Draughton appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, entered under the hundred of Craven in Yorkshire. The survey assessed Draughton at 20 carucates of taxable land.

At the time of the survey, Draughton supported a recorded population of 17 villagers, 15 slaves, working 13 ploughs between them.

By 1086 Draughton was worth 25 shillings, up from 20 shillings before the Conquest – one of the few settlements in the area to hold its value through the upheaval.

Resources Recorded at Draughton (1086)

Mills: 1 mill (valued at 1 shilling)
Churches: 1

Other Settlements in Craven

The Meaning of the Name

The name Draughton is of Anglo-Saxon origin. Its final element derives from the Old English word tūn, a farmstead or village. 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 farmstead’.

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

Listed Buildings Near Draughton

Historic England records 7 listed buildings within about a mile of Draughton. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.

Grade II

Milestone - 0.14 km
Holly Cottage - 0.26 km
Manor House and Manor Cottage - 0.28 km
Howgill House - 0.32 km
Wheelam Kiln - 0.33 km
Boundary Stone - 0.36 km
Boundary Stone - 1.18 km

Draughton Today

Today Draughton lies within the administrative area of North Yorkshire, and the settlement recorded a population of 260 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 Draughton on Wikipedia .