Barden is named in the Domesday Book, compiled by Norman commissioners in 1086, entered under the hundred of Land of Count Alan in Yorkshire. The survey assessed Barden at 2 carucates of taxable land.

At the time of the survey, Barden supported a recorded population of 4 villagers, 2 smallholders, 5 slaves, working 5 ploughs between them.

Something went badly wrong here between the two surveys. Before 1066, Barden was worth 4 shillings; by 1086 that had dropped to 3 shillings – a fall of 25%. 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 Barden (1086)

Mills: 1 mill (valued at 5d)
Meadow: 5 ploughs
Woodland: 20 pigs

Other Settlements in Land of Count Alan

The Meaning of the Name

The origin of the name Barden 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 Barden.

Listed Buildings Near Barden

Historic England records 2 listed buildings within about a mile of Barden. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.

Grade II*

Old Hall - 0.31 km

Grade II

Barden Lane Farmhouse - 0.63 km

Barden Today

Today Barden lies within the administrative area of North Yorkshire, and the settlement recorded a population of 33 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 Barden on Wikipedia .