Sowerby (Thirsk)

Sowerby is a village and civil parish immediately south of Thirsk in North Yorkshire, England. Many of the public buildings for Thirsk are actually in Sowerby (eg cinema, town hall, main supermarket, old court house, old police station).

The Parish Church of St Oswald dates from about 1140. In 1145 Roger de Mowbray, nephew of William the Conqueror, gave the care of the Chappell of Sowerby to the Prior of Newburgh, and history record show that several members of the ancient Family of Lassels, who were Lords of the Village for about 500 years, are buried in their own Chappell of St Oswald of Sowerby.

The area's main industry is farming, though most people commute to nearby towns and villages. Sowerby's name comes from the Viking (Norse) language, in which it means 'Farmstead (by the) smelly pit', which is the origin of the word sewer.