Abbot's Staith is a historic building in

Selby Selby is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse. At the 2021 Census, it had a population of 17,193. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire; from 1974 until 2023, ...

, a town 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 ...

in England. The building was constructed in about 1500, probably as a warehouse. It is generally thought to have been constructed on behalf of the monks of

Selby Abbey Selby is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse, Yorkshire, River Ouse. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, it had a population of 17,193. The town w ...

. ''The Oxford Handbook of Later Medieval Archaeology in Britain'' describes it as "Selby Abbey's quay and timber yard". Writing in the 1750s, Richard Pocock stated that "near the river is a large store house of hewn stone, which served for their cloth before the

Aire Aire may refer to: Music *''Aire'', a song on the album Chicago VII by the group Chicago (band), 1974 * ''Aire'' (Yuri album), 1987 * ''Aire'' (Pablo Ruiz album), 1997 *''Aire (Versión Día)'', an album by Jesse & Joy Places * Aire-sur-la-Ly ...

was made navigable". In 1911, the building was purchased by the Woodhead family, which used it for their seed business. However, it was disused from about 1990, and fell into poor repair. In 2015, the Save the Abbot's Staith group began fundraising to restore the building, for community use. In 2019,

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

supported the cost of roof repairs. The building is two storeys high, H-shaped in plan, and is largely built of limestone. The north side of the upper storey of the central section was rebuilt in brick in about 1700, possibly replacing timber-framing. The southern side of the upper storey of the east wing was rebuilt in brick in the 19th century. Five first floor windows on the south side are original, as are two doors on the north side, with their original ironwork. Inside, the building is divided by thick stone walls. The building is

grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

and is also a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

References

External links

* {{coord, 53.78574, -1.06673, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Grade II* listed buildings in North Yorkshire Scheduled monuments in North Yorkshire Selby Warehouses in England