Crockey Hill

Crockey Hill is a small village a couple of miles south of York, strung along the A19 in the flat, fertile farmland of the Vale of York. It is the kind of place easily missed at 40mph – a handful of houses, a transport café, a car dealership and a vets – yet its position just outside the city makes it a handy, low-key base for exploring one of England’s great historic cities without paying York-centre prices.

The name is thought to derive from ‘Cockermire’, recorded as far back as 1619, and a roadside stone once marked the old parish boundary near here. Today the village sits within the City of York unitary authority, in the Wheldrake ward, with the Designer Outlet at the A19/A64 junction barely a mile to the north and open countryside, drainage dykes and arable fields stretching away to the south and east towards Wheldrake and the River Derwent.

Top things to do near Crockey Hill

Crockey Hill itself is residential and agricultural rather than a visitor destination, but it is superbly placed for days out in and around York.

• York Designer Outlet – a large outlet shopping centre at the A19/A64 junction, about a mile north of the village, with well over 100 stores.
• York city centre – the Minster, the medieval Shambles, the city walls and JORVIK Viking Centre are all under three miles away and easily reached by car or bus.
• Pool Bridge Farm – an outdoor swimming spot in the village itself, a popular local warm-weather attraction.
• Wheldrake Ings – a Yorkshire Wildlife Trust nature reserve on the flood meadows of the River Derwate, a few miles south-east, good for wintering wildfowl and summer wildflowers.
• Fulford and the York Bar Walls – the closest built-up suburb of York, with the Millennium Bridge footpath into the city centre along the River Ouse.

Getting to Crockey Hill

Crockey Hill sits directly on the A19, roughly midway between York and Selby, which makes it very easy to reach by car, with the A64 and the A1(M) both within a few minutes’ drive at the Designer Outlet junction. Regular local buses run along the A19 corridor into York city centre. The nearest railway station is York, on the East Coast Main Line, about four miles north, with fast services to London, Edinburgh and across the North of England.

Best time to visit Crockey Hill

Spring and summer suit the area best, with long daylight hours for exploring York on foot and for visiting Wheldrake Ings while the meadows are in flower. Autumn brings migrating wildfowl to the Derwent Ings, and York itself makes an atmospheric winter city break, particularly around the Christmas markets, though the flat, low-lying farmland around Crockey Hill can be prone to mist and occasional flooding in wet winters.

Where to stay near Crockey Hill

Accommodation directly in the village is limited, and most visitors base themselves in York itself, a few miles north, where there is a full range of hotels, guest houses and self-catering options within easy reach of the Minster and city walls.

Food and drink near Crockey Hill

The village has a transport café serving travellers on the A19, along with a fruit and vegetable stall, but for a proper meal out most visitors head into York or to the Designer Outlet, both a short drive away, where there is a much wider choice of pubs, cafes and restaurants.