Escrick

Coordinates: 53°52′41″N 1°02′13″W / 53.878°N 1.037°W / 53.878; -1.037

Escrick is a village and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England. It is equidistant between Selby and York on what is now the A19 road.

History and geography

Escrick sits at the southernmost limit of glaciation during the last ice age. When the ice retreated, a deposit known as a "terminal moraine" was left behind, in the form of a ridge. The name "Escrick" may mean "ash ridge", suggesting that the village was first established in an area of Ash.

A gold Anglo-Saxon ring was discovered in a field near Escrick by metal detector in 2009 and was acquired by the Yorkshire Museum for £35000.

During the medieval period, the village was known as “Ascri” (Ash Ridge), but by 1600 the name Escrick was in use. Escrick was developed as an Estate Village by Sir Henry Thompson who acquired the village and the Hall in 1668. Sir Henry’s great grandson, Beilby Thompson, inherited the Estate in 1742. Under this ownership the village extended towards York and the Church was relocated from beside the Hall to its present site on the York Road (A19). Part of this re-organisation involved stopping the main village street at the gates to the Hall and creating a by-pass which has become the present day A19. The village’s sylvan character also evolved from the time of enclosure when the open land became parkland.