Amplecarr

Amplecarr is not a town you will find signposted on a motorway or ringed in a road atlas — it is a small farmed landscape of fields and lanes on the edge of Husthwaite, a village of around 400 people sitting between the Hambleton Hills and the Howardian Hills in North Yorkshire. This is quiet, deeply rural England: hedgerowed fields, grazing land, the odd converted barn, and wide skies that Husthwaite itself has recently had recognised with Dark Skies Friendly Village status. It is the kind of place people pass through on the way to somewhere else, which is exactly its appeal if what you want is genuine countryside rather than a tourist trail.

Husthwaite village, a short walk or drive from Amplecarr, has long been known locally as the “Orchard Village” thanks to three centuries of fruit growing and cider making, a tradition still celebrated by the Howardian Hills Cider project today. The village has a twelfth-century church, a village green, a well-regarded pub in the Plum and Partridge, and is close to Shandy Hall, the fifteenth-century house where the eccentric clergyman Laurence Sterne wrote Tristram Shandy in the eighteenth century. From here it is a short drive into the market town of Thirsk, or east into the rolling, lavender-scented Howardian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and within easy reach of the North York Moors National Park.

Top things to do near Amplecarr

Amplecarr itself is farmland rather than a visitor destination, but it sits within easy striking distance of some genuinely worthwhile North Yorkshire attractions.

• Shandy Hall, Coxwold — the fifteenth-century home of author Laurence Sterne, with gardens open to the public and a small museum dedicated to his life and work, just a few minutes from Husthwaite.
• Mount Grace Priory — the best-preserved Carthusian monastery in Britain, set in woodland near Osmotherley on the edge of the North York Moors, cared for by English Heritage.
• Howardian Hills National Landscape — a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty of wooded farmland and quiet villages stretching from Coxwold towards Castle Howard, with waymarked walks such as the Howardian Way.
• Yorkshire Lavender, Terrington — lavender fields and gardens set into a hillside farm within the Howardian Hills, open through the summer months.
• Thirsk Birds of Prey Centre — based at Sion Hill Hall near Thirsk, with daily flying displays of eagles, owls and vultures.
• Gormire Lake — a natural lake beneath Sutton Bank in the Hambleton Hills, reached by a woodland footpath and a favourite easy walk in the area.
• World of James Herriot, Thirsk — the restored former veterinary surgery of Alf Wight, the author behind the James Herriot books, now a family-friendly museum in the centre of Thirsk.

Getting to Amplecarr

Amplecarr and Husthwaite lie just off the A19 between Thirsk and York, making the area straightforward to reach by car from the A1(M) and A64. Thirsk is around 15 minutes’ drive away and has a mainline railway station on the Leeds to Middlesbrough line via York, useful for anyone arriving by train and picking up a hire car locally. York itself, with its own East Coast Main Line station and easy connections to London, Edinburgh and beyond, is around 30 minutes to the south. There is no rail station in Husthwaite itself, and public transport in the immediate area is limited, so a car is by far the most practical way to explore this part of North Yorkshire.

Best time to visit Amplecarr

Late spring through early autumn (May to September) suits this part of North Yorkshire best, with long daylight hours for walking in the Howardian and Hambleton Hills and the lavender fields at Terrington typically at their best in July. Husthwaite’s orchards are at their prettiest in blossom season in April and May, and the surrounding farmland turns gold at harvest time in late summer. Winter brings a much quieter, starker landscape, but the village’s new Dark Skies Friendly status makes a clear winter night here a good reason to visit for stargazers, provided you come prepared for cold, often muddy, rural lanes.

Where to stay near Amplecarr

Accommodation directly in Amplecarr and Husthwaite is limited to a handful of private houses, cottages and farm buildings, reflecting the area’s small size, so most visitors base themselves in nearby Thirsk or York and drive out. Thirsk has a range of independent guesthouses, pubs with rooms and small hotels around its market square, while York offers a much wider choice of hotels for those who want more facilities and nightlife on their doorstep. For a rural stay closer to Amplecarr itself, keep an eye out for farm cottages and B&Bs in and around Husthwaite, Coxwold and the wider Howardian Hills, several of which occupy converted barns and traditional stone buildings.

Food and drink near Amplecarr

The Plum and Partridge in Husthwaite is the obvious local choice, a village pub serving classic pub food to residents and visitors alike. A short drive away, Thirsk’s market square has a good spread of independent cafes, tea rooms and pubs to choose from, reflecting its role as the area’s main market town. The Howardian Hills also has a long association with cider making, and small-scale local producers continue that tradition using fruit from the area’s orchards, a nod to Husthwaite’s own history as the “Orchard Village” of North Yorkshire.