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 on the A684 road 1 mile (1.6 km) south-west of the market town of Leyburn. The River Ure passes through the village.

Not to be confused with Wensley, Derbyshire.

Wensley
Wensley is located in North Yorkshire
Wensley
Wensley
Location within North Yorkshire
Population151 (2011 census)[1]
OS grid referenceSE092895
• London200 mi (320 km) SSE
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLEYBURN
Postcode districtDL8
PoliceNorth Yorkshire
FireNorth Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire

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). Wensley gives its name to the dale Wensleydale.

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 was 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 now redundant and cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust.[7] It was 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".[8][9]

Wensley old railway station buildings & platform, Wensleydale Railway, North Yorkshire

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.

Ernie Gillatt, a footballer active in the 1920s, was born in Wensley.[10]

References
  1. UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Wensley Parish (1170217199)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  2. "Wensley - Yorkshire Dales". Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  3. Hogg, Chris (2013). Wensleydale & Coverdale through time. Stroud: Amberley. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-4456-1941-5.
  4. Speight, Harry (1897). "XXXVII: Bolton Hall, Redmire and Preston-under-Scar". Romantic Richmondshire. London: Elliot Stock. p. 394. OCLC 500106879.
  5. "Bolton Hall Destroyed", The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 – 1931), 17 October 1902. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 3 February 2012
  6. Historic England. "Church of Holy Trinity (1130879)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  7. "Holy Trinity Church, Wensley, North Yorkshire". The Churches Conservation Trust. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  8. "All Creatures Great and Small – Filming Locations". IMDB. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  9. Rhea, Nicholas (14 February 2014). "The undisputed capital of Wensleydale". Darlington and Stockton Times. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  10. Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888-1939.
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