Kirkby Malham 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 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. Situated in the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales are a series of valleys, or Dale (landform), dales, in the Pennines, an Highland, upland range in England. They are mostly located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, but extend into C ...

it lies east of Settle. The population of the civil parish as taken in the 2011 Census (including Hanlith and Scosthrop) was 202. Nearby settlements include Hanlith, Malham, Airton and Calton.

History

Kirkby Malham 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 being waste, but that the land belonged to Roger of Poitou. The name of the village derives from

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 ...

, and means the ''village with a church by the stony bank.'' The presence of the word ''Kirkby'' in front of the village name suggests that a church was here before the Domesday Survey, however, the Domesday Book makes no mention of a church. Nearby settlements include Malham, just to the north, Hanlith to the east by the River Aire, and Airton and Calton to the south. It is east of Settle, and north of Skipton. In 1606, John Topham founded a grammar school in Kirkby Malham for between 20 and thirty local children, which was described as having "moderate quarterages", although the classics were taught for free. It has a joint parish council, Kirkby Malhamdale Parish Council, with the parishes of Malham, Malham Moor and Hanlith. The village has just over 35 buildings, which include the parish church of St Michael's and Kirkby Malham Vicarage. The church was a

Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

garrison during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

and the parish register contains the signature of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

who witnessed a marriage in the church in 1655 (he had been visiting John Lambert of nearby Calton). The school, Kirkby in Malhamdale United Voluntary Aided Primary School, is just to the north of the village and was rated as ''Good'' by Ofsted in 2019.

Governance

The area was part of the Deanery of Craven, within the wapentake of Staincliffe. The village was also known historically as ''Kirkby Malhamdale'', and was in 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 ...

, part of the Settle Rural District, until the boundary changes of 1974. Between 1974 and 2023, it was part of the former Craven District of North Yorkshire, but was moved into the new unitary authority of North Yorkshire Council in April 2023. It is represented at Parliament as part of the Skipton and Ripon Constituency. Kirkby Malham now has a grouped parish council, Kirkby Malhamdale Parish Council, with the parishes of Malham, Malham Moor and Hanlith.

Notable people

*American writer Bill Bryson once resided in the village. * Richard Dean, Anglican minister was born and baptised in Kirkby Malham. * Joan Hassall, lived in Malham, but worshipped and played the organ in Kirkby Malham church. * Walter Morrison, businessman and politician was buried in Kirkby Malham churchyard.

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