Staxton is a village 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, part of 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 Willerby, and situated approximately 8.2 miles from

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

town centre. Until 1974 the village lay in the historic county boundaries of the

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 ...

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

Ryedale Ryedale was a non-metropolitan district in North Yorkshire, England. It was in the Vale of Pickering, a low-lying flat area of land drained by the River Derwent, Yorkshire, River Derwent. The Vale's landscape is rural with scattered villages ...

, 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 ...

Geography

The village is a linear settlement situated in the south easterly edge of the Vale of Pickering. The village is one of several which follow what would have been the shoreline of the

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

that filled the valley in the last ice age. Approximately north of the village is the River Hertford, a tributary to the River Derwent, which has been straightened to allow increased farming of the valley. Staxton Hill is south of the village and is the northerly edge of the

Yorkshire Wolds The Yorkshire Wolds are hills in the counties of the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire in Northern England. They are the northernmost chalk hills in the UK and within lies the northernmost chalk stream in Europe, the Gypsey Race. ...

, with its highest point at above sea level. Land use in the area is mainly for settlements or farming, with a small wood and disused quarry on top of Staxton Hill. Adjoining Staxton is the smaller village of Willerby. To the north is the village of Seamer, to the east is the village of Flixton, to the south is the village of Foxholes and to the west are the villages of Ganton and Sherburn. Nearby are the towns of

and

Filey Filey () is a seaside town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is located between Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Scarborough and Bridlington on Filey Bay. Although it was a fishing village, it has a large ...

, the nearest city is

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

History

The name of Staxton comes from Old Scandinavian meaning a village owned by a man by the name of Stakkr, and is found as Stacstone 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 ...

of 1086. There have been several archaeological digs around the Staxton area finding human bodies and other items. In 1937 RAF Staxton Wold, a Royal Air Force radar station, was set up at the top of Staxton Hill and is currently the oldest serving radar station.

Transport

Road

The A64 closely bypasses the village which is joined by the A1039, leading to

, at Staxton roundabout, and the B1249 leading to

Driffield Driffield, also known as Great Driffield (neighbouring Little Driffield), is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The civil parish is formed by the town of Driffield and the village of Little Driffield. By ...

, at Staxton traffic lights. Traffic accidents are common on the B1249 due to the steep incline of the hill and various blind corners. In an effort to reduce traffic accidents, a new set of traffic lights were installed in early 2008 which also incorporated improved footpaths and bus stops.

Bus

Staxton is served by regular Yorkshire Coastliner buses, operated by

Transdev Blazefield Transdev Blazefield is a bus group, which operates local and regional bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. Formed in August 1991, the group has been a subsidiary of French-based operato ...

, which offer connections to

, Malton,

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

and other destinations in-between.

Rail

Staxton is not served by a railway station but a branch of the North TransPennine line passes by the village connecting

and

. The nearest railway station is at Seamer.

Economy

Staxton's main economic activity is agriculture. Both

arable farming Arable land (from the , "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the purposes of a ...

and livestock farming, commonly sheep, pigs and cattle. There are also several camp-sites near the village, serving tourists visiting the Yorkshire Coast. Other businesses in the village consist of the Hare and Hounds pub, which is over 200 years old built to serve passing horse-drawn coaches and still receives trade from passing motorists on the A64, a butchers, a garage, a Fish and Chip Restaurant and Takeaway and Shell petrol station situated just outside the village as Staxton Services.
The village post office and general shop was closed due to increased competition from super markets and increased accessibility to

Education

Hertford Vale

Voluntary Controlled A voluntary controlled school (VC school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a Christian denomination) has some formal influence in the running of the school. Such schools have less autonomy th ...

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

Primary School is situated in the centre of the village and serves primary school and pre-school children from the village as well as the nearby villages of Flixton, Foxholes, Ganton and Folkton. The school opened in September 1989, replacing Willerby School which had opened in 1878.

Other important places

*The village hall opened on 1 March 1938 is frequently used for village events and other private functions. *The war memorial was originally erected in 1920 and honours those who lost their lives in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Every

Remembrance Day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces me ...

wreaths of poppies are placed on the memorial. The memorial used to be at the east end of the village but was then moved to a more central place in the village. * Staxton Cricket Club was formed in 1849, and regularly play during the summer. They field two teams in the Scarborough Beckett Cricket League. *In 2009 the first Staxtonbury Music Festival began.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire