Sessay is a small, linear village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England.

[2] The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book as "Sezai" in the wapentake of Gerlestre (from the mid-12th century known as Birdforth).

[9] According to legend, Sessay was once the home of a giant which was slain by a knight named Sir Guy Dawnay.

Birdforth Beck runs to the south of the village on its way to join the nearby River Swale.

[11] The Ordnance Survey have suggested that a field near Sessay may be the geographical centre of Yorkshire, although there are other claimants to this title.

[6][7][18] In the church there are three funeral brasses in the chancel to members of the Kitchingman family, and one to Mrs. Smelt.

At the time of the Dissolution of religious houses he was master of St Leonard's Hospital, York, and was subsequently appointed to the rectory of Sessay, where he died, in 1550, and was buried in the chancel.