The village name derives from the Olde English pre-7th Century personal name “Wicga”, meaning “a beetle”, plus the Olde English suffix, “-tun”, meaning a “settlement or enclosure, hence “Wigca’s settlement”. The village was named in the Domesday Book and noted as belonging to the cathedral church of St Peter in York. The name of the village has been recorded as Wichestun in the 11th century and Wygynton in the 13th century.
In the post-Conquest period evidence suggests that the village developed slowly and sporadically as two rows of buildings facing each other across the main street, much as today, between what is now Westfield Lane and the boundary with Haxby. Most inhabitants would have earned their living ‘from the land’, each household having its own long, narrow burgage plot to the rear and the use of common land beyond that. The common land was extinguished by the Enclosure Movement in 1771, to the detriment of most villagers.
From the late 17th to the late 18th century the size of the village appears to have remained fairly static, at little more than 30 houses, although the population rose from around 150 to 250 due to the increase in family size. Most houses would have been farmsteads and there seem to have been no high status buildings apart from the Rectory (now the Rosevale Residential Home in the centre of the south frontage of the historic main street) and the 15th century church behind it. The residents are described by the Rector in 1835 as being mostly ‘very small and very poor farmers’.
However, the demand for produce from the fast growing cities and social change during the rest of the 19th century increased general prosperity, and the arrival of the railway in Haxby only half a mile away will have been a boost to the local economy. All this would have allowed more of the villagers to buy their own property or free them from the land completely to pursue other trades.
Governance
Wigginton was in the Vale of York parliamentary constituency until the 2010 general election when it was transferred to the newly created constituency of York Outer. The current Member of Parliament is Julian Sturdy. The town is located within the Haxby and Wigginton Ward of the York Unitary Authority. Currently, it is represented by Councillors Ian Cuthbertson, Andrew Hollyer and Ed Pearson of the Liberal Democrat Party. Information about Wigginton Parish Council can be found elsewhere on this website.
Demography
In 1872 the population was recorded as 349. In the National Census of 1881 the population had risen to 399. According to the 2021 census the parish had a population of 3,426.
Location
Wigginton is a large settlement located a short distance north of the outskirts of York in flat, open countryside. It has a small historic core, centred around its straight main street (The Village), but is now surrounded by large areas of 20th century suburban residential development, mainly consisting of small-scale private housing. At its east end it adjoins the neighbouring and larger village of Haxby, which also has an historic core of similar age.
The villages are both aligned roughly east-west and they have become fused together by modern development; but their historic parish boundary is distinctly marked by a sharp north-south offset in the road which connects them, where Moor Lane strikes off to the north. The boundary is historic and follows an old stream which once flowed through the area. The Parish map shows the dividing line between Wigginton and Haxby. This runs east to west along the back of the houses on Wheatfield Drive on its southern edge as far as Barley Drive. Here it turns northward cutting across Greenshaw Drive until it reaches the road known The Village. The boundary follows this road until it turns west. The boundary at this point continues northward cutting across Windsor Drive near Ripley Grove and then out into the countryside.
Transport
As of 2010 First transport group operate two bus services in the village as part of the Chapelfields to Wigginton and the Acomb Park to Haxby routes. Transdev operate the Askham Bar to Monks Cross bus services which stops in the village. Reliance Motor Services operate a service that stops in the village as part of its York to Easingwold route.
Education
Primary education is catered for at Wigginton Primary School and is in the catchment area of Joseph Rowntree Secondary School.
Religious sites
The first specific mention of a church building within Wigginton was in 1424 and of a chapel at Wigginton in the middle of the 13th century. The present church of St Nicholas was rededicated in 2008 having previously been known as St Mary & St Nicholas. It had been rebuilt in 1860. In 1872, the first methodist chapel was established in Haxby. In 1879 a chapel was constructed within the Wigginton parish boundary. It was extended over time to form the current Haxby and Wigginton Methodist church.
* Information amended from Wikipedia and Historic Appraisal