Kilnsey in the Domesday Book (1086)

The settlement of Kilnsey is recorded in William I’s Domesday survey of 1086, entered under the hundred of Craven in Yorkshire. The survey assessed Kilnsey at 92.4 carucates of taxable land.

At the time of the survey, Kilnsey supported a recorded population of 9 villagers, 22 smallholders, 11 freemanmen, working 13 ploughs between them.

The valuation dropped between 1066 and 1086. Before 1066, Kilnsey was worth 60 shillings; by 1086 that had dropped to 15 shillings – a fall of 75%. 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 Kilnsey (1086)

• Churches: 2
• Woodland: 3 * 3 furlongs & 6 * 4 leagues mixed measures

Other Settlements in Craven

• Addingham
• Airton
• Anley
• Appletreewick
• Arncliffe
• Arnford
• Barnoldswick
• Bashall [Eaves]
• Battersby [Barn]
• Beamsley
• Birkby [Hall]
• Bogeuurde
• Bolton [Abbey]
• Bolton [by Bowland]

The Meaning of the Name

The origin of the name Kilnsey 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 Kilnsey.

Listed Buildings Near Kilnsey

Historic England records 19 listed buildings within about a mile of Kilnsey. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.

Grade II*

• Kilnsey Old Hall - 0.46 km

Grade II

• Angler’s Cottage - 0.34 km
• Conistone Bridge Over River Wharfe - 0.35 km
• Crag Cottage - 0.43 km
• Gatehouse to Kilnsey Old Hall - 0.44 km
• Chapel North West of Kilnsey Old Hall - 0.47 km
• Renard Close Laithe, 450 Metres to the Sw of Kilnsey Village - 0.47 km
• Topham’s Farmhouse - 0.47 km
• Renshaw Farm Cottage - 0.49 km
• Renshaw Farmhouse - 0.49 km
• Church of St Mary - 0.5 km
• K6 telephone kiosk, Conistone - 0.5 km
• Two Chest Tombs Approximately 5 Metres South of the Church of St Mary - 0.51 km
• Maypole Cottage, Formerly Conistone Post Office - 0.51 km
• Barn at Sd 9813 6744 - 0.54 km
• Hemplands Farmhouse - 0.58 km
• The Old Hall With Boundary Wall to Front and Old Hall Cottage - 0.59 km
• Chapel House - 0.89 km
• Old Northcote Farmhouse - 1.06 km

Scheduled Monuments Near Kilnsey

Scheduled monuments are nationally important archaeological sites given legal protection. 5 lie within roughly a mile of Kilnsey:

• Enclosure S of Bull Scar - 1.34 km
• Hut circle, farm site and enclosures 340yds (310m) NE of Wassa Hill - 1.5 km
• Enclosures 600yds (550m) SE of Wassa Hill - 1.52 km
• Settlement sites NW of Kilnsey - 1.57 km
• Cairn on Haw Hill - 1.6 km

Kilnsey Today

Today Kilnsey lies within the administrative area of Conistone with Kilnsey.

Read more about modern Kilnsey on Wikipedia .

Nearby Domesday Settlements

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

• Conistone - 1.0 km E
• Heuuorde - 1.0 km E
• Heuurde - 1.0 km E
• Hawkswick - 3.6 km NW
• Threshfield - 4.1 km S
• Grassington - 4.2 km SE