Medieval Craven
| Craven | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Geography | |
| Location | North of England North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria |
Medieval Craven was a medieval polity in the north of England. While the name of Craven is Brythonic in origin, its usage continued following the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain and the Norman conquest of England. As such, the name was used in the Domesday Book of 1086 with a number of places being described as in Craven that are now found within the modern counties of North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria.
The former local government district of Craven (a much smaller area entirely within North Yorkshire) was defined in 1974 and abolished in 2023 to be replaced by the unitary authority of North Yorkshire.
Etymology
[edit]Craven derives from the Middle Welsh "crav", which commonly refers to wild garlic but may also have been used for various related plants such as other members of the onions and garlic families. The Crav element is shared with both the Craf river and the town of Abercraf in South Wales.[1]
History
[edit]Medieval Craven extended much further than modern Yorkshire, even today the Church of England's Deanery of South Craven, extends far beyond the borders of the historic county. Although the boundaries of Medieval Craven are the subject of much speculation, it seems that its south-eastern boundary was another British realm, the Kingdom of Elmet.
With the conquest of Scandinavian York, the area that is todays Yorkshire was divided into three Ridings (from Old Norse þriðjungr meaning "a third part"), administered by its own thing (governing assembly). It has been suggested that the West Riding comprised the upland areas still occupied by Celtic Britons but under Viking control. This unified the Kingdom of Elmet with the areas of Craven that fell within modern Yorkshire.[2] Although the West Riding was created during the Scandinavian period, it continued as an effective unit of administrative until 1974, when it was abolished in the Local Government Act 1972.[3][2]
Alternatively, it has also been suggested that numerous areas of Northern England were attached to Yorkshire as an administrative convenience by the compilers of the Domesday Book. Suggesting that the original boundaries of Viking Yorkshire were much smaller and that Craven was a separate polity until the Norman Invasion of England.[4][5][6]
Craven in the Domesday Book
[edit]
The Domesday Book (1086) was essentially an economic census of England, completed during the reign of William the Conqueror, to find out how much each landholder had in arable land and what that land was worth in terms of the taxes they used to pay under Edward the Confessor.
The areas of ploughland were counted in carucates: the land a farmer could manage throughout the year with a team of eight oxen. That area varied with the local soil but on average it was 120 acres, (50 hectares). Some carucates are designated Waste, many of these were devastated and depopulated by the Norman army during the Harrying of the North 1069–70, ca.17 years prior to this survey.
The Land of the King in Craven, Domesday Book folio 301v
[edit]Mostly in Airedale but also in Lonsdale for that was then considered part of Yorkshire.[7]
| Location | Carucates | Previous | Current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cononley | 2 | Thorkil | King William |
| Bradleys Both | 7 | Arnkeld, Thorkil, Gamel | King William |
| Farnhill | 2 | Gamel | King William |
| Kildwick | 2 plus 1 church | Arnkeld | King William |
| Eastburn | 21⁄2 | Gamel Bern | King William |
| Utley | 1 | Vilts | King William |
| Keighley | 6 | Ulfkeld, Thole, Ravensvartr | King William |
| Wilsden | 3 | Gamel Bern | King William |
| Newsholme[8] | 1 | Vilts | King William |
| Laycock | 2 | Ravensvartr | King William |
| Sutton-in-Craven | 2 | Ravenkeld | King William |
| Melling-with-Wrayton, Hornby-with-Farleton, Wennington | 101⁄2 | Ulf and Orm | King William |
| Thornton in Lonsdale, Burrow-with-Burrow | 6 | Orm | King William |
The Land of The Clamores of Yorkshire in Craven, Domesday Book folio 380
[edit]These lands centred on Bolton Abbey were soon after this date transferred to Robert de Romille. And since the Saxon manse at Bolton Abbey was beyond repair Romille built a castle elsewhere: Skipton Castle.[9]
| Location | Carucates | Previous | Soon to be |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bolton Abbey was the caput manor of a multiple estate | 77, waste | Earl Edwin | Robert de Romille |
The Land of William de Percy in Craven, Domesday Book folio 322
[edit]William de Percy was the founder of the powerful English House of Percy.
| Location[7] | Carucates | Previous | Current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rimington, Crooks, Little Middop, Starkeshergh | 11 waste | Beornwulf | William de Percy |
| Bolton-by-Bowland, Raygill Moss, Holme | 8 waste | Beornwulf | William de Percy |
| Painley, Gisburn, Paythorne, Newsholme, Ellenthorpe | 121⁄2 waste | Beornwulf | William de Percy |
| Nappa, Horton | 61⁄2 waste | Beornwulf | William de Percy |
| Thornton in Craven, Kelbrook | 81⁄2 waste | Beornwulf | William de Percy |
| Swinden, Hellifield, Malham, Coniston Cold | 131⁄2 waste | Beornwulf | William de Percy |
| Glusburn and Chelsis | 3 waste | Gamal | William de Percy |
The Land of Gilbert Tison in Craven, Domesday Book folio 327
[edit]By 1118 Tison had suffered a demotion and his lands returned to the king then given to the Houses of Romille, Percy, Fitz John and d'Aubigny[10]
| Location | Carucates | Previous | Current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grassington, Linton, Threshfield | 7 | Gamal Bern | Gilbert Tison |
| Eastburn, Steeton | 51⁄4 | Gamal Bern | Gilbert Tison |
| Glusburn and Chelsis | 3 | Gamal Bern | Gilbert Tison |
| Oakworth | 1 | Gamal Bern | Gilbert Tison |
The Land of Hugh fitzBaldric in Craven, Domesday Book folio 327v
[edit]An "in crave" entry in this folio is difficult to explain. It is followed by Holecher, Bretebi which Robert H Skaife identified with Holker Hall and neighbouring Birkby Hall east of Grange-over-Sands (now in Cumbria), ignoring the Craven title. William Farrer had connected them with Craven as parts of Kettlewell, although no longer traceable.[11] All the rest of Hugh fitzBaldric's land were in East Yorkshire, and he was High Sheriff of Yorkshire 1069–1086.
| Location | Carucates | Previous | Current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holker? | 8 | Orm | Hugh FitzBaldric |
The Land of Erneis du Buron in Craven, Domesday Book folio 327v
[edit]In 1066 a nephew of Ralph Tesson, Ernies de Buron, from Beuron near Mantes, Normandy[12] provided William the Conqueror with money, men and the ships for the invasion of England. Ernies fought at the Battle of Hastings and is named in the Falaise Roll and in the Rolls of Battle Abbey.[13] He settled in England 1068. The Domesday Book lists that he had seventy-two properties in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire.[14] In 1086 he succeeded Hugh fitz Baldric as High Sheriff of Yorkshire.[15] However between 1102 and 1118 his lands were confiscated by King Henry I and given to the House of Romille.[10]
| Location | Carucates | Previous | Current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marley, Halton (in Bingley), Cottingley, Cullingworth, Hainworth | 7+1⁄2 | — | Erneis du Buron |
The Land of Osbern D'Arques in Craven, Domesday Book folio 328
[edit]Osbern de Arches (1059–1115) became High Sheriff of Yorkshire ca1100.
| Location | Carucates | Previous | Current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silsden | 8 | Five thegns | Osbern D'Arques |
| Hebden and Thorpe | 41⁄4 | Dreng | Osbern D'Arques |
| Burnsall and Drebley | 21⁄4 | Dreng | Osbern D'Arques |
| Cattal | 5 waste | – | Osbern D'Arques |
The Land of the King's Thegns in Craven, Domesday Book folio 331v
[edit]The term thegn means a retainer of a king or nobleman below the rank of high-reeve.
| Location | Carucates | Previous | Current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rylstone | 4 | Almund | Dolgfinnr |
| Hartlington | 1 | Almund | Dolgfinnr |
| Appletreewick | 11⁄2 | — | Dolgfinnr |
| Burnsall, Thorpe | 31⁄2 | Heardwulf | Heardwulf |
| Hartlington | 3 | Northmann | Northmann |
| Rylstone | 11⁄2 | Ramkel | Ramkel |
| Appletreewick | 2 | Ketil | Orm |
| Holdene | 2 | Ketil | Orm |
| Holdene | 4 | Gospatric and Ulfkil | Gospatrick and Ulfkil |
| Kilnsey | 6 | Hamal | Ulf |
| Heuurde | 1 | Gospatric | Gospatric |
| Conistone | 3 | Arnketil | Ketil |
The Land of Roger de Poitou in Yorkshire, Domesday Book folio 332
[edit]In looking for a definition of Craven, Roger de Poitou's entries on folio 332 are ambiguous for that page lacks the heading "In Craven". However some manors listed here as his are described elsewhere in the book as being in Craven. Thornton-in-Craven is quite outspoken in this matter. The omission of a heading could be considered a scribal error or, since the previous sub-section was entitled 'In Craven', the scribe may have decided it unnecessary to repeat the heading.
However Poitou's total lands cannot be used to determine the extent of Craven for he also held lands between the Ribble and the Mersey together with Amounderness.
After 1102 Roger rebelled against the King, so Henry I of England confiscated his lands and gave those in upper Wharfedale and upper Airedale to the House of Romille and those in Ribblesdale and around Gisburn to the House of Percy.[10] Sometime after Domesday Poitou had given Bowland to Robert de Lacy, the Baron of Pontefract. The king allowed him to keep Bowland and expanded his lands with the whole of Blackburnshire and part of Amounderness.[16] These lands formed the basis of the Honour of Clitheroe.
References
[edit]- ^ James, Alan G. (2019). "The Brittonic Language in the Old North A Guide to the Place-Name Evidence" (PDF). Scottish Placename Society. 2: 92. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
- ^ a b Hey 1986, p. 4.
- ^ Friar 2004, p. 357.
- ^ Palliser, D. M. (1922). "An introduction to the Yorkshire Domesday". Yorkshire Domesday. London: Alecto Historical Editions: 4–5.
- ^ Thorn, F. R. (1922). "Hundreds and Wapentakes". Yorkshire Domesday. London: Alecto Historical Editions: 55–60.
- ^ Roffe, D. R. (1991). "The Yorkshire Summary: a Domesday satellite". Northern History, A Review of the History of the North of England and the Borders. 27: 257.
- ^ a b Dr. Anne Williams and Prof G H Martin, ed. (1992). Domesday Book a Complete Translation. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-143994-5.
- ^ "St John's Newsholme: About Us". A Church Near You. Retrieved 3 July 2025. Newsholme near Oakworth has a unique church that forms part of a farmhouse.
- ^ Whitaker, Thomas Dunham (2012) [1805]. The History and Antiquities of the Deanery of Craven in the County of York (new ed.). London: British Library. pp. 8. ISBN 978-1-241-34269-2.
- ^ a b c Dalton, Paul (2002) [1994]. Conquest, Anarchy & Lordship: Yorkshire 1066–1154 (new ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-52464-4.
- ^ Henry Clifford Darby, Ian Stanley Maxwell (eds), 1962, The Domesday Geography of Northern England, Cambridge University Press, p.480
- ^ Hale, Henry S. (1874). The Norman People. And Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States of America. London: Henry S. King & Co. page 108 The Norman People Archive Org. Accessed 2013-6-8
- ^ Battle of Hastings Abbey and Battlefield English-Heritage Org. Retrieved 2013-6-7
- ^ Erneis du Buron Devon Mitchells com Retrieved 2013-6-8
- ^ K. S. B. Keats-Rohan. Domesday People: Domesday book
- ^ Farrer and Brownbill (1906). The Victoria History of the County of Lancaster Vol 1. pp. 282, 313–314.
Bibliography
[edit]- Friar, Stephen (2004). The Sutton Companion to Local History. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-2723-2.
- Hey, D. (1986). Yorkshire from AD 1000. London: Longman. ISBN 978-0-582-49211-0.
External links
[edit]
- The Domesday Book on The National Archives website. Search facilities are free of charge. Downloads are chargeable.
- Searchable index of landholders in 1066 and 1087, Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England (PASE) project.
