Wensley, North Yorkshire
Wensley is a small village and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It consists of a few homes and holiday cottage, an inn, a pub and a historic church.[2] It is situated on the A684 road and approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) south-west of the market town of Leyburn. The River Ure passes through the village.
Wensley | |
---|---|
Holy Trinity Church, Wensley | |
Wensley Location within North Yorkshire | |
Population | 151 (2011 census)[1] |
OS grid reference | SE092895 |
• London | 200 mi (320 km) SSE |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | LEYBURN |
Postcode district | DL8 |
Police | North Yorkshire |
Fire | North Yorkshire |
Ambulance | Yorkshire |
Wensley gives its name to the dale Wensleydale.
The etymology of the name ultimately originates from a compound of an Old English form of the god Woden (attested Wednesleg c. 1212, earlier Wodnesleie, see Wednesday).
For a century after its charter in 1202, Wensley had the only market in the dale and this continued into the 16th century. Plague struck Wensley in 1563,[3] some surviving villagers fled to Leyburn, but the village recovered a century later when Charles Paulet built Bolton Hall in 1678 and became Duke of Bolton.[4] In fact, Bolton Hall, is 1.2 miles (1.9 km) from the heart of Wensley, near Preston-under-Scar, Richmondshire; it is a rebuild after a fire in 1902.[5]
Wensley's Holy Trinity Church dates to 1300 and is a Grade I listed building.[6] It is featured as the wedding venue of James and Helen Herriot in the British television series All Creatures Great and Small, in the episode "The Last Furlong".[7][8]
Wensley's railway station is now closed. It was situated 1-mile (1.6 km) to the north between Wensley and Preston-under-Scar, on the Wensleydale Railway line which still passes the village.
Leyburn Old Glebe nature reserve lies about 440 yards (400 m) east of the village.
References
- UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Wensley Parish (1170217199)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
- "Wensley - Yorkshire Dales". Retrieved 30 June 2018.
- Hogg, Chris (2013). Wensleydale & Coverdale through time. Stroud: Amberley. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-4456-1941-5.
- Speight, Harry (1897). "XXXVII: Bolton Hall, Redmire and Preston-under-Scar". Romantic Richmondshire. London: Elliot Stock. p. 394. OCLC 500106879.
- "Bolton Hall Destroyed", The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 – 1931), 17 October 1902. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 3 February 2012
- Historic England. "Church of Holy Trinity (1130879)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
- "All Creatures Great and Small – Filming Locations". IMDB. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
- Rhea, Nicholas (14 February 2014). "The undisputed capital of Wensleydale". Darlington and Stockton Times. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
External links
Media related to Wensley at Wikimedia Commons - Historic England. "Holy Trinity Church (1130879)". National Heritage List for England.
- Wensley in the Domesday Book