Sproxton is a village and

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 ...

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 south of

Helmsley Helmsley is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town is located at the point where Ryedale leaves the moorland and joins the flat Vale of Pickering. Helmsley is ...

and on the junction between the

A170 road The A170 is an A road in North Yorkshire, England that links Thirsk with Scarborough through Hambleton, Helmsley, Kirkbymoorside, and Pickering. The road is , and a single carriageway for almost its totality. The route has been in existence s ...

and the

B1257 road B roads are numbered routes in Great Britain of lesser importance than A roads. See the article Great Britain road numbering scheme In Great Britain, there is a numbering scheme used to Categorization, classify and identify all roads. Ea ...

on the edge of the

North York Moors National Park North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

. The village was founded by the Banks family who originated from the Barlow family who designed the original wooden Nelson Gates. The 1806 stone version serves as the southern entrance/exit to Duncombe Park. The Grade II listed structure is inscribed with "''To the memory of Lord Viscount Nelson and the unparalleled gallant achievements of the British Navy''" on the front and on the rear side is inscribed with "''Lamented Hero! O price his conquering country grieved to pays o dear brought glories of Trafalgar Day!''" In the time of

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was King of England from 1042 until his death in 1066. He was the last reigning monarch of the House of Wessex. Edward was the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. He succeede ...

, Sproxton (Sprostune) was in the hands of three local noblemen, but by 1086 the land belonged to the crown. The name Sproxton itself derives from Sprok's farm or settlement with Sprok being the farm owner's given name. The grade II listed church of St. Chad in the village is unusual in that it was originally built in the 17th century as the chapel of West Newton Grange and moved to the village brick by brick in 1879. It is also reputedly the smallest in North Yorkshire (in terms of attendance) as it has only nine pews. The wood at the eastern edge of the village was bought by the

Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. It has planted over 68 million trees since 1972. The Woodland Tru ...

in 2008, having previously been part of the Duncombe Park estate. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the wood was part of the deer park in the Helmsley area. The Woodland Trust refers to the site as Robson's Spring, but is it actually three woods named Ness Great Wood, Green Sykes and Robson's Spring. Sproxton lies within the Kirkbymoorside electoral division of North Yorkshire Council. It was 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 from 1974 to 2023. For Westminster elections Sproxton comes under the

Thirsk and Malton Thirsk and Malton is a Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency in North Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 United Kingdom general el ...

constituency, currently represented by

Kevin Hollinrake Kevin Paul Hollinrake (born 28 September 1963) is a British Conservative Party politician and businessman who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Thirsk and Malton since 2015. He has served as Shadow Secretary of State for Levellin ...

, a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

who has been incumbent since May 2015.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire