, gained a

Market charter A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

giving it town and borough status. The remaining land in the parish was still under manorial rights. The Mowbray family built a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

on the north side of Castlegate. It is not mentioned in the

and an exact date is not recorded for construction but it was known to be completely destroyed by 1176 following an uprising against Henry II.

William de Mowbray William de Mowbray (–), lord of Thirsk and Mowbray, was a Norman Lord and English noble who was one of the twenty-five executors of '' Magna Carta''. He was described as being as small as a dwarf but very generous and valiant. Family origin W ...

, 6th Baron of Thirsk, 4th Baron Mowbray, was one of the 25 executors of the

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the ...

in 1215. The Mowbrays built a manor house on the old castle site, this was destroyed by the Scots in 1322. The manor itself continued to be in the Mowbrays possession, despite several claims, until the death of the 16th Lord Mowbray in 1476.

Berkeley and Derby

After the

War of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the throne of England, English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These w ...

, Henry VII raised taxes, and that caused uprisings in the north. This led to the murder of

Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland (c. 1449 – 28 April 1489) was an English aristocrat during the Wars of the Roses. After losing his title when his father was killed fighting the Yorkists, he later regained his position. He led the ...

, allegedly on The Little Green, when he was sent to collect the taxes. However, other evidence points to the murder occurring in nearby

South Kilvington South Kilvington is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated just off the A19, about one mile north of Thirsk. History The village is mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'' as ''Cheluitun' ...

. With no direct succession, the daughter of

Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, KG (22 March 136622 September 1399) was an English peer. As a result of his involvement in the power struggles which led up to the fall of King Richard II, he was banished and died in exile in Venice. B ...

inherited the manor, who had married into the Berkeley family. Her son

William de Berkeley, 1st Marquess of Berkeley William de Berkeley, 1st Marquess of Berkeley (1426 – 14 February 1492) was an English peer, given the epithet "The Waste-All" by the family biographer and steward John Smyth of Nibley. He was buried at "St. Augustine's Friars, London" accor ...

inherited it on her death. For some years, the manor was held by "Thomas Stanley Earl of Derby, whose successors held it after the death of William Lord de Berkeley until 1723".

Bell, Industrial Revolution and modern

In that year, it was sold by James Earl of Derby to Ralph Bell (MP) of Sowerby, "whose descendants thereafter held the manor". It remained in the Bell family into the

20th century The 20th (twentieth) century began on January 1, 1901 ( MCMI), and ended on December 31, 2000 ( MM). The 20th century was dominated by significant events that defined the modern era: Spanish flu pandemic, World War I and World War II, nuclear ...

. Thirsk Hall in Kirkgate is a

grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

three-storey town house built in 1720 and extended in 1770 by York architect John Carr. A 1767 Act of Parliament provided for building a navigable waterway to the town from the

River Swale The River Swale in Yorkshire, England, is a major tributary of the River Ure, which becomes the River Ouse, that empties into the North Sea via the Humber Estuary. The river gives its name to Swaledale, the valley through which it flows. ...

along Cod Beck. The project ran out of funds and was never completed, although remains can be seen of the wharf and a lock near Lock Bridge. The Thirsk Poor Law Union was formed in 1837 and covered a large part of the North Riding of Yorkshire. A

workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...

was erected in Sutton Road in 1838. A rail crash occurred at Manor House signal box on 2 November 1892, on the North Eastern Railway about north of Thirsk railway station, when an express train collided with the back of a goods train, both heading south in fog. There were 10 people killed and 43 injured. Another took place on 31 July 1967 on the

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...

. On that occasion an express train travelling north collided with a derailed freight train. Seven people were killed and 45 injured.

Governance

Thirsk Town Hall, Westgate -1 (geograph 4222038)

Thirsk has been in the

Thirsk and Malton Thirsk and Malton is a constituency in North Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Kevin Hollinrake, a Conservative. History 2010-date Anne McIntosh, a Conservative, elected for Vale of York in ...

Parliamentary constituency since its creation for the 2010 general election. Kevin Hollinrake was elected MP at the 2015 UK general election. The town was a parliamentary borough that had representation in 1295 and then from 1547 to 1885. For the majority of the latter period, it was represented by two members until 1882 when it was reduced to one member. The constituency of Thirsk and Malton was originally created for the 1885 General Elections by the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885 and existed until 1983. During that period it returned six Conservative party members to parliament, which included one by-election in 1915. The Civil Parish of Thirsk was created by the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

. The

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

afforded Parish Councils the opportunity to change titles. Thirsk renamed itself a ''Town Council''. In so doing, the Chairman was also renamed as ''Mayor''. The council is represented by eleven Councillors. The town council meets at

Thirsk and Sowerby Town Hall Thirsk and Sowerby Town Hall is a municipal building in Westgate, Thirsk, North Yorkshire, England. The structure is used as the meeting place of Thirsk Town Council and of Sowerby Parish Council. History The first municipal building in Thirsk ...

Geography

Thirsk is in the

Vale of Mowbray The Vale of Mowbray (sometimes mistakenly referred to as the Vale of York) is a stretch of low-lying land between the North York Moors and the Hambleton Hills to the east and the Yorkshire Dales to the west. To the north lie the Cleveland low ...

and situated around the Cod Beck. Within Thirsk, Norby lies to the north-west, and Old Thirsk to the north-east. The separate parish of Sowerby abuts to the south. Nearby

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

s with names of

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

origin, identified by the suffix ''by'' meaning village or farmstead, include

Thirlby Thirlby is a village and civil parish in Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. With a population of about 120 in 2003, measured at 134 at the 2011 Census, Thirlby is situated approximately east of Thirsk. Unlike its near neighbo ...

Boltby Boltby is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It is on the edge of the North York Moors National Park at , and about north-east of Thirsk. According to the 2011 census, it had a population of 143 ...

and Borrowby.

Demography

The 1881 UK Census recorded the population of the parish as 3,337. The parish had a population of 4,703 according to the 2001 Census. The 2011 UK Census recorded the population as 4,998, an increase of 33% over the past 120 years, with a density of 3.9 people per hectare. Of the total population, 48.9% were male and 51.1% were female. The ethnic make up of the town was 94.3% White British, 3.0% Other White, 0.9% Asian British and 0.2% Black/Mixed and other Ethnic Groups. The religious composition of the town was 71.7% Christian, 27.4% None or no religion stated, 0.3% Muslim, 0.2% Buddhist, 0.1% Hindu, 0.1% Jewish and 0.0% Sikh.

Economy

Thirsk's

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

market place in the town centre hosts an open-air market each Monday and Saturday. The market was established in 1145 and remains a focal point for traders and visitors. Tourism and hospitality are major parts of the town's economy. Severfield plc based on nearby former RAF Dalton, and VetUK are significant employers in the area. Herriot museum 9663 (2)

Thirsk has a livestock auction market to the south-east of the town. The town had a reputation for its leather tanning and saddlery trade, but by the 19th century was better known for the production of agricultural implements.

Culture

Thirsk Museum is operated by a team of volunteers in the house where

Thomas Lord Thomas Lord (23 November 1755 – 13 January 1832) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1787 to 1802. He made a brief comeback, playing in one further match in 1815. Overall, Lord made 90 known appearances ...

was born. Ritz Cinema opened in 1912 and may be one of Britain's oldest operating cinemas. Thirsk Museum, Kirkgate - geograph

The town's former courthouse has been an arts space since 1992.

The World of James Herriot World of James Herriot Ltd is a visitor attraction in the former Thirsk writer's home, home and veterinary surgery of author James Herriot. Displays include recreations of James Herriots 1940s Apartment, flat; depictions of rural life and veter ...

is a visitor attraction in the former

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

and

veterinary surgery Veterinary surgery is surgery performed on animals by veterinarians, whereby the procedures fall into three broad categories: orthopaedics (bones, joints, muscles), soft tissue surgery (skin, body cavities, cardiovascular system, GI/urogenital/ ...

of author

Transport

Thirsk railway station Thirsk railway station is on the East Coast Main Line and serves the town of Thirsk, North Yorkshire, England. It is down the line from and is situated between to the south and to the north. Its three-letter station code is THI. The station ...

is north 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 ...

on the

and situated from the centre of Thirsk, in Carlton Miniott.

National Express Coaches National Express is an intercity and Inter-regional coach operator providing services throughout Great Britain. It is a subsidiary of National Express Group. Most services are subcontracted to local coach companies. The company's head office is ...

as well as bus services for York, Ripon, Northallerton and local villages stop in Thirsk market place. The A61, passes through Thirsk market place. Since 1972 the A19 has bypassed Thirsk to the east of the town.

Education

The town has many primary schools, Thirsk Community Primary, the others being in adjoining Sowerby and All Saints RC Primary School. It is within the catchment area of

Thirsk School and Sixth Form College Thirsk School and Sixth Form College is a secondary school located in Sowerby, a village adjoining Thirsk, North Yorkshire, England. Thirsk School has nearly 1,200 pupils, including about 200 in the sixth form. The headteacher is Emma Lambde ...

for secondary education. The current primary school was opened in 1979 with an extension added in 1991 to house extra classrooms, nursery section and medical facilities. Due to rises in the school population, some temporary build classrooms have also been erected on site. It is a mixed gender school catering for pupils between the ages of 3 and 11. It has a student capacity of 315 and as of 2013 was at 90.5% of that.

Religion

The church on St James Green in Thirsk - geograph

St Mary's Church is a

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, 15th-century church. There are gouges created by sharpening

arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

s and knives in the porch, and by the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

in the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

. The Friends Meeting House on Kirkgate that has been on that site since at least 1799. In 1861 the Wesleyan Chapel on St James' Green was built. A Roman Catholic Church dedicated to ''All Saints'' was added in 1867 on Castlegate.

Sport

Horse racing

Thirsk Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue consisting of a left handed oval of about one mile and two furlongs. The present course opened in 1923, but racing had taken place on the old course at nearby Black Hambleton over 200 years earlier. The

serves flat racing in the spring and summer months.

Athletic Club

Thirsk Cricket Club was founded in 1851 and play in the middle of Thirsk Racecourse. The club was a founder member of the York & District League in which they still compete. Thirsk Hockey Club have been affiliated to the Yorkshire Hockey Association since 1923. Until Thirsk School laid a floodlit, artificial pitch they played on grass pitches on the out field of the Cricket Club. They still share the Cricket Clubhouse for social facilities.

Football

Thirsk Falcons FC compete in the Teesside Football League, which is at the 13th level of the English football league system.

Rugby

Thirsk RUFC is a Rugby Union Club which competes in the Yorkshire Division 4 North West league.

Cycling

Thirsk was on the route of the

Tour de Yorkshire The Tour de Yorkshire is a road cycling race in the historic county of Yorkshire, England which first took place in May 2015. It is promoted by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and is rated as a 2.HC event as part of the UCI Europe Tour. ...

in 2016 and 2018.

People

Mary Bateman Mary Bateman ( née Harker; 1768 – 20 March 1809) was an English criminal and alleged witch, known as the Yorkshire Witch, who was tried and executed for murder during the early 19th century. Biography Most of the details of Mary Bateman's l ...

(1768–1809), murderer and alleged witch * John Bell (1809–1851), politician and

lord of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

who thought he was a bird. *

(1916–1995), author of semi-autobiographical books about a veterinary surgeon's life. *

Jay Jopling Jeremy Michael "Jay" Jopling (born June 1963) is an English art dealer and gallerist. He is the founder of White Cube. Early life Jay Jopling is the son of Michael Jopling, Baron Jopling, a Conservative politician who served for some time as ...

(born 1963), art dealer credited with popularising the

Young British Artists The Young British Artists, or YBAs—also referred to as Brit artists and Britart—is a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London in 1988. Many of the YBA artists graduated from the BA Fine Art course at Goldsm ...

(1755–1832), founded

Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

* Keith Robinson (born 1933), cricketer *

Georgia Steel Georgia Steel (born 28 March 1998) is an English television personality. In 2018, she appeared on the fourth series of the ITV2 reality series '' Love Island''. She has since made appearances in various reality television series including '' Ce ...

(born 1998), television personality

References

External links

*
Thirsk Town Council websiteVisit Thirsk website
{{Authority control Market towns in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Hambleton District Towns in North Yorkshire