Thorpe Willoughby is a village in North Yorkshire, England. The village is situated just off the A63 road and is in close proximity to Selby. Thorpe Willoughby has a village pub called "The Fox", a set of local shops with a fish and chip shop, a primary school, a village green and village hall, and a sports field with associated bar. The United Kingdom Census 2001 states the population of Thorpe Willoughby to be 2822. Scand. Thorp, "an outlying farmstead or hamlet", "a dependent secondary settlement". 1086 Torp, 1276 Thorp Wyleby. The manorial affix originates from the Willeby family who were resident here in the 1200s. In the Brayton parish register of the 1700s it is referred to as Thorp. Like Hambleton, Thorpe Willoughby has a hill to the south of the village, Brayton Barff. These two prominences appear to be the only high ground in the Vale of York, which is at its widest here, until the land rises towards Hillam and Monk Fryston in the West. Both prominences may represent the remains of "crag and tail" structures from the Wurm glacial episode 10,000 years ago, the Escrick moraine lying further north at York.
