Selby is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the Selby District of

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four co ...

, England, south of

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

on the River Ouse, with a population at the 2011 census of 14,731. The town was historically part of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

until 1974. Selby once had a large

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to bef ...

industry, and was an important port on the Selby Canal which brought trade from

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

History

The town's origins date from the establishment of a

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to 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 se ...

settlement on the banks of the River Ouse. Archaeological investigations in Selby have revealed extensive remains, including waterlogged deposits in the core of the town dating from the Roman period onwards. It is believed that Selby originated as a settlement called Seletun which was referred to in the

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of A ...

of AD 779. The place-name 'Selby' is first attested in a Yorkshire charter , where it appears as ''Seleby''. It appears as ''Selbi'' . The name is thought to be a Scandinavian form of Seletun, meaning ' sallow tree settlement'. The town of Selby is on the main route north from the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the In ...

and is the traditional birthplace of King Henry I, fourth son of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

, in 1068/69; the connection is supported by William and his wife

Matilda Matilda or Mathilda may refer to: Animals * Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder * Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thoroughbred racehorse * Matilda, a dog of the professional wrestling tag-team The ...

's unique joint charter of

Selby Abbey Selby Abbey is an Anglican parish church in the town of Selby, North Yorkshire, England. It is Grade I listed. Monastic history It is one of the relatively few surviving abbey churches of the medieval period, and, although not a cathedral, ...

, far to the north of their usual circuit of activities, which was founded for Benedict of Auxerre in 1069 and subsequently supported by the

de Lacy de Lacy (Laci, Lacie, Lascy, Lacey, Lassey) is the surname of an old Norman family which originated from Lassy, Calvados. The family took part in the Norman Conquest of England and the later Norman invasion of Ireland. The name is first recorde ...

family. King

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the N ...

is reputed to have been born there in either 1068 or 1069. A notable feature of the abbey is the 14th-century Washington Window, featuring the heraldic arms of the ancestors of

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

, the first

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

. The design is often cited as an influence for the Stars and Stripes flag. It is said that the abbey was founded when Benedict saw three swans on a lake in Selby, and he saw it as a sign of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and that is why the official crest of Selby Abbey is three swans. Selby Abbey was closed in 1539 as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries under

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

and the majority of the buildings have since been demolished. The central nave of the abbey church survived and in 1618 it became the parish church of Selby. During the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I (" Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of r ...

, the Royalist garrison of Selby was captured by Parliamentarians in the

Battle of Selby The Battle of Selby occurred on 11 April 1644 in North Yorkshire during the First English Civil War. In the battle, the Parliamentarians led by Lord Fairfax attacked and captured the strategic Royalist garrison of Selby under the command ...

on 11 April 1644. There are other historical sites, such as the

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium '' Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting an ...

burial ground A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

on the north side of the abbey, the market cross and the local school, Selby High School. The Market Place has existed since the early 14th century when the market was moved away from the monastery churchyard. The Crescent which curves eastwards from James Street was planned in the early 19th century by a local man, John Audus, after seeing Lansdown Crescent in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

. Selby is expanding to become a larger town. New houses and shops are being built on the present town's outskirts with the expansion of the town stretching as far as the bypass, although this has resulted in the loss of some trade from the town centre. Meanwhile, the riverfront area is being revamped with modern housing and fashionable flats. Selby was also a centre for

, with vessels launched into the river. This often required the more unusual technique of launching the vessels side-on into the river due to lack of space for a more conventional stern first or bow first launch. One famous vessel of the Cochrane and Son's shipyard of the town is the preserved trawler ''

Ross Tiger ''Ross Tiger'' is a traditional side-winder fishing trawler that was converted into a museum ship in 1992. She is currently berthed in Alexandra Dock at her home port of Grimsby, close to the site of the former PS ''Lincoln Castle''. She forms ...

'' at

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of L ...

National Fishing Heritage Centre The Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre is a heritage attraction at Alexandra Dock, Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England, opened in 1991. The attraction is an Arts Council England Accredited Museum and holds a number of awards, including the TripAdvis ...

. Cochrane launched their last vessel into the Ouse in 1998, a historical occasion which people around the area went to see. Once Cochrane had closed, the massive cranes still stood over the skyline of Selby until 2001, when seriously strong winds blew them down. Most of the shipyard buildings are still standing (as of February 2014) and the site along with interviews with former employees and archive film was featured in a 2013 video production 'Cochranes of Selby'. The site of the shipyard is currently home to many small businesses who work in the same buildings that were once used to build the Selby ships.

Governance

Selby Town Old Council Offices - geograph

Selby Town Hall (Taken by Flickr user 31st December 2015)

At the lowest level of governance is Selby Town Council. The town is divided into three electoral wards, north, south and west, each represented by six councillors. These 17 councillors are responsible for burial grounds, allotments, play areas and some street lighting. Elections to the town council are held every four years. The Mayor of Selby is elected annually by the members of the town council. At district level the town is part of the

Selby District Council Selby is a market town and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse, with a population at the 2011 census of 14,731. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire u ...

area. The town is represented by seven councillors on the District Council, two each for the west and south wards and three for the north ward. On the North Yorkshire County Council the town is part of the Selby Barlby county division which elects two representatives to the

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

. In the United Kingdom Parliament Selby formed part of the Selby constituency until the 2010 general election when it became part of the new seat of

Selby and Ainsty Selby and Ainsty is a constituency in North Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation by Nigel Adams, a member of the Conservative Party. History For 2010 the Boundary Commission recommended ...

. It is represented by Conservative MP, Nigel Adams.

Geography

Selby lies on the tidal River Ouse in a natural area of Yorkshire known as the

Humberhead Levels The Humberhead Levels is a national character area covering a large expanse of flat, low-lying land towards the western end of the Humber estuary in northern England. The levels occupy the former Glacial Lake Humber, an area bounded to the east ...

. The main roads which cross at Selby are the A63 from

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

and the A19 from

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

, though the A19 and A63 no longer meet in Selby itself since the opening of the Selby Bypass in 2004. The River Ouse is navigable upstream as far as York so the old toll bridge by which the A63 crossed the river at Selby had to allow for this. For many years the swing bridge in Selby was a notorious local

bottleneck Bottleneck literally refers to the narrowed portion (neck) of a bottle near its opening, which limit the rate of outflow, and may describe any object of a similar shape. The literal neck of a bottle was originally used to play what is now known as ...

but since the opening of the Selby bypass congestion in the town has been relieved. The importance of Selby as a market town has declined in recent decades and its short lived prominence as the centre of the

Selby Coalfield Selby coalfield (also known as the Selby complex, or Selby 'superpit') was a large-scale deep underground mine complex based around Selby, North Yorkshire, England, with pitheads at ''Wistow Mine'', ''Stillingfleet Mine'', ''Riccall Mine'', ''No ...

has also waned. Selby is close in proximity to both

and

. Its popularity as a tourist destination, due to

, has led to a large amount of development and renovation in the town and surrounding area. The

residential A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family resi ...

areas of Selby have also been subject to expansion and development. A significant development called Staynor Hall continues to be developed on the South East of the town, with other developments in the Holmes Lane area, and around the villages of Brayton, Barlby and Thorpe Willoughby. More have been built at various points along the riverfront, the result of an ongoing project to improve an area that had been largely derelict since the decline of the shipbuilding industry.

Floods

In recent years there have been serious flood problems in Selby and the adjoining village of

Barlby Barlby is a linear village in North Yorkshire, England. It is situated to the north-east of the market town of Selby, and is bordered to the west by the River Ouse and to the east by the A19 Barlby bypass. Across the bypass is Barlby's small ...

. The threat in the Barlby area has been alleviated to some extent by work on improved, better flood barriers following the major flood of November 2000.

Religion

is one of the largest parish churches in Britain and is larger than several cathedrals. There are various other Christian churches in the town that offer community and differing styles of worship: King's Church, St Mary's

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Church, Portholme

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

/ URC Church, and St James' Church. Edge Community was founded in 2009 for the Flaxley Road community, and

The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestant church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. The organisation reports a worldwide membership of over 1.7million, comprising soldiers, officers and adherents col ...

opened The Church at the Crossroads on the Abbotts Road estate in 2015. Brayton has St Wilfrid's Anglican Church and the Methodist Chapel and All Saints' Church is in Barlby. Selby Churches Together set up and run the Selby and District Food Bank.

Economy

Much of the historical wealth of the town is based upon its position upon the banks of the tidal River Ouse. In the past, Selby had a large

industry and was an important port, due to the Selby Canal which brought trade from Leeds. The Selby Canal links the River Ouse at Selby, to the River Aire at Haddlesey. The replacement

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

craft (1989 – 2011), bearing the name ''Rainbow Warrior'' was built in Selby in 1957 as a fishing boat. BOCM mills, Barlby, Selby - geograph

For a time, Selby was the leading coal

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...

area in the UK and featured some of the most advanced mining technology in Europe. It was the first new mine in the UK for decades and seen as a rejoinder to widespread concern that the British mining industry was effectively shutting down, particularly following the defeat of the 1984–85 miners' strike. Wistow Colliery, which was part of the

, holds the UK record for coal mined in one week—200,743 tonnes in 1995. The Selby Complex, employing 3,000 miners plus contractors and ancillary staff, closed on Friday 14 May 2004 despite rising demand for coal in the UK. UK Coal, the pit's owner, said closure was due to rising costs caused by deteriorating geological conditions and the falling price of coal. In its final years, the company listed a £30 million loss on the plant. Although much of the infrastructure of the shipbuilding and coal mining industries remain both in and around Selby, both industries have long since been defunct. Present day, the main income for the area is derived from arable farming and as a commuter area for

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

and

In recent years, Selby has seen the development of new shopping areas both in the town centre and on the outskirts. The Abbey Walk Shopping Centre was developed on recreational land that runs parallel to the town centre. The expansion not only increased the volume of town centre shops but also provided large scale, convenient parking for the town centre. In more recent years, the Three Lakes Retail Park has opened on the outskirts of town and continues to expand with more developments under construction. Two of the town's supermarkets,

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...

and

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headq ...

are both looking to expand their stores, the latter meaning the re-siting of the Abbey Primary School. On 14 September 2005, Selby District Council was conditionally granted outline planning permission for a

state of the art The state of the art (sometimes cutting edge or leading edge) refers to the highest level of general development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field achieved at a particular time. However, in some contexts it can also refer to a level ...

science facility to be built on the site of

Burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur ma ...

Gliding Club Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word ''soaring'' is a ...

but these plans did not come to fruition.

Transport

Selby station geograph-3852727-by-Ben-Brooksbank

Selby is the transport hub for the local area and has a bus and railway station running services to many places around the area. Train services from

Selby railway station Selby railway station is a Grade II listed station which serves the town of Selby in North Yorkshire, England. The original terminus station was opened in 1834 for the Leeds and Selby Railway. The Hull and Selby Railway extended the line in 1 ...

run directly to

London King's Cross King's Cross railway station, also known as London King's Cross, is a passenger railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, on the edge of Central London. It is in the London station group, one of the busiest stations in the United Kin ...

Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. Opened as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of Manchester city ...

and other destinations. Arriva Yorkshire have a bus depot in Selby, from where they offer a range of local services, as well as longer services to Goole, Doncaster, Leeds, Pontefract, Wakefield and York. Thornes Independent of Hemingbrough also offer a range of services in the area.

Bypass

In July 2001 construction began on the Selby bypass which was authorised for development in 1993. The bypass runs from the A19 at

along the southern perimeter of Selby, joining the A63 at

Thorpe Willoughby Thorpe Willoughby is a village and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England. The village is situated just off the A1238 (a primary road, previously designated A63 prior to the construction of the Selby Bypass) and is in ...

. The project was delayed due to technical difficulties with the swing bridge over the River Ouse but was eventually completed in July 2004.

Rail crash

The 2001

Great Heck rail crash The Selby rail crash (also known as the Great Heck Rail Crash) was a high-speed train crash that occurred at Great Heck near Selby, North Yorkshire, England, on the morning of 28February 2001. An InterCity 225 passenger train operated by Gr ...

is also often referred to as the Selby rail crash. It happened a few miles south of Selby, at the village of Great Heck near the M62 motorway, and Selby was the closest major town to the accident site. On 28 February 2001, a vehicle crashed off the M62 down an embankment on to a railway track, where it was struck by a passenger train heading to London. The accident was then compounded by a second collision involving an oncoming goods train.

Culture and sport

Selby Town Hall has been running a music venue since 2003, with regular performances of music, dance, drama and comedy and local band nights, with an annual Battle Of The Bands final, which in 2009 sold out in 12 hours, seeing local band Leonard's Revenge crowned victors. Selby (36673630096)

There have been four cinemas in Selby with the last one closing in the early 1980s. In 2009 a community group established a cinema project called Selby Globe. The group are also working with local community groups in securing the Abbot's Staith, a 15th-century warehouse, a property currently on

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, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

's At Risk Register, it is anticipated that the development of the Abbot's Staith could offer opportunities for social, educational, historical and economic solutions for the town, whilst also promoting tourism. Selby town richard street side with turnstiles clubhouse and bar

Selby town richard street side with turnstiles clubhouse and bar

Selby's major sporting team is Selby Town F.C. ('the Robins'), playing in the Northern Counties East Division One and based at the Flaxley Road Stadium. As a result of a sponsorship deal by a local business, the stadium is now known as the "Fairfax Plant Hire Stadium". The club was founded in 1919, and their most successful season was perhaps the 1953/54 season when they won the Yorkshire Football League and reached the 1st Round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

– meeting

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former h ...

and getting their highest ever attendance of 7,000 fans. A

Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

club, Selby RUFC, is based at Sandhill Lane Stadium. Sandhill Lane Stadium is currently undergoing construction work to create a new seating stand overlooking the first team pitch, as well as a gym and new changing rooms being added to the members' bar and club bar that's already in place. Selby RUFC have five open age teams, and have veteran and junior set-ups too. Selby 1st are currently in Yorkshire League Division One. In the season 2008–09 Selby U10s won the Gullivers Plate down at Twickenham, The U16s got to the final of the Yorkshire Bowl and Selby 3rds also reached a North Yorkshire final. Selby also has a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

club, Selby Warriors based at The Rigid Containers Sports Ground, Foxhill Lane and the Selby Rugby League Referees Society. Selby Cricket Club which shares Sandhill Lane Stadium has four senior league teams, with the 1st and 2nd XI playing in the York and District Senior League, the 1st XI in Division 4 and the 2nd XI in Division 5. Also the 3rd XI play in Division 4 and 4th XI play in Division 5 of the York Vale League. The team runs two junior teams the under 11s and 15s which both play in the York and District Junior League and also an evening league team in the Howdenshire Evening League (West Division). Selby and District Motor Club has its own clubhouse at Breighton Airfield on Sand Lane. Meeting on Tuesday evenings, its members participate in Road Rallies, Stage Rallies, Sprints, Autotests and Production Car Trials. Members discuss motor sporting events and regularly show videos. The club has organised an annual Road Rally called the Three Swans Rally, based on local roads and forming a major part of local championships.

Media

Selby's longest established newspaper title is the '' Selby Times'', owned and published by Chronicle Publications along with its sister paper the ''

Goole Times The ''Goole Times'' is a weekly newspaper for Goole, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. It is the oldest and longest serving weekly newspaper in the county of Yorkshire. History ''The Goole Times'' was established in 1853 and covers the town of ...

''. The company previously owned the ''Selby Post'' and purchased the title from Johnston Press when they ceased publication of the paper in August 2013. Published weekly, the paper costs 60p. The paper covers the Selby district, including the town centre and villages such as Sherburn-in-Elmet, and as far as

Tadcaster Tadcaster is a market town and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England, east of the Great North Road, north-east of Leeds, and south-west of York. Its historical importance from Roman times onward was largely as the ...

. In 2014, despite the shift to online news, The ''Goole and Selby Times'' together were only part of three newspapers in the country to actually increase print sales. The ''Goole Times'' (incorporating the ''Selby Times'') saw a rise of more than three quarters to 15,045 compared to the same period in 2013. The ''Goole Times'' and ''Selby Times'' received an unprecedented 1,000 toys for their annual Christmas toy appeal in December 2017. In 2019, The ''Selby Chronicle'' was relaunched as an online-only newspaper.

Hobson murders

Selby and its surrounding area came to national prominence, once again, through another tragedy on 18 July 2004, this time through four exceptionally violent murders carried out by former

refuse collector A waste collector, also known as a garbageman, garbage collector, trashman (in the US), binman or (rarely) dustman (in the UK), is a person employed by a public or private enterprise to collect and dispose of municipal solid waste (refuse) and ...

Mark Hobson. Hobson, 34 at the time, killed his girlfriend Claire Sanderson, 27, and her sister Diane at a flat in the nearby village of Camblesforth. He subsequently murdered an elderly couple, James and Joan Britton, at their home in the village of Strensall, near

. Hobson was later sentenced to life imprisonment with the trial judge recommending that he should never be released; the High Court later agreed with this recommendation.

Twin towns

Selby is twinned with: *

Carentan Carentan () is a small rural town near the north-eastern base of the French Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy in north-western France, with a population of about 6,000. It is a former commune in the Manche department. On 1 January 2016, it was m ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

* Filderstadt,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

Notable people

* Harold Brigham, footballer * Nigel Adams, Member of Parliament,

Selby and Ainsty (UK Parliament constituency) Selby and Ainsty is a constituency in North Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation by Nigel Adams, a member of the Conservative Party. History For 2010 the Boundary Commission recommend ...

and Minister of State for Asia * Robert Aske, rebel leader, lawyer * Tommy Cannon, entertainer * Robert of Selby, courtier,

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

* Jack Byers, footballer * Gavin Harding MBE, first person with learning disability to become mayor in United Kingdom *

Henry I of England Henry I (c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in ...

, king of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

* Arthur Hinsley, Roman Catholic cardinal, archbishop * Jonathan Hutchinson, surgeon, dermatologist * Woods Hutchinson, physician, writer * Thomas Johnson, botanist * Keith Kelly, pop singer * Bill Nelson, singer, songwriter * John Sherwood, Olympic athlete * Steve Sherwood, footballer *

James Stephenson James Albert Stephenson (14 April 1889 – 29 July 1941) was a British stage and film actor. He found extraordinarily rapid success in Hollywood after arriving in his late 40s, but he died unexpectedly in his early 50s. Early life Stephenson ...

, actor *

Eden Taylor-Draper Eden Taylor-Draper (born 28 October 1997) is an English actress. She portrays Belle Dingle in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', a role she took over from Emily Mather in 2005. Career In 2005, at the age of eight, Taylor-Draper was cast in the ...

, actress * Smithson Tennant, chemist, discoverer *

Matthew Warchus Matthew Warchus (born 24 October 1966) is a British theatre director, filmmaker, lyricist, and playwright. He has been the Artistic Director of London's The Old Vic since September 2015. Personal life Warchus is married to American actress L ...

, theatre and film director * Leigh Wood, footballer

References

External links

''Selby Times''Selby Town CouncilSelby Globe Community CinemaSelby Town Hall EventsOnline Map-Based record of Selby's HistorySelby ChamberThe Riverside Live Music Venue
{{Authority control Towns in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Populated places established in the 1st millennium