In around 1069, Monk Benedict of Auxerre, France, arrived in Selby after experiencing a vision in which St. Germain appeared and told him to build an abbey where he saw three swans leaving the river. The three swans have been the emblem of the church and the town ever since.

Over time, the initial wooded abbey gave way to a new stone construction and eventually grew into a huge monastic complex with a chapel, cloisters, workshops, dormitory, infirmary, brew-house, stables, barns and more. The whole complex was surrounded by huge walls and impressive gateways.

Sadly, other than the abbey church itself, very little of the complex exists today. The Gateway to the complex, standing close to the modern day market place, was demolished in 1806.

The Abbot's Staithe is one of the last remaining monastic structures and is still standing today, albeit in a shockingly poor state of repair. The Abbot's Staithe, which can be found on The Quay (off Micklegate) has been listed by the Secretary of State as an Ancient Monument.

Industry

Over the year's, Selby has been a centre for many industries. Selby was initially believed to have benefited from a flourishing local wool trade.

The maritime history of Selby is also of significant importance. The port of Selby, lying roughly halfway between York and the River Humber provided an industry for the town which, although declining, was still around until the 1990s.

Selby also has a proud history of ship building. Cochranes of Selby was a major employer in the town and launched many ships from their base at Shipyard Road, off East Common Lane, Selby.

Probably the most well known of all the ships launched at Selby, is Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior II. Although originally launched as a fishing trawler called the Grampian Fame in 1957, it was converted for use by Greenpeace in 1989.

The final ship to be launched at Selby was a 100 metre long, 3,338 ton tanker to be named 'Forth Bridge' for Forth Tankers of Edinburgh.

The ship is still in service, having been renamed and re-registered in Liberia as the "M T Matrix I".

The next phase of industry in Selby came in 1976 when plans were approved for the Selby Coalfield. This was to be the largest deep mine coal project ever undertaken anywhere in the world at the time. The coalfield, covering 110 miles, was roughly the size of the Isle of Wight.

Ten shafts were sunk across the coalfield, the largest coalfield in Europe, with over 120 miles of underground roadways. The project was built at a cost of £1.3billion.

The seams were not easy to mine however, with water causing problems throughout the time the field was in operation.

The final load of coal to be brought out of the Selby 'Superpit' was at Riccall Mine. The Mine closed on Tuesday October 26th, 2004. 3,500 people were employed at the Selby Coalfield at it's peak.

Energy

Today, one of Selby's biggest exports is energy. Selby's two coal-fired power stations, Drax and Eggborough, provide massive amounts of energy for the country. Drax alone provides 7% of the UK's electricity needs and provides over 600 jobs for the local economy.

The Selby area will soon become the home of another energy project. A 12 turbine wind farm is soon to be build at the village of Newland near Drax after district planners approved the scheme.