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History

The village name is derived from Saxon words Cuc, meaning cry and valt, meaning wood.[2]

The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book as part of the Yalestre hundred by the name of Cucvalt. The lord of the manor at the time of the Norman invasion was Kofse, but passed to Hugh, son of Baldric[3] and thence to Roger de Mowbray. Before 1158, the manor and lands of Coxwold passed to Thomas Colville. In return for the lands, Thomas had to swear allegiance to Roger de Mowbray. Thomas de Colville’s estate included the manors of Yearsley, Coxwold and Oulston as well as other properties and land in York, Thirsk, Everley, Nunwick, Kilburn and Upsland. The Colville shield is proudly displayed at one of the roof intersections in the twelfth century Norman church at Coxwold.[4]

Successive generations of Colvilles held the estate and lands of Coxwold until 1405 when Thomas Colville viii was murdered, probably at the instruction of Richard le Scrope Archbishop of York, who, in turn, was acting on behalf of Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland. The bulk of the Coxwold estate was then granted to the Uhtred-Neville family. [5]

While in possession of the Coxwold estate, the Colville family gave generous grants to Byland Abbey and Newburgh Priory but, at the turn of the fourteenth century, there were some disputes between the monks of Newburgh Priory and the Colvilles over rights to land around Coxwold. [6]

In 1304 Sir Thomas Colville v started a tradition of a weekly market to be held in the grounds of the manor of Coxwold. He also established a two day annual fair to celebrate the Assumption, a tradition that survived uninterrupted in Coxwold Manor for some five hundred years. [7]

Sir Thomas Colville vii (of Yearsley and Coxwold) became famous following a jousting incident before the Battle of Crecy in 1346 when he crossed the river to joust with a French knight who had been hurling abuse at the English king. He later joined the retinue of John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster who was the third son of Edward III and by far the richest noble in England. [8]

At one time, the village had a station on the Thirsk and Malton Line. It opened on 19 May 1853, but closed on 7 August 1964 as part of the reorganisation of the national railway system.[2][9] In 1603, Sir John Harte, who was born in nearby Kilburn, North Yorkshire, built a Grammar School in the village, which closed in 1894. He was also a Lord Mayor of London.[2][9]