Breighton is a village in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire t ...

, England. It is situated on the east bank of the River Derwent, approximately north-west of

Howden Howden () is a market and minster town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of York to the north of the M62, on the A614 road about south-east of York and north of Goole, which lies across the ...

. It forms part of the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

Bubwith Bubwith is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The village is situated about north-east of Selby, and south-east of York. It is situated on the east bank of the River Derwent, west of which is the Selby Distr ...

History

Breighton as a village is very historic, with it likely being founded as a result of the Menthrope Ferry, often referred to the ''ferry boat'' by locals. The village gained its name from ''Bricstune'' as recorded 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 ...

around 1086. Breighton village has existed since at least 1361, with it being recorded that the manor house was in Ruin at the time. By 1433 it had been rebuilt as Eleanor, the daughter of Sir Robert Roos, was born in the building which was recorded due to the requirement to verify the date of birth in 1499. Other than this information very little is publicly available about the village's history, particularly due to the more important and prominent village of Bubwith to the north. In 1672 the village was described as a ''well-hearthed village'' and ''probably fairly wealthy'' by the

Hearth tax A hearth tax was a property tax in certain countries during the medieval and early modern period, levied on each hearth, thus by proxy on wealth. It was calculated based on the number of hearths, or fireplaces, within a municipal area and is co ...

returns. The largest house at the time was the home of Mr Parish, who likely lived in the manor house at the time however this is not recorded. There were a number of landowners that had interests in the village at the time including the

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers ...

who was the largest landowner in the area until the 1870s. After the Archbishop of York the Liversidges became lords of the manor, they kept ownership of the estates until 1918. To the north-west of the main village is the Breighton Ferry

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

. From the Middle Ages until the 1930s a ferry operated across the Derwent to Menthorpe. This ferry service no longer runs, however there is a large number of mooring points still in operation, used for storage of small river craft over the winter, as shown in the photo below in the gallery. The village has had close ties to Bubwith to the north since its founding. These ties were strengthened in 1944 with the closure of Breighton's Wesleyan chapel, with the village's next closest church or place of worship being in Bubwith. The local school (Dames School) suffered a similar fate however the time of its destruction is not known. Nearby is

RAF Breighton Breighton Aerodrome is a private aerodrome primarily used for general aviation flying located on the former Royal Air Force Breighton or more simply RAF Breighton, a former Royal Air Force station located near to the village of Breighton, East ...

, built between 1940 and 1942 for

No. 1 Group RAF No. 1 Group of the Royal Air Force is one of the two operations groups in RAF Air Command. Today, the group is referred to as the Air Combat Group, as it controls the RAF's combat fast-jet aircraft and has airfields in the UK, as well as RAF S ...

, its first residents were the No. 460 Squadron RAAF. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the airfield was used to store Thor missiles, before finally closing in March 1964. It is currently used by the Real Aeroplane Company to house historic aircraft as well as for hosting air shows. RAF Breighton or Breighton Airfield, as it is now commonly known, has the

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international ...

Code of EGBR. An air show is held by the Real Aeroplane Company in the summer. This is now a private event due to a series of accidents that have occurred over the years.

Gallery

File:Breighton Airfield and Aeroplane Museum.jpg, Breighton Airfield and Aeroplane Museum File:Mustangs Flying During Breighton Airshow.jpg, Mustangs Flying During Breighton Airshow File:Boat Moorings at The Breighton Ferry - geograph.org.uk - 201349.jpg, The River Derwent

References

External links

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Real Aeroplane Company
{{authority control Villages in the East Riding of Yorkshire