Appleton Wiske lies in the North Riding of Yorkshire, about ten miles to the north-east of Northallerton, the county’s ‘capital’ town. It takes its name from the nearby River Wiske, a deceptive river than varies between a muddy trickle and raging, flooding torrent.
Appleton is a historic village, certainly dating from Saxon times, and probably much earlier. A Roman road passes close to the west of the village.
Appleton Wiske was probably burned to the ground during the ‘Harrying of the North’, William the Conqueror’s war atrocity of 1069. Certainly, the layout of the village, with houses either side of long village green, is typical of villages the Normans rebuilt to attract a labour force to work the land that William had distributed amongst his supporters.
Traditionally, Appleton Wiske made a living from farming, with rural crafts such as shoemaking, smithying, spinning and weaving. Linen weavers thrived here before the Industrial Revolution.
Nowadays, the land around the village is still farmed, but with modern machinery, few people are employed in this essential task. Appleton’s residents therefore mainly commute to work in nearby towns.
Appleton Wiske enjoys a strong local community, with volunteers organising facilities such as a sports field and village hall.
The village also enjoys a primary school, pre-school, Post Office and Shop, and two pubs, the Lord Nelson and the Shorthorn Inn. It is also home to a number of small businesses, including Appleton Electrical Services and Mowbray Heating.
The pubs provide a valuable introduction to work for the village’s teenagers, who take part-time jobs washing up and waiting at table.
Here are links to other Appleton Wiske sites:
The village website:
Appleton Wiske Post Office:
http://www.appletonwiske.com/commercial/postoffice/postoffice.html
The Lord Nelson Inn: historic village pub:
http://www.appletonwiske.com/commercial/lordnelson/lordnelson.html
St Mary’s Church
http://www.appletonwiske.com/orgs/St%20Marys/index.html
Appleton in Bloom: Award winning garden and environmental group:
http://www.appletoninbloom.co.uk/
The Shorthorn Inn: Popular restuarant pub – built in the 1970s and named after prize winning local cattle breeds
http://www.shorthorninn.com/ Tel 01609 881379, post code DL6 2AL
North Hambleton Wind farm Action Group:
Roots Farm shop and cafe is in nearby East Rounton:
www.rootsfarmshop.co.uk
Whitegates Nursery, West Rounton: useful garden centre
Street Maps of Appleton Wiske
A very kind man in Wensleydale, Colin Day, has publsihed maps of Appleton Wiske, showing the name and location of every single house. The maps – two pages, one for the east of the village and one for the west – are free to download from his website at
http://www.colinday.co.uk/maps/HambletonMaps/AppletonWiskeEast.pdf
and http://www.colinday.co.uk/maps/HambletonMaps/AppletonWiskeWest.pdf