Masham – originally Maessa’s Ham – probably owed its foundation to the gentle, flood-proof rise on which it stands, near an easily fordable part of the River Ure, together with its proximity to the course of a Roman road and its position on the main route from Wensleydale to York.

The present square with its beautiful Georgian houses was created in the 18th century.  The huge market place would originally have been surrounded by thatched cottages and was the site for annual Sheep Fairs with over 80,000 heads of sheep being sold some years, including animals from the flocks of nearby Fountains and Jervaulx Abbeys.