Bishop Wilton is a small 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

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 ...

, England. It is situated approximately north of

Pocklington Pocklington () is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, its population was 10,123. It lies east of York, and ...

and east of

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in ...

. The civil parish is formed by the village of Bishop Wilton and the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

s of Gowthorpe and

Youlthorpe Youlthorpe is a hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the civil parish of Bishop Wilton. It is situated approximately east of York, north-west of Pocklington and just south of the main A166 road from York to Bridli ...

. According to the

2011 UK 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 ...

, Bishop Wilton parish had a population of 554 in 227 households, an increase on the

2001 UK census A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

figure of 500 in 199 households. Just north of the village lies

Bishop Wilton Wold Bishop Wilton Wold is the highest point of the Yorkshire Wolds in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The summit, known as Garrowby Hill, lies about north of Pocklington. As with most of the wolds, it is wide, flat and agricultural in nat ...

, more commonly referred to as Garrowby Hill. At above sea level, being the tree covered tumulus east-north-east of the trig pillar in the reservoir compound, which is lower, it is the highest point on the

Yorkshire Wolds The Yorkshire Wolds are hills in the counties of the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire in Northern England. They are the northernmost chalk hills in the UK and within lies the northernmost chalk stream in Europe, the Gypsey Race. ...

. Through the centre of Bishop Wilton runs a shallow beck, flanked on both sides by open grass verges. The Fleece Inn Bishop Wilton

The village has a local shop, a small primary school, an art gallery with screen printing workshop, and the Fleece Inn

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

. St Edith's, the medieval

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

, is dedicated to

Edith of Wilton Edith of Wilton ( – ) was an English saint, nun and member of the community at Wilton Abbey, and the daughter of Edgar, King of England (r. 959–975) and Wulfthryth of Wilton, Saint Wulfthryth. Edith's parents might have been married and Edg ...

. The church was restored in 1858–59 with internal embellishment to designs by

J. L. Pearson John Loughborough Pearson (5 July 1817 – 11 December 1897) was a British Gothic Revival architect renowned for his work on churches and cathedrals. Pearson revived and practised largely the art of vaulting, and acquired in it a proficie ...

. It was designated a Grade I

listed building 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 ...

in January 1967 and is now recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

, maintained by

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 ...

. The church is on the

Sykes Churches Trail The Sykes Churches Trail is a tour of East Yorkshire churches which were built, rebuilt or Victorian restoration, restored by the Sykes family of Sledmere, Sykes family of Sledmere House in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The tour was devi ...

devised by the East Yorkshire Churches Group. Around the village there are walks on the Wolds with views across the Vale of York. In 2024, the village was named one of the "best secret villages" in the UK to live in by ''The Times'' newspaper.

References

External links

* *
Village web site

The Fleece Inn

More photos of Bishop Wilton
{{authority control Villages in the East Riding of Yorkshire Civil parishes in the East Riding of Yorkshire