Thirsk is a small market town of approximately 4,500 people in North Yorkshire, England. The town lies in the Vale of Mowbray, close to the North York Moors, 20 miles north of York.

The town is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1089 as Tresche, derived from the Viking word Thraesk, or Town by the Brook. It is surrounded by a number of small villages also having names of Danish origin, such as Thirlby , Boltby and Borrowby (the -by ending meaning village or farm).

Thirsk is built around a large medieval market square, which still hosts an open-air market each Monday and Saturday. Thirsk possesses a museum and the 15th century church of St Marys.

Thirsk's chief modern claim to fame is that it is the thinly-disguised Darrowby of the late James Herriot's autobiographical books. The home and veterinary surgery of James Herriot, the setting for All Creatures Great and Small and other volumes, have been preserved as a themed museum in the centre of town. Another local attraction is the Kilburn White Horse, a chalk horse carved into the hillside about four miles east of the town.

The race course at Thirsk is a leading venue for horse racing on the flat in the Spring and Summer months.

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Thirsk & Sowerby