Knapton is named in the Domesday Book, compiled by Norman commissioners in 1086, entered under the hundred of Toreshou in Yorkshire. The survey assessed Knapton at 12 carucates of taxable land.

At the time of the survey, Knapton supported a recorded population of 16 villagers, 14 smallholders, 6 freemanmen, working 7 ploughs between them.

By 1086 Knapton was worth 71.05 shillings, up from 31.2 shillings before the Conquest – in contrast to many Yorkshire neighbours whose valuations collapsed.

The survey lists 6 manors at Knapton under different lords. Splitting a single settlement between multiple tenants was common across the North – Saxon estates broken up and handed to William’s followers after 1066.

Resources Recorded at Knapton (1086)

Salthouses: 10
Meadow: 6 acres

Other Settlements in Toreshou

The Meaning of the Name

The name Knapton is of Anglo-Saxon origin. Its final element derives from the Old English word tūn, a farmstead or village. 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 farmstead’.

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

Listed Buildings Near Knapton

Historic England records 2 listed buildings within about a mile of Knapton. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.

Grade II