| Skeeby | |
Skeeby |
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Skeeby
Skeeby shown within North Yorkshire |
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| Population | 390 |
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| OS grid reference | NZ200025 |
| District | Richmondshire |
| Shire county | North Yorkshire |
| Region | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | RICHMOND |
| Postcode district | DL10 |
| Dialling code | 01748 |
| Police | North Yorkshire |
| Fire | North Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| EU Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| UK Parliament | Richmond |
| List of places: UK • England • Yorkshire | |
Skeeby is a village and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It is located on the main road between Scotch Corner and Richmond.
A small but ancient linear village it straddles the A6108 road, has elongated areas of village green and two streams which follow the roadside and flow into Gilling beck.
Skeeby was recorded as Schirebi in the Domesday Book – ‘In Skeeby there are six carucates and there could be four ploughs there’. In other early references to the village it is Schireby (11th cent), Scythebi and Scideby (12th cent) Schideby, Skitteby and Skytheby (13th & 14th cent) Skeitby and Skeby (16th cent). It may have been the location of either a sacred well or chantry chapel dedicated to St Osyth (Clarkson ‘The History of Richmond’ 1814). This female saint came from Scythia and the origin the village name may be in an early association with her. The Crown Patent Rolls record a hermitage at Skeeby in 1328 (The Victoria County History – Yorkshire North Riding Vol 1 1968). The origins of Skeeby Bridge, over Gilling beck, date from the early 14th century, the existing structure being 16th century widened by John Carr in 1781/2 (The Richmond Review 2007). The earliest remaining buildings in the village date from the 17th and 18th centuries. There is also a Wesleyan chapel, built 1861 and now a house, a chapel of ease to the ancient church of St Agatha at Easby, which is the parish church, built in 1840 and a small 19th century School, now also a house. (Hatcher Richmondshire Architecture 1990).
There is a Manor House although the village was never part of a single estate or manor. There was also a very early water mill which belonged to Easby Abbey and the existing building, which is a late 19th century rebuild, is now a house. The village became one of the earliest conservation areas in Yorkshire; it remains small and contains two working farms mainly involved in arable and sheep farming. The small village shop and post office closed some years ago. The village pub was The Travellers Rest, but this has been closed since 2008, and is unlikely to ever re-open as a public house.