Yearsley 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the district of Hambleton 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. The population of the civil parish was less than 100 at the 2011 Census. Details are included in the civil parish of

Brandsby-cum-Stearsby Brandsby-cum-Stearsby is a civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England, with a population of 234 (2001 census), increasing to 383 at the 2011 Census and including Dalby-cum-Skewsby and Yearsley. It includes the villages o ...

. It is situated between the market towns of

Easingwold Easingwold is a market town, electoral ward and civil parish in the Hambleton District 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 t ...

and

Helmsley Helmsley is a market town and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town is located at the point where Ryedale leaves the moorland and joins the flat Vale of Pi ...

. The entire parish of Yearsley is within 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 ...

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of thei ...

. It was, and remains, a predominantly agricultural village with significant forestry on the moors to the north of the village. The name 'Yearsley' is recorded 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 ...

as 'Eureslage' and then, in the Pipe Rolls of 1176, as 'Euereslai'. The origins of the name, however, are probably Anglo-Saxon, from a word meaning Boars' Wood. Following the Norman invasion, the lands of Yearsley fell into the hands of a Norman knight, Roger de Mowbray, who, by 1160, passed the estates to another Norman nobleman, Thomas Colville (from Collville-Sur-Mer on the Normandy coast). The heirs of Thomas Colville (also all called Thomas) owned the lands of Yearsley until 1398 when the next heir, William Colville, took the step of calling himself by the name of his English, rather than erstwhile Norman lands, and became William Yearsley. The manorial estates of Yearsley passed to Sir William Yearsley (who was Clerk of the Wardrobe to Henry VI) and, in 1482, to a third heir, Thomas Yearsley, who died without male heirs in 1497. Through marriage, the estates of Yearsley then passed (by Thomas Yearsley's daughter, Thomasin) to William Wildon of Fryton. Yearsley is the site of a number of barrows and other early earthworks. Yearsley was also the site of the pottery of William Wedgewood, a relation of the famous Staffordshire

Wedgwood family Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapid ...

of potters. The village was part of the Newburgh Priory estate of the Wombwell family until 1944. Yearsley was part of the parish of

Coxwold Coxwold is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton District 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 ...

until it became an

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish priest ...

in 1855 (although this was not sustained) and a

in 1866. The Pond Head reservoir between Yearsley and

Oulston Oulston is a village and civil parish in Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies about north-east of Easingwold. Remains of a Roman villa have been found in the area. The village is within the Howardian Hills Area of Outst ...

is fed from the nearby source of the

River Foss The River Foss is in North Yorkshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Ouse. It rises in the Foss Crooks Woods near Oulston Reservoir close to the village of Yearsley and runs south through the Vale of York to the Ouse in the centre of ...

. The local church is dedicated to St Hilda.Historic Churches of Great Britain
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Notes and references

Notes

References

Other sources

* North Yorkshire Federations of Women's Institutes. ''The North Yorkshire Village Book''. Countryside Books, Newbury, 1991.

External links

Vision of Britain entry on Yearsley

Yearsley Surname Genetic DNA Study
* Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire {{Hambleton-geo-stub