Arnford appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, entered under the hundred of Craven in Yorkshire. The survey assessed Arnford at 5 carucates of taxable land.

At the time of the survey, Arnford supported a recorded population of 14 villagers, 1 smallholder, 5 slaves, working 9 ploughs between them.

The survey records Arnford’s value at 5 shillings in 1086. No pre-Conquest figure survives – not unusual in the North, where records were disrupted by the Harrying and by the patchy coverage of the survey.

Resources Recorded at Arnford (1086)

Mills: 1 mill (valued at 4d)
Meadow: 6 acres
Woodland: 3 * 1 furlongs

Other Settlements in Craven

The Meaning of the Name

The name Arnford is of Anglo-Saxon origin. Its final element derives from the Old English word ford, a river crossing. The first element is most likely a personal name or an early descriptive term, now difficult to recover with certainty. Taken together the name probably meant something close to ‘a ford’.

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

Listed Buildings Near Arnford

Historic England records 5 listed buildings within about a mile of Arnford. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.

Grade II*