Parish Profile

The Parish of St. Wilfrid, Brayton includes the civil parishes of Barlow, Burn, Brayton, Thorpe Willoughby and parts of the south and west of Selby.  There are three Anglican churches; St. Wilfrid’s in Brayton, Barlow Chapel of Ease at Barlow and St. Francis’ Shared Church (a Local Ecumenical Partnership (LEP)) at Thorpe Willoughby.  St. Wilfrid’s is a Grade 1 listed church of Norman origin; Barlow Chapel of Ease is a Grade 2 listed building dating from the 1700s and St. Francis’ Church has recently celebrated 25 years.  The Rectory is a Georgian, Grade 2 listed, building adjacent to St. Wilfrid’s Church.

There are services at all three churches every Sunday except during August. 

A parish magazine, Contact, is produced each month.  This incorporates news from the Anglican and Methodist churches in the parish as well as news from Brayton Parish Council.

The villages are expanding quite rapidly due to the ease of road and rail access to York, Leeds and Doncaster as well as the convenience of east/west (M62) and north/south (A1M, M18 and M1) road network.  Local industry in Selby focuses on well established chemical firms, flour milling and animal feeds.  Food and food products industries are also to be found in the town of Selby and the local villages.  Any visitor to the area cannot fail to notice the power stations at Eggborough, Drax and Ferrybridge which, although outside the parish, provide employment for many within the parish.  The coalfield that attracted so many to our villages during the 1980s is now closed to coal production but many of the former employees remain.  From the 2001 census there are approximately 6500 inhabitants within the ecclesiastical parish, 99.4% are white British and 81% state their religion as Christian.

The Christian community is lively and the churches are busy with many activities as well as our regular worship.  We have excellent relations with all other denominations in the area.