Population 141 Civil parish Birkin Shire county North Yorkshire | OS grid reference SE530268 District Selby | |
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Region Yorkshire and the Humber | ||
Birkin is a village and civil parish in the south-west of the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England. It is north of the River Aire, near Beal, North Yorkshire. The closest town is Knottingley, in West Yorkshire, 4 miles (6 km) to the south-west. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 146, falling to 141 at the census 2011. Birkin is recorded in the Domesday Book as 'Birchinge', this and the present name indicate that the village was first established in a heavily wooded area of birch trees. The village church of St Mary's is a Grade I listed building and the village was the birthplace of the political philosopher Thomas Hill Green in 1836. The Tour de Yorkshire passed through Birkin on the second stage (Otley to Doncaster) of the 2016 race.
St Mary's Church
St Mary's Church is located at the southern end of Birkin and dates from around 1150. Descriptions of it refer to a number of monuments including a cartouche for the Thornton family, successive generations of which were rectors during the 17th century, and an 18th century wall monument dedicated to the wife of a rector with an inscription by the Poet Laureate William Whitehead. Thomas Hill Green's father was the rector of St Mary's in the 1830s. In 2008 it was reported that the church had been damaged after the roof was targeted by lead thieves.