Heronby - Izeria

Heronby is a proposed development village close to Escrick, in North Yorkshire, England. The plans detail a village of between 3,500 and 3,800 houses with a shopping area, clustered around an ancient woodland. The development has been criticised for its lack of transport, the effect on the ancient woodland, and the population numbers living there, which objectors state would make it a town, not a village.

1. Background

The development of Heronby is named after Heron Wood, the place where the proposed village would be built. The site is south of the village of Stillingfleet, and would cover an area of between 70 hectares (170 acres) and 241 hectares (600 acres). The proposal was put forward in 2021, and was adopted into a planning blueprint to provide new homes in the area by 2040. However, due to concerns over transport issues, the proposal for Heronby was removed from the plan in 2023. Besides the homes, the plan detailed the building of two primary schools, a high school, park, high street and market area. The village is slated to have up to 386 homes built over the course of each year of the project, and the development is claimed to sustain 12,300 full-time jobs.

1. Objections

Four local communities banded together to form the Halt Heronby Action Group. Villagers and parish councils in Deighton, Escrick, Riccall and Stillingfleet have said that the 3,500-home development would mean a population of 12,000, which they stated was not a village, but a town bigger than Tadcaster. They also objected to the plan on account of the damage it would cause to local woodland. In October 2022, the City of York Council released a report criticising the plan, stating it would add extra pressure on their area, as it was only 1-kilometre (0.62 mi) south of their boundary. The report claimed that the impact upon local services, and the extra traffic on the A19, had not been taken into account by the developers. York Council stated that the plans for a new secondary school within the development would "not materialise", meaning spaces at Fulford School would be at a premium, meaning "children who live in York could be displaced". In February 2024, North Yorkshire Council "paused" the development due to transport issues, but the developers stated that the project was still on the table, whilst council planners consider the next steps to take.

1. See also

Maltkiln, a similar new village development near to Kirk Hammerton

1. References


1. External links

Plans of the site hosted on York Council website

Nearby Places View Menu

Escrick railway station

Escrick railway station served the village of Escrick, North Yorkshire, England from 1871 to 1961 on the East Coast Main Line.

Landmark Train

1.7 km

Queen Margaret's School, York

Queen Margaret's School was an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11–18 set in 75 acres of parkland, six miles south of York. It was established in 1901 and closed 125 years later in 2025.

School

Escrick Park

Escrick Park is a historic building and country estate in Escrick, a village in North Yorkshire, in England. The estate was formed by Picot de Lascelles in the mid 12th century, and a manor house was first recorded in 1323. It descended through the family until 1668, when Edward Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Escrick sold it to Henry Thompson. Thompson's son, also Henry Thompson, rebuilt the country house at the centre of the estate in the 1680s. It originally resembled nearby Bell Hall. In 1758, and again in about 1765, John Carr of York extended the house, for Beilby Thompson. His work included the north range, more than twice as long as the original house; a detached stable block; and remodelling of the interior. A northwest wing was completed in 1848, and a link to Carr's stable block was built in 1850. In addition, a conservatory was constructed, and the east side was extended, providing a new entrance hall and larger dining room. In 1898, Thompson's descendents purchased Skipwith Hall, and in 1929 they made it their main residence, converting Escrick Park into flats. 1949, the house was instead leased to Queen Margaret's School, which purchased the building in 1974. The house has been grade II* listed since 1951. The house is rendered with stone dressings. The Carr extension is in brick, and it has a hipped Welsh slate roof. The main block has three storeys and seven bays, flanked by single-storey single-bay extensions, and with two-storey rear wings, the right with three bays and the left with four bays. The entrance on the right has a portico with four Ionic columns, a frieze, a cornice and a balustrade. The main range has floor bands, a moulded modillion cornice, a frieze, and a balustrade with urns on the corners. The windows in the ground floor are casements, above are sash windows, and all have architraves. In the Carr range are canted bay windows. Inside the house, remains of Carr's decorative scheme include the main staircase; plasterwork including half of the ceiling in the entrance hall, and the ceiling, cornice and frieze in the dining room; and the panelling in the dining room. There is a late 18th century fireplace made of yellow and white marble, probably designed by John Fisher, and a library with built-in bookshelves, a gilded ceiling and cornices, which was probably designed by Edward Blore. Carr's coach house and stable block is separately listed at grade II*. It is built of brick with stone dressings, rendered on the front, and with a Welsh slate roof. It has four ranges with a square plan around an open courtyard. The south range has two storeys, and nine bays projecting slightly under a dentilled pediment containing a clock. The range has a plinth, a continuous impost band, a dentilled cornice and a hipped roof. On the front are three recessed arched with moulded heads, and sash windows. On the roof is a cupola with Doric columns and a domed lead roof. The other ranges have a single storey. The grounds of the estate were laid out in the late 18th and early 19th century, and as part of the process, much of the village of Escrick was demolished and rebuilt on new sites. The kitchen garden has been demolished, with houses built on the site in the 1990s, but most of the remainder of the estate survives. Various structures in the grounds are listed, including the Garden Temple, a former cottage, and various gates, lodges, and garden urns.

Historic Site Landmark

Garden Temple

Garden Temple, also known as Escrick Park Temple, is a temple and folly in Escrick, North Yorkshire, England. The temple is listed as a grade II building under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 because of its historical or architectural significance.

Historic Site Landmark