South Milford 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 ...

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. The civil parish includes the hamlet of Lumby, located south-west of the main village. The village was historically 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. Traditionally an agricultural village, the population has recently boomed due to housing development. South Milford is now generally considered a

commuter village A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for nearby towns and cities because of the local

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

network, including the

A1(M) A1(M) is the designation given to a series of four separate motorway sections in the UK. Each section is an upgrade to a section of the A1, a major north–south road which connects London, the capital of England, with Edinburgh, the capita ...

, M1 and M62. Still, South Milford maintains links with the local farming community.

History

Milford is first recorded in 963 as ''on niy senford'', which means ''Mylenforda'', or mill on the ford. The name derives from Anglo-Saxon, and though it predates 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 ...

, it is not explicitly mentioned, though North Milford near Kirkby Wharfe is. The mill was located in the north of the parish on Mill Dike, the body of water which separates South Milford from Sherburn. The watercourse runs from Micklefield to Sherburn and eventually falls into the

Ouse Ouse ( ) may refer to: Places Rivers in England * River Ouse, Yorkshire * River Ouse, Sussex * River Great Ouse, Northamptonshire and East Anglia ** River Little Ouse, a tributary of the River Great Ouse Other places * Ouse, Tasmania, a town ...

Cawood Cawood (other names: ''Carwood'') is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England that is notable as the location of the Cawood sword. It was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. From 1974 to 2023 it was p ...

. South Milford is served by South Milford railway station, part of the

Leeds and Selby Railway The Leeds and Selby Railway was an early British railway company and first mainline railway within Yorkshire. It was opened in 1834. As built, the line ran west/east between two termini, Marsh Lane station, Leeds and Selby railway station. Th ...

- a line that runs west/east across the north of the village. It has been in operation since 1834 and provides a service between , and . South Milford lies at the convergence of several lines, and was an important

staging post A stage station or relay station, also known as a staging post, a posting station, or a stage stop, is a facility along a main road or trade route where a traveller can rest and/or replace exhausted working animals (mostly riding horses) for fr ...

in coal traffic between the pits and the power stations in the Aire Valley. Another station, Milford Junction, was located on lines running north/south, but this closed in 1904, being replaced by , which closed in 1959.

Steeton Hall

''Steeton Hall Gateway'' is a listed ancient monument and is protected by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

. It is situated about west of South Milford. The gateway originally served a large hall, which was demolished and replaced by a house, which has since been converted into several dwellings. The gateway dates from the 15th century, and is one of four such structures which marked the corners of the estate. It has two arched passages, the large one in the centre to allow horsemen and carriages through and the smaller one to the left for

footmen A footman is a male domestic worker employed mainly to wait at table or attend a coach or carriage. Etymology Originally in the 14th century a footman denoted a soldier or any pedestrian, later it indicated a foot servant. A running footman deli ...

. There are a

spiral staircase Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical direction, vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps wh ...

which leads into a large room above the arch and a number of

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...

s and

coats of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic ac ...

surrounding the structure. Steeton Hall Gateway has been described as a "fair and stately structure in the brave days of old".

Governance

South Milford was historically in the

wapentake A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and in Cumberland County in the British Colony of ...

Barkston Ash Barkston Ash is a small village and civil parish close to Selby 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 C ...

in the

. The village was in the parish of Sherburn which lies to the north, but in 1859 was made its own ecclesiastical parish with lands from

Sherburn-in-Elmet Sherburn in Elmet (pronounced ) is a town and civil parish in the district and county of North Yorkshire, England. It is to the west of Selby and south of Tadcaster. It was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. From 1974 to 2023 i ...

and

Monk Fryston Monk Fryston is a small village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. The village was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of Selby District, Selby, i ...

. In 1974 the area was moving from the West Riding into North Yorkshire. 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 ...

. The area is represented at Parliament as part of the

UK Parliament constituency. The population of the parish at the 2011 census was 2,368, and in 2015,

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 it had increased to 2,700.

Notable people

* Joseph Hirst, architect, born in the village.

References

Sources

External links

South Milford Parish Council websiteSouth Milford Cricket ClubSouth Milford Women's Institute Page at English Heritage
{{authority control Civil parishes in North Yorkshire English Heritage sites in North Yorkshire Villages in North Yorkshire