About

The Parish Map shows the boundary administered by South Kilvington Parish Council.

South Kilvington is a small village a mile to the north of Thirsk. Originally on the main road from the north to York and the A1 to south the Thirsk bypass built in the 1970s removed much of the heavy traffic. The original route of the A19 used to run through the village, it is now the A61. Cod Beck flows to the west of the village as part of the tributary system of the River Swale.

The village lies within the Thirsk and Malton UK Parliament constituency. It also lies within the Thirsk electoral division of North Yorkshire County Council and the Whitestonecliffe ward of Hambleton District Council.

The village has a school, South Kilvington CE Primary. The school is in the catchment area for Thirsk School & Sixth Form College. The 1881 UK Census recorded the population as 261. In the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 231 of which 205 were over sixteen years old and 102 of those were in employment. There were 112 dwellings of which 72 were detached.

The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Cheluitun in the Yarlestre hundred. The entry refers to the area around North Kilvington that was owned by Earl Edwin at the time of the Norman invasion and then granted to the Crown. During the 13th century, the lands became the demesne of Roger of Mowbray and around 1637, after many lands had been divided, the lord of the manor was Sir Arthur Ingram.

Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland was killed here in 1489 by a mob of protesters against taxation. There’s a great history of the village documented on BRITISH HISTORY ONLINE

What a Parish Council does

Your Council is a corporate body, a legal entity separate from that of its members. Its decisions are the responsibility of the whole body. The Council has been granted powers by Parliament including the important authority to raise money through taxation (the precept) and a range of powers to spend public money.

Your Council is an elected body in the first tier of local government. Other tiers, known as principal councils or authorities, have many legal duties to deliver services such as education, housing, town and country planning, transport, environmental health and social services. Local councils have the legal power to take action, but they have very few duties and greater freedom to choose what action to take. They can play a vital part in representing the interests of the communities they serve and improving the quality of life and the local environment.

What is South Kilvington Parish Council responsible for?

  • Play parks
  • Grass Cutting
  • Village Maintenance 
  • Reviewing Planning Applications
  • Allotments
  • Feeding into District and Country Council consultations
  • Liaising with the Police District and County Council
  • Liaising with the District and County Council
  • Represent the parish on associated committees
  • Burel grounds, Cemeteries and Churchyards
  • Bus Shelters
  • Drainage
  • Footpaths

Other Issues Parish Councils take on

Along with these main points of responsibility, Parish Councils are sometimes involved in planning, highways, transport and traffic, community safety, housing, street lighting, cemeteries, playing fields, community centres, litter, war memorials, seats and shelters, rights of way. Central Government is encouraging local councils to deliver more services and play a greater part in their communities.

Why your local Parish Council is important

There are around 9,000 local councils in England and they are growing in number, especially as councils in urban areas are established. Most local councils were set up in 1894 by an Act of Parliament. This created the civil parish, separating it from the church after its long history of delivering local services such as care for the poor, maintenance of roads and collecting taxes. A typical local council represents around 2,700 people but some have much larger populations. 

Who does what on the Parish Council?

The local council needs a range of skills to work as a team. Your chairman has the role of team leader for council meetings while your clerk is also a vital team member. The clerk provides advice and administrative support, and takes action to implement council decisions. The clerk may have to act as a project manager, personnel director, public relations officer or finance administrator. The clerk is not a secretary and is not at the beck and call of the chairman or other councillors; the clerk is answerable only to the council as a whole. The clerk is the proper officer of the council in law. Legally councils can delegate decisions to clerks because they are trusted professional officers whose objectivity allows them to act for the council.