Middleton Quernhow is a settlement 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. The parish is included in the Wathvale Ward with a population of 3,479 (at the 2011 census).

North Yorkshire County Council North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the ...

estimated that the population of the parish was 60 in 2015. It is very near the A1(M) road and is north of

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Within the boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire, the ...

. Quernhow, which has also been spelled Whernhowe and Whernou means mill-hill, the first element deriving 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 ...

''kvern'' meaning a mill stone. How or Howe, deriving from the

word ''haugr'' meaning a hill, is a common element in Yorkshire place name. In this instance, the Quernhow in question is a small hillock on a road that was the dividing line between the parishes of Ainderby and Middleton Quernhow. The settlement 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 ...

as being a manor of 5 carucates, once held by Tor, but by 1086 was in the possession of Count Alan. It passed through several families (de Middleton, de Scrope, best and Herbert) before the manor house was left to ruin sometime in the early 18th century. The manor house is known as The Old Hall and is now a

grade II 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 ...

listed building but has been listed as being in poor condition and under threat and is listed on English Heritage's Buildings at Risk Register. One of the former occupants of The Old hall, Thomas Best, was a Member of Parliament for Ripon in the early 17th century. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the

Borough of Harrogate The Borough of Harrogate was a local government district with borough status in North Yorkshire, England, from 1974 to 2023. Its council was based in the town of Harrogate, but it also included surrounding settlements, including the cathedral ...

, 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 ...

. The housing in the village is mostly former estate cottages tied to the manor house. The surrounding area is grassland and is in use for arable farming. As there is no school in the village, primary school children are taken by a free bus to Pickhill Primary School on the other side of the A1(M). Secondary education for children from the area is at Thirsk School.

Gallery

File:P1011378-HDR.jpg, Sunset at the Old Hall, Middleton Quernhow File:Windpump, Middleton Quernhow.jpg, A

windmill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...

driving a waterpump near Middleton Quernhow

References

External links

Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire {{NorthYorkshire-geo-stub

See also

Gallery

References

External links