Elmswell in the Domesday Book (1086)

The 1086 Domesday survey records the settlement of Elmswell, entered under the hundred of Torbar in Yorkshire.

Other Settlements in Torbar

• Argam
• Brigham
• Burton [Fleming]
• Elestolf
• Estolf
• Folkton
• Fordon
• Foston [on the Wolds]
• Garton [on the Wolds]
• Gembling
• Hunmanby
• Ledemare
• Muston
• Nafferton

The Meaning of the Name

The name Elmswell is of Anglo-Saxon origin. Its final element derives from the Old English word wella, a spring or stream. 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 spring’.

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

Listed Buildings Near Elmswell

Historic England records 1 listed building within about a mile of Elmswell. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.

Grade II*

• Elmswell Old Hall - 0.38 km

Scheduled Monuments Near Elmswell

Scheduled monuments are nationally important archaeological sites given legal protection. 2 lie within roughly a mile of Elmswell:

• Western bowl barrow of a pair, 310m SSE of Springwell Farm - 0.52 km
• Eastern bowl barrow of a pair, 350m south east of Springwell Farm - 0.56 km

Elmswell Today

Today Elmswell lies within the administrative area of Garton-on-the-Wolds.

Read more about modern Elmswell on Wikipedia .

Nearby Domesday Settlements

Other places recorded in the 1086 survey within a few miles:

• Little Driffield - 1.4 km SE
• Garton on the Wolds - 1.4 km NW
• Great Kendale - 2.8 km NE
• Kelleythorpe - 2.8 km SE
• Eastburn - 3.0 km S
• Great Driffield - 3.2 km E