Population 386 Civil parish Melmerby Sovereign state United Kingdom Shire county North Yorkshire | OS grid reference SE337769 Country England Local time Saturday 12:50 PM District Borough of Harrogate | |
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Region Yorkshire and the Humber Weather 13°C, Wind NW at 21 km/h, 73% Humidity | ||
Melmerby is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England, that lies 3.7 miles (6 km) north of Ripon. The name is of Norse-Gaelic origin and either means means a sandy settlement (malmr & by, meaning a sandy field and a farmstead or village respectively) or "Máel Muire's Farm". Many of the fields in the area have Norse names too, e.g. Halikeld where 'keld' is an Old Norse word for 'spring'.
Map of Melmerby, Ripon, UK
Until the late 1950s, the village was the site of a major rural railway junction that was situated on the main Harrogate to Northallerton via Ripon railway line (closed 1968). A branch line ran westwards from Melmerby to the small market town of Masham, which is famous for its brewing. This line stopped carrying passengers in 1930 and closed completely in 1963. Another line (closed 1959) also ran north-eastwards linking Melmerby with the East Coast Main Line at Thirsk.
The village is part of the parish of Melmerby and Middleton Quernhow, a small hamlet a quarter of a mile north of the village. The population is approximately 430, measured at 386 in the 2011 census.
During the war the village was the site of a large munitions store, taking advantage of the railway access.