Selby Civic Society plaques are of three types:-
- “Blue Plaques” which commemorate famous people with links to Selby.
- “Information Plaques” giving details of places of historic or heritage interest, and
- “Good Design Awards”. First awarded in 1988, these were initiated to help counter what was believed to be a tendency for poor restoration of existing buildings and inferior designs of new buildings in the town, and to help preserve Selby’s character, particularly for shops, buildings and new developments in the Selby Conservation Areas. A list of Civic Society Good design” awards to date (2019) is here. A selection is listed below.
Please select a plaque to view from the map below. Double click or use the + symbol on the map to home in on the area of the plaques.
Henry I
Installed in 2009 on the railings at the north side of Selby Abbey, this plaque commemorates a widely held view - though one that remains contested - that William The Conqueror's 4th son, Henry, was born in this part of Selby in 1068. Click here to discover more about the life and times of King Henry I.
Jonathan Hutchinson
This 2005 Blue Plaque celebrates Sir Jonathan Hutchinson's birth in Selby in 1828 in the brick building in the banner photograph above. It was installed on what is now an office building of Westmill Foods. Hutchinson became an eminent surgeon, naturalist and educationalist. He established a museum in Selby, sadly closed in the 1960s, but there is a plaque to his...
Smithson Tennant
Research by the Civic Society in 2005 established that Smithson Tennant was born in 1761 in the house in Finkle Street Selby on which the plaque is now installed. In a distinguished career, he became a Professor of Chemistry at Cambridge University, won prestigious awards, discovered two elements - osmium and iridium - and was one of the most...
Cholera Burial Ground
This Civic Society information plaque is situated in the Cholera Burial Ground, which is to the north side of Selby Abbey. It describes events concerning the outbreaks of cholera that occurred in Selby in 1848-49, and the improvements in Selby to public health following this tragic event. The plaque was installed in 1994 on the...
Yorkshire’s First Railway Station
This information plaque, installed in 1999 on the original station building in Ousegate, marks the site of the first railway station in Yorkshire, opened in 1834. It was the terminus of the Leeds and Selby Railway. In 1840 a new station was built alongside to service the extended line from Selby to Hull. This required construction...
Customs House
This information plaque marks the site of the former Selby Customs House. It was demolished when Ousegate Mills - seen in the banner photograph above - was constructed. The Customs House operated in the first half of the 19th Century when Selby's shipping trade was at its peak. The photo shows former Chairman of Selby Civic Society, Philip Milsom, presenting the...
Tythe Barn
This information plaque is mounted on an external wall of Selby's "Abbey Vaults" public house. This wall, faced with stonework rescued in 1982 when the remnants of the Abbey Tythe Barn were finally demolished, is accessible through the Market Cross shopping precinct. The plaque details the location and measurements of the former 13th Century barn, and...
Corunna House
Selby's "Corunna House" faces the River Ouse on Water Hill Lane. The photo below shows its street location. The Civic Society information plaque, installed in 1997, describes this early 18th Century building, some of its former occupants and its use as a school. The mystery of its name is revealed. The banner photograph above is a view...
Church Hill
This information plaque, installed in 1996 by Selby Civic Society, marks the traditional site where Benedict, the founder abbot of Selby Abbey, built his first wooden church shortly after he landed in Selby on his mission from Auxerre in France in 1069. Burial artifacts found here are also described. The photograph above shows a view...
Thomas The Baker’s Shopfront
Shopfront "Good Design" award made in 1993 and renewed in 2012. The banner photograph shows the original shopfront that was granted an award in the 1990s. When a new shopfront was installed in 2012 - see photograph below - the new design was considered and judged to be worthy of retaining the award. The plaque was renovated and repositioned by the...
Posterngate Surgery
Posterngate GP surgery - pictured - was awarded a "Good Design" award in 1998. It was reported to be "an impressive new building which had enhanced a prominent site which had once been waste land". Posterngate Surgery motif
Brayton Gate Toll House
The information plaque briefly describes the toll house - one of three that were on the Doncaster to Selby turnpike road in the 19th Century. A poly-angular building, it was located at a gate where traffic into the town was stopped to pay a toll. Derelict for many years, it was restored in 2012 and...
Waterfront Garden and Amphitheatre
The Waterfront Garden runs alongside the River Ouse. A winding path leads from the Amphitheatre (photograph below) to the foot of the A19 road bridge and includes a "Timeline" of metallic strips - the work of sculptor Ailsa Magnus - that refer to key events in Selby's history. Prominent in the area is the sculpture "ReLaunch" featuring four figures important in Selby's history:- a Monk...
Lisa’s Florist’s Shopfront
A "Good Design Award" was presented in 2006 to Lisa's Florist's for its stylish shopfront that was judged to perfectly complement and preserve the architecture and character of "The Crescent", the sweep of listed buildings that was created by John Audus and his son, James in the early 19th century. The photo below shows the manager of the shop receiving the award...
Wetherells shopfront
Wetherells Department Store, on the junction of "The Crescent" and "James Street" in Selby, was awarded a "Good Design" plaque in 1995 for its shopfront. Tastefully painted and festooned with flagpoles and flower baskets, the design was judged to enhance the style of "The Crescent" and be complementary to its location close to Selby Abbey. The photograph shows the store after...
1811 Subscription School
At the bottom of New Lane, Selby, where it meets Massey Street, is Selby College's "1811 Learning Centre". Constructed in that year following the raising of a public subscription by Mr William Massey and Mr James Audus, it has been a home for local education for over 200 years. Selby College carefully restored it by removing an unsightly red brick...
Wedding Shop
This shopfront was presented with a "Good Design" plaque in 2004 when it was a pine furniture and antique shop known as "Now and Then". The shopfront design for this Grade II listed building was judged to be "an outstandingly good front of a traditional type" - done by Wright Associates of Bishopthorpe in keeping with the character of "The Crescent"...
Selby Town Hall
This former Primitive Methodist Chapel of 1862, later a tyre-fitting workshop, has been extensively restored and is now the Town Hall, home to Selby Town Council. Also used as a cinema and arts centre, it is regularly open for films, concerts, National Theatre screenings and meetings. It was awarded a "Good design" plaque by Selby Civic Society in 1998 for restoration of...
Toll Bar House, Brayton
Bar House was awarded a "Good Design" award in 2014 by Selby Civic Society in recognition of the detailed design that the owner commissioned to allow the former derelict 19th Century toll-house - once threatened with demolition - to be restored. The renovated toll-house now forms an integral part of a new, two-storey detached house that has been built on the...
Chevin Housing Flats
The "Good Design" award for this building was made in 2000 to the then owners, Harewood Housing Society of Guiseley. Built by W.A. Hare & Sons, on a long derelict site where the Swan public house once stood, the new building housing maisonettes was constructed in a style and with materials that the adjudication panel thought "fitted...
David Foster
David Foster, Table Tennis pioneer in Selby Wednesday 15th July 2015 was the 125th anniversary of the granting of a patent for an early version of table tennis to a Selby man, David Foster. Selby Civic Society marked this anniversary by unveiling a blue plaque in Foster's honour on his former house, now 48, Micklegate. Foster, born...
Former Whiskers Building
A Good Design Award plaque was presented to the owner, architect, developer and builders of the renovated building that was formerly the Whiskers shop in Gowthorpe, Selby.