Staxton 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, part of 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 Willerby, and situated approximately 8.2 miles from

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

town centre. Until 1974 the village lay in the historic county boundaries of 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 ...

and from 1974 to 2023 was a part of the

Ryedale Ryedale is a non-metropolitan district in North Yorkshire, England. It is in the Vale of Pickering, a low-lying flat area of land drained by the River Derwent. The Vale's landscape is rural with scattered villages and towns. It has been inh ...

district.

Geography

The village is a linear settlement situated in the south easterly edge of the

Vale of Pickering The Vale of Pickering is a low-lying flat area of land in North Yorkshire, England. It is drained by the River Derwent. The landscape is rural with scattered villages and small market towns. It has been inhabited continuously from the Mesolithic ...

. The village is one of several which follow what would have been the shoreline of the

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

that filled the valley in the last ice age. Approximately north of the village is the River Hertford, a tributary to the River Derwent, which has been straightened to allow increased farming of the valley. Staxton Hill is south of the village and is the northerly edge of the

Yorkshire Wolds The Yorkshire Wolds are low hills in the counties of the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire in north-eastern England. The name also applies to the district in which the hills lie. On the western edge, the Wolds rise to an escarpment wh ...

, with its highest point at above sea level. Land use in the area is mainly for settlements or farming, with a small wood and disused quarry on top of Staxton Hill. Adjoining Staxton is the smaller village of Willerby. To the north is the village of Seamer, to the east is the village of Flixton, to the south is the village of Foxholes and to the west are the villages of

Ganton Ganton is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the south side of the Vale of Pickering immediately north of the Yorkshire Wolds. Ganton lies west of the coastal town of Filey, and ...

and Sherburn. Nearby are the towns of

and

Filey Filey () is a seaside town and civil parish in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the East Riding of Yorkshire, it is located between Scarborough and Bridlington on Filey Bay. Although it was a fishing ...

, the nearest city is

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 ...

History

The name of Staxton comes from Old Scandinavian meaning a village owned by a man by the name of Stakkr, and is found as Stacstone 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 ...

of 1086. There have been several archaeological digs around the Staxton area finding human bodies and other items. In 1937 RAF Staxton Wold, a Royal Air Force radar station, was set up at the top of Staxton Hill and is currently the oldest serving radar station.

Transport

Road

The A64 closely bypasses the village which is joined by the A1039, leading to

, at Staxton roundabout, and the B1249 leading to

Driffield Driffield, also known as Great Driffield, is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The civil parish is formed by the town of Driffield and the village of Little Driffield. By road, it is north-east of Leeds ...

, at Staxton traffic lights. Traffic accidents are common on the B1249 due to the steep incline of the hill and various blind corners. In an effort to reduce traffic accidents, a new set of traffic lights were installed in early 2008 which also incorporated improved footpaths and bus stops.

Bus

Staxton is served by regular Yorkshire Coastliner buses, operated by

Transdev Blazefield Transdev Blazefield is a bus group, which operates local and regional bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. Formed in August 1991, the group has been a subsidiary of French-based operat ...

, which offer connections to

, Malton,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

and other destinations in-between.

Rail

Staxton is not served by a railway station but a branch of the

North TransPennine TransPennine Express (TPE), legally First TransPennine Express Limited, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the TransPennine Express franchise. It runs regional and inter-city rail services between the major ...

line passes by the village connecting

and

. The nearest railway station is at Seamer.

Economy

Staxton's main economic activity is agriculture. Both

arable farming Arable land (from the la, wikt:arabilis#Latin, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Al ...

and livestock farming, commonly sheep, pigs and cattle. There are also several camp-sites near the village, serving tourists visiting the Yorkshire Coast. Other businesses in the village consist of the Hare and Hounds pub, which is over 200 years old built to serve passing horse-drawn coaches and still receives trade from passing motorists on the A64, a butchers, a garage, a Fish and Chip Restaurant and Takeaway and Shell petrol station situated just outside the village as Staxton Services.
The village post office and general shop was closed due to increased competition from super markets and increased accessibility to

Education

Hertford Vale

Voluntary Controlled A voluntary controlled school (VC school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a Christian denomination) has some formal influence in the running of the school. Such schools have less autonomy than ...

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

Primary School is situated in the centre of the village and serves primary school and pre-school children from the village as well as the nearby villages of Flixton, Foxholes,

and

Folkton Folkton is a small village and civil parish at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds and on the edge of the Vale of Pickering on an area known as Folkton Carr ( carr meaning low lands) in the Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England. Unti ...

. The school opened in September 1989, replacing Willerby School which had opened in 1878.

Other important places

*The village hall opened on 1 March 1938 is frequently used for village events and other private functions. *The war memorial was originally erected in 1920 and honours those who lost their lives in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Every

Remembrance Day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in t ...

wreaths of poppies are placed on the memorial. The memorial used to be at the east end of the village but was then moved to a more central place in the village. * Staxton Cricket Club was formed in 1849, and regularly play during the summer. They field two teams in the

Scarborough Beckett Cricket League The Scarborough Beckett Cricket League, founded in 1958, is a Saturday League that administer's cricket clubs that participate in its League, Cup and Trophy competitions. The league headquarters is based in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. The Sc ...

. *In 2009 the first Staxtonbury Music Festival began.

References

External links

Official website of Ryedale District Council
{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire