Wetherby News

Wighill is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is near the River Wharfe and 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Wetherby, West Yorkshire. The village has one public house, the White Swan Inn, which reopened in 2009 after a two-year closure. Uhtred the Bold was murdered here in 1016.

Syningthwaite Priory was a priory in West Yorkshire, England. Syningthwaite is the site of the Cistercian convent of St Mary, founded c. 1150–1160 by Bertram Haget and suppressed in 1535, having been heavily in debt in the early 16th century. At the Dissolution the priory housed nine nuns, the prioress, eight servants and other labourers. The priory site is enclosed by a moat and includes a Chapel Garth.

Bilton-in-Ainsty is a village in the civil parish of Bilton-in-Ainsty with Bickerton, in North Yorkshire, England. It lies about 4 miles (6 km) east of Wetherby and 8 miles (13 km) west of York. Bilton had a population of 147 in 2006.

St Helen's Church is the parish church of Bilton-in-Ainsty, a village west of York in North Yorkshire, in England. Although no church in the village is mentioned in the Domesday Book, the various Saxon fragments incorporated in the current building suggest that there was a previous church on the site. The current church was built in about 1150 by the Haget family. In 1160, its advowson was granted to Syningthwaite Priory, then in 1293 it became a prebendary of York Minster. In the first half of the 13th century, north and south aisles were added to the nave, and in the 15th century, these were extended along the chancel. More new windows were inserted in the 17th century, and the porch door is dated 1633. It is claimed that the church served as a military hospital following the Battle of Marston Moor, in 1644. A satirical carving of a crowned snake, in the church door, has been attributed to a Royalist officer held prisoner in the building. From 1869 to 1871, the church was restored by George Gilbert Scott, who removed a west gallery, replaced the pews, and found parts of various early crosses buried in the churchyard. The church was Grade I listed in 1966. The church is constructed of limestone and cobbles. It has a four-bay nave and three-bay chancel, aisles, a south porch, and a bellcote at the west end. The bellcote dates from the 17th century and is believed to have replaced a bell tower. The west wall has a restored Norman arched window, with an oculus window above, and the south aisle has a possible Saxon window in its west wall, reset in the 13th century and restored by Scott.Inside, the aisles have arcades with circular piers. The chancel has remains of a piscina, and has corbels in the eaves with early carvings of animals and two sheela na gigs. There is also a carved mass dial. There are fragments of three 10th century Anglo-Norse crosses, and one Saxon cross. There is a brass monument of about 1400, which is believed to depict an abbess of Syningthwaite. The plain bowl font was moved from Tockwith. There is also an altar table from about 1600 and an eagle lectern of similar date.

Healaugh Park Priory was an Augustinian priory in Healaugh, North Yorkshire, England, some 2 miles (3 km) north of Tadcaster. The present building is a two-storey construction of Magnesian limestone ashlar, with Welsh slate roof and brick chimney stacks and is Grade II* listed.The Priory of St. John the Evangelist was established in 1218 by Jordan de Santa Maria and his wife, Alice at the site now called Healaugh Manor Farm. Alice was the granddaughter of Bertram Haget, who had previously granted the lands outside the village for a hermitage to Gilbert, a monk of Marmoutier. Further land was donated to the priory by the de Acklams and de Boyntons.The priory was finally dissolved in 1535, during the period of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, at which time there were fourteen canons in residence, with a revenue of £86 5s. 9d. In 1540 the property came into the possession of James Gage, who passed it on to Sir Arthur D'Arcy, after which it became the residence of the Barons Wharton. It was later acquired by Stamp Brooksbank, MP and Governor of the Bank of England, and descended in the Brooksbank family to Sir Edward Clitherow Brooksbank, 1st Baronet. Two of his three sons were killed in the First World War and the other in a motorcycle accident. Healaugh was disposed of around this time. The remains of the priory served for some time as a manor house, after which it became a farmhouse, with parts of the monastic building incorporated into the later buildings. A moated enclosure surrounding the building and associated fishponds belonged to either the monastic or manor house period.

Bilton-in-Ainsty with Bickerton is a civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 512, reducing to 463 at the 2011 Census.The parish contains Bilton-in-Ainsty and Bickerton, which are about three miles east of Wetherby in West Yorkshire.

Newton Kyme Hall is a historic building in the village of Newton Kyme, north-west of Tadcaster in North Yorkshire, in England. The hall's origins lie in the 17th century, but it was rebuilt for Robert Fairfax in about 1720. At this time, the gardens were landscaped, to incorporate the remains of Kyme Castle. In the 19th century, wings were added at right and left, and a kitchen block at the rear left, and a colonnade was added to the front. A coach house and stables were built north of the hall, and a groom's house to their south-west. The hall remained in private hands, other than during World War II, when it served as Air Defence Headquarters. It was later divided into three properties. The house was Grade II* listed in 1952, while the coach house and stables, groom's house, and castle remains, are all Grade II listed.The hall is built of Magnesian Limestone and sandstone, with a Welsh slate roof. The central wing is two storeys high with an attic, and 7 bays wide, while the left and right wings are single storey. At the front is a Doric order portico with a wrought iron trellis. There are sash windows throughout, some with shutters, and three sets of 20th century double doors give access to a balcony. Inside, there is an 18th-century staircase in a hall with panelling and Ionic order pilasters, with the first floor hall being similar. The right-hand ground floor room has an Ionic portico and a moulded cornice.The garden has an avenue of lime trees leading from the hall to the Tadcaster road, originally planted in the early 18th century, but cut down in the 1990s and replaced by a wider avenue of young trees. The garden also includes a large rockery, and a ha-ha, in addition to the castle ruins.

St Andrew's Church is the parish church of Newton Kyme, a village west of Tadcaster, in North Yorkshire, in England. The church was originally built in the 12th century, with the nave, western part of the chancel, and lower part of the tower surviving from this date. The Fairfax Chapel was added in about 1290, and the nave arcade is of similar date. The belfry and the majority of the windows date from the 15th century. In 1883, the floor and the seating were replaced, the roof was opened up, some 13th century windows were reopened, and a screen was added to create a vestry. In 1938, the bells were recast and rehung. The church was grade I listed in 1985. The church is built of Magnesian Limestone, with a roof of stone slates. It has a nave with a north aisle and a south porch, and a chancel with the Fairfax Chapel on the north side. There is a two-stage west tower with gargoyles and battlements. The porch has a pointed arch, inscribed with various figures: a cow, a boar's head, and a coat of arms, plus reliefs of the Virgin and Child and a St Andrew's Cross. The chancel has a priest's door, and a piscina and sedilia dating from about 1220.Other features inside the church include a 12th century font, with 19th century cover and base; a sculpture of a head dating from 1613; a monument to Robert Fairfax from 1725, and a wooden one to Katherine Stapilton, from 1695. An oak sanctuary chair and eagle lectern were stolen from the church in recent years.

Newton Kyme is a village in the civil parish of Newton Kyme cum Toulston near the River Wharfe, in the Selby district, in the English county of North Yorkshire. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 275. It is near the town of Tadcaster. For transport there is the A659 road nearby. Newton Kyme has a church and a castle called Kyme Castle.

The Second World War Experience Centre, based in Otley, West Yorkshire, England, is a registered charity and museum/archive which was set up in 1998 to preserve personal memories of the Second World War before they are lost forever. The archive is international in scope and holds letters, diaries, photographs and papers donated by individuals - the collection is unique as it concentrates only on the Second World War and personal experience. A network of volunteers across the UK also tapes record veterans' memories for the Centre, and its collection now numbers in excess of 9000 lives. The Centre is used by researchers, students, schoolchildren, authors and members of the public studying for degrees, books or simply their family history. The Centre's mission is "To collect and encourage access to the surviving testimony of men and women who lived through the years of the Second World War, and to ensure that different audiences share and learn from the personal recollections preserved in the collection".

Tockwith is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England, near the town of Wetherby and the city of York. There has been a village on the site since at least 1086 when Tocvi was mentioned in the Domesday Book. Tockwith's greatest claim to fame is being used as a staging post by Oliver Cromwell prior to the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644. He made reference to Tockwith in his diaries, in which he said: "If heaven should be half as blessed as the fields of Tockwith, all those who should pass St. Peter's Gate shall be met with joys unequalled".

ROF Thorp Arch was one of sixteen Second World War, UK government-owned Royal Ordnance Factory, which produced munitions by "filling" them. It was a medium-sized filling factory (Filling Factory No. 9).It was located on the banks of the River Wharfe, north-east of the two villages of Boston Spa and Thorp Arch; and four miles south-east of the town of Wetherby, West Yorkshire in England.