NESS is a township, on the south bank of the river Rye, which is here crossed by a bridge; it is 3 miles north from Hovingham station and 2 ½ west-by-north from Slingsby station, in Kirby Moorside union. By a Local Government Order, dated March 25th, 1887, the townships of East and West Ness were amalgamated. Ness is on the direct line of the Roman road from Malton towards Cleveland. In 1816 a sarcophagus containing human bones was found in a ploughed field near the Village of East Ness and covering it was a stone with a Latin inscription. There is a Wesleyan chapel. Marcus Kendall esq. is lord of the manor of East Ness, and Henry Rutsou esq. lord of the manor of Ness, is the principal landowner. The soil is clayey, with subsoils of clay and red stone, and is excellent turnip and barley land. The acreage is 1,391 of land and 14 of water; rateable value, £1,708; the population in 1911 was 85.