Welcome to the Biggin Village Community Site and Biggin Parish Council pages.  Biggin is a small hamlet with <150 residents.  We have a Village Pub called The Blacksmiths Arms, on Oxmoor Lane (the main street running north-south through the village).  This site is designed to publish Parish Notices, links to useful sites and information about Biggin Parish Council.

BIGGIN

Biggin is a village and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, north-west of Selby.  The name ‘Biggin’ is said to derive from “Bigging” (middle English) A building; later an outbuilding, an outhouse.  In 1820, Biggin was said to have a population of 164 people, “Biggin” in the parish of Church Fenton; 6 miles SE of Tadcaster, 7 miles from Selby and 11 miles from Pontefract. (Wikipedia)

In 2001, Biggin had a population of 117. 29.9% of people living in Biggin were between the ages of forty five to fifty nine and a further 22.2 per cent were thirty to forty four. By the time of the census 2011 the population had increased only slightly to 121.  This suggests the area is fairly affluent as over half the population are at or near to an age where they should be peaking in their chosen careers. Only twenty two people are of an age to go to school in Biggin which is an indicator as to why there is no primary school for a five mile radius.  The fact Biggin’s population has actually decreased over a century isn’t really surprising or significant for a parish of its size as more than eighty per cent of Britain’s population now live in urban areas.  Today (2016), 100 residents are on the electoral roll.

Biggin is located eighteen miles east of major city Leeds and is also thirteen miles south of York.  Biggin does not have a railway station; there is one in Sherburn in Elmet which is a 3.7 mile journey by car and Church Fenton which is slightly closer at 3.1 miles. Church Fenton runs trains every hour to both Leeds and York, with Leeds taking as little as twenty-eight minutes and York just 16 minutes Church Fenton’s station is favourable for most Biggin residents.

There are no Primary or Secondary schools within Biggin however there are forty-nine within the Selby district, giving parents a wide choice if prepared to travel. The most local primary school to Biggin is Kirk Fenton Primary School at Church Fenton, just under 3.4 miles away.  Oxmoor Lane acts as the main road running through the centre of Biggin. Driving south down Oxmoor Lane will lead you out of Biggin and on to a rural B road the B1222 leading to the A63.

The local authority for Biggin is Selby District Council. The management of the region is broken into twenty wards. Biggin, being a small parish is located within the Cawood and Wistow region of the Selby district. The two councillors responsible for Biggin are Keith Ellis a member for the Planning and Licensing  Committees at the district council and Richard Musgrave who is a member of the Executive committee, both Ellis and Musgrave are Conservatives.

Biggin falls into the constituency of Selby and Ainsty. The seat Selby and Ainsty was added to the House of Commons in 2010 after the boundary commission recommended its creation. Conservative Nigel Adams, who was born in Selby, beat Labour candidate Jan Marshall and became the first Member of Parliament for the new Selby and Ainsty seat, collecting 49.4% of the votes. Previously the seat was named ‘Selby’ and just represented the area of Selby, it now includes Marston Moor, Ouseburn, Ribston and Spofforth with Lower Wharfedale in the borough of Harrogate.