Marton in the Domesday Book (1086)

Marton appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, entered under the hundred of Burghshire in Yorkshire. The survey assessed Marton at 10 carucates of taxable land.

At the time of the survey, Marton supported a recorded population of 6 villagers, 10 smallholders, 3 slaves, working 6 ploughs between them.

The numbers record a sharp fall. Before 1066, Marton was worth 10 shillings; by 1086 that had dropped to 3.5 shillings – a fall of 65%. 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.

The survey lists 2 manors at Marton 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 Marton (1086)

• Mills: 2 mills (valued at 10d)
• Meadow: 5 ploughs

Other Settlements in Burghshire

• Addlethorpe
• Aismunderby
• Aldfield
• Allerton [Mauleverer]
• Arkendale
• Askwith
• Azerley
• Barrowby [Grange]
• Beckwith [House]
• Besthaim
• Bestham
• Bewerley
• Bilton
• Birstwith

The Meaning of the Name

The name Marton 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 Marton.

Listed Buildings Near Marton

Historic England records 10 listed buildings within about a mile of Marton. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.

Grade II

• Christ Church - 0.32 km
• Orchard Cottage - 0.36 km
• Front Garden Wall of Dew Farmhouse - 0.36 km
• Dew House - 0.36 km
• Peach Tree Farmhouse - 0.45 km
• Punch Bowl Inn - 0.51 km
• Corner House - 0.8 km
• Majestic House - 0.8 km
• Prospect Farmhouse - 0.91 km
• Beck Farmhouse - 0.93 km

Marton Today

Today Marton lies within the administrative area of Marton cum Grafton, and the settlement recorded a population of 503 at recent figures. Nine and a half centuries separate that figure from the small rural community the Domesday survey recorded here in 1086.

Read more about modern Marton on Wikipedia .

Nearby Domesday Settlements

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

• Grafton - 1.0 km N
• Branton Green - 3.0 km E
• Lower and Upper Dunsforth - 3.2 km E
• Great Ouseburn - 3.2 km E
• Arkendale - 3.6 km SW
• Little Ouseburn - 3.6 km SE