Lower Whitley in the Domesday Book (1086)

Lower Whitley appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, entered under the hundred of Agbrigg in Yorkshire.

Other Settlements in Agbrigg

• Ackton
• Almondbury
• Austonley
• Bradley
• Cartworth
• Crigglestone
• Crofton
• Dalton
• Emley
• Farnley [Tyas]
• Flockton
• Fulstone
• Golcar
• Hepworth

The Meaning of the Name

The name Lower Whitley is of Anglo-Saxon origin. Its final element derives from the Old English word lēah, a woodland clearing or glade. 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 clearing’.

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

Listed Buildings Near Lower Whitley

Historic England records 3 listed buildings within about a mile of Lower Whitley. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.

Grade II

• Church of St Mary and St Michael - 0.39 km
• Briestfield Wesleyan Methodist Church - 0.46 km
• Barn at Rear of Orchard Farm House - 0.56 km

Nearby Domesday Settlements

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

• Upper Denby - 1.4 km SE
• Thornhill - 2.2 km NE
• Lepton - 2.8 km SW
• Upper Hopton - 3.2 km W
• Flockton - 3.2 km S
• Mirfield - 3.6 km NW