| Official Name: | Brafferton and Helperby |
| Type: | Civil parish |
| Country: | England |
| Unitary England: | North Yorkshire |
| Lieutenancy England: | North Yorkshire |
| Region: | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Static Image Name: | Horse sheltering under a tree - geograph.org.uk - 2193520.jpg |
| Static Image Caption: | Land at Brafferton and Helperby |
| Population: | 831 |
| Population Ref: | (2011 census) |
| Os Grid Reference: | SE438699 |
| Coordinates: | 54.123°N -1.329°W |
| Hide Services: | yes |
Brafferton and Helperby is a civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. Up until 2019, both Brafferton and Helperby were in their own civil parishes, but a vote, and then later an order was convened, to amalgamate the two into one parish covering both villages.
The ancient (ecclesiastical) parish of Brafferton, also included Helperby within the parish domain.[1] When civil parishes were introduced, the two villages were separated out, but are a contiguous settlement with Brafferton at the north end, and Helperby at the south end.[2] [3] On 1 April 2019, the two parishes were combined into one civil parish – Brafferton and Helperby, with seven elected council members.[4] Previous to this, each council had five members.
Historically, the ecclesiastical parish of Brafferton included Helperby and Thornton Bridge, where Helperby was described as a township.[5] Both previous civil parishes were instituted in 1894, both fulfilling the requirements of a local government act of 1889, which stipulated anywhere with 200 or more voters, could have a parish council.[6] In 1999, the two separate civil parishes of Brafferton and Helperby pooled their money and resources to build a new village hall, which is situated in Helperby next to the war memorial.[7]
At the 2011 Census, Brafferton had a population of 311 and Helperby had 520. In 2015, North Yorkshire County Council estimated that the two villages had a population of 820 people – 300 in Brafferton and 520 in Helperby.[8]