Kirkham is a village 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Westow Westow is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Westow is situated in the lee of Spy Hill, bordering the Howardian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from the A64 road linking Leeds to the East Coast, west of the to ...

, 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 ...

, England, close to Malton, situated in the

Howardian Hills The Howardian Hills are a range of hills in England located between the Yorkshire Wolds, the North York Moors, and the Vale of York. They are named after the Howard family, who still own land locally, and have been designated a National Land ...

alongside the River Derwent, and is notable for the nearby ruins of

Kirkham Priory The ruins of Kirkham Priory are situated on the banks of the River Derwent, Yorkshire, River Derwent, at Kirkham, North Yorkshire, Kirkham, North Yorkshire, England. The Augustinians, Augustinian priory was founded in the 1120s by Walter l'Esp ...

, an Augustinian establishment. Kirkham was historically an extra parochial area in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

. It became a

in 1866. On 1 April 1935 the civil parish was abolished and merged into the civil parish of Firby. In 1931 the parish had a population of 31. In 1974 it was transferred to the new county of North Yorkshire. From 1974 to 2023 it was a part of the

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

district and when the parish of Firby was abolished it joined the parish of Westow. Kirkham was served by

Kirkham Abbey railway station Kirkham Abbey railway station was a minor railway station serving the village of Kirkham in North Yorkshire, England on the York to Scarborough Line and was opened on 5 July 1845 by the York and North Midland Railway. It closed on 22 September ...

on the

York to Scarborough Line 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 ...

between 1845 and 1930.

John Oxley John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley (1784 – 25 May 1828) was an English List of explorers, explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of British colonisation. He served as Surveyor General of New South Wales and is perhaps bes ...

(1785-1828), an explorer of south-east

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, was born here.

References

External links

Villages in North Yorkshire Former civil parishes in North Yorkshire {{NorthYorkshire-geo-stub