Bishopthorpe

Bishopthorpe is a village and civil parish three miles south of York in the City of York unitary authority area and ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. Bishopthorpe is close to the River Ouse, and has a population of 3,174, increasing to 3,237 at the 2011 Census. The area of Main Street and the Palace were made a conservation area in 1989 along with other open areas of the village.

The village was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. It was then a part of the district of Selby District in North Yorkshire from 1974 until 1996. Since 1996 it has been part of the City of York unitary authority.

It was formerly known as St Andrewthorpe, but in the 13th century, Archbishop Walter de Grey bought the manor house and gave it to the Dean and Chapter of York Minster. This became Bishopthorpe Palace, the residence of the Archbishop of York. Many of the roads in Bishopthorpe are named after past Archbishops.

The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is referred to as Torp/Thorpe or Badetorps, depending on which translation is used. It came to be known as Thorp-super-Usam or Thorpe-on-Ouse in 1194. By 1275 the earliest written record of the name Bishopthorpe, spelt "Biscupthorpe", appears in documents. In 1202, the Prior and monks of St Andrew’s at Fishergate built the first church here and dedicated it to their patron saint. The name Thorp-super-Usam was therefore gradually superseded by Andrewthorpe or Thorpe St. Andrew. In 1226, Archbishop Walter de Gray bought property which once belonged to the Abbot of Kirkstall Abbey and the Priory of St. Andrews. By the year 1241, Archbishop Gray had built a Manor House and Chapel by the river. He conveyed this property to the Dean and Chapter of York, thus ensuring that it remained with successive Archbishops and did not fall into the king's hands during a vacancy.

Bishopthorpe was the site, in 1323, of great council to agree a truce between King Edward II and Robert the Bruce, whose forces had been harrying Yorkshire following the Battle of Bannockburn, ending the Scots’ Great Raid of 1322.

In 1405, Archbishop Scrope was accused of being a traitor by Henry IV and was beheaded in a field near the nunnery of St Clements, now Clementhorpe. In 1763, Archbishop Drummond transformed the Palace by building the now familiar 'Strawberry Gothick' west front and gatehouse. Controversy surrounding the 1832 Reform Bill saw rioters from York attempt to invade the Palace, angered by initial lack of support from Archbishop Harcourt.

The Bishopthorpe Inclosure Act 1757 (30 Geo. 2. c. 32 Pr.) saw common land enclosed, thus placing strictures on where local people could graze their animals.

In 1763, a school was founded by local yeoman, Charles Crosby and supported by the parish. The twenty boys and girls were taught to read and write and "instructed in the principles of the Christian religion." In 1846, Archbishop Harcourt built a new village school. The former school, built in 1763 and situated in School Lane, was used as a girls' school and a house for the master, but was divided into three houses in the 1890s.