Hornby is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies on a minor road between Great Smeaton and Appleton Wiske. It lies roughly 9 miles (14 km) from Northallerton, 9 miles (14 km) from Darlington, and 7 miles (11 km) from Yarm. According to the 2001 census, Hornby had a population of 206,which increased in the 2011 census to 238. The village has very few amenities. There is a post box and the village pub is called the "Grange Arms" The name of the village is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Horenbodebi and in 1088 in the Durham Liber Vitae as Hornbotebi. The final element comes from the Old Norse word bý ('settlement'). The origin of the first part of the name is less certain, but thought to come from a lost Old Norse personal name Hornbði. Thus the name once meant 'Hornbði's farm'. The modern form was perhaps influenced by the nearby Hornby, Richmondshire.

The name of Little Smeaton is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Smidetun, Smidetune, and Smitune. The first attestation of the 'little' element is found two years later in the phrase 'in litle Smithetun' in the Durham Liber Vitae; this element distinguishes Little Smeaton from the neighbouring Great Smeaton. The name comes from the Old English words smiþ ('craftsman, smith') in its genitive plural form smiþa and tn ('estate, village'). Thus the name once meant 'smiths' estate

The A167 (Darlington Road) passes through the village, which is about halfway between Darlington and Northallerton. It once stood on the route of the Great North Road between London and Edinburgh. Great Smeaton was an important coaching stage; one of the original four inns still remain, the Black Bull; the Bay Horse having closed. Those that have gone were the Golden Lion at Entercommon and the Blacksmiths Arms in the village, which also traded as the Post Office in the 1840s. It seems to have ceased trading as an inn prior to 1857.

Great Smeaton is listed in the Domesday Book. Many armies have passed through the village over the years, including that of William the Conqueror on his way north.

Anne of Denmark had dinner at Smeaton on 10 June 1603 on her way to London from Edinburgh, and travelled on to stay the night at Breckenbrough Castle, home of Thomas Lascelles of Brackenborough and Sowerby.

The Church of St. Eloy's is the only church in Britain named after this saint and stands on the site of an 11th-century Saxon church.

Smeaton Manor is an Arts & Crafts style house by Philip Webb.

Great Smeaton, like many other villages, has suffered from rural decline over the last few decades. It has lost amenities such as the village shop, the butcher's shop, the blacksmiths, the post office and the Working Men's Club and Reading Room (established in 1880). Amenities that remain include the pubs and the church, Great Smeaton Community Primary School, the village hall and a vintage shop. The village also has a post box.

Since 1972, the parish council has covered the parishes of Little Smeaton, Great Smeaton and Hornby.