Danby Wiske is a village and the main settlement in the

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 ...

of Danby Wiske with Lazenby, 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 ...

, England. The village lies north north-west of the county town of

Northallerton Northallerton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the River Wiske in the Vale of Mowbray and had a population of 16,832 in 2011. Northallerton is an administrative centre for York and North Yorkshire ...

History

Danby Wiske 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as ''Danebi''. The lands were the property of ''Kofse'' at the time of the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

. After 1086 the manor was granted to ''Landric of Hornby''. There were three households, five ploughlands and six acres of meadow. During the late 13th century and early 14th century, the manor was the subject of dispute. Originally it had passed to the lords of Richmond, who had granted hereditary lordship to ''Geoffrey le Scrope''. When his son Henry inherited the manor the Crown took the title for a short time until it was returned to Henry. However the Crown retook possession upon learning the conditions of inheritance and granted it back to the lords of Richmond in 1342. The manor was leased to Robert Dawe and Edward Thurland in 1602, but in 1616 King James I granted the manor of Danby Wiske to

George Calvert George Calvert, 1st Baron Baltimore (; 1580 – 15 April 1632) was an English politician. He achieved domestic political success as a member of parliament and later Secretary of State (England), Secretary of State under James VI and I, King Ja ...

, Lord Baltimore, founder of the state of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

in the United States. The Calverts sold the manor in 1701 after which it changed hands a couple of times until in 1718 it was bought by Sir Hugh Smithson. It was sold to Jonathon Wharton in 1765. By 1857, the manor was in the possession of the Venerable Archdeacon Cust Danby Wiske is around ¼ mile from the

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...

; there was once a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

here, but this has long since closed. The ancient parish of Danby Wiske included

Yafforth Yafforth is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England about west of Northallerton. The village lies on the B6271 road between Northallerton and the village of Scorton, North Yorkshire, Scorton. The parish had a population of 174 ...

as well as Streetlam, but not Lazenby. Yafforth became a separate civil parish in 1866. The etymology of the name derives from the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

words ''Danir'' and ''by'' meaning ''the farm of the Danes''. The suffix of Wiske refers to the nearby river. Lazenby had a separate history until modern times. It was historically an extra parochial area. It became a separate civil parish in 1858, and was joined to the ecclesiastical parish of Northallerton in 1867. The 17th-century Lazenby Hall is a grade II* listed building.

Geography and governance

The village lies on a minor road between the village of Streetlam and the A167 near

. There is a crossroads in the centre of the village, with another minor road leading to the nearby village of

. The village lies at an elevation between and The remains of a moated site south of the church is designated an Ancient Scheduled monument. It is approximately in size with several distinct raised features including evidence that a channel existed between the site and the

River Wiske The River Wiske is a tributary of the River Swale in Yorkshire, England. The Wiske gives its name to several villages it passes through. The name Wiske is derived from an Old English word ''wisca'' meaning a water meadow. It was once known as t ...

. Danby Wiske is the lowest point on the

Coast to Coast Walk The Coast to Coast Walk is a long-distance footpath between the west and east coasts of Northern England, nominally long. Devised by Alfred Wainwright, it passes through three contrasting national parks: the Lake District National Park, ...

, originated and described by

Alfred Wainwright Alfred Wainwright Order of the British Empire, MBE (17 January 1907 – 20 January 1991), who preferred to be known as A. Wainwright or A.W., was a British fellwalking, fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume ''Pictorial ...

. The parish of Danby Wiske with Lazenby includes the village of Streetlam about 2 miles west of Danby Wiske. Lazenby consists of a few scattered houses east of Danby Wiske. The village lies within the UK Parliamentary constituency of

Richmond and Northallerton Richmond and Northallerton is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election, when it was won by Rishi ...

. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of Hambleton, 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 ...

.There are five members of the local Parish Council. In 1971 the parish had a population of 199. on 1 April 2003 the parish was abolished and merged with Lazenby to form "Danby Wiske with Lazenby".

Demography

2001 Census

According to the 2001 UK Census, the parish was 47.9% male and 52.1% female of the total population of 378. The religious make-up was 83.9% Christian with the rest stating no religion. The ethnic distribution was 100% White There were 157 dwellings.

2011 Census

According to the 2011 UK Census, the parish had a total population of 366 with 48.4% male and 51.6% female. The religious make-up was 72.7% Christian, a small Buddhist minority with the rest stating no religion. The ethnic distribution was 99.5% White with a small Black British minority. There were 155 dwellings.

Community

There is a Village Hall, built in 1978 and extended in 2010, which is used for fundraising, community activities and social functions. The village once had a school but this too closed long ago; the village children now attend schools in

or surrounding villages such as East Cowton and

Great Smeaton Great Smeaton is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It lies on elevated ground near the River Wiske, which is a tributary of the River Swale. The parish population at the 2011 census was 187. Etymology The name of Great S ...

. There is a Post Box with daily 4 p.m. weekday collections. There is a children's play park, opened in June 2018, with the field behind, owned by the village committee, being opened in 2019. There is a 17th-century public house, The White Swan, in the village.

Religion

Danby Wiske Church is undedicated and is 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 ...

. The doorway and font in the nave both date from

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

times. The church tower underwent a small restoration programme in early 2010.

Notable residents

, lord of Danby Wiske Manor from 1616. Later became Lord Baltimore and founded the state of Maryland in the American Colonies. * Thomas Meriton (b. 1637/8), playwright, was educated at the private school in the village before studying at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

References

External links

Guide to the coast to coast walkDanby Wiske Village Website
{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Former civil parishes in North Yorkshire