| Wass | |
|---|---|
 Wass seen from the east | |
.svg)  Wass Location within North Yorkshire | |
| OS grid reference | SE555793 |
| Civil parish | |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | YORK |
| Postcode district | YO61 |
| Dialling code | 01347 |
| Police | North Yorkshire |
| Fire | North Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| UK Parliament | |
Wass is a village in the civil parish of Byland with Wass, in North Yorkshire, England, in the North York Moors National Park. A short distance from the village lie the ruins of Byland Abbey. Despite the small size of the village (population about 100) there is a pub, the Stapylton Arms. It is at the foot of Wass Bank and has views of the surrounding countryside.[1] From 1974 to 2023 it was in the Ryedale district.
The toponym probably means 'fords', from Middle English wathes and ultimately from Old Norse vath. The village is at the junction of several small streams.[2] Another suggestion is that the name derives from the Old English Wæsse, meaning swamp.[3]
Wass was formerly a township in the parish of Kilburn,[4] in 1866 Wass became a separate civil parish,[5] on 1 24 March 1887 the parish was abolished and merged with Byland Abbey to form "Byland with Wass".[6] In 1881 the parish had a population of 113.[7]
To the east of the village is Wass Grange, in which building the monks of Byland Abbey stored their grain before the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In May 2009 the nuns of Stanbrook Abbey, in Worcestershire, re-established themselves in a purpose-built convent near Wass.[8]
- ^ Warne, Malcolm (9 April 2022). "Eating Out: 'They do things properly at the Stapylton'". Darlington and Stockton Times. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
- ^ Watts, Victor, ed. (2010), "Wass", The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521168557
- ^ Ekwall, Eilert (1960). The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names (4 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 500. ISBN 0-19-869103-3.
- ^ "History of Wass, in Ryedale and North Riding". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
- ^ "Relationships and changes Wass CP/Tn through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
- ^ "Helmsley Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
- ^ "Population statistics Wass CP/Tn through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
- ^ "How the building of a North York Moors convent was a modern day miracle". The Yorkshire Post. 10 April 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2022.