There are two ancient coaching inns extant, the Black Swan with its carved porch, and the cruck-framed George and Dragon, which originated in the 13th century.

The Norman baron Robert de Stuteville built a wooden moated castle on Vivers Hill.

[3] There is some disagreement over the spelling of the village: the alternative is Kirbymoorside, which is how the railway companies spelt the name on the station,[4] as how it is traditionally pronounced).

George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, died on 16 April 1687, in the house of a local tenant, from a chill caught whilst hunting nearby.

[14] Many sub-sea vehicles and robots are manufactured at Forum Energy Technologies (formerly Perry Slingsby Systems) which is located on the same site, roughly 1 mile south of the town centre.

[citation needed] The anarchist poet and art critic Herbert Read was born in the hamlet of Muscoates,[17] about four miles (6.4 km) south of Kirkbymoorside.

The rails between Kirkbymoorside and Pickering were lifted in the 1950s and the main A170 road runs over part of the track bed to the east of the town.

[26] In summer the service forms part of the Moorsbus network on Sundays and Public Holidays, when it extends westwards beyond Helmsley to Sutton Bank.

The 840 also calls at Kirby Misperton, the location of Flamingoland theme park and zoo, and at Malton bus and railway stations.

[28] Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North East and Cumbria and ITV Tyne Tees.

The town is in the catchment area of the comprehensive secondary Ryedale School, which is located in Nawton, three miles (5 km) away, and has about 600 pupils.

[35] Kirkbymoorside hosts an annual 10 km road-running race on the Sunday prior to May Day Bank Holiday each year.

The race was started in 2000 by Malcolm Hodgson, Dr Tim Hughes and Martin Lush to raise funds for local schools.

[38] The Catholic church of St. Chad is served by two Benedictine priests from nearby Ampleforth Abbey; Kikbymoorside being in the Diocese of Middlesbrough.

The foundation stone was laid in 1896, and the church built on land acquired from Lord Feversham; the architect was Bernard Smith.

[43] Among those buried in the Quaker burial ground was the evangelist John Richardson (1667–1753), who left a lively account of his life as a preacher in Britain, Ireland and the American colonies.

[48] Kirkbymoorside being on the southern edge of the North York Moors National Park, a wide range of other outdoor activities such as walking, cycling and climbing can be done in the area.