Middleton Tyas

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Middleton Tyas
Middleton Tyas shown within North Yorkshire
Population	630
OS grid reference	NZ228057
District	Richmondshire
Shire county	North Yorkshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	RICHMOND
Postcode district	DL10
Dialling code	01325
Police	North Yorkshire
Fire	North Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
European Parliament	Yorkshire and the Humber
UK Parliament	Richmond
List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire

Coordinates: 54°26′47″N 1°38′51″W / 54.4464, -1.6475

Middleton Tyas is a village and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It is close to Scotch Corner.

The name Middleton is of Anglo-Saxon origin and it means middle-farm or middle-settlement. Tyas is a Norman family name but there seems to be no evidence that Middleton Tyas once belonged to a family of that name.

The village lies on a substratum of limestone, which has been extensively quarried. Limestone quarrying still takes place at the nearby Barton roundabout. There was also an 18th-century copper mine and works near the village.

There are two pubs in the village: The Bay Horse and The Shoulder of Mutton; there is also The Scotch Corner Hotel at the famous roundabout.

The Church of St Michael and All Angels lies just outside the village on the road towards Moulton. It is an ancient structure, with Norman arches and pillars on the north side, and Early English on the south. It was restored and renovated between 1867-79 under the direction of Sir George Gilbert Scott.

St Michael & All Angels, Middleton Tyas

A Primitive Methodist chapel was erected in the village in 1877; only three years later it was sold to the Wesleyans. It is no longer used as a church.

The village is served by Middleton Tyas Church of England primary school, which moved premises from the old Victorian building in the village to a new purpose-built building on the outskirts. The old school was built in 1861-62 and the new school was built in 2003-04. The old school has been sold and is now being extensively refurbished.

The village had a post office and shop but it closed in April 2003. This left the village with no retail facilities within its boundaries, so the local community decided to open a new shop. Using grant aid from the Countryside Agency and DEFRA the villagers founded the Community Co-operative village store at Memorial Hall. It was opened by local MP William Hague in April 2004. The shop is open 55 hours a week; it sells basic groceries, local produce, deli, fruit and vegetables, newspapers and magazines; it has an in-store bakery and serves as an off-licence. The shop employs two part-time staff and there is regular input from eight volunteers.

The nearby Scotch Corner Service Station acts as a useful 24-hour shop for Middleton Tyas and other neighbouring villages.