Coordinates: 54°18′03″N 1°10′02″W / 54.30093°N 1.16711°W / 54.30093; -1.16711
Hawnby is a small crossroads village and civil parish in Rye Dale in the North York Moors National Park, North Yorkshire, England. The village is about 7 miles (11 km) north-west of Helmsley.
The village is mentioned twice in the Domesday Book as Halmebi in the Allerton hundred. It was part of the Thornton-le-Moor manor and records local landowners to be Fredegaest and Ulf. After the Norman invasion, the lands passed to the King and were granted to Robert Malet.
The village is in the Thirsk and Malton UK Parliament constituency. It is in the Kirkbymoorside electoral division of North Yorkshire County Council and the Helmsley ward of Ryedale District Council.
The village sits at the junction of several small roads at the head of two valleys, close to the B1257 road between Oswaldkirk and Stokesley. The nearest settlements are Boltby 3.7 miles (6.0 km) to the south-west; Old Byland 2.3 miles (3.7 km) to the south and Fangdale Beck 3.4 miles (5.5 km) to the north. It lies between Ladwith Beck and the River Rye at an elevation of around 500 feet (150 m) above sea level.