Melmerby
The Methodist Church in Melmerby
Melmerby is located in North Yorkshire
Melmerby
Melmerby
Location within North Yorkshire
Population386 (2011 census)[1]
OS grid referenceSE337769
Civil parish
  • Melmerby
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townRIPON
Postcode districtHG4
PoliceNorth Yorkshire
FireNorth Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire

Melmerby is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, that lies 3.7 miles (6 km) north of Ripon and 0.6 miles (1 km) west of the A1(M) motorway.[2] The population was 386 in the 2011 census.[1]

Etymology

The name is of Old Norse origin and means a sandy settlement (malmr "sandy field" and bý "farmstead or village").[3] The form of the name has been influenced by Melmerby in Coverdale, 16 miles (26 km) west, which has a different origin.[4] Many of the fields in the area have Norse names too, e.g. Halikeld, where 'keld' is an Old Norse word for 'spring'.[5]

History

Melmerby was mentioned in the Domesday Book. It was historically a manor and chapelry in the parish of Wath in the North Riding of Yorkshire.[6] It became a separate civil parish in 1866.[7]

Until the late 1950s, the village was the site of a major rural railway junction that was situated on the main Harrogate to Northallerton via Ripon railway line (closed 1968). A branch line ran westwards from Melmerby to the small market town of Masham, which is famous for its brewing.[8] This line stopped carrying passengers in 1930 and closed completely in 1963. Another line (closed 1959) also ran north-eastwards linking Melmerby with the East Coast Main Line at Thirsk.[9]

During the war the village was the site of a large munitions store, taking advantage of the railway access.[10]

The parish now shares a grouped parish council, Melmerby and Middleton Quernhow Parish Council, with the neighbouring parish of Middleton Quernhow.[11] The village has a pub, The George and Dragon Inn, a cricket team, the Wath & Melmerby Cricket Club, who play in the Nidderdale League and the village also stages an annual 10-kilometre (6.2 mi) road race which has been held since 1984.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Melmerby Parish (1170217052)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  2. ↑ "99" (Map). Northallerton & Ripon. 1:50,000. Landranger. Ordnance Survey. 2016. ISBN 978-0-3192619-7-2.
  3. ↑ Smith, A H (1928). The place-names of the North Riding of Yorkshire (PDF). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 219. OCLC 3818214.
  4. ↑ Watts, Victor, ed. (2010). "Melmerby NYorks SE3376". The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-16855-7.
  5. ↑ "Richmond and Swaledale History". www.yorkshire-england.co.uk. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  6. ↑ William Page, ed. (1914). "Parishes: Wath". Victoria County History. A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 1. pp. 390–396. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  7. ↑ Vision of Britain website
  8. ↑ "Masham & Its History - Visit Masham". Visit Masham. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  9. ↑ "Disused Stations: Melmerby Station". www.disused-stations.org.uk. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  10. ↑ "Melmerby Ordnance Depot". www.disused-stations.org.uk. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  11. ↑ "Melmerby and Middleton Quernhow Parish Council". Harrogate Parish Council. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  12. ↑ Barnett, Ben (23 March 2019). "Helping each other". The Yorkshire Post. Country week. p. 13. ISSN 0963-1496.
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