Known as the Capital of the Wolds, Driffield is a thriving market town and annually holds the finest one day agricultural show in Britain.

The 500 year old tower of All Saint`s Church can be seen from miles around, like a beacon guiding visitors into the town, but it was the opening of the Driffield Canal which put the town firmly on the map in the 19th century. Today, the canal remains a focal point for Driffield. The Riverhead, with its converted warehouses and newly restored town lock, is a very popular and photogenic spot.

As well as two weekly markets every Thursday and Saturday and an award winning farmers market held on the first saturday morning of the month the town holds regular antique auctions and has plenty of interesting shops in its handsome Victorian buildings and side streets. Among its historic inns and restaurants, discover the spooky story at the Spreadeagle on Exchange Street, which once belonged to Driffield`s so-called witch, Susannah Goor.

Driffield`s canal and its three becks (streams) characterise the town and form the basis of some lovely walks, described in the `Town Walks Guide`, to popular fishing and birdwatching spots, and out into the surrounding Wolds countryside.

Nearby are two of East Yorkshire`s finest country houses. Burton Agnes is a magnificent Elizabethan house filled with treasures, and in the lovely village of Sledmere is Sledmere House, home of the Sykes family, who have played a major part in maintaining and restoring churches and villages throughout the East Riding. The House has many interesting features, especially the Turkish Room, the 100ft long library and the Capability Brown gardens. Deer roam in the grounds, a lovely place to take a picnic.

Cruckley Animal Farm is great fun for all the family, a working farm with rare and modern farm animals, and an ornamental waterfowl lake

Man populated the Wolds thousands of years ago. Many prehistoric burial sites have been excavated in and around Driffield. In ancient times it was the centre from which a large area of the country, called Deira, was ruled.

The grassy mound towards the north end of the town called Moot Hill was the site of an early parliament, Roman settlement and the motte of a Norman castle. The nearby Park was once the site of an Anglo-Saxon palace. Opposite this man-made eminence is a well-wooded bluff topped by the black and white Tudor-style Highfield Country Club, where a century ago stood a five-sailed windmill.

The sparkling Driffield Beck, picturesquely named the Water Forlorns, threads through the Park and beneath little bridges in the town centre, to join the Driffield Canal. It was originally intended that the Canal would go as far as Kilham, a few miles to the north, but construction stopped at Riverhead, and in the 18th century Driffield gained great prosperity from it, as the centre of an agricultural producing area.

From being a Village, it rapidly became a Market Town. With the coming of the railway its future as the hub of the area was assured. The Canal is now being restored and the improved amenities are beginning to draw boat owners from all over the country.

Driffield hosts a wide range of local, regional and national events and exhibitions throughout the year, these include The Yorkshire Trucking Spectacular held in May, The Yorkshire Motoring Festival and The Famous Driffield Agricultural Show this held in July each year, is an event not to be missed attracting over 25,000 visitors and is probably the largest one day agricultural show in England.

Also in July is the Festival Week which culminates in a colourful parade through the streets of decorated floats. Then in August the Annual Traction Rally is a huge attraction with a cavalcade of machines driving through the Town Centre along with vintage vans and lorries.

Driffield's excellent array of Sporting Facilities play host to many regional fixtures including Rugby, Golf, Hockey, Bowls, Swimming, Running and Show Jumping to name but a few.

Click Here to visit the Events Diary