Fingall 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 Fingall at 5 carucates of taxable land.

At the time of the survey, Fingall supported a recorded population of 26 villagers, 7 smallholders, working 9 ploughs between them.

Something went badly wrong here between the two surveys. Before 1066, Fingall was worth 6 shillings; by 1086 that had dropped to 5 shillings – a fall of 16%. 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 Fingall (1086)

Mills: 1 mill (valued at 15d)
Fisheries: 3
Meadow: 10 * 10 furlongs

Other Settlements in Land of Count Alan

The Meaning of the Name

The origin of the name Fingall 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 Fingall.

Listed Buildings Near Fingall

Historic England records 13 listed buildings within about a mile of Fingall. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.

Grade II*

Church of St Andrew - 0.83 km

Grade II

Park Cottage - 0.48 km
Queen’s Head - 0.5 km
The Firkers - 0.52 km
Cricket Cottage - 0.54 km
Newton Cottage - 0.57 km
Manor House - 0.58 km
Gate Piers - 0.6 km
Chest Tomb of Matthew Edwards Approximately 6 Metres South West of South West Corner of Church of St Andrew - 0.81 km
Naitby Memorial Approximately 10 Metres South West of Church of St Andrew - 0.81 km
Medieval Grave Cover Approximately 8 Metres South of Priest’s Door of Church of St Andrew - 0.82 km
Leeming Beck Bridge - 0.92 km
Mile Post - 1.22 km

Fingall Today

Today Fingall lies within the administrative area of Richmondshire, and the settlement recorded a population of 166 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 Finghall on Wikipedia .