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Leyburn - derived from 'Ley' or 'Le' (clearing), and 'burn' (stream), meaning clearing by the stream.
Leyburn is a market town and civil parish in the district of Richmondshire, North Yorkshire, England sitting above the northern bank of the River Ure in Wensleydale. Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town boasts two markets, several pubs, two banks with cash machines, and many small speciality stores. Market day is Friday. It is served by local buses that connect to Richmond, Hawes and Bedale. The local Rotary Club sponsors the annual Wensleydale Wander in March or April, organised walks of 12 miles (19 km) and 22 miles (35 km).
Leyburn had a population of 1,844 at the 2001 census, but this swells in summer with visitors to the Yorkshire Dales national park. Public services, with a primary school, a secondary school which serves the whole of Wensleydale, a police station and a medical centre. Several independently-owned shops are situated around a market square with a number of pubs and bars. Shops include Tennant's auction house, a small department store called Milners of Leyburn, Campbell's supermarket, a chocolate shop, a range of oriental takeaways, electrical stores and a hunting and sports shop.
Annually there is a Dales Festival of Food and Drink, held over May Day bank holiday weekend, and a Wensleydale agricultural show at the end of each August; the 99th was held on 24 August 2013.
Although a small town, Leyburn has its own railway station on the re-opened Wensleydale Railway which offers tourist rides throughout the dale, mostly on diesel multiple units but occasionally on a steam train. The town of Leyburn has a 6,000-square-foot (560 m²) antiques centre on Harmby Road. The town also has a local market in the town centre every Friday and a farmers' market which specialises in local meats once a month.
Leyburn has appeared in various television programmes including The Department Store: Milner's, on BBC Four in 2008, and the 1960s-set drama series, Heartbeat.
Leyburn has two hotels and several bed and breakfasts situated in or close to the town centre. The town is a centre for walking, cycling and general sight-seeing, especially the waterfalls for which Wensleydale is renowned. The town is famous for the Leyburn Shawl, an escarpment of about 1.5 miles in length which provides panoramic views of rolling Wensleydale. According to legend, Mary, Queen of Scots, upon fleeing captivity in nearby Bolton Castle, dropped her shawl en route to Leyburn. The Shawl is the start of several circular walks taking in the nearby village of Wensley, from where Wensleydale takes its name.
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