Wetherby (ˈwɛðəbi) is a market town and civil parish in the City of Leeds district, West Yorkshire, England, close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire, and lies approximately from Leeds City Centre, from York and from Harrogate. The town stands on the River Wharfe, and for centuries has been a crossing place and staging post on the Great North Road midway between London and Edinburgh.
Wetherby Bridge, which spans the River Wharfe, is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade II listed structure. The course of the Old Great North Road passes through the town and, as result of its situation on the road, as well as being a major Cattle Droving route from Scotland to London, many coaching inns were established in Wetherby which are still used by travellers today.
The town was listed in the 2018 Sunday Times report on Best Places to Live in northern England.
It sits in the Wetherby ward of Leeds City Council and Elmet and Rothwell parliamentary constituency.
Wetherby is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, as Wedrebi. The name derives from the Old Norse words veðr ("wether, castrated male sheep", in its genitive singular form veðrar) and bý ("farmstead, village"). Thus the name once meant "wether's farmstead".
History of Wetherby
Historically, Wetherby was a part of the Claro Wapentake (as part of the parish of Spofforth) within the West Riding of Yorkshire.
In the 12th and 13th centuries the Knights Templar and later the Knights Hospitallers were granted land and properties in Yorkshire. The local preceptory founded in 1217 was at Ribston Park. In 1240 the Knights Templar were granted by Royal Charter of Henry III the right to hold a market in Wetherby (known then as Werreby) on Thursdays and a yearly fair was permitted lasting three days over the day of St James the Apostle.
From 1318 to 1319 the North of England suffered many raids from the Scots. After the Battle of Bannockburn Wetherby was burned and many people were taken and killed.
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is governed by a metropolitan borough named after the city, the wider county having devolved powers. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. The city was a small manorial borough in the 13th century and a market town in the 16th century. It expanded by becoming a major production centre, including of carbonated water where it was invented in the 1760s, and trading centre (mainly with wool) for the 17th and 18th centuries.
Harrogate (ˈhærəɡət,-ɡeɪt,-ɡɪt ) is a spa town in the district and county of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa waters and RHS Harlow Carr gardens. away from the town centre is the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the Nidderdale AONB. Harrogate grew out of two smaller settlements, High Harrogate and Low Harrogate, in the 17th century. For three consecutive years (2013–2015), polls voted the town as "the happiest place to live" in Britain.
Bradford is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is governed by a metropolitan borough named after the city, the wider county has devolved powers. It had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 census; the second-largest subdivision of the West Yorkshire Built-up Area after Leeds, which is approximately to the east. The borough had a population of , making it the most populous district in England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city grew in the 19th century as an international centre of textile manufacture, particularly wool.