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
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
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 Norseþriðjungr 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][4]
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.[5][6][7]
Craven in the Domesday Book
In the Domesday Book of 1086, which lists the lands ascribed to various lords, some pages have a sub-heading of In Craven, suggesting that many places in north-central England had previously belonged to an extinct geopolitical entity.
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
Mostly in Airedale but also in Lonsdale for that was then considered part of Yorkshire.[8]
The Land of The Clamores of Yorkshire in Craven, Domesday Book folio 380
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.[10]
The Land of Hugh fitzBaldric in Craven, Domesday Book folio 327v
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.[12] All the rest of Hugh fitzBaldric's land were in East Yorkshire, and he was High Sheriff of Yorkshire 1069–1086.
The Land of Erneis du Buron in Craven, Domesday Book folio 327v
In 1066 a nephew of Ralph Tesson, Ernies de Buron, from Beuron near Mantes, Normandy[13] 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.[14] He settled in England 1068. The Domesday Book lists that he had seventy-two properties in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire.[15] In 1086 he succeeded Hugh fitz Baldric as High Sheriff of Yorkshire.[16] However between 1102 and 1118 his lands were confiscated by King Henry I and given to the House of Romille.[11]
The Land of Roger de Poitou in Yorkshire, Domesday Book folio 332
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.
↑ 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.
1 2 Dr. Anne Williams and Prof G H Martin, ed. (1992). Domesday Book a Complete Translation. Penguin Books. ISBN978-0-14-143994-5.
↑ "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. ISBN978-1-241-34269-2.
1 2 3 Dalton, Paul (2002) [1994]. Conquest, Anarchy & Lordship: Yorkshire 1066–1154 (newed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-52464-4.
↑ 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
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