Sherburn in Elmet

History

The name derives from Old English "scir" (bright, pure) and "burn" (bourne, stream, spring). The earliest record of the name ('Scyreburnan') dates from 963. Elmet refers to a little-understood post-Roman, Brittonic (non-Anglo-Saxon) kingdom in the area around what is now the Leeds conurbation, the precise boundaries of which are not known, but are thought to have been located at bodies of water, such as the Ouse, Aire and Wharfe rivers. Sherburn is situated on a low hill of Permian limestone jutting out into the valley of the River Ouse, so the name may refer to the clarity of the water on the hill compared with the muddy streams on the alluvial plain below. This limestone ridge is still an important source of clear water, for example for the brewing industry at Tadcaster six miles to the north. The Roman road connecting Castleford with Tadcaster and York ran along this ridge, and the current Low Street/Finkle Hill north–south route through the town marks its line, but little evidence of Roman settlement has been found. An earthwork adjoining All Saints' Church is the site of Hall Garth, sometimes erroneously called 'Athelstan's Palace', a high-status dwelling given (along with the manor of Cawood) by King Athelstan to the Archbishops of York to mark his victory over the combined Scots/Norse forces at Brunanburh in 937. Hall Garth cannot be dated back with certainty to the Kingdom of Elmet prior to its absorption into the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria in 616/7 (see Wikipedia entry for Elmet) and may have been an Anglo-Saxon rather than a Brittonic foundation. The existing church, a Grade I listed building, contains features dating from c.1120: "C12 nave and north aisle, C13 chancel with C14 south aisle and extension to north aisle, C15 south aisle chapel, and…

Most-observed species

• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  13,609
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  11,209
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,065
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  10,356
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  10,144
• Black-headed Gull

  Chroicocephalus ridibundus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  10,020
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,419
• Mute Swan

  Cygnus olor (J.F.Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  9,075

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2020-01-23
  1 km NW of Stockton-on-Tees, United Kingdom
• M 4.1 — 2018-06-09
  7 km NNE of Withernsea, United Kingdom
• M 2.6 — 2014-10-28
  2 km NNE of Hucknall, United Kingdom
• M 3.6 — 2011-01-03
  5 km S of Masham, United Kingdom
• M 3 — 2009-04-11
  5 km ENE of Goxhill, United Kingdom
• M 3.1 — 2008-04-05
  3 km SSE of Middle Rasen, United Kingdom