URPoint Details
Local archeological finds indicate there was a settlement here around 500–600 BC. The town is mentioned twice in the Domesday Book as Tresche, in the Yarlestre hundred. At the time of the Norman invasion the manor was split between Orm and Thor, local Saxon landowners. Afterwards the manor was split between Hugh, son of Baldric and the Crown
The name is derived from the Viking (Old Norse) word þresk meaning fen or lake
An important staging station and once had 35 pubs and 4 breweries and it would seem that travellers always received a warm welcome here. The Georgian, Golden Fleece Inn is one pub still dispensing a warm welcome.
The vast cobbled square is where bull-baiting was held in the 18th century.
Thirsk was home to the veterinary surgeon and author James Herriot (pen name of James Alfred Wight, OBE, FRCVS). Thirsk was referred to as Darrowby in the semi-autobiographical books about a vet's life in the Yorkshire Dales. Wight and his business partner Donald Sinclair (Siegfried Farnon in the books) established their veterinary practice at 23 Kirkgate which now houses The World of James Herriot museum, dedicated to Herriot's life and work
The Church of St Mary the Virgin
- Type:
- Landmark