Thornton Steward is a small village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, near Wensleydale, with a population of 100–200, measured at 199 in the 2011 Census. The name derives from Old English relating to a hawthorn tree on a farm and Steward. The village was formerly owned by Wymar, who was the steward of the Earls of Richmond. The village is very similar to the others that dot Wensleydale, but Thornton Steward has a reservoir owned by Yorkshire Water.