Sleights

Village in North Yorkshire, England

Human settlement in England

Sleights

Sleights Sports Ground (top right) with the village behind

Sleights

Location within North Yorkshire

OS grid reference| NZ868069
Civil parish|

* Eskdaleside cum Ugglebarnby

Unitary authority|

* North Yorkshire

Ceremonial county|

* North Yorkshire

Region|

* Yorkshire and the Humber

Country| England
Sovereign state| United Kingdom
Post town| WHITBY
Postcode district| YO22
Dialling code| 01947
Police| North Yorkshire
Fire| North Yorkshire
Ambulance| Yorkshire
UK Parliament|

* Scarborough and Whitby

List of places

England
Yorkshire

54°27′19″N 0°39′44″W﻿ / ﻿54.45528°N 0.66222°W﻿ / 54.45528; -0.66222

Sleights (/ˈslaɪts/ SLITES)[1] is a village in North Yorkshire, England. Located in the Esk Valley in the postal region of Whitby, the village is part of the civil parish of Eskdaleside cum Ugglebarnby. Sleights lies along the steep main A169 road that runs north to south between Whitby and Malton via Pickering across the North York Moors.

At the bottom of the village, the road crosses the Esk Valley Railway, allowing access to Sleights railway station. The road crosses the River Esk on a high bridge, opened on 26 January 1937.[2] The road continues up the hill to reach the A171 Whitby to Middlesbrough trunk road. At the top of the village is Blue Bank. Due east of the village is the hamlet of Iburndale.

Due to road accidents, Blue Bank, with a gradient of 1 in 4 (25%), has an escape lane of soft sand.

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

The Horticultural & Industrial Society show has been held each year since 1880. Since 2006 the show has been held on the sports field, with classes for produce, fruit, flowers vegetables, crafts, cake decorating, photography, flower arranging etc. Additional attractions include a bouncy castle, face painting, tombola and a fun dog show. The infamous Victorian forger Edward Simpson was born here in 1815.

## Amenities

[edit]

There is a village shop, a branch of the Spar chain which includes a Post Office, two public houses, a butchers, Botham’s bakers and a fish and chip restaurant.

## Sport

[edit]

The village sports field, which is mainly used for cricket, has a new pavilion built in 2006. The money for the new build was collected through local fundraising.[3] Until 2018, the cricket team used to play in the Eskdale League on Saturdays. In June 2011, a new Sleights Football club was formed and joined the Scarborough and District Saturday League, with several players coming from Sleights, but training and playing at Caedmon School in Whitby. They were promoted from the league's Third Division to the First in the space of two seasons. They joined the Beckett Football League in 2017 and returned to play at Lowdale Lane in the village after a 20-year absence on Saturday 23 September 2018. Their first game back home was a 4–1 win over Kirkbymoorside Reserves, Joe Hugill scored the first goal.[4] There is also a bowls club which is used by people from Sleights and neighbouring towns and villages.

## Education

[edit]

The village contains only one school, Sleights Church of England primary school. The school has approximately 100 pupils and is graded as Good by Ofsted and SIAMS (2019). Students aged over 11 years old travel to nearby schools in Whitby.

## Religion

[edit]

St John's Church

There are three places of worship in the village: the Anglican St John's Church, Sleights, English Martyrs Roman Catholic Church, on Eskdaleside and, at the bottom of the village, the Briggswath and Sleights Methodist Chapel. The churchyard of St John's is the burial place for all denominations in the parish. The author Alfred J. Brown and his wife are buried there.[5] The ruins of the Mediaeval St John's Chapel, Sleights lie above the village.[6]

## Name

[edit]

First found in a document from 1223 as Sleghtesc.[7] Like other place names in Yorkshire, the etymology of Sleights is Old Norse.[8][9] It means 'smooth or level fields'[10] from slétta[11] 'flat land, plain, prairie', like the Norman place name Eslettes (Esletis ab. 1040),[12][13] same etymology as many places in Denmark called Sletten.[14]

## See also

[edit]

* Listed buildings in Eskdaleside cum Ugglebarnby

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ "The most mispronounced Yorkshire place names - and how to say them correctly". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
2. ^ "A169 Road". SABRE – Roaders Digest. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
3. ^ "Perfect day for pavilion opening". Whitby Gazette. 8 September 2006. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
4. ^ "Sleights FC Eye Return Home". Yorkshire Coast Radio. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
5. ^ White, John A. Alfred John Brown – Walker, Writer and Passionate Yorkshire Man (Smith Settle, 2016) ISBN 978-1-5262-0511-7
6. ^ A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2. London: Victoria County History. 1923. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
7. ^ A. D. Mills, A Dictionary of British Place Names, Oxford University Press, 2011, ISBN 9780199609086 (read online) [1]
8. ^ Mills
9. ^ François de Beaurepaire, Les Noms des communes et anciennes paroisses de la Seine-Maritime, A. et J. Picard, foreword Marianne Mulon, 1979, Paris, ISBN 2-7084-0040-1, oclc 6403150, p.70.
10. ^ Mills
11. ^ Mills
12. ^ Beaurepaire
13. ^ Ernest Nègre, Toponymie générale de la France (on line) [2]
14. ^ Beaurepaire

## External links

[edit]

* "Sleights Village", Eskvalley.com. Retrieved 24 December 2011
* Media related to Sleights at Wikimedia Commons