Barkston Ash

Barkston Ash is a small village and civil parish close to Selby in North Yorkshire, England. Until recently it was officially called Barkston. A local legend has it that the ash tree which stands in the centre of the village and gives it its name also marks the exact centre of Yorkshire, and that anyone who spits at this tree will come to a bad end.

The Barkston Ash wapentake was named after the village. Barkston Ash was also the name of the local parliamentary constituency of Barkston Ash up until 1983, when its boundaries were redrawn to divide the area into Elmet and Selby. The Barkston Ash constituency was traditionally a safe Conservative seat, though both successive constituencies elected Labour MPs in 1997.