Strensall is a village in the Strensall with Towthorpe

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

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

of the

City of York The City of York, officially simply "York", is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. ...

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, on the

River Foss The River Foss is in North Yorkshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Ouse. It rises in the Foss Crooks Woods near Oulston Reservoir close to the village of Yearsley and runs south through the Vale of York to the Ouse in the centre of ...

north of

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 ...

and north-east of Haxby. In 2001 the parish had a population of 3,815. It covers an area of 2,908 acres. The village was historically part of the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire was a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point was at Mickle Fell at . From the Restoration it was used as a lieutenancy area, having b ...

until 1974. It was then a 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 ...

from 1974 until 1996. Since 1996 it has been part of the City of York unitary authority. On 1 April 2009 the parish was abolished and merged with Towthorpe to form "Strensall with Towthorpe". The nearby Strensall Common is a

Special Area of Conservation A special area of conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

, an example of lowland heathland habitat covering over 5 km². The southern part is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Strensall also has an army firing range and training area both of which belong to the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

History

Strensall is referred to 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 as ''Streonaeshalch'', after ''Streona'', a personal name, and ''halch'', a corner of land. The name has altered through the centuries from Strenshale in the 11th century, to Stranessale in the 14th century and to Strencile or Strencham alias Trencham in the 17th century. Strensall Church - geograph

It has belonged to the Archbishops of York since before 1214, apart from a short period in 1547 when it was briefly held by the Duke of Somerset and Lord Wharton. During the reign of Edward the Confessor the manor and land belonged to a couple of Saxon lords known as Sasford and Turchil. Strensall is also the possible site of many historical events supposed to have occurred in

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...

, most significantly the

Synod of Whitby The Synod of Whitby was a Christianity, Christian administrative gathering held in Northumbria in 664, wherein King Oswiu ruled that his kingdom would calculate Easter and observe the monastic tonsure according to the customs of Roman Catholic, Ro ...

of 664. This is due to a complication in 9th-century documents, which describe Streonaeshalch as being Whitby (the name ''Whitby'' is

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

as are all place names ending with the suffix ''"by"'', e.g. ''Selby'', ''Grimsby'', ''Wetherby'' etc. – ''"by"'' means "town" in

Scandinavian languages The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is al ...

, from the verb ''"bo"'', meaning "to reside"). The Hall with its moat and large grounds were to the north of the church. On the same site probably stood the manor-house of 1649 and 1757 which also had a moat. To the south of the village lies Strensall Camp, formed by the War Office in 1884 for training troops and now known as Queen Elizabeth Barracks.

Demography

The 1881 census records the population as being 446. According to the 2011 census the parish had a population of 6,047.

Governance

Strensall was in the

parliamentary constituency until the 2010 general election when it was transferred to the newly created constituency of York Outer. Strensall forms its own ward in the City of York Council, together with the villages of Stockton-on-the-Forest and Earswick. As of May 2023, it is represented by Tony Fisher and Paul Healey of the Liberal Democrats. The village is part of the Strensall with Towthorpe Parish Council. There are 14 councillors in total.

Geography

The soil is sand and foxmole laid over a subsoil of white and grey sandstone. The land lies for the most part about 50 ft above sea level. The

flows from the north-east of the village in a south and south-westerly direction towards Towthorpe. It is crossed by three bridges. About a quarter of a mile east of the village is the disused Strensall station on the York and Scarborough branch of the North Eastern railway.

Strensall Common

Strensall Common lies to the east of the village and forms part of the surrounding lowland heath. There are a number of different habitats, such as wet heath, dry heath and birch/oak woodland with areas of standing water. There are over 150 plant species including, marsh cinquefoil, marsh gentian, round-leaved sundew and petty whin. There are over 60 species of bird including

curlew The curlews () are a group of nine species of birds in the genus ''Numenius'', characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been infl ...

, stonechat, whinchat, and both

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

and great spotted woodpecker. Amongst the numerous insects to be found are

and purple hairstreaks, the dark-bordered beauty, bog bush cricket and

glowworm Glowworm or glow-worm is the common name for various groups of insect larvae and adult larviform females that glow through bioluminescence. They include the European common glow-worm and other members of the Lampyridae, but bioluminescence al ...

. Other wildlife seen here include

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...

European hare The European hare (''Lepus europaeus''), also known as the brown hare, is a species of hare native to Europe and parts of Asia. It is among the largest hare species and is adapted to temperate, open country. Hares are herbivorous and feed mainly ...

and harvest mouse. Hebridean sheep and Highland cattle graze during summer to keep down vegetation. The site is maintained by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

Economy

In the 19th century employment was found in a tannery in the village. There were also the Strensall Pottery and Britannia Pottery near the village. Though there is some employment at the local Barracks, the village is mostly a dormitory for commuters to nearby York.

Transport

First York First York operates local bus services, with a network centring around the cathedral city of York, North Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup, which operates bus, rail and tram services across the United Kingdom and Ireland. His ...

operate a service through the village as part of the York City Centre to Strensall route (Number 5 and 5a). There are three level crossings within Strensall as it lies on the York to Scarborough line but there is no station any more. Strensall railway station was a minor railway station serving the village. It was opened on 5 July 1845 by the York & North Midland Railway and closed on 22 September 1930.

Community

Strensall has three local grocery shops plus a post office, three pubs, a bakery, a hairdressers, a fish & chip shop and Chinese takeaway. It also has a library and a medical centre. Its sports facilities include 2 playing fields, one with changing rooms; three floodlit tennis courts; two football pitches and one astro pitch and five small parks. There are 20 half plot allotments on New Lane run by the council and were established in 2008. There are also 14 plots run by the Parish Council on Northfield Lane. File:The Six Bells at Strensall (geograph 3525815).jpg, The Six Bells File:The Half Moon, Strensall - geograph.org.uk - 1130328.jpg, The Half Moon File:The Ship, Strensall - geograph.org.uk - 1130316.jpg, The Ship

Religious sites

A Wesleyan chapel existing in Strensall from 1823 was succeeded by a new building in 1895. Between 1879 and 1889 a Primitive Methodist chapel was built in the village. The Parish Church of Strensall is St Mary the Virgin. The current building was consecrated by the Archbishop of York in 1866 after the old building, originally dedicated to St James, was destroyed about 1798 or 1800. There are also the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Chapel and St Wilfred's

Garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

Church.

Education

Strensall falls within the secondary education catchment areas for Huntington School in the northern outskirts of York. Robert Wilkinson is the local primary school and was founded in 1718 from money left by a local farmer of that name. It moved to its present location on West End in 1972.

Sports

Strensall is the home of the York Golf Club. Strensall Football Club 1XI play in Division Two of the York and District Football League.

Gallery

References

{{commons category Villages in the City of York Former civil parishes in North Yorkshire