However, almost the opposite is the case. The community which had grown to just over 800 at the last census, and its 12th century lord are instead irrecoverably linked to one of Yorkshire’s darkest and most shameful events.

Richard Malebisse, forester for Yorkshire, led a massacre in York in 1190 of about 150 Jews, “all but extinguishing” the city’s Jewish community to whom he had accumulated sizeable debts in the 14 years he had held the Acaster estate. The anti-Semitic movement had been stirred up and egged on by Malebisse and crusaders set to depart to reconquer the Holy Land.

After days of rioting, many of the Jews of the city, took refuge in Clifford’s Tower, and others were forcibly baptised or killed. Some of the Jews committed suicide and many of those who surrendered on a promise of safety were massacred as they came out. In a punishment from Richard I, Malbisse had his Acaster estate seized, but was allowed, a few years later, to pay a fine for it to be restored.

Other than being commemorated at the village’s name, the earliest surviving testimony to the Malbisse family is the grade I listed Holy Trinity Church, which is located away from settlement, among trees off a lane leading between Bishopthorpe and Acaster Malbis.

It’s believed a chapel stood at the site before Richard Malbisse owned the land and the present church may have been built to house the tomb of Sir John de Malbysse, who died in 1316. Despite the village passing into the hands of the Fairfax family later that century, it became established as Acaster Malbis.

With its shingled bell turret and octagonal spire, the unusually sited church, is the area’s most remarkable sight. Its interior is no less so, justifying its rating among the country’s most prized buildings, featuring an effigy of a cross-legged knight said to represent Sir John. It’s less than five miles to the scene of the pogrom, but approaches to the village, across flat farmland and passed holiday parks, feel a world away from the city.

Hugging the western bank of the River Ouse, where Mesolithic and Neolithic artefacts and numerous Roman coins have been unearthed, the village’s fortunes have been tied to the waterway which links the Upper Dales with the Humber Estuary. It’s belived the Romans established a camp, Val-Caester, at the site which was later acquired by an Anglo-Saxon called Aca, and in the centuries that followed a riverside main street known as Cobbler’s Trod developed, featuring pubs, shops and even a vicarage.

Alongside farming, the river and fishing for salmon and lamprey were key to the village’s economy, which is reflected in its historic pub, The Ship Inn, at the junction of the trod and Hauling Lane, and there is haddock rather than salmon or lamprey on its menu.

Owners of the 18th century ale house for bargees, which remains popular with boat users, have claimed to have experienced a series of strange incidents at the premises, including a fire that re-lit after having four pints of water poured on it and a phantom appearing “like smoke” in the shape of a tall, dark man.

A slipway to the river, to the south of the village, off Mill Lane, has enabled boat repair and storage yards to operate in the area. Wherever you are in Acaster Malbis, the river is never far, and according to the parish council website when the river level rises by three metres the road between the Ship Inn and Acaster Lane is “impassable for all vehicles”.

While the highest river level recorded nearby is 5.4m, officials say levels of 5m are rare and have historically reduced within two days to restore access to the village.

Alongside the slipway, the parish council owns an interesting heritage feature, The Pinfold, a well maintained, small brick built enclosure, thought to date to the 18th century, oppopsite the junction of Mill Lane and Hauling Lane, which was once used to hold stray farm animals until their owners paid a fine.

Nearby, outside Acaster Malbis Memorial Hall, is further evidence of the village’s agricultural roots with a still dating to the 1880s that was used to process locally grown peppermint.

The community hub, used by groups including an arts and crafts club and the Yorkshire Countrywomen’s Guild, was opened in 1927 as a memorial to those from the village who died in the First World War. Among the names listed in the hall is that of Reverend Edward Gibbs who was minister of Holy Trinity Church and chaplain to the Archbishop of York before dying in France on Good Friday 1918.

The village’s military history also includes being the site of a bridge of boats across the Ouse during the Civil War siege of York, to enable Lord Fairfax's army to the east and the Scots to the south and west to communicate.

Just downstream of the village stands another element of the village’s military past – the site of the former RAF Acaster Malbis, which has a reputation for being among Britain's worst Second World War airfields, due to flooding and the misty conditions created by the river.

The airbase initially hosted Canadian Air Force 601 Squadron before it was used to train newly qualified RAF pilots to convert to twin-engine aeroplanes and as a relief landing ground for heavy bombers stationed at Rufforth and Marston Moor. By 1945 the base had about 300 personnel, many of whom lived in the village to minimise casualties in the event of the airfield being attacked.

The airfield’s runways were later used to stack 2,000 high explosive bombs from airfields that were closing and following periods as a site for learning to drive and an airfield for light aircraft, has since reverted to farmland.