West Heslerton is a village and former

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 ...

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, southeast of Pickering. The village lies within 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 ...

. In 1931 the parish had a population of 308. The village was named on early maps as ''Heslerton Magna''. West Heslerton is part of the

Rillington Rillington is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. Rillington was mentioned in the Domesday Survey in 1086 and rural life was relatively unchanged until the coming of the railway in 1845 The villag ...

ward, an electoral area covered by Ryedale District Council which is currently represented by Cllr Nathan Garbutt Moore.

Etymology

The village name is thought to be derived from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

words ''hæsel'' ('hazel'), or a derivative thereof, and the word ''tūn'' ('enclosure'). Thus it once meant "hazel enclosure".

History

The village is the site of one of Britain's largest archaeological excavations, that of a large settlement which seems to have been occupied for several centuries until about 800 AD. The settlement flourished during late

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

/early Anglo-Saxon times, but may have been occupied for a considerable length of time before the arrival of Romans in Britain. The site covers over and contains the traces of more than 200 buildings. Excavations of Cook's Quarry in the village, unearthed a cemetery containing 250 skeletons of people buried between the 4th and 7th centuries AD. Along with

East Heslerton East Heslerton is a village, near Malton in North Yorkshire, England. It lies between the villages of West Heslerton and Sherburn, at the interface between the Vale of Pickering to the north and the Yorkshire Wolds to the south. With West He ...

, it forms the

of Heslerton which had 409 residents at the 2001 census, with the population remaining unchanged at the 2011 census. The

Yorkshire Wolds Way The Yorkshire Wolds Way is a National Trail in Yorkshire, England. It runs 79 miles (127 km) from Hessle to Filey, around the Yorkshire Wolds. At Filey Brigg, it connects with the Cleveland Way, another National Trail. In 2007 the Y ...

National Trail and the

Centenary Way The Centenary Way is a route devised to celebrate the 100th anniversary of North Yorkshire County Council. It was opened by Chris Brasher in 1989 to mark the Centenary of the governance by County Councils. The route runs across the Howardian ...

long distance footpaths run just south of the village. Heslerton Cricket Club play in West Heslerton and field two teams in the Scarborough Cricket League.

Ownership

The entire village was owned by the same family for over 150 years, until 2016, when the land and property remaining in Estate ownership was put up for sale for £20 million following the death of its last owner, Eve Dawnay, in 2010. Miss Dawnay was a great-granddaughter of William Henry Dawnay, 7th Viscount Downe and of Lt.-Col. Arthur de Vere Capell, Viscount Malden, son of the 6th Earl of Essex. The estate was purchased by Albanwise, a Norfolk-based land and property investment company which is ultimately owned by the Vighignolo Investment Trust (a non for profit organization), Albanwise has ever since then invested to preserve the village historic heritage and maintain the surrounding landscape

Transport

The A64 trunk road passes through the village. A regular Yorkshire Coastliner bus service providing connections to

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 ...

, Malton,

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 ...

and

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 ...

is 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 ...

. West Heslerton was served by Heslerton railway station on the

York to Scarborough Line 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 ...

between 1845 and 1930.

Notable people

John Henry Hutton John Henry Hutton FRAI (27 June 1885 – 23 May 1968) was an English-born anthropologist and an administrator in the Indian Civil Service (ICS) during the period of the British Raj. The period that he spent with the ICS in Assam evoked an interes ...

References

External links

Archive.org copy of English Heritage West Heslerton webpage
{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Former civil parishes in North Yorkshire Ryedale