Hessay in the Domesday Book (1086)

The 1086 Domesday survey records the settlement of Hessay, entered under the hundred of Ainsty in Yorkshire.

Other Settlements in Ainsty

• Acaster [Malbis]
• Acaster [Selby]
• Acomb
• Appleton [Roebuck]
• Askham [Bryan]
• Askham [Richard]
• Bickerton
• Bilbrough
• Bilton
• Bishopthorpe
• Bithen
• Bolton [Percy]
• Catterton
• Colton

The Meaning of the Name

The origin of the name Hessay 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 Hessay.

Listed Buildings Near Hessay

Historic England records 4 listed buildings within about a mile of Hessay. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.

Grade II

• Pear Tree Farmhouse - 0.25 km
• Croft Farmhouse - 0.4 km
• Boundary Post at Se 5303 5336 - 0.43 km
• The Manor House - 0.51 km

Hessay Today

Today Hessay lies within the administrative area of City of York, and the settlement recorded a population of 268 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 Hessay on Wikipedia .

Nearby Domesday Settlements

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

• Rufforth - 2.0 km S
• Scagglethorpe - 2.8 km NE
• Long Marston - 2.8 km SW
• Upper Poppleton - 3.2 km E
• Mortun - 3.6 km NE
• Overton - 3.6 km NE