History of the Parish

History of the Parish

Sessay is a small linear village and civil parish within North Yorkshire. The civil parish also includes the hamlets of Hutton Sessay, Pilmoor, Little Sessay and Little Hutton. 

Sessay is mentioned in the Doomsday Book as "Sezai".

Lying on the north east edge of the Vale of York, Birdforth Beck runs to the south on its way to join the River Swale. The White Horse of Kilburn on the Hambleton Hills is visible to the north east and provides a spectacular backdrop to the area. 

The Parish was part of the Dawnay family estates for over 400 years before being sold off at an auction in 1918. William Dawnay (7th Viscount Downe) commissioned the architect William Butterworth to design a new church, a school and a bridge for Sessay in the mid 1800s.

Mr Butterfield was also commissioned by Viscount Downe to improve the housing in Sessay using the brickyards in Little Hutton and Hutton Sessay. Some houses in the parish retain their distinctive character to the present day.