Selby, United Kingdom

Selby lies on the tidal River Ouse, in a natural area of Yorkshire known as the Humberhead Levels, a flat, low-lying agricultural plain shaped by glacial lake sediments and river alluvium, crossed by ditches and drains that discharge to the Ouse and its tributaries.

The surrounding ground is very low-lying, mostly between about 5 and 8 metres above sea level, with extensive alluvial deposits along the river corridor.

The main roads that cross at Selby are the A63 from Leeds to Hull and the A19 from Doncaster to York, though the A19 and A63 have no longer met in Selby itself since the opening of the Selby Bypass in 2004.

The River Ouse is navigable upstream as far as York, so the old toll bridge had to allow for this. For many years the swing bridge in Selby was a notorious local bottleneck, but since the opening of the Selby bypass, congestion in the town has been relieved.

The importance of Selby as a market town has declined in recent decades and its short-lived prominence as the centre of the Selby Coalfield has also waned. Selby is close to both York and Leeds. Its popularity as a tourist destination, owing to Selby Abbey, has led to a large amount of development and renovation in the town and surrounding area.

Much of the historical wealth of the town is based on its position on the banks of the tidal River Ouse. Selby used to have a large shipbuilding industry, and was an important port on the Selby Canal, which brought trade from Leeds. The Selby Canal links the River Ouse at Selby to the River Aire at Haddlesey. The replacement Greenpeace craft (1989–2011), bearing the name Rainbow Warrior, was built in Selby in 1957 as a fishing boat.

Selby Abbey is the town’s main landmark. The abbey church is Grade I listed and retains significant medieval and later fabric. Inside is the so-called Washington Window, a fourteenth-century pane depicting the arms of the Washington family. The design has been linked to the later design of the flag of the United States.

On Water Lane the Abbot's Staith Buildings, a medieval warehouse complex associated with the abbey’s administration of trade, are listed at Grade II*. In the Market Place the nineteenth-century Market Cross is a local landmark and is Grade II listed.

The Selby Railway Swing Bridge, dating back to the late nineteenth-century, carries the railway across the River Ouse and holds Grade II listed status. It’s particularly noted for its distinctive wrought-iron structure and the original hydraulic machinery that still forms part of its engineering character.

Selby Town Hall has been running a music venue since 2003, with regular performances of music, dance, drama and comedy and local band nights, with an annual Battle Of The Bands final, which in 2009 sold out in 12 hours, seeing local band Leonard's Revenge crowned victors.

There have been four cinemas in Selby, with the last one closing in the early 1980s. In 2009 a community group established a cinema project called Selby Globe.

Primary education is provided by several schools in and around the town, including Selby Abbey Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School on New Lane.

Secondary education is provided locally by Selby High School and Brayton Academy.

Further and higher education, apprenticeships and adult learning are offered by Selby College on Abbot’s Road. On 1 March 2022 Selby College and Wakefield College merged to form the Heart of Yorkshire Education Group, which oversees campuses in Selby, Castleford and Wakefield.