Walshford is a hamlet in the civil parish of

Great Ribston with Walshford Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

, in the

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa wate ...

district, in the county 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 cou ...

, England. The hamlet is north of

Wetherby Wetherby () is a market town and civil parish in the City of Leeds district, West Yorkshire, England, close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire, and lies approximately from Leeds City Centre, from York and from Harrogat ...

, north-east of

Knaresborough Knaresborough ( ) is a market and spa town and civil parish in the Borough of Harrogate, in North Yorkshire, England, on the River Nidd. It is east of Harrogate. History Knaresborough is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Chenar ...

, and south of

Boroughbridge Boroughbridge () is a town and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is north-west of the county town of York. Until a bypass was built the town lay on the mai ...

History

Walshford is on the A168 road (originally the

A1 road A list of roads designated A1, sorted by alphabetical order of country. * A01 highway (Afghanistan), a long ring road or beltway connecting Kabul, Kandahar, Herat and Mazar * A1 motorway (Albania), connecting Durrës and Kukës * A001 highwa ...

, which now by-passes Walshford) and on the

River Nidd The River Nidd is a tributary of the River Ouse in the English county of North Yorkshire. In its first few miles it is dammed three times to create Angram Reservoir, Scar House Reservoir and Gouthwaite Reservoir, which attract a total of a ...

. Historically, the hamlet was in the parish of Hunsingore, 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, Southern Schleswig, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek, ...

of Claro. However, it is now in the civil parish of Great Ribston with Walshford, which had an estimated population of 70 in 2015. The hamlet does not appear 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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

, the name first being recorded in 1214 as ''Walleford''. The name means ''ford of the Welshmen'', though the ford has long since disappeared. A bridge was first recorded at Walshford in the 13th century (around the same time as the name), and later a chapel built by the Knights Templar was erected (probably near to the bridge), but this was removed during the Dissolution, when the bridge was renovated. There are only a few houses, but The Bridge Inn, a former was a coaching inn on the Great North Road still exists. The inn is a converted farmhouse on the A168 road, and is a grade II listed structure. One of the rooms is known as the "Byron Room", after the woodcarving and plaster were removed to the Bridge Inn from Halnaby Hall in the 1950s. Halnaby Hall was where Byron spent his honeymoon, or as he described it, his "treaclemoon". The nearest railway station was Allerton/Hopperton (on what is now the Harrogate line), however since this closed in 1962, the nearest open station is on the same line. Walshford is in the district of Harrogate, however its Parliamentary constituency is Selby and Ainsty.

History

Location grid

References

Sources

External links