Weaverthorpe: The tiny Yorkshire village with big history which is loved by walkers

It’s some 221 years since Weaverthorpe was enclosed, and there’s a smattering of buildings in the village which hark back to its agricultural roots.

Although it is thought Dale Farm at its western extremity dates to the time of the enclosures, the lengthy field strip linked to it to its north has earlier origins. The grade II listed courtyard plan agricultural complex markedly contrasts with the late 18th century red mottled brick Rarey Farmhouse on the south side of Main Street.

While many village halls are sited around the geographic centre of settlement, Weaverthorpe’s overlooks the agricultural expanse on which the local economy has relied for more than a millennium.

Nevertheless, the hall can justifiably claim to stand at the heart of the community and has served as a base for groups ranging from Yorkshire Countrywomen and craft sessions to Zumba and a monthly brunch club.

On August 23, the community hub will host the Weaverthorpe and District Produce Show, an event which serves as an annual get-together for both residents of the village and its surrounding settlements of Helperthorpe, Butterwick, Duggleby, East Lutton, West Lutton, Foxholes, Kirby Grindalythe, Wharram-Le-Street and Wold Newton.

Despite its size, Weaverthorpe has long served as a focal point in the Great Wold Valley.

Its rather austere Grade I listed church – where there is almost a complete absence of sculptural embellishment and instead lavish furnishings – dates from the early Norman era and was recorded as a monasterium or minster church, with eight daughter churches.

The 12th-century tower, which features an unusual exterior round staircase, is out of proportion to the church’s size and looms large over the village from a lofty position on the north side of the valley.

The square-headed south doorway tympanum contains a sundial with a Latin inscription, ‘In honour of the Apostle St Andrew, Herbert of Winchester built this Church’. The Anglo-Norman nobleman was Chamberlain and Treasurer under William II and Henry I.

The Parochial Church Council has calculated the church, which has monthly services, hosts baptisms, weddings and funerals and stages special services and exhibitions for the community. As it costs £15 a day to maintain, the church authority is inviting residents to sponsor a day of significance to their families.

Outside the church, there's a stunning timber-framed lychgate, created in 1872 for Sir Tatton Sykes, of Sledmere House, who restored and built 18 rural churches in East and North Yorkshire, leading him to be considered England’s greatest 19th-century church builder.

The church and its ancient graveyard stand on Back Lane, which descends past the former site of the village primary school to a crossroads at the centre of the village.

The school closed in 2022 in the face of significant local opposition and despite the parish council appealing to the Secretary of State for Education to help try to find a solution to “preserve a community as a whole and not letting Weaverthorpe become a retirement village, without the presence and sounds of children in our community”.

However, since its closure, the Diocese of York has had plans approved to repurpose the school site into homes with gardens for local people or holiday cottages. The site is in open countryside and outside of the village’s defined development limits, and is situated in the Yorkshire Wolds Area of High Landscape Value.

The junction of Back Lane and Main Road is overlooked by the village green and The Star Inn, which has proved popular with residents since reopening last month. Sited on the Wolds Way, it also draws many walkers.

Despite having a population of just a few hundred, just yards away is The Blue Bell.

In October, based on customer reviews and feedback, the inn was handed the Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Award for the third year running, putting the family business on Main Road in the top ten per cent of restaurants.

The village green is dominated by a mature horse chestnut tree, behind which a public K6 telephone box is secreted.

The phone box is among more than 40 in the county earmarked for closure by BT as part of an ongoing rationalisation of underused phone boxes, despite it being used for numerous emergency phone calls over the past year.

In response to a 90-day consultation, North Yorkshire Council has said there is evidence to retain it.

The Main Road has a thick verge on one side, through which the Gypsey Race channel flows.

Weaverthorpe has developed alongside the 30-mile-long Gypsey Race, which runs alongside Main Street, having emerged from springs at Wharram, to the North Sea at Bridlington. The word gypsey is a local term referring to ‘streams that are intermittent’.

The most northerly chalk stream in England and the only watercourse in the High Wolds has been classed as winterbourne, meaning it only flows after wet weather, as well as flowing above and below ground, and much of its journey is quite invisible.

The war memorial stands on the verge of the north side of the main road through Weaverthorpe, towards the west end of the village. The Latin white marble cross, featuring a Lee Enfield rifle slung over its arm, was unveiled in 1922 by Lady Sykes in commemoration of six local servicemen who died during the First World War.