History intro

Flaxby pictured around 1974.

How times have changed. Flaxby is larger these days and back in 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described our village as follows:

"FLAXBY, a township in Goldsborough parish, W. R. Yorkshire; 3½ miles ENE of Knaresborough. Acres, 580. Pop., 76. Houses, 19."

Most of those houses have long-since gone.  There are now 46 mostly modern properties. (2019) Property to the east of York Road used to be owned by the Allerton Estate, whilst property on the west side belonged to the Goldsborough Estate.

• In 1994, archaeologists discovered a farmstead dating back to between seven and six centuries BC.

• 

  Flaxby pictured in 1988. Note the Grange being
  developed into its current nine properties bottom right.

  The village used to have a pond behind Woodman's Cottages and, effectively, in the back gardens of Coneyway and Rivendell. We're told it was filled in using beet or turnip and the area is still damp. It can just be seen in the 1952 photograph.

•  Flaxby is listed in the Domesday Book as follows: "In FLAXBY 4 carucates of land to the geld. The soke in ALDBROUGH. Erneis has 1 plough there and 5 villans and 2 bordars with 1 plough. Half a league long and half broad. TRE worth 30s now 25s."

We have gathered more history material than can be put onto this blog, so if you have a particular interest, for example a specific property or name, then please make contact.

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