Holgate is a suburb of
York
York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
in the ceremonial county of
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...
, England. It is located about 1 mile west of
Micklegate Bar
York has, since Roman times, been defended by walls of one form or another. To this day, substantial portions of the walls remain, and York has more miles of intact wall than any other city in England. They are known variously as York City W ...
in the
city walls
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as curtain walls with to ...
. Holgate is also the name of an
electoral ward
A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...
in the
City of York
The City of York, officially simply "York", is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England.
...
unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...
. The ward is currently bounded by the
River Ouse from Scarborough Bridge to Ouse Acres on its northern boundary. Carr Lane and Ouse Acres on one side, and the intersection of York Road and Acomb Road on the other, make up its western boundary. The remainder of the southern boundary follows Moorgate and
Holgate Beck to the
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...
railway which completes the eastern boundary as far as the River Ouse/Scarborough Bridge.
The ward contains the
National Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum (NRM) is a museum in York, England, forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historical ...
and many historic buildings, including a restored 18th century windmill and a
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
bunker. It is the site of the former
York Carriage Works
The Holgate Road carriage works was a railway carriage manufacturing factory in the Holgate, North Yorkshire, Holgate area of York, England.
The factory began production in 1884 as a planned expansion and replacement of the North Eastern Railw ...
which closed in 1996.
Thrall Car Manufacturing Company, briefly re-opened the works. After that closed in 2002
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...
continue to use it as a maintenance depot.
History
Holgate is mentioned in chronicles as far back as the 14th century. There are many historic buildings within its boundaries, including a restored windmill. The
Holgate Windmill sits on Windmill Rise.
The current windmill, built in 1770 by George Waud, ceased grinding corn in 1933 and fell into disuse. It has since undergone restoration work overseen by the Holgate windmill Association. There is also mention of a Hob Moor Water Mill located on Holgate Beck, reportedly demolished or fallen in disrepair by 1723.
The York New Waterworks Company, formed in 1846, built their new works at Acomb Landing, just off Boroughbridge Road. It supplied the city of York, Holgate and other nearby areas and although the site has since expanded, it still serves the area as The York Waterworks Company.
In 1843, it was recorded that the population of Holgate was a mere 143. The population of Holgate increased with the building of the Carriageworks in the late 19th century.
Holgate was formerly a
township
A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...
of the parish of St. Mary - Bishophill Junior being a part of the manor of Acomb in the
Ainsty of York. It became a separate
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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in 1866, but the civil parish was abolished on 26 March 1900 and merged with York. In 1891 the parish had a population of 1073. The city boundary of York was expanded by local legislation, in 1884, to include Holgate. Until 1974 it was in the
North Riding of Yorkshire
The North Riding of Yorkshire was a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point was at Mickle Fell at .
From the Restoration it was used as a lieutenancy area, having b ...
.
The Fox pub lies on Holgate Road; it was purpose-built in 1878.
Other notable buildings include
Holgate House, built in 1774.
Holgate was home to ''No. 20 Group Royal Observer Corps'' located in a
semi-subterranean bunker built in 1961. It was in use until 1991 and situated behind the Government Building of Shelley House, which has now been redeveloped into residential properties. It has been preserved as a museum by
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
working with the York
ROC Association and the ''Cold War Bunker Trust'', having been granted Scheduled Ancient Monument status in 2000.
Politics
Holgate Ward returns three councillors to the City of York Council. Following the 2023 local elections these are Jenny Kent, Lucy Steels-Walshaw, and Kallum Taylor, all of whom represent the local Labour Party.
Holgate is situated in the UK parliamentary constituency of
York Central. Its current MP is
Rachael Maskell, a
Labour Co-operative
Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated to Labour Co-op; ) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party.
Candidates contest elections under an el ...
member.
Demographics
The figures below were taken from the
Census 2001 Key Statistics for Local Authorities in England and Wales, from the Office for National Statistics on 29 April 2001.
The population in Holgate Ward was 11,564 of which 92.3% were born in England and 3.8% from outside the United Kingdom. The largest Age Group within the population, 25.1%, were between 30 and 44 years old. Of the total population, 95.9% described their ethnic origin as White-British. The figures show that 72.3% declared they were Christian, whilst 18.6% declared no religious belief at all. Of the population aged between 16 and 74 years old, 69.1% declared they were in some form of employment and 12.1% said they were retired. Of the 5,311 households, 34.6% were Semi-Detached and 47.9% were Terraced. The level of household ownership was 73.5%.
The population according to the 2011 UK Census had risen to 12,832 for the Holgate ward.
Public services

Located on Acomb Road is the Police Station for the Acomb and Holgate Team of the North Yorkshire and City of York Police Force. North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service operate a 24/7 shift out of the Acomb Fire Station on Boroughbridge Road.
Geography
The geographic area of Holgate is taken up mostly by domestic and industrial buildings with large areas of railway track. There are some open areas, one of which is
West Bank Park. This is managed by the City Council and consists of 20 acres containing woodlands and an arboretum, as well as two bowling greens, a basketball court, two play areas, toilets and a refreshments building. Entrances are on Hamilton Drive and Acomb Road. The park, originally the grounds of West Bank house, was established in 1936–38 and included a statue of
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
that was originally in the Guildhall. There are six smaller play areas around the ward. There is also some open space alongside the river.
Economy

In 1880 the
North Eastern Railway decided to concentrate more on carriage building in York by constructing the
York Carriage Works
The Holgate Road carriage works was a railway carriage manufacturing factory in the Holgate, North Yorkshire, Holgate area of York, England.
The factory began production in 1884 as a planned expansion and replacement of the North Eastern Railw ...
in Holgate. This expanded and by 1910 it covered an area of 45 acres. By 1855 the railway workforce was 1,200-strong and was calculated to be earning about £1,350 a week for the city's economy. At the beginning of the 20th century, York had around 5,500 railway employees, of which half were employed in the wagon and carriage works. The works closed in 1996. Part of the site is now office accommodation for various companies, such as
CPP.
A large part of the works was retained and used by
Thrall Car Manufacturing Company to build wagons for
EWS. When this ceased
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...
took over and has developed a maintenance facility, servicing amongst other things the rail head treatment trains. Separately the wagon works off Cinder Lane have been developed by
Freightliner as an important maintenance depot for their mineral carrying wagons.
There are small groupings of retail shops and stores throughout the Holgate area.
Education
English Martyr's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary in Hamilton Drive was originally located in
Blossom Street
Blossom Street is a road in York, in England, immediately west of the city centre.
History
The street has been the main route leading south and west from York from the Roman Eboracum era onwards; the Roman roads to Calcaria (now Tadcaster) an ...
and opened in March 1882, it was merged with Our Lady's Catholic primary school in Acomb to form Our Lady Queen of Martyrs RC Primary School, on the site of English Martyrs Primary School. Acomb Primary in West Bank was originally located on Front Street and opened in August 1894. It was one of the oldest primary schools in
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...
and had been in its old buildings since 1908 and was the second largest primary school in
York
York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
, with 575 pupils.
Poppleton Road Primary is located at the junction of Poppleton road and Water Lane. St Barnabas' Church of England Primary is located in Jubilee Terrace just off Leeman Road and opened in 1877. St Paul's Church of England Primary is located in St Paul's Terrace, not far from the Church of the same name and opened in 1872.
There is no Secondary School within Holgate.
Sports
York Railway Institute Football Club play their home games at New Lane. York RI have a reasonable history in non-league football as they once played in the
Northern Counties East Football League
The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the English football pyramid respectively.
...
. Rugby and Hockey are also catered for at the Railway Institute with this being the home ground for
York Lokomotive
York Lokomotive are a rugby league team based in York, North Yorkshire. They play in the Yorkshire Premier division of the Rugby League Conference.
History
''York Lokomotive'' were founded in 2008 as a joint-venture between York Groves rugby ...
who play in the
Rugby League Conference Yorkshire Premier Division.
Religion
There are five main places of worship in Holgate. They are
St Paul's Church on Holgate Road, Holgate Methodist Church on Acomb Road,
St Barnabas' Church on Jubilee Terrace and the
Holy Redeemer Church on Boroughbridge Road and the York congregation of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
(LDS Church) on Acomb Road. St Paul's Church was built in 1851 to cater to the increasing population of railway workers in the area and became the seat of its own parish in 1856. St Barnabas, built between 1902 and 1904, became its own parish in 1912, being formerly under St Paul's.
Notable residents
Lindley Murray
Lindley Murray (1745 – 16 February 1826) was an American Quaker lawyer, writer, and grammarian, best known for his English-language grammar books used in schools in England and the United States.
Murray practised law in New York. As the ...
, the noted grammarian, settled in Holgate after going into exile following the American War of Independence.
Holgate was the home of
Moses B. Cotsworth, inventor of the
International Fixed Calendar and 13-month calendar reformer. He lived in 3, Severus House, where he wrote The Rational Almanac, (1905). He later lived in Severus House before emigrating to
Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
where he died in 1943.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Villages and areas in the City of York
Wards of North Yorkshire