Danby Wiske is a village in the district of Hambleton in North Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

of Danby Wiske with Lazenby. The village lies north north-west of the county town of

Northallerton Northallerton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of Mowbray and at the northern end of the Vale of York. It had a population of 16,832 in the 2011 census, an increa ...

History

Danby Wiske was 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 manus ...

as ''Danebi''. The lands were the property of ''Kofse'' at the time of the

Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...

. After 1086 the manor was granted to ''Landric of Hornby''. There were three households, five ploughlands and six acres of meadow. During the late 13th century and early 14th century, the manor was the subject of dispute. Originally it had passed to the lords of Richmond, who had granted hereditary lordship to ''Geoffrey le Scrope''. When his son Henry inherited the manor the Crown took the title for a short time until it was returned to Henry. However the Crown retook possession upon learning the conditions of inheritance and granted it back to the lords of Richmond in 1342. The manor was leased to Robert Dawe and Edward Thurland in 1602, but in 1616 King James I granted the manor of Danby Wiske to

George Calvert George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore (; 1580 – 15 April 1632), was an English politician and colonial administrator. He achieved domestic political success as a member of parliament and later Secretary of State under King James I. He lost m ...

, Lord Baltimore, founder of the state of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

in the United States. The Calverts sold the manor in 1701 after which it changed hands a couple of times until in 1718 it was bought by Sir Hugh Smithson. It was sold to Jonathon Wharton in 1765. By 1857, the manor was in the possession of the Venerable Archdeacon Cust Danby Wiske is around ¼ mile from the East Coast Main Line; there was once a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

here, but this has long since closed. The ancient parish of Danby Wiske included Yafforth as well as Streetlam, but not Lazenby. Yafforth became a separate civil parish in 1866. The etymology of the name derives from the

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

words ''Danir'' and ''by'' meaning ''the farm of the Danes''. The suffix of Wiske refers to the nearby river. Lazenby had a separate history until modern times. It 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 ...

. It became a separate civil parish in 1858, and was joined to the ecclesiastical parish of Northallerton in 1867.

Geography and governance

The village lies on a minor road between the village of

Streetlam Streetlam is a hamlet in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England, located northwest of Northallerton. The population fluctuates around 25. Streetlam is situated in a largely flat area of farmland in the Vale of York, which is a ...

and the

A167 The A167 and A167(M) is a road in North East England. It is partially a trunk road and partially a motorway, where it is commonly referred to as Newcastle Central Motorway. Most of the road’s route was formerly that of the A1, until it was ...

near

. There is a crossroads in the centre of the village, with another minor road leading to the nearby village of Yafforth. The village lies at an elevation between and The remains of a moated site south of the church is designated an Ancient Scheduled monument. It is approximately in size with several distinct raised features including evidence that a channel existed between the site and the

River Wiske The River Wiske is a tributary of the River Swale in Yorkshire, England. The Wiske gives its name to several villages it passes through. The name Wiske is derived from an Old English word ''wisca'' meaning a water meadow. It was once known as t ...

. Danby Wiske is the lowest point on the Coast to Coast Walk, originated and described by

Alfred Wainwright Alfred Wainwright MBE (17 January 1907 – 20 January 1991), who preferred to be known as A. Wainwright or A.W., was a British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume '' Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells'', publis ...

. The parish of Danby Wiske with Lazenby includes the village of Streetlam about 2 miles west of Danby Wiske. Lazenby consists of a few scattered houses east of Danby Wiske. The village lies within the UK Parliamentary constituency of Richmond (Yorkshire). It also lies within the Swale electoral division of North Yorkshire County Council and the Morton-on-Swale ward of Hambleton District Council. There are five members of the local Parish Council.

Demography

2001 Census

According to the 2001 UK Census, the parish was 47.9% male and 52.1% female of the total population of 378. The religious make-up was 83.9% Christian with the rest stating no religion. The ethnic distribution was 100% White There were 157 dwellings.

2011 Census

According to the 2011 UK Census, the parish had a total population of 366 with 48.4% male and 51.6% female. The religious make-up was 72.7% Christian, a small Buddhist minority with the rest stating no religion. The ethnic distribution was 99.5% White with a small Black British minority. There were 155 dwellings.

Community

There is a Village Hall, built in 1978 and extended in 2010, which is used for fundraising, community activities and social functions. The village once had a school but this too closed long ago; the village children now attend schools in

or surrounding villages such as East Cowton and

Great Smeaton Great Smeaton is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies on elevated ground near the River Wiske, which is a tributary of the River Swale. The parish population at the 2011 census was 187. E ...

. There is a Post Box with daily 4 p.m. weekday collections. There is a children's play park, opened in June 2018, with the field behind, owned by the village committee, being opened in 2019. There is a 17th-century public house, The White Swan, in the village.

Religion

The village church is undedicated and known simply as Danby Wiske Parish Church and is a Grade I

Listed Building 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 ...

. The doorway and font in the nave both date from

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

times. The church tower underwent a small restoration program in early 2010.

Notable residents

, lord of Danby Wiske Manor from 1616. Later became Lord Baltimore and founded the state of Maryland in the American Colonies. *

Thomas Meriton Thomas Meriton (born 1638) was an English dramatist who published two plays in 1658. Life He was the second son of Thomas Meriton of Castle Leavington, Yorkshire, and Grace, daughter of Francis Wright of Bolton-on-Swale. He was grandson of Georg ...

(b. 1637/8), playwright, was educated at the private school in the village before studying at St John's College, Cambridge.

References

External links

Guide to the coast to coast walkDanby Wiske Village Website
{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire