Mentioned in the Doomsday Book and with evidence of activity from the Viking era, these two settlements, built largely around the farming community, have a very long history of co-operation and mutually supportive existence. Long may they continue!
The parish of Claxton and Sand Hutton is situated a mile or so to the east of the A64 trunk road, 8 miles
north east of York, about 4 miles from Stamford Bridge and 10 miles from Malton. A handful of busy farms surround the villages with much of the land in the parish being owned by the Church Commissioners.

The two villages themselves are similar in size in terms of their number of households though housing in Claxton is more dense with properties concentrated in the Main Street, Whinny Lane and Greenhills whereas Sand Hutton is more sprawling with significant numbers of houses on Main Street, Stamford Bridge Road, Upper Helmsley Road, Hall Drive and Sand Hutton Lane.

The villages are separated by a stretch of unrestricted road about a mile in length which, unfortunately, creates something of a gulf between the two, being rather difficult to bridge without resorting to driving as there is no footpath.

For the small number of parish residents who live in properties west of the A64, around Claxton Hall, the barrier to involvement in village life is even greater.

On a clear day the Yorkshire Wolds and the North York Moors are visible from the high spots in the parish and the surrounding area has many beautiful trees and woodlands. The villages are surrounded by mostly arable land, with some used for livestock, farmed by tenant farmers who have also diversified into market gardening, livery stabling, touring caravan parks, etc. The central, older parts of each village are designated conservation areas.

Just over 350 people are on the electoral roll and an ever increasing number of children takes the population to well over 400. Of those who returned their fact finding questionnaires in August 2007, almost 50% of the adults in Claxton described themselves as retired whereas only c.30% of those in Sand Hutton did so. Twice as many Sand Hutton residents stated they were in full-time employment as Claxton residents.

The mix of economic activity clearly will vary over time but it is probably fair to say that the villages have a relatively high proportion of middle aged and older residents.

There are no shops, pubs or other commercial services in either village although various products such as milk, newspapers and fish are sold and delivered direct to households and a number of businesses (building, design, consultancy, IT, music publishing, alternative therapy, etc) operate from premises in the villages. Stamford Bridge has medical and veterinary services, a bank, shops, a post office, etc. but has no public transport from Claxton or Sand Hutton. Malton and York are the destinations of most residents for their everyday needs and there is a limited bus service at peak times.