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Drax Priory
Drax Priory was an Augustinian priory at Drax in North Yorkshire, England, founded between 1130 and 1139 by William Paynel. The Priory has sometimes been called an abbey, though this is judged to be incorrect. Permission was given to crenellate the priory in 1362. The Priory was run down in 1535 with the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the land was leased to Sir Marmaduke Constable to be used as a farm. In 1997, a geophysical survey and aerial imaging was undertaken which revealed wall lines of buried buildings and former ponds. The monks at Drax owned lands in Ryecroft and St Ives (both near Bingley) in what is now West Yorkshire. These lands were granted to the monks by Adam De Birkin between 1165 and 1185.
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White Rose Project
The White Rose Carbon Capture and Storage project was a proposed oxy-fuel coal-fired power plant near the Drax power station in North Yorkshire, United Kingdom. It was proposed in 2012 by Capture Power Limited (in partnership with National Grid). This project would have been the first coal-fired power plant to demonstrate the use of oxy-fuel technology for low-carbon electricity at a competitive cost. The proposed 426 MW plant was expected to send 2 Mt CO2/year to an offshore saline aquifer, achieving 90% capture. The Development Consent Order application submitted to the Department of Energy and Climate Change, now Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, was rejected in April 2016. The rejection was on the basis that the project had no route to funding, following the UK government cancelling a carbon capture and storage competition in November 2015.
1.4 km
River Derwent, Yorkshire
The Derwent is a river in Yorkshire in the north of England.
It flows from Fylingdales Moor in the North York Moors National Park, east then southwards as far as its confluence with the River Hertford then westwards through the Vale of Pickering, south through Kirkham Gorge and the Vale of York, joining the River Ouse at Barmby on the Marsh. The confluence is unusual in that the Derwent converges on the Ouse at a shallow angle in an upstream direction.
The river used to flow further east, its old course entering the Ouse east of Howden.
The River Derwent catchment area includes the Upper Derwent, River Rye, River Hertford, Bielby Beck and Pocklington Canal and their tributaries. It covers an area of 2,057 square kilometres and includes the towns of Stamford Bridge, Malton, Pickering, Helmsley, Filey and Scarborough. The area is bounded by the Cleveland Hills, North York Moors and Hambleton Hills to the north, the Yorkshire Wolds and the coast to the east, the Vale of York to the west and the River Ouse and Humber Estuary to the south. The area around the river is primarily rural in nature with grazing moorland in the upland areas and a variety of agricultural uses at lower levels. There are large areas of designated conservation sites throughout the area. There are two titles named after the River Derwent in the British peerage, Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent which is extinct and Baron Derwent.
1.5 km
Drax Power Station
Drax power station is a large biomass power station in Drax, North Yorkshire, England. It has a 2.6 GW capacity for biomass and had a 1.29 GW capacity for coal that was retired in 2021. Its name comes from the nearby village of Drax. It is situated on the River Ouse between Selby and Goole. Its generating capacity of 3,906 megawatts (MW), which includes the shut down coal units, is the highest of any power station in the United Kingdom, providing about 6% of the United Kingdom's electricity supply.
Opened in 1974 and extended in the 1980s, the station was initially operated by the Central Electricity Generating Board. Since privatisation in 1990 ownership has changed several times, and it is operated by the Drax Group. Completed in 1986, it was the newest coal-fired power station in England until it closed in 2021. Flue gas desulphurisation equipment was fitted between 1988 and 1995. The high and low pressure turbines were replaced between 2007 and 2012.
By 2010, the station was co-firing biomass. In 2012, the company announced plans to convert three generating units to solely biomass, burning 7.5 million tonnes imported from the United States and Canada. This work was completed in 2016 and a fourth unit was converted in 2018. The company planned to convert its remaining two coal units to Combined Cycle Gas Turbine units and 200 MW battery storage. However, those two coal units were shut in 2021 without converting them to biomass.
In 2025, the UK government extended its operation to 2031, but at a reduced load factor so it would run less than half as often from 2027 using 100% biomass.
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Long Drax
Long Drax (also known as Langrick) is a small hamlet and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England, about 2 miles north-east of Drax. In 2011 it had a population of 125.
The settlement consists of a linear string of houses along the bank of the River Ouse, as well as several scattered farms.
To the west of Long Drax is the site of Drax Priory. Founded in the 1130s, the Priory was dedicated to St. Nicholas and is believed to have been moated. It was subsequently destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1535. A farmhouse was built on the site in the 18th century and later became a meeting place for Quakers. The site is now known as Drax Abbey farm and has been a scheduled monument since 1964.
The village was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of Selby, it is now administered by the unitary North Yorkshire Council.
Drax Power Station occupies a large area in the south-west of the parish.