Shandy Hall and Coxwold

Laurence Sterne came to Coxwold as parson in 1760 and stayed until his death in 1768. He called the parsonage Shandy Hall, and it was here that he wrote most of Tristram Shandy, a book so strange and so far ahead of itself that people still argue about whether it invented the modern novel or broke it before anyone else had finished building it. The Laurence Sterne Trust looks after the house now, medieval at its core with later fronts, along with a garden that has been coaxed back into something Sterne would recognise. The village outside is one of the best looking in the county, a single wide street of pale cottages running up to the church.

From Tea Time Cafe, leave Thirsk south east and pick up the minor roads towards Thormanby and Coxwold, or go out on the A19 and cut across; either way it is about eight miles and 20 minutes. Coxwold has village parking near the church, and Shandy Hall sits at the western end of the street. The lanes are narrow and used by tractors, so allow a few extra minutes at harvest.

On summer weekends there is a bus. The seasonal Moorsbus M5 connects Thirsk with Coxwold, Byland Abbey, Ampleforth and Helmsley, which makes a car free day here possible in a way it is not at Kilburn. Its 2026 season ran on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays from 3 April to 27 September; check moorsbus.org for the next one. The rest of the year, bring the car.

The house first, if you are here at a weekend when the guided tours run. It is small, personal and full of Sterne's own world rather than a set of roped off state rooms. Then the gardens, which are open Wednesday to Sunday through the season and repay a slow walk. There is a museum and gallery with changing exhibitions, and a shop that takes cards. After that, walk the village. The church at the top of the street is worth going into, and the whole thing takes 20 minutes at a dawdle.

The connection between the man, the house and the book is unusually direct here. You are standing in rooms where a specific and very odd piece of English writing was made, which is not something many houses can say. The garden is the second draw, informal and productive rather than manicured. And Coxwold itself pulls its weight: the village is the reason a lot of people come back, whatever the hall's opening hours are doing.

Do not travel before 1 May, because the season has not started. Check the tour times before you set off if the interior matters to you, since the house is weekends only and closed Mondays and Tuesdays. There is no cafe on site, so plan food around the visit; the village has a pub and a tearoom, or come back to us in Thirsk. This is a good pairing with Newburgh Priory just outside the village, though the priory only opens on selected days in April, May and June, so check both before you commit a day to it. Byland Abbey is five minutes on and free, which makes a natural three stop loop. Take a coat: the garden is the best part and it is outdoors.