Middleton Quernhow

{{Short description|Village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England}}

{{Use British English|date=October 2017}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}

{{Infobox UK place

| country = England

| coordinates = {{coord|54.200|-1.487|display=inline,title}}

| official_name = Middleton Quernhow

| static_image_name = Middleton Quernhow Hall - geograph.org.uk - 1333083.jpg

| static_image_caption = The Old Hall at Middleton Quernhow

| population = 60

| civil_parish = Middleton Quernhow

| unitary_england = North Yorkshire

| lieutenancy_england = North Yorkshire

| region = Yorkshire and the Humber

| constituency_westminster =

| post_town = Ripon

| postcode_district = HG4

| postcode_area = HG

| dial_code =

| os_grid_reference =

}}

Middleton Quernhow is a settlement and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The parish is included in the Wathvale Ward with a population of 3,479 (at the 2011 census).{{NOMIS2011|id=E05006271|title=Wathvale Ward|accessdate=1 April 2019}} North Yorkshire County Council estimated that the population of the parish was 60 in 2015.{{cite web |title=2015 Population Estimates Parishes |url=https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/sites/default/files/fileroot/About%20the%20council/North%20Yorkshire%20statistics/Parish_mid-year_population_estimates_2015.pdf |website=northyorks.gov.uk |access-date=1 April 2019 |page=13 |date=2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604015709/https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/sites/default/files/fileroot/About%20the%20council/North%20Yorkshire%20statistics/Parish_mid-year_population_estimates_2015.pdf|archive-date=4 June 2022|url-status=dead}} It is very near the A1(M) road and is {{convert|7|km|0|order=flip}} north of Ripon.{{cite map|title =Ripon & Boroughbridge |map =299 |year =2015 |scale =1;25,000 |series =Explorer |publisher =Ordnance Survey |isbn = 9780319245514 }}

Quernhow, which has also been spelled Whernhowe and Whernou means mill-hill, the first element deriving from the Old Norse kvern meaning a mill stone.{{cite book |last1=Ekwall |first1=Eilert |author-link=Eilert Ekwall |title=The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names |date=1960 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |oclc=1228215388|pages=324–325}} How or Howe, deriving from the Old Norse word haugr meaning a hill, is a common element in Yorkshire place name.[http://www.yorkshire-england.co.uk/PlaceNameMeaningsKtoO.html Yorkshire Place-Name Meanings] In this instance, the Quernhow in question is a small hillock on a road that was the dividing line between the parishes of Ainderby and Middleton Quernhow.{{cite book|last1=Chrystal|first1=Paul|title=The Place Names of Yorkshire; Cities, Towns, Villages, Rivers and Dales, some Pubs too, in Praise of Yorkshire Ales|date=2017|publisher=Stenlake|location=Catrine|isbn=9781840337532|page=9|edition=1}}

The settlement is mentioned in the Domesday Book{{cite web|last1=Powell-Smith|first1=Anna|title=Middleton [Quernhow] {{!}} Domesday Book|url=http://opendomesday.org/place/SE3378/middleton-quernhow/|website=opendomesday.org|accessdate=16 October 2017}} as being a manor of 5 carucates, once held by Tor, but by 1086 was in the possession of Count Alan. It passed through several families (de Middleton, de Scrope, best and Herbert) before the manor house was left to ruin sometime in the early 18th century.{{cite web|title=Parishes: Wath {{!}} British History Online|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/north/vol1/pp390-396|website=www.british-history.ac.uk|accessdate=16 October 2017}} The manor house is known as The Old Hall and is now a grade II listed building{{National Heritage List for England|num=1150058|desc=The Old Hall|grade=II|accessdate=16 October 2017}} but has been listed as being in poor condition and under threat and is listed on English Heritage's Buildings at Risk Register.{{cite news|title=More than half of Yorkshire's historic heritage under threat|url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/more-than-half-of-yorkshire-s-historic-heritage-under-threat-1-2507184|accessdate=16 October 2017|work=The Yorkshire Post|date=7 July 2008}} One of the former occupants of The Old hall, Thomas Best, was a Member of Parliament for Ripon in the early 17th century.{{cite web|title=BEST, Thomas (1589-c.1649), of Middleton Quernhow, nr. Ripon, Yorks. and Fleet Street, London {{!}} History of Parliament Online|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/best-thomas-1589-1649|website=www.historyofparliamentonline.org|accessdate=16 October 2017}}

From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the Borough of Harrogate, it is now administered by the unitary North Yorkshire Council.

The housing in the village is mostly former estate cottages tied to the manor house. The surrounding area is grassland and is in use for arable farming.{{cite web|title=Built and natural environment assessments Volume 10: Lingerfield - Minskip|url=https://www.harrogate.gov.uk/downloads/file/1989/2016_october_-_site_assessments_volume_10_-_lingerfield_to_minskip|website=harrogate.gov.uk|accessdate=16 October 2017|page=161|format=PDF|date=October 2016}}

As there is no school in the village, primary school children are taken by a free bus to Pickhill Primary School on the other side of the A1(M).{{cite web|title=Transport - Pickhill Church of England VC Primary School|url=http://www.pickhill.n-yorks.sch.uk/school-information/transport/|website=www.pickhill.n-yorks.sch.uk|accessdate=16 October 2017}} Secondary education for children from the area is at Thirsk School.{{cite web|title=Browse school information for your area|url=https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/browse-school-information-your-area|website=northyorks.gov.uk|accessdate=16 October 2017|date=30 August 2017}}