Riccall

Coordinates: 53°50′00″N 1°03′34″W / 53.83333°N 1.05944°W / 53.83333; -1.05944
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Riccall
North Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire
Selby and Ainsty
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire
53°50′00″N 1°03′34″W / 53.83333°N 1.05944°W / 53.83333; -1.05944

Riccall is a village and

Second World War, an RAF base was built north of the village, and between the late 1970s and the early 2000s, coal was mined from beneath the village as Riccall Mine, part of the Selby Coalfield
.

According to the 2011 census the parish had a total population of 2,332.[1]

Governance

Riccall is a major part of the electoral ward called Riccall with Escrick.[2] The total population of this ward at the 2011 census was 4,312.[3]

It was historically part of the

shire county of North Yorkshire. In 2023 the district was abolished and North Yorkshire became a unitary authority.[5]

Geology and geography

The settlement of Riccall lies on the

cycle track starting in Dringhouses, York.[8] The cycle track used to form the old route of the East Coast Main Line via Selby, and Riccall station served the village until 1964.[9][10][11]

History

St Mary's Church

Homo sapiens first arrived in Great Britain around 12,000 years ago as the earth was warming before the beginning of the Holocene era. It is not known when Man first arrived in the area, however there is evidence that the Humberhead Levels have been settled for several thousand years, and that the drier northern area where Riccall is situated was settled before the Roman era being host to Iron Age burial sites.[12][13]

Saxons and Danes

The village was the site of an Anglo-Saxon settlement and there is evidence of a Saxon church on the site of the current St Mary's Church.[14] The early settlers most likely chose the site because of two geographical factors: the area forms a slightly raised plateau above a flood plain, and it is near the Ouse.[15]

Riccall was the site of the base camp of

Danes
moored.

Normans

Riccall Cycle Path distance marker

The settlement is recorded in the Domesday Book as Richale, having a manor, 27 villagers, ploughlands and meadowlands.[20] The population places it within the top 40% of listings in the whole of the Domesday Book.[21] The name was recorded in the Domesday Book as Richale, then as Richenhale in 1190, as Rikinhal in 1230, and Rycall in 1539.[22] The first part is from a personal name (Rica) and the suffix halh, meaning a nook of land.[23]

Sometime in the latter half of the twelfth century, the current St Mary's was built using stone quarried from the Magnesian Limestone ridge which lies approximately 8 miles (13 km) to the west.[24][25] The old south door of the church has a carved Romanesque arch and its 12th-century three-stage tower has Norman double window openings.[26]

RAF Riccall

Land to the north-east of the village was requisitioned in 1940 for a new airfield, and construction began in 1941.

Heavy conversion units. It was used for flying between 1942 and 1945, thereafter it was used as an ammunition store until final closure in 1957.[27][28]

Riccall Mine

Main article: Selby Coalfield

Between 1983 and 2004 the village was home to UK Coal's Riccall Mine which was part of the Selby Coalfield. The colliery, located south-east of Riccall, closed in 2004.[29] The site of the colliery was re-developed as a business park.[30]

Community

The Regen Centre

The village has a primary school, post office, NISA store, hairdresser/beauty salon, butcher, two pubs, an Italian restaurant and the Regen Centre, an award-winning conference, events, and community facility. The Regen Centre, which opened in September 2000, houses a bar, four outdoor tennis courts, and a small sports hall where football and badminton can be played.[31][32]

The village has its own traditional Long Sword dance group, who have performed with other teams at sword dance events nation and worldwide.[33] The dance is similar to the one acted out by the Goathland Plough Stots, and consists of eight to twelve dancers holding wooden swords in their left hands.[34] A manuscript detailing the songs, dances,moves and characters within the dance, was first recorded in the 1880s.[35]

References

  1. ^
    Office for National Statistics
    . Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  2. ^ "The County of North Yorkshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2005". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  3. Office for National Statistics
    . Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  4. ^ "History of Riccall, in Selby and East Riding | Map and description". www.visionofbritain.org.uk. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  5. ISSN 0140-0460
    .
  6. ^ "Humberhead Levels". historicengland.org.uk. p. 3. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Riccall | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Work starts to improve access on Solar System Way". Sustrans. 22 November 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  9. ^ "Cycle the Solar System". york.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  10. ^ Everett, Colin (13 May 2021). "A bike ride in my home county: the York Solar System Route". bradtguides.com. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  11. ISBN 0-7153-8527-5
    .
  12. ^ Taylor 2015, p. 5.
  13. ^ Historic England. "Danes Hills square barrow cemetery, 300m south of Adamson Farm (1018603)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  14. ^ Taylor 2015, p. 14.
  15. ^ Allison 1976, p. 83.
  16. ISBN 9781840337532
    .
  17. ISSN 0037-9700
    .
  18. ISSN 0889-7328
    .
  19. ISSN 0889-7328
    .
  20. ISBN 0850335310
    .
  21. ^ "Riccall | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  22. ISBN 0-521-04907-5
    .
  23. ISBN 0-19-869103-3
    .
  24. ^ Taylor 2015, p. 35.
  25. ^ "Riccall St Mary". nationalchurchestrust.org. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  26. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Mary (Grade I) (1148464)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  27. ^ Taylor 2015, p. 189.
  28. ISBN 1-86126-809-2
    .
  29. ^ Hughes, Marcia (25 October 2004). "Mourning subdued as last Selby pit shuts". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  30. ^ "Riccall Business Park". UK Coal. Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  31. ^ Taylor 2015, p. 199.
  32. ^ "Riccall VDS" (PDF). riccallparishcouncil.org.uk. p. 7. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  33. ^ Hutchinson, Charles (16 May 2008). "Sword play". York Press. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  34. OCLC 966460647
    .
  35. ISSN 0531-9684
    .

Sources

External links

Media related to Riccall at Wikimedia Commons

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