Aldwark is named in the Domesday Book, compiled by Norman commissioners in 1086, entered under the hundred of Bulford in Yorkshire. The survey assessed Aldwark at 30 carucates of taxable land.

At the time of the survey, Aldwark supported a recorded population of 69 villagers, 17 smallholders, 49 slaves, working 58 ploughs between them.

Something went badly wrong here between the two surveys. Before 1066, Aldwark was worth 38 shillings; by 1086 that had dropped to 33 shillings – a fall of 13%. Most Yorkshire villages that lost value on this scale were swept up in the Harrying of the North – William’s scorched-earth campaign of 1069–70.

Resources Recorded at Aldwark (1086)

Mills: 4 mills (valued at 18d)
Meadow: 10 acres
Woodland: 1 * 0.5 leagues

Other Settlements in Bulford

The Meaning of the Name

The origin of the name Aldwark is not securely established from its modern form alone; like many settlement names in the North it likely combines an Old English or Old Norse personal name with a landscape term.

Remarkably, the name has changed little since 1086, when the Domesday scribes wrote it as Aldwark.

Listed Buildings Near Aldwark

Historic England records 4 listed buildings within about a mile of Aldwark. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.

Grade II

Beechcroft Farm House - 0.11 km
Church of St Stephen - 0.2 km
Wall and Gateposts of Church of St Stephen, to Main Street - 0.21 km
Wood Holme Farmhouse - 0.32 km

Aldwark Today

Today Aldwark lies within the administrative area of Hambleton, and the settlement recorded a population of 194 at the 2021 census. Nine and a half centuries separate that figure from the small rural community the Domesday survey recorded here in 1086.

Read more about modern Aldwark on Wikipedia .