Bilton in Ainsty: what to know before moving day
St Helen's Church, Grade I, stands at the crossroads with the main road. It was built in the Norman style in 1166, restored around 1870 under George Gilbert Scott, and contains two medieval sheela na gig carvings. The parish registers record soldiers killed at the Battle of Marston Moor being buried here in 1644. Syningthwaite Priory Farmhouse, which keeps the refectory range of a 12th-century nunnery, is the parish's other Grade I building.
Houses on Church Street, Moor Lane, Westlands and Post Office Row include several conversions: an 1845 Wesleyan chapel and the village school founded in 1801 are both homes now, and the Old Vicarage on Church Lane is where the writers Annie and Eliza Keary were born. Bilton Hall, a small 18th-century country house, is Grade II listed. The cricket club, founded in 1932, is nicknamed the Frogs.
How the van gets to Bilton in Ainsty
The B1224, the York to Wetherby road, is the only way to reach the village by vehicle, since there is no road access to the south. From Wetherby it runs east past Bickerton to the crossroads by the church. Tockwith Lane heads north from the village to Tockwith, about a mile and a half away.
The drive from Bradford is roughly 50 to 60 minutes. That is an estimate from route data, not a timed run, and traffic changes it.
Services for Bilton in Ainsty
Each service below links to its Wetherby page, which covers how the job works in and around Wetherby.
Bilton in Ainsty: questions before you book
Can the van reach Bilton in Ainsty from Wighill to the south?
Not by road. Only footpaths run south to Wighill and Healaugh, so a move between them goes round by the B1224. Allow for that if you are moving from one to the other.
Where the local details on this page come from
Checked on 28 September 2026 against:
- Postcode lookup (postcodes.io, ONS data): YO26 7NL is in Spofforth with Lower Wharfedale & Tockwith ward, North Yorkshire, parish of Bilton-in-Ainsty with Bickerton
- Bilton-in-Ainsty (Wikipedia): 4 miles east of Wetherby and 8 miles west of York on the B1224, surrounded by farmland, Tockwith 1.5 miles north, no road access to the south, footpaths to Wighill and Healaugh, St Helen's Church (Grade I, 1166, restored by George Gilbert Scott, sheela na gigs), Marston Moor burials 1644, 1845 Wesleyan chapel and 1801 school converted to homes, Old Vicarage on Church Lane (Keary sisters), Bilton Hall Grade II, cricket club 1932 nicknamed the Frogs
- Listed buildings in Bilton-in-Ainsty with Bickerton (Wikipedia, from the National Heritage List): St Helen's Church and Syningthwaite Priory Farmhouse (Grade I, the surviving refectory range of a convent), Bilton Hall
- OpenStreetMap: Church Street (30 mph), Moor Lane, Westlands, Post Office Row, Tockwith Lane north to Tockwith (way 188800707), York Road and Wetherby Road B1224, St Helen's