Great Ouseburn - <>

Great Ouseburn is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated 4mi south-east of Boroughbridge. The village of Aldwark is to the north-east. It had a population of 598 according to the 2011 census.HistoryGreat Ouseburn and Little Ouseburn both take their name from the river Ouse which begins in the garden of the Great Ouseburn Workhouse. The original source of the Ouse (which is 35 metres away from where it flows now) is marked by a stone column reading "OUSE RIVER HEAD... OUSEGILL SPRING Ft. YORK 13miles BOROUGHBRIDGE 4miles". The meadows by Ouse Gill Beck have since become a Site of Interest to Nature Conservation (SINC).Great Ouseburn was originally part of the district of Knaresborough, which was a royal forest in William the Conqueror’s time, giving Great Ouseburn the status of a "Forest Liberty Town"; it had the liberty to punish those people who misbehaved within its boundaries; in the Domesday survey the village is referred to as "Useburne".The estate, now known as Kirby Hall, was a major influence on the village and was owned by William de Kirkeby in 1200. The estate owned most of the village and the economy of Ouseburn was principally centred on the estate’s agricultural business. In 1912 most of the smallholdings were sold to the tenants.Great Ouseburn was an administrative centre; during 1828 it was the headquarters of the Great Ouseburn Gilbert Union comprising 40 parishes. In 1854 it was replaced by the Great Ouseburn Poor Law Union. The Great Ouseburn Union workhouse building was built in 1856-7 and the infirmary was built in 1891.

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