SELBY

Selby, North Yorkshire has undergone many changes over the past few years, it now attracts shoppers from all over the country due to its ever growing number and variety of shops, couple this together with the ample parking available throughout the town and you soon realise why more and more people are frequenting Selby for their shopping needs.

From well known high street stores right down to the quaint back street tea rooms, Selby has something for everyone. whether you are shopping, sight seeing, working or just passing through, you can't help but notice what Selby has to offer. Not only does Selby boast a large range of shops but it also hosts one of the best open air markets in Yorkshire, every Monday all year round shoppers come from miles around for some excellent bargains.

Local business has also been on the increase for a number of years, which has led to a lot of people relocating to the area, this in turn has meant the need for more new housing developments in the area which has been subtly achieved by the local planning office without over development of the area

The Abbey Church which stands at the end of the Market Place is the most prominent building in Selby and forms, together with the Abbot's Staithe, all that remains of a large monastery founded in the year 1069 by the monk Benedict who travelled from Auxerre in France. William the Conqueror who was in York at the time, gave Benedict permission to found the Abbey and granted him lands to support it.

Benedict however did little building and it fell to his successor Abbot Hugh to carry out most of the building work. The present building is largely that planned by Hugh except that the decorated choir was added some hundred years later. Until the dissolution by Henry VIII in 1539, town activities were dominated by the requirements of the Abbey. Indeed Selby town owes its very existence to the monastery.