Wensley is a small village and civil parish in 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.
| Wensley | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Wensley Location within North Yorkshire | |
| Population | 151 (2011 census)[1] |
| OS grid reference | SE092895 |
| • London | 200 mi (320 km) SSE |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LEYBURN |
| Postcode district | DL8 |
| Police | North Yorkshire |
| Fire | North Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
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] Bolton Hall, is now 1.2 miles (1.9 km) from the heart of Wensley, near Preston-under-Scar, Richmondshire; it was rebuilt 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'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
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ "Holy Trinity Church, Wensley, North Yorkshire". The Churches Conservation Trust. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888–1939.
External links
edit
Media related to Wensley at Wikimedia Commons- Historic England. "Holy Trinity Church (1130879)". National Heritage List for England.
- Wensley in the Domesday Book
