Kirk Smeaton 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 ...

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. It is located at the southern end of the county, close to

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

and

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 ...

. Historically, the village 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 ...

until 1974. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of

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, ...

, 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 ...

. In the 2001 Census, the population was 344, which had risen to 405 by the 2011 Census and reduced slightly to 390 by the 2021 Census.

History

The village 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 ...

, along with Little Smeaton, with the land being tenanted by Ilbert of Lacey. In 1840, Earl Fitzwilliam donated land for the foundation of Kirk Smeaton CE J&I Primary School.

Etymology

The name ''Smeaton'' is first attested in the

of 1086, in the form ''Smedetone''. This derives from

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

words ''smiþ'' (in its

genitive In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...

plural In many languages, a plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated as pl., pl, , or ), is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than ...

form ''smiþa'') and ''tūn'' ('farm, estate'), and thus once meant 'smiths' farm'. The ''kirk'' element of the name is first attested in 1311 and is a northern English dialect word for 'church', coming 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 ...

word for 'church', ''kirkja''. This element was added to the name to distinguish the settlement from nearby Little Smeaton.

Geography

Kirk Smeaton and its sister village Little Smeaton face each other across the

River Went The River Went is a river in Yorkshire, England. It rises close to Featherstone and flows eastward, joining the River Don just to the north of Pincheon Green. The river is classified as a main river by the Environment Agency, and is therefo ...

, the most southerly boundary of the Celtic Kingdom of

Elmet Elmet (), sometimes Elmed or Elmete, was an independent Brittonic Celtic Cumbric-speaking kingdom between about the 4th century and mid-7th century. The people of Elmet survived as a distinctly recognised Brittonic Celtic group for centuri ...

. A footbridge links the two, providing both villages with walks to Brockadale Nature Reserve and Wentbridge. The Doncaster / North Yorkshire boundary lies close to the south of the village and, to the east, it begins to follow the River Went all the way to the River Don.

Transport

A railway from the Leeds–Doncaster line past

Drax Power Station Drax power station is a large Biomass (energy), biomass power station in Drax, North Yorkshire, Drax, North Yorkshire, England. It has a 2.6 GW capacity for biomass and had a 1.29 GW capacity for coal that was retired in 2021. Its name comes f ...

used to run close to the south of the village. Kirk Smeaton railway station opened in 1885 on the Hull and Barnsley Railway. The station was closed to passengers in 1932 and the line closed completely in 1959. The village is served by one bus route, which is operated by Arriva Yorkshire; the 409 connects the village with Pontefract.

Amenities

Kirk Smeaton CE J&I Primary School is a small school which is well regarded. A pre-school class meets on-site in term-time; there is a breakfast club and after-school club. The school has a mixture of new and old buildings, a sports hall and a community room which can be hired out. It is a Church school and there are good links with the community and St Peter's Church, Kirk Smeaton. The village pub is the
Shoulder of Mutton
' on Main Street. Black Sheep Ale is usually served, amongst other beers. A harvest auction at the pub raises money for charity. There is also a village post office, sited opposite the pub.

References

External links

The Smeaton VillagesSmeaton Church

Primary school
{{authority control Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Villages in North Yorkshire