Leyburn is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the district of

Richmondshire {{Infobox settlement , name = Richmondshire District , type = District , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_blank_emblem= Richmondshire arms.png , blank_emblem_type = Coat ...

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, sitting above the northern bank of the

River Ure The River Ure in North Yorkshire, England is approximately long from its source to the point where it becomes the River Ouse. It is the principal river of Wensleydale, which is the only major dale now named after a village rather than its ...

Wensleydale Wensleydale is the dale or upper valley of the River Ure on the east side of the Pennines, one of the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of only a few Yorkshire Dales not currently named after its principal river, but th ...

Historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

in the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres). From the Restoration it was used as ...

, the name was derived from 'Ley' or 'Le' (clearing), and 'burn' (stream), meaning clearing by the stream. Leyburn had a population of 1,844 at the 2001 census increasing to 2,183 at the 2011 Census. The estimated population in 2015 was 2,190.

History

Leyburn was mentioned 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 manusc ...

of 1086 but had no recorded population; the growth of Leyburn as a major hub is linked to the decline in fortunes of nearby Wensley, which had prominence as the only market town in

until being devastated by the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

in 1563, leaving what was once an important and prosperous town, mostly abandoned. Leyburn's stature increased in the 17th century when a market charter was granted by Charles II in 1686. Leyburn Town Hall was built in 1856 by Lord Bolton, and now houses several shops. In 1870-72 John Marius Wilson's ''

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales. Its six volumes h ...

'' described Leyburn.

Governance

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 to t ...

for in the same name exists; this ward includes

Harmby Harmby is a village and civil parish in Lower Wensleydale very near to Leyburn, in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It is closely connected with Spennithorne Spennithorne is a village and civil parish in lower ...

with a total population of 2,554. The local town council is housed in Thornborough Hall, dating back to the 1830s, the building also houses the local library, a

North Yorkshire County Council North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) is the county council governing the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire; an area composing most of North Yorkshire in England. The council currently consists of 90 councillors. The council is current ...

register office A register office or The General Register Office, much more commonly but erroneously registry office (except in official use), is a British government office where births, deaths, marriages, civil partnership, stillbirths and adoptions in England, ...

, and several private offices. The town lies within the Richmond (Yorks) parliamentary constituency, which is under the control of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. The current Member of Parliament since the 2015 general election is

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two Cabinet of ...

, the current

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...

Geography

Leyburn is situated approximately west of the county town

Northallerton Northallerton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of Mowbray and at the northern end of the Vale of York. It had a population of 16,832 in the 2011 census, an increase ...

, on the northern banks of the

, near to the eastern border of the

Yorkshire Dales National Park The Yorkshire Dales National Park is a national park in England covering most of the Yorkshire Dales. Most of the park is in North Yorkshire, with a sizeable area in Westmorland (Cumbria) and a small part in Lancashire. The park was designat ...

, at the edge of a valley or dale known as

, which takes its name from the village of Wensley, to the west. Leyburn is close to a meadow nature reserve called

Leyburn Old Glebe Leyburn Old Glebe Nature Reserve is a nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) managed by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. It is about east of the village of Wensley and southwest of Leyburn. The site is a traditionally-m ...

Demography

According to the

2011 United Kingdom census A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...

, the ward of Leyburn (including

) had a total resident population of 2,554, with 1,335 females and 1,219 males. 98.2% of the population identified as

white British White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population wa ...

, 1.1% as

other white The term Other White is a classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom and has been used in documents such as the 2011 UK Census to describe people who self-identify as white (chiefly European) persons who are not of the English, Welsh, S ...

, a total of 1.8% identified as being of a non-white ethnic background including 0.5%

Asian British British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British citizens of Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with 6.9% of the population identifying as Asian/Asian Bri ...

, and 0.7% as black,

Afro-Caribbean Afro-Caribbean people or African Caribbean are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern African-Caribbeans descend from Africans taken as slaves to colonial Caribbean via the ...

black British Black British people are a multi-ethnic group of British citizens of either African or Afro-Caribbean descent.Gadsby, Meredith (2006), ''Sucking Salt: Caribbean Women Writers, Migration, and Survival'', University of Missouri Press, pp. 76–7 ...

. The place of birth of the town's residents was 95.5% United Kingdom, 1.5% from

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

countries, and 2.5% from elsewhere in the world. 75.6% described themselves as having

religious Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...

beliefs; 74.9% of those were

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, 0.8% is made up of all other religions, the largest being

buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

at 0.4%, 16.2% stated they had no religion and 8.2% did not state a religion. The following table shows historic population changes in the Leyburn parish area between 1881 and 1961.

Economy

Leyburn is a gateway town to the

and relies heavily on tourism, the national park attracted 520,000 overnight visitors in 2017. Market Day at Leyburn

The market place is home to several shops, pubs, and restaurants, including national retailers

Co-op Food Co-op Food is a brand used for the food retail business of The Co-operative Group in the United Kingdom. Prior to reintroducing the brand in 2016, the group used " The Co-operative" branding, which is still used by a number of consumers' co- ...

and

One Stop Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

, as well as notable independent businesses such as the department store Milners of Leyburn, which opened in 1882 and is currently in its fifth generation of family ownership, and Campbell's of Leyburn, a grocers dating back to 1868. A traditional outdoor market is held in the square every Friday, along with a livestock auction mart that started in 1918. Bolton Arms Hotel, Leyburn, North Yorkshire

Bolton Arms Hotel, Leyburn, North Yorkshire

Other businesses and industries located outside the market place include a local brewery, a chocolate maker and a

Royal Mail , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...

delivery office. Tennants Auctioneers, situated on Harmby road, is one of the largest

auction house An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

s in the UK, holding more than 80 sales each year and attracting buyers and sellers from around the world. Adjacent to Tennants is The Garden Rooms, a multi-purpose events and exhibitions venue with a capacity for 640 people. Commercial Square, Leyburn - geograph

According to the

, the economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 43.5% in full-time employment, 5.0% in part-time employment, 21.0% self-employed, 3.1% unemployed, 2.2% students with jobs, 2.0% students without jobs, 19.7% retired, 0.4% looking after home or family, 2.1% permanently sick or disabled, and 0.8% economically inactive for other reasons. The average price of a house in Leyburn for the 12-month period ending February 2020 was £197,750 compared to £223,537 for North Yorkshire and the national average of £232,320.

Landmarks

Leyburn Shawl, an

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...

of about in length is located to the west of the town, it provides panoramic views of Wensleydale and links to footpaths towards

Preston-under-Scar Preston-under-Scar is a village and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately west of Leyburn. The village population was 120 at the 2001 census, increasing to 170 by the 2011 census. ...

and

Castle Bolton Castle Bolton is a village near Bolton Castle in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, England. It gets its name from the castle which looks over the village green. The population of the civil parish was less than 100 at the 2011 census, so details are ...

. According to legend,

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...

, upon fleeing captivity in nearby

Bolton Castle Bolton Castle is a 14th-century castle located in Wensleydale, Yorkshire, England (). The nearby village of Castle Bolton takes its name from the castle. The castle is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The castle was da ...

, dropped her shawl en route to Leyburn. A

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

war memorial in the form of a

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

is situated in the market place, commemorating the lives lost in both the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

World War. Leyburn Hall, also a listed building, dates back to 1750.

Religious sites

Leyburn has four

places of worship; St Peter and St Paul's

Roman Catholic 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 ...

church built in 1835, the Wensleydale

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

Church (built in 1875 and formerly a

congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

church until the early 1960s), the Leyburn

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

Church dating back to 1884, and just east of the town centre the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church of St Matthew, built in 1868.

Transport

Leyburn has its own

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

on the

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

Wensleydale Railway The Wensleydale Railway is a heritage railway in Wensleydale and Lower Swaledale in North Yorkshire, England. It was built in stages by different railway companies and originally extended to railway station on the Settle-Carlisle line. Since ...

, this is the last stop westbound before the terminus at

Redmire Redmire is a village and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It is about west of Leyburn in Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales. Transport Redmire is the terminus of the Wensleydale Railway. The Ministry of ...

, trains also run eastbound towards

Bedale Bedale ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the district of Hambleton, North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is north of Leeds, south-west of Middlesbrough and south-west of the county town of ...

and Northallerton. Local bus services to

Hawes Hawes is a market town and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England, at the head of Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales, and historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire. The River Ure north of the town is a touri ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

and

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...

are provided by

Dales & District Dales & District operates both local and regional bus services in County Durham and North Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Procters Coaches. History The company was founded in 1998, with the original network centring around the marke ...

. The town lies on a crossroads of the

A684 road The A684 is an A road that runs through Cumbria and North Yorkshire, starting at Kendal, Cumbria and ending at Ellerbeck and the A19 road in North Yorkshire. It crosses the full width of the Yorkshire Dales, passing through Garsdale and the f ...

between Northallerton and

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, south-east of Windermere and north of Lancaster. Historically in Westmorland, it lies within the dale of th ...

, and the A6108 between

Scotch Corner Scotch Corner is a Junction (road), junction of the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) and A66 road, A66 Trunk road#United Kingdom, trunk roads near Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond in North Yorkshire, England. It has been described as "the modern gate ...

and Ripon.

Education

The town's secondary school,

The Wensleydale School The Wensleydale School and Sixth Form is a coeducational comprehensive school situated on Richmond Road, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, England. History When the Wensleydale School opened in 1959 as Leyburn County Modern School, it became the comm ...

, has just over 500 pupils, with a catchment are spanning through most of

, the school has a

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

with around 80 students enrolled. In 2006, Wensleydale School became a Specialist Science College under a programme discontinued in 2010. The town's primary school is Leyburn Community Primary School, from where a vast majority of the pupils proceed to the Wensleydale School for

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...

, in 2017 the school became an

academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

. Leyburn's second primary school, St Peter and St Paul RC primary school dated back to 1835, but in 2011 it was closed due to financially unviable pupil numbers, having just 15 pupils in its last academic year.

Culture and community

Sport

The town's football club, Leyburn FC, play in the

Wensleydale Creamery Wensleydale Creamery is a cheese manufacturer based in the town of Hawes in North Yorkshire, England. It makes several varieties of cheese, but is most notable as a producer of ''Yorkshire Wensleydale''; a variety of Wensleydale cheese with PG ...

League, an affiliate league of the

North Riding County Football Association The North Riding County Football Association, also known as the ''North Riding FA'', is the association football, football sport governing body, governing body for the North Riding of Yorkshire. Its headquarters are located in the town of Stokes ...

, another local team, Leyburn United FC, once reached the

Harrogate and District Football League The Harrogate and District Football League is a football competition based in North Yorkshire, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. T ...

, until their resignation in 2016. United no longer have senior representation and has rebranded as Leyburn United JFC, for players aged 4 to 14. Wensleydale RUFC, a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

club based in Leyburn currently play in

Yorkshire 2 Counties 2 Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire 2 is an English rugby union league at the eighth tier of the domestic competition for teams from Yorkshire. Club rugby in Yorkshire operates without promotion play-offs meaning that the top tw ...

, having been promoted from

Yorkshire 3 Counties 3 Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire 3, is an English rugby union league at the ninth tier of the domestic competition. Club rugby in Yorkshire operates without promotion play-offs meaning that the top two teams are automatically ...

as champions in the 2018–19 season. Leyburn once had a golf club, founded in 1895 and lasting until the late 1950s. The

Tour de Yorkshire The Tour de Yorkshire is a road cycling race in the historic county of Yorkshire, England which first took place in May 2015. It is promoted by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and is rated as a 2.HC event as part of the UCI Europe Tour. ...

in May 2018 started in Richmond and finished in Scarborough, the cyclists travelled through Leyburn. The town was also due to be the finishing point for stage 2 of the 2020 Tour de Yorkshire, however, on 17 March it was announced that the event would be postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The torch relay for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

held in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

passed through Leyburn.

Cinema and theatre

Leyburn's former

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ...

, ''The Elite'', opened in 1928 and could seat 500, the premises were also used to stage theatre and music shows, it was initially closed in 2007, but was re-opened by volunteers under the name, ''The Picture House'', however this revival was short lived as the cinema shut down permanently in October 2008, less than 18 months after the first closure. A 64-seat cinema is now located within a multi-purpose venue named ''The Old School House'', using the former St Peter and St Paul primary school building.

Media and filmography

The town is served by two local newspapers, North Yorkshire editions of the daily ''

Northern Echo ''The Northern Echo'' is a regional daily morning newspaper based in the town of Darlington in North East England, serving mainly southern County Durham and northern Yorkshire. The paper covers national as well as regional news. In 2007, its the ...

'' and the weekly ''

Darlington & Stockton Times The ''Darlington & Stockton Times'' is a British, regional, weekly, paid for, newspaper covering the Richmond - Darlington - Stokesley - Thirsk - Leyburn area. It is published in Darlington by Newsquest Media Group Ltd, a subsidiary of Gannet ...

'' both published by

Newsquest Newsquest Media Group Ltd. is the second largest publisher of regional and local newspapers in the United Kingdom. It is owned by the American mass media holding company Gannett. It has 205 brands across the UK, publishing online and in print ...

. Leyburn has appeared in various television programmes including ''The Department Store: Milner's'', on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

in 2008, and the 1960s-set drama series '' Heartbeat''.

Events

The Dales Festival of Food and Drink was initially set up in response to the severe economic fallout experienced by the area after the 2001 foot and mouth crisis. The first event was held in the market place on

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. T ...

bank holiday weekend in 2002, after an increase in publicity and popularity, the festival to moved to a larger site on the outskirts of Leyburn, however the event moved back to the market place in 2017 after a decline in revenue. In 2019, after continuing to lose money, it was announced that the last festival was to be held in 2020, however as a result of cancellation owing to the

, 2019 was the final event. A 1940s weekend takes place at the end of July. Wensleydale

agricultural show An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which selective breeding, breed ...

takes place on the third Saturday in August. Saturday 23 August 2014 marked the 100th Wensleydale Show. The local

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...

sponsors the Wensleydale Wander in March or April, organised walks of and .

Public services

Leyburn Medical Practice is the town's

general practice General practice is the name given in various nations, such as the United Kingdom, India, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to the services provided by general practitioners. In some nations, such as the US, similar services may be describe ...

, the catchment area spans surrounding settlements including

Middleham Middleham is an English market town and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire. It lies in Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales, on the south side of the valley, upstream from the junction of the River Ure and River Cover. ...

and rural Coverdale. The nearest NHS hospital is the

Friarage Hospital Friarage Hospital is a 189-bed hospital located in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, England. The hospital covers a large section of rural North Yorkshire and the Vale of York which amounts to over 120,000 people in . The hospital is run by the Sou ...

to the east, emergency ambulances are provided by the

Yorkshire Ambulance Service Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS) is the NHS ambulance service covering most of Yorkshire in England. It is one of ten NHS Ambulance Trusts providing England with emergency medical services as part of the National Health Service it r ...

, and the voluntary

Yorkshire Air Ambulance Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) is a dedicated helicopter emergency air ambulance for the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It was established in October 2000, and currently operates two Airbus H145 aircraft. It is an independent char ...

. Leyburn's fire and police station, is operated by

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the seven districts of administrative county of North Yorkshire: Craven, Harrogate, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough, Selby; as well as th ...

and the

North Yorkshire Police North Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force covering the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire and the unitary authority of York in northern England. As of September 2018 the force had a strength of 1,357 police officers, 127 ...

service. The fire element is crewed solely by

retained firefighters In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a retained firefighter, also known as an RDS Firefighter or on-call firefighter, is a firefighter who does not work on a fire station full-time but is paid to spend long periods of time on call to respond to em ...

. The former Leyburn police station was built in 1878, and was vacated in 2021, when the two services amalgamated in the fire station. The proposal to co-locate was made by the former police and crime commissioner

Julia Mulligan Julia Rosemary Mulligan (born June 1967) was the Conservative North Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner. She is the first person to hold the post and was elected on 15 November 2012. Mulligan stood as the official Conservative Party PCC can ...

Notable people

Liam Darville Liam Thomas Darville (born 26 October 1990) is an English semi-professional footballer who plays as a defender for Richmond Town. He has previously played for Leeds United, Rotherham United, Tranmere Rovers, York City and Harrogate Town. He rep ...

, semi-professional footballer who plays as a defender for Richmond Town, was born in Leyburn in 1990. * Leyburn is the home town of footballer Michael Dawson and his elder brother,

Andy Andy may refer to: People * Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds * Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and pi ...

. * George Gargrave, English mathematician, was born in Leyburn in 1710 where was educated by his uncle, schoolmaster John Crow. *

George Bland Humble George Bland Humble (22 December 1839 – 23 October 1930) was born in Leyburn, West Yorkshire. Educated at the Wesleyan School, Richmond and the Wesleyan Normal Institute in Marylebone, London, he was appointed as Headmaster of the Wesleyan Schoo ...

, headmaster in Marylebone London and Fremantle, Australia, was born in Leyburn Moor House in 1839. *

Charles Herbert Kitson Charles Herbert Kitson (13 November 1874 – 13 May 1944) was an English organist, teacher, and music educator, author of several books on harmony and counterpoint. Biography Kitson was born in Leyburn, Yorkshire, and attended school in Ri ...

, organist and influential music teacher, was born in Leyburn in 1874.Houston, Kerry: "Kitson, Charles Herbert", in: ''The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland'', ed. Harry White & Barra Boydell (Dublin: UCD Press, 2013), p. 571–2.

References

External links

{{authority control Towns in North Yorkshire Market towns in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Wensleydale