Hincaster in the Domesday Book (1086)

The settlement of Hincaster is recorded in William I’s Domesday survey of 1086, entered under the hundred of Amounderness in Yorkshire.

Other Settlements in Amounderness

• Aighton
• Aldcliffe
• Aldingham
• Arkholme
• Aschebi
• Ashton [Hall]
• Ashton [on Ribble]
• Austwick
• Barbon
• Bardsea
• Bare
• Barnoldswick
• Barton
• Beetham

The Meaning of the Name

The name Hincaster is of Anglo-Saxon origin. Its final element derives from the Old English word ceaster (from Latin castra), a Roman fort or walled town. 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 Roman fort’.

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

Listed Buildings Near Hincaster

Historic England records 18 listed buildings within about a mile of Hincaster. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.

Grade I

• Levens Hall - 1.22 km

Grade II*

• Hincaster Hall - 0.36 km
• Old Stables Approximately 50 Metres North East of Levens Hall, Cottages Attached to North West and South; and Gate Piers Attached to North East Corner and Walls - 1.21 km

Grade II

• Barn to North of Hincaster Hall - 0.39 km
• High Barns Farmhouse - 0.62 km
• Canal Cottage - 0.63 km
• West Portal to Hincaster Tunnel - 0.69 km
• Accommodation Bridge Over Sunken Horse Path 100 Yds East-south-east of West Portal of Hincaster Tunnel - 0.72 km
• Railway Arch Over Sunken Horse Path and Retaining Walls to South West of East Portal in Hincaster Tunnel - 0.91 km
• Boundary Stone at the Junction of White Lane With the Woodhouse to Viver Road Approximately 300 Yards North of Woodhouse - 0.92 km
• East Portal to Hincaster Tunnel and Accommodation Bridge Over Sunken Horse Path - 0.93 km
• Boundary Stone Opposite Leasgill Cottage - 1.0 km
• Garden Feature, Known As Smoke House, Approximately 200 Metres South East of Levens Hall - 1.06 km
• Gatepiers - 1.22 km
• Levens Bridge Over River Kent - 1.23 km
• Ha Ha Wall Approximately 60 Metres South South West of Levens Hall - 1.24 km
• Walls, Gate Piers and Gates Approximately 80 Metres Long, Parallel To, and 70 Metres North of Entrance Elevation of Levens Hall - 1.26 km
• Potting Shed With Attached Stores at Right Angles and Gates at North East Corner, Immediately South West of Levens Hall - 1.26 km

Scheduled Monuments Near Hincaster

Scheduled monuments are nationally important archaeological sites given legal protection. 3 lie within roughly a mile of Hincaster:

• Hincaster Tunnel horse path - 0.78 km
• Levens Bridge - 1.23 km
• Levens Park, round barrows and medieval settlements, including Temple of Diana - 1.31 km

Hincaster Today

Today Hincaster lies within the administrative area of South Lakeland, and the settlement recorded a population of 200 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 Hincaster on Wikipedia .

Nearby Domesday Settlements

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

• Heversham Head - 1.0 km S
• Stainton - 2.2 km NE
• Levens - 2.8 km NW
• Preston Richard - 3.0 km E
• Preston Patrick - 4.1 km E
• Farleton - 4.2 km SE