[2] The rural village of Hessay enjoys a peaceful open setting within the Vale of York, a glacial plane created in the last ice age.

The station closed to passengers in 1958,[5] but the Ministry of Defence sidings at Hessay were open until 1991 with closure of the unit effected by March 1996.

[11] The village was given to the St Mary's Abbey, York by Osbern de Archis and continued in their possession until The Dissolution.

From the population of small mammals which includes Field, Wood and Harvest Mice, Voles and Shrews, supports the upper end of the food chain of Merlins, Kestrels, Red Kites, Buzzards, Hobby, Sparrow Hawks, Goshawks, a Peregrine falcon has even been seen to take prey from the surrounding farmland.

There is a small but increasing murmuration of Starlings which are believed to roost at the west end of Hessay Industrial Estate.