Givendale in the Domesday Book (1086)

Givendale appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, entered under the hundred of Hallikeld in Yorkshire.

Other Settlements in Hallikeld

• Brampton [Hall]
• Caldeuuelle
• Cundall
• Dishforth
• Ellenthorpe [Hall]
• Hashundebi
• Holme
• Howgrave
• Hutton [Conyers]
• Kirby [Hill]
• Leckby [Palace]
• Markington
• Milby
• Norton [Conyers]

The Meaning of the Name

The name Givendale is of Scandinavian origin. Its final element derives from the Old Norse word dalr, a valley. 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 valley’.

Names of this type are a fingerprint of Scandinavian settlement: they cluster across the old Danelaw, where Norse-speaking settlers renamed or founded villages from the late 9th century onward.

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

Listed Buildings Near Givendale

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

Grade II

• Hewick Bridge Over River Ure - 0.83 km
• Gates, Gate Piers and Boundary Wall to Manor House - 1.17 km
• Manor House - 1.18 km
• Church of Saint Michael - 1.24 km
• Littlethorpe House - 1.26 km

Givendale Today

Today Givendale lies within the administrative area of Harrogate, and the settlement recorded a population of 16 at the 2021 census. Nine and a half centuries separate that figure from the small rural community the Domesday survey recorded here in 1086.

Nearby Domesday Settlements

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

• Littlethorpe - 1.0 km W
• Copt Hewick - 1.0 km N
• Suthauuic - 1.0 km N
• Sutheuuic - 1.0 km N
• Bridge Hewick - 2.2 km NE
• Hashundebi - 2.2 km NW