Coordinates: 54°13′57″N 1°20′35″W / 54.23256°N 1.34293°W
| Thirsk | |
 Thirsk town centre |
|
 
Thirsk
Thirsk shown within North
Yorkshire |
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| Population | 4,703 [1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| - London | 227 miles (365 km) |
| Parish | Thirsk |
| District | Hambleton |
| Shire county | North Yorkshire |
| Region | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | THIRSK |
| Postcode district | YO7 |
| Dialling code | 01845 |
| Police | North Yorkshire |
| Fire | North Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| EU Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| UK Parliament | Vale of York |
| Website | http://www.thirsk.org.uk/ |
| List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire | |
Thirsk is a small market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. The local travel links are located a mile from the town centre to Thirsk railway station and 20 miles to Teesside International Airport (Durham Tees Valley). Local bus services to and from York, Ripon and Northallerton and nearby villages and long distance National Express Coaches call at the bus stop in the market place. Also, the main road running through the town is the A61, connecting Thirsk to Ripon. The parish has a population of 4,703 according to the 2001 Census.[1]
Thirsk is a popular tourist destination attracting visitors, especially with Thirsk Racecourse and the North York Moors.
The town lies in the Vale of Mowbray, 23 miles north of York. Cod Beck runs through the centre of Thirsk - the area to the east of the river is called Old Thirsk. The A19 road now, after a bypass was built in the 1960s, passes Thirsk to the east; the former route of the A19 through the town is the A61 to the north to South Kilvington and the A170 to the south at the junction where the A19 joins the original route to the south.
The town is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1089 as Tresche, derived from the Viking (Old Norse) word þresk = "marsh". It is surrounded by a number of villages also having names of Danish origin, such as Thirlby, Boltby, Borrowby and Sowerby (the -by suffix (Danish in origin) meaning village or farmstead).
Thirsk is built around a large medieval market square, which still hosts an open-air market each Monday and Saturday. Thirsk has a museum and the 15th century church of St Mary's. It is commonly thought that Thirsk also has a hospital, cinema, town hall and swimming pool, but all are actually in the adjoining village of Sowerby.
Thirsk's chief modern claim to fame is as the home of the veterinary surgeon and author James Herriot[1], although it was renamed "Darrowby" in the books. The veterinary practice at 23 Kirkgate, in which he was a partner along with Donald Sinclair (Siegfried Farnon in the books) now houses a museum dedicated to his life and works, The World of James Herriot.[2]
Thomas Lord, another Thirsk notable, who founded Lord's cricket ground in London was born in a house which now houses the Thirsk Museum, also on Kirkgate. Another local attraction is the Kilburn White Horse, a chalk horse carved into the hillside about four miles east of the town in 1857.
The Ritz Cinema on Westgate, Sowerby is a small 200 seat (100 stalls, 100 balcony) cinema run by volunteers. It dates back to 1912 and is one of Britain's oldest operating cinemas.[3] It shows in a period setting most of the current films and is run for residents and visitors to Thirsk and the local villages by a dedicated team of volunteers.
The racecourse at Thirsk is a leading venue for horseracing on the flat in the spring and summer months.
Thirsk is residence to Come Dine With Me contestant Andy Swales. Swales, famed for his controversial opinions on the Channel 4 cookery show, finished joint 4th after cooking squirrel.
 Ritz Cinema |
 The Darrowby Inn, Thirsk |
 St.Mary's Church |
 The veterinary surgery (office) of James Herriot, now a museum, is a popular attraction |
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THIRSK, a market-town in the Thirsk and Malton parliamentary division of the North Riding of Yorkshire, England, 22 m. N.W. by N. from York by the North-Eastern railway. Pop. (1901) 3093. It lies in a fertile plain W. of the Hambleton Hills, on the Codbeck, a small tributary of the Swale. The church of St Mary, entirely Perpendicular, with parvise, chancel, nave, aisles, porch, and tower 80 ft. in height, is one of the most beautiful churches in the Riding. The original work of oak is especially noteworthy. The moat of the ancient castle built by the Mowbrays about 980 remains. The principal modern buildings are the assembly rooms, mechanics' institute, and court-house. Standing in the fertile district of the Vale of Mowbray, the town has an extensive agricultural trade. Agricultural implements are largely manufactured. Iron-founding, engineering, tanning and brick-making are carried on, and there are large flour-mills.
At the time of the Domesday Survey, Thirsk (Treske) was a manor of little importance belonging partly to the king and partly to Hugh, son of Baldric. Soon afterwards it was granted to Robert de Mowbray, who often resided there, and is said to have raised the castle round which the borough grew up. His estates, being forfeited for treason against William Rufus, were restored by Henry I. to Nigel de Albini, Robert's cousin, who took the name of Mowbray. Roger, son of Nigel, took part in the rebellion against Henry II. in 1174, and although he was allowed to retain his estates, his castle at Thirsk was destroyed. The manor remained in his family until the death of John de Mowbray, duke of Norfolk, without issue male in 1475, and after passing through several families was finally sold in 1723 to Ralph Bell, whose descendants thereafter held the manor. Thirsk is first mentioned as a borough in a charter granted by Roger de Mowbray to Newburgh Priory in the reign of Henry II. It was governed by a bailiff elected by the burgesses at the court leet of the lord of the manor, and never received a charter of incorporation. The burgesses were represented in parliament by two members in 12 9 5 and again from 1552-53 to 1832, when by the Municipal Reform Act the number was reduced to one. In 1885 the town was disfranchised. Roger de Mowbray held a market by prescription in Thirsk in the 13th century, and by Camden's time (c. 1586) it had become one of the best markets in the North Riding. It is still held by the lord of the manor.
See Victoria County History: Yorkshire; William Grainge, The Vale of Mowbray: a historical and topographical account of Thirsk and its neighbourhood (1859).
   | Thirsk & Sowerby - Thirsk Sowerby Darrowby North Yorkshire England Information Events Pubs James Herriot Country Gateway |
| | race course - Thirsk Racecourse: Country flat racing at its best |
| | Ritz Cinema - Welcome to the Ritz Cinema in Thirsk Yorkshire, Herriot Country, Films in Community Volunteer Cinema |
| | Visit-Thirsk.com - New Thirsk and area information website April 2007 - Visit Thirsk - Welcome - Official Website |
| | Falconry UK Ltd. - The Falconry Centre |
| | Official James Herriot Website (worldofjamesherriot.org) - The World of James Herriot |
| | Guide to Thirsk town centre and Thirsk festival - provided by TownTalk is a national network of town centre web sites offering information for residents, shoppers and visitors. - Thirsk TownTalk, Thirsk News, Thirsk Events, Thirsk Shopping, Thirsk Restaurants |
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