Bishop Monkton 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 ...

in the 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, about five miles south of

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, the ...

. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 775, increasing slightly to 778 at the 2011 Census. In 2015,

North Yorkshire County Council North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the ...

estimated the population to be 760. Until 1974 it was part of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the

Borough of Harrogate The Borough of Harrogate was a local government district with borough status in North Yorkshire, England, from 1974 to 2023. Its council was based in the town of Harrogate, but it also included surrounding settlements, including the cathedral ...

, it is now administered by the unitary

North Yorkshire Council North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the council has been a unitary authority, being a county coun ...

. Main features of the village include a beck which runs through the centre of the village, St John the Baptist's Church and a Methodist church, a newly built village hall and playing fields, a primary school, two pubs and two caravan sites. It is within easy reach of Ripon and Harrogate (via the A61); Leeds and York are both less than an hour's drive away. Littlethorpe and Burton Leonard are the nearest villages.

History

The settlement is 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 as belonging to the then Archbishop of York. The name ''Monucheton'' predates the survey (listed in 1030) as the ''Town of the monks''. It is thought that 13th century, the archbishop resided in a manor house in the village, which has since been destroyed. Freedoms Mill, standing on the site of an early flax mill, served as paper mill and has since been converted to housing. Between 1848 and 1967, there was a railway station at to the south-west. The nearest station now is at , some south. Twentieth-century developments include a council estate built in the 1960s, and two more housing estates built at the south-eastern tip of the village. In 1986 a rural area to the east of the village, Bishop Monkton Ings, was designated a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

(SSSI) by

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

. To the west of the village lies ''Bishop Monkton Railway Cutting Nature Reserve'', which is managed by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. The village has a church, St John the Baptist, a

grade II 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, Hi ...

listed structure that was built in 1878. The nearby primary school is also located on St John's Road and has been rated ''Good'' by Ofsted in 2006, 2009 and 2013. Bishop Monkton Beck runs eastwards through the middle of the village on its way to the River Ure.

Governance

Bishop Monkton is in the administrative area of

, and falls within the

electoral division An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provid ...

of Wathvale and Bishop Monkton. Elections were first held for the division in May 2022. Until 2022 the parish was within 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 ...

of Bishop Monkton, which stretched to the north, south and east of the parish with a total population taken at the 2011 census of 2,842. Until 2024 the parish was within the parliamentary constituency of Skipton and Ripon. Following the

2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies The 2023 review of Westminster constituencies was the most recent cycle of the process to redraw the Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, constituency map for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The new constituency b ...

it was transferred to the new constituency of Wetherby and Easingwold. The first elections for that constituency will be held on 4 July 2024.

References

Sources

External links

Bishop Monkton Website
– Maintained by Richard Field {{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire

History

Governance

See also

References

Sources

External links