Wheldrake

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 53.8960
longitude= -0.9612
official_name= Wheldrake
population= 1,909
unitary_england= York
lieutenancy_england=North Yorkshire
region= Yorkshire and the Humber
post_town= YORK
postcode_district = YO19
postcode_area= YO
dial_code= 01904
os_grid_reference= SE682449
constituency_westminster= Selby

Wheldrake is a village located seven miles (11 km) south-east of York. Administratively it is in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England.

Wheldrake is a village, a parish and a name given to an electoral ward of the City of York, UK. The village and parish are the focus of this article. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,909.

The parish of Wheldrake covers an area of convert|4300|acre|km2. It was established before 1066 and after being largely in the possession of Fountains Abbey in the Middle Ages, it became part of a landed estate until the mid 20th century. It has a significant conservation area and a nature reserve of international importance. This, named Wheldrake Ings, is a mile east of the village, and is where many wild flowers flourish and rare birds prosper.

Most of the employed people who live in the village commute to work. There is a primary school, a church, a shop with post office and a public house which serve 761 households.There is a small industrial estate near the western approach to the village.

Geography

ituation and transport

Wheldrake is in the southern part of the Vale of York. It is situated 11km to the south east of York. It lies between the A19 trunk road and the River Derwent and is reached by an unclassified road which leaves the A19 at Crockey Hill. Minor roads to Thorganby, Elvington and Escrick meet at Wheldrake. [ Philips Motoring Atlas:Britain. Philips, London 2005] There is a bus service to York which leaves Wheldrake every two hours. The journey to York takes 20 minutes. [ [http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/yorkhumber/york/home/ First Group - UK bus ] ]

Physical geography

The rocks underlying this area in the south of the Vale of York are Triassic Bunter sandstone but in this area they are largely overlain by later glacial drift deposits. [British Geological Survey: Sheet 71 1973 ] The village is sited on the slightly raised Escrick moraine. This is one of the terminal moraines that was left in the Vale of York when the ice retreated at the end of the last ice age. The resultant soils vary from thick clay to sand and alluvium and their fertility is consequently very variable.The river Derwent flows in a southerly direction at the eastern boundary of the parish. This river was tidal until a flood barrier was built downstream in the mid 20th century. The height of the land is between 7 and 17 m.

Climate

Wheldrake is in the more northerly part of England and although it has a typically English temperate climate which is influenced by the warming effect of the Gulf Stream, it is slightly cooler than London. In the summer months the average maximum temperature is 20°C and the minimum is 11°C. In the winter the average maximum is 7°C and the minimum is 2°C. Average monthly precipitation varies between 68 mm in August and 37 mm in March. In May, June and July the sun shines for an average of six hours a day but in January and February there is an average of only one hour of sunshine. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather BBC - Weather Centre - World Weather ] ] The weather is very variable from day to day. Extremes recorded at the University of York campus (6km from Wheldrake) between 1998 and 2006, include a highest temperature of 33°C and a lowest temperature of -6.9°C. The most rainfall in one day was 53.8 mm. [ [http://www.York.ac.uk The University of York ] ]

Politics

Wheldrake has a non-party political parish council.

The parish is part of the Wheldrake ward of York, represented on York City Council by Christian Vassie, of the Liberal Democrats.

Wheldrake Ward Election Results 1999 R.J. SNOWDON (Con) 513 votes - elected J.E. TETZNER (Lab) 329 votes M. VASSIE (LD) 466 votes

Wheldrake Election Results 2003 John GALVIN (Con) 459 votes Edward GOUGE (Lab) 124 votes Christian VASSIE (LD) 982 votes - elected

Wheldrake Election Results 2007 MARTIN, MARGARET RUTH (LABOUR) = 148 votes MAUGHAN, JONATHAN MARK (CONSERVATIVE) = 638 votes SHIPPEY, TRACY LYNN (GREEN) = 68 votes VASSIE, CHRISTIAN (LIBERAL DEM) = 784 votes - elected

It is represented nationally by John Grogan the Labour Member of Parliament for Selby constituency, of which it is part.

Selby Constituency Election Results 2005 John Grogan (Labour) = 22,623 votes Mark Menzies (Conservative) = 22,156 votes Ian Cuthbertson (Liberal Democrat) = 7,770 votesHistorically part of the East Riding of Yorkshire, Wheldrake was transferred to the newly-formed North Yorkshire county in the 1974 local government reorganisation. It became part of the York City unitary authority in 1996. [ [http://www.york.gov.uk City of York Council Home Page - City of York Council ] ] Prior to 1996 it had been part of the Selby district.

Demographics

According to the UK government 2001 census, Wheldrake had a population of 1909. The mean age of the population was 41.73 years, somewhat older than the national average of 38.6 years. There were 379 people below the age of 16 and 368 over the age of 64. The number of households was 761.

Of the people who travel to work by motorised transport 653 travel by private means and 59 use public transport. The average journey to work is 21.73km. [ [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census/ The census in England and Wales ] ]

History

Celtic and Roman

On air photographs an extensive Iron Age or Roman field system is visible as crop marks. There are ditched enclosures, round houses, enclosures, a track way and possibly a square barrow. [ [http://www.pastscape.org PastScape - information on England's archaeology and architecture ] ] In 2002 a Roman farm was discovered at Wheldrake. Excavation of the site revealed structural remains, four Roman graves, animal bones, pottery and the remains of a main Roman road. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/news/2002/07/10/roman.shtml BBC - North Yorkshire News - Roman farm discovered in Wheldrake ] ] Originally, the word Wheldrake translates roughly to "Dark Waters".

axon

In Saxon times Wheldrake was in the Danelaw area of England and so probably consisted of a number of scattered family farming enclosures. In 1066 the land was held locally by a person called Norman but the overlord of the area was Morcar, Earl of Northumbria. It was worth 20 shillings in tax and there was enough arable land for four ploughs to be used. Victoria County History. http:// www.British-history.ac.uk]

Norman and Medieval

After the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 Wheldrake was given by the new king, William I to a follower called William Malet.By the time that the Domesday Book was written in 1086 it belonged to William de Percy. The local lord was William Coleville. There was extensive woodland, 20 acres of meadow, three fisheries, a water mill and the church.From a nucleus of about convert|350|acre|km2 of land lying around a small deliberately-planned village of 16 plots the cultivated area began to be expanded. [ Michael Aston. Interpreting the Landscape: Landscape Archaeology & Local History. Routledge UK] In the 14th century the land was farmed as four open arable fields with common land for grazing animals.Several gifts of land in Wheldrake were made to monasteries and by the end of the 15th century Fountains Abbey owned a large part of the land in the village.

Tudor

When King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, the land in Wheldrake which had belonged to Fountains and other abbeys was confiscated and sold to private individuals. These individuals became the landlords, collecting rent from the farmers and householders who lived in the village.

17th century

In 1609 the open fields of Wheldrake still existed. There were 58 leaseholders and 13 freeholders in the village. There were 65 houses. Fifteen people rented only their dwelling houses. These included a weaver and a miller. There was a windmill in the village on a field which is still called Millfield.

18th century

In 1773 the landlord applied to parliament to enclose the land of the

19th century

There were between 30 and 40 farmers in Wheldrake in the early part of the 19th century. Some lived on farms outside the built-up area of the village but many still had farmhouses with yards, barns and stables in the village Main Street. The chief crops that were grown were oats, peas, turnips and rape. Much of the farm land was used for pasture for animals or as hay meadows. Most of the land was still owned by a landlord and rented to the local farmers. At this time there were a large number of shopkeepers and traders in the village providing for the needs of agricultural workers in Wheldrake and the neighbouring villages.

20th century

In the 20th century the main landowner sold many of the farms and houses that he owned in the village. These were bought by farmers and other private individuals. Between 1912 and 1926 Wheldrake was served by a passenger service on the Derwent Valley Light Railway. The line was open for freight traffic until 1968.From the mid 20th century as people became more able to travel to their places of work and to larger shops in towns by motorised transport, the village shops and craft businesses suffered a decline in custom and started to close down. Conversely, people employed in towns found the rural environment attractive and chose to make their homes in Wheldrake. The result of this was an increase in the number of houses being built so that the old nucleus of the village is now almost surrounded by late 20th century housing developments.

Natural history

The Wheldrake Ings are part of the internationally-significant nature reserve of the Lower Derwent Valley which is a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) and a Ramsar Convention site. The Ings are areas of flood meadows along the river Derwent which flood seasonally and are rich in wildlife. They are mainly recognised for their significant collection of birds but they also support significant collections of mammals, plants and invertebrates. [www.English-nature.org.uk/]

Wheldrake Woods in the north of the parish was planted by the Forestry Commission and has mainly conifer trees. [www.forestry.gov.uk/website/wildwoods.nsf/SearchAgentView/EnglandNorthYorkshireNoForestWheldrakeWoods] The open cultivated agricultural land is not species-rich but the hedgerows, field margins and roadside verges support some small mammals and an increasing number of grasses and flowering plants.

Architecture and conservation

Wheldrake Conservation Area was designated in 1979. It comprises the historic Main Street, its continuation as Church Lane and the Back Lanes which were all established as part of the planned Medieval village. The parish church and 21 buildings are listed as being of significant historical interest. [www.york.gov.uk/planning/localplan/change4/conareas] [ [http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk English Heritage Images of England: a searchable photographic archive of the historic buildings of England ] ]

Culture, media and sport

The Wheldrake Singers is a local choral group that presents two or three concerts each year. They sing mostly Baroque works and are usually accompanied by an accomplished orchestra of local musicians.The Wenlock Arms hosts occasional performances by popular local folk and pop artists. There is usually an annual exhibition by local artists and crafts people and two or three accept commissions for watercolours.The Wheldrake Recreational Association provides a venue for sports and social activities and St Helens church promotes a number of Christian social groups. A mobile library visits every two weeks and there is a children's playground with basketball facilities for older children.Local clubs use the tennis, football and cricket facilities at the village hall. Swallow Hall [www.city-visitor.com/york/golf.html] is the local golf course and there are two angling lakes, Raker Lakes [www.rakerlakes.co.uk] and Westerly Lake. [www.westerlylake.co.uk/] Public footpaths through the fields are maintained by York City council. The Wheldrake Woods and Wheldrake Ings are also popular with walkers.The parish magazine Parish News is circulated to six hundred homes in the village each month and has a wealth of information about local interests. [Parish News. Wheldrake January 2007] The radio stations are BBC Radio York [www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/local_radio] and 96.9 Viking FM [www.vikingfm.co.uk/] and the local newspaper is The Evening Press. [www.thisisyork.co.uk]

Business

The Millfield industrial estate at the western approaches to the village has seven units engaged in light industry and commerce. Farmers and a number of other self-employed people, including decorators, builder, joiners and plumbers run businesses from home. The Wenlock Arms as well as a village shop with a post office, a hairdresser, undertaker and garden centre are to be found along the Main Street. [Yellow Pages]

Education

Wheldrake with Thorganby C of E (Aided) Primary School caters for the children up to the age of 11. [ [http://www.webstore-ed.net/wheldrakeps/homepage/homepage.htm Wheldrake with Thorganby CE Aided School Home Page ] ] The school is attempting to raise £90,000 for a new building as the catchment area has seen an increase in the number of younger children and the current building is too small. They had raised £10,000 as of April 2006.Older pupils attend Fulford school in York.

References