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Visit Selby and the surrounding villages and stay in bed & breakfast accommodation:
Selby, West Riding. The abbey in 1969 celebrated its 900th anniversary. It was founded by Benedict of Auxerre who was directed in a vision to go to “Selebaie” in England. Discouraged by his superiors, he fled, taking St Germain's finger with him. As he sailed up the River Ouse, three swans settled in the water where Selby now stands. This he took as a sign of the place in his dream. He planted a cross and built a hut. He had trespassed on royal property, but with the approval of the Norman governor and the assent of King William. Benedict was made an abbot and given the land.
The present abbey was begun in about 1100. The nave took 100 years and with its absorbing development from Norman to Early English styles as building progressed from east to west it is, perhaps, the greatest attraction of this noble building. The chancel was built between 1280 and 1340 and includes an east Jesse window of about 1330 with roughly one-fourth of its original glass. Worshippers enter the nave through two magnificent doorways: the Norman west doorway with its beautifully carved five recessed arches or the equally handsome north doorway within a 13th-to l5th-century porch. The abbey has withstood several disasters, but rebuilding and restoration have left an unusually complete abbey church. In the Dissolution, it became the parish church. In 1690 the central tower fell and in 1906 a great fire swept the building. The last work was completed in 1935.
Selby is believed to be the birthplace of Henry I, only son of William the Conqueror to be born in England. Small boats still come up the Ouse to unload and load at the modest dock and motor traffic crosses by an l8th-century wooden toll-bridge. The abbey, in its railed lawn, faces the most attractive part of the town, the broad Market Place. Outer Selby is dominated by flour and cattle-feed mills but fortunately none is so close to the heart of the town as to lessen the joy of seeing the beautiful white towers of the abbey rising from their surrounding trees.
Nearby cities: York
Nearby towns: Goole, Howden, Knottingley, Pocklington, Pontefract, Thorne
Nearby villages: Airmyn, Asselby, Aughton, Barmby on the Marsh, Beal, Bolton Percy, Brayton, Breighton, Bubwith, Burn, Cawood, Chapel Haddlesey, Church Fenton, Drax, East Cottingwith, East Cowick, Escrick, Gateforth, Gowdall, Great Heck, Hemingbrough, Hensall, Monk Fryston, Rawcliffe, Rawcliffe Bridge, Riccall, Sherburn in Elmet, Skipwith, Snaith, South Milford, Stillingfleet, Storwood, Tadcaster, Temple Hirst, Ulleskelf, West Cowick, Whitley, Whitleybridge, Wressell
Have you decided to visit Selby or the surrounding villages? Please look above for somewhere to stay in:
- a Selby bed and breakfast (a Selby B&B or Selby b and b)
- a Selby guesthouse
- a Selby hotel (or motel)
- a Selby self-catering establishment, or
- other Selby accommodation
Accommodation in Selby:
Find availability in a Selby bed and breakfast, also known as B&B or b and b, guesthouse, small hotel, self-catering or other accommodation.