High Worsall

High Worsall
Site of the deserted village
High Worsall
Location within North Yorkshire
OS grid referenceNZ387093
Civil parish
  • High Worsall
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townYARM
Postcode districtTS15
PoliceNorth Yorkshire
FireNorth Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire

High Worsall is a hamlet and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is near Low Worsall and 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Yarm. The population of the parish was estimated at 40 in 2010. The population remained at less than 100 at the 2011 Census, so details were included in the civil parish of Low Worsall. However, in 2015, North Yorkshire County Council estimated the hamlet to have 40 people living there in 2015.

Both High and Low Worsall are mentioned in the Domesday Book, and the first element derives from an Old English personal name (Wyrc) and the location of the villages in the nook of land of the River Tees provides the second element of the name. The area contains evidence of a deserted medieval village, featured on Time Team in the late 1990s.

From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of Hambleton, it is now administered by the unitary North Yorkshire Council.

A chapel dedicated to St John was built in the village c.1710, which was used up until 1894, when a church was built in Low Worsall. The churchyard was still the location of burials until at least 1957.

High Worsall was the highest tidal point on the River Tees until the opening of the Tees Barrage in 1995.