Thomas de Colville's estate included the manors of Yearsley, Coxwold and Oulston as well as other properties and land in York, Thirsk, Everley, Nunwick, Kilburn and Upsland.

[4] In 1304 the fifth Sir Thomas Colville started a tradition of a weekly market to be held in the grounds of the manor of Coxwold.

He also established a two-day annual fair to celebrate the Assumption, a tradition that survived uninterrupted in Coxwold Manor for some five hundred years.

He later joined the retinue of John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster, the third son of Edward III and by far the richest noble in England.

[2][5] In 1603 Sir John Harte, who was born in nearby Kilburn, North Yorkshire, built a grammar school in the village, which closed in 1894.

The present church was built in 1420 in the Perpendicular style with an unusual octagonal west tower and is dedicated to St Michael.

[8] Sir George Orby Wombwell, 4th Baronet and the last surviving officer of the Charge of the Light Brigade, is buried in the village churchyard.

In more recent times the village was the home to the Coxwold Pottery, run by Peter & Jill Dick.

The original priory was built in 1145 by Roger de Mowbray but fell victim to the Dissolution of the Monasteries instigated by King Henry VIII.

The King sold the estate to Anthony de Bellasis, whose family took the name of Fauconberg when the baronetcy was created.

[13] To the north of the village are the ruins of Byland Abbey, a Grade I listed building,[14] which was founded in the 12th century by Savigniac monks.