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Monk Fryston Time Team ventured into Burton Salmon in October 2014 to make a local history presentation as part of their outreach programme and were warmly welcomed by a large group of residents.
It was the first time since the 1970’s that a local history event had been held in this small village which has a pub and a primary school but no other facilities since the Methodist Chapel closed in 2012.
The Village retains a rich farming tradition which compliments the life style of most of the residents who are commuters. This is a far cry from the late 1950’s and 60’s when casual workers were shipped into the village in their hundreds to provide labour for pea pulling and it was still possible to catch a train at the station to most parts of the country. We know these things because the farming families of the village go back a long way. They have seen substantial change to their community and unless this knowledge is captured it will be lost forever.
vertyLike Monk Fryston and Hillam, there is little recorded history of Burton Salmon but unlike the two other villages we know that it is long established with several commentators confirming its existence in the ancient Kingdom of Elmet. We also know that it sits near to the ancient, long distance greenway which used the magnesian limestone outcrop as a dry route between the north and south of the country and it lies adjacent to one of the major routes running from London to Scotland via York. Nearby is the major waterway route of the River Aire connecting the North Sea to inland Yorkshire.
One can only start to wonder at the peoples of our past who travelled past or through Burton Salmon. The Time Team are very actively researching and capturing the history of this small but very interesting community. We hope that over the next year some of this work will come to fruition by publishing a village heritage trail. 
Main Street, Burton Salmon
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our patch - burton salmon |
