Melbourne in the Domesday Book (1086)

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

Other Settlements in Cave

• Aughton
• Drewton
• Ellerton
• Everthorpe
• Foggathorpe
• Gribthorpe
• Hotham
• Laytham
• Seaton [Ross]
• Thornton
• Yokefleet [Grange]
• [East] Cottingwith
• [High and Low] Hunsley
• [Kettle]thorpe

The Meaning of the Name

The origin of the name Melbourne 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 Melbourne.

Listed Buildings Near Melbourne

Historic England records 7 listed buildings within about a mile of Melbourne. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.

Grade II*

• Church of St Michael - 0.82 km

Grade II

• Pocklington Canal Church Bridge - 0.25 km
• Pocklington Canal Thornton Lock - 0.49 km
• The Beeches - 0.55 km
• Rose Lea - 0.61 km
• Church of Saint Monica - 0.65 km
• Stable Block at Melbourne Hall - 1.23 km

Melbourne Today

Today Melbourne lies within the administrative area of East Riding of Yorkshire, and the settlement recorded a population of 863 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 Melbourne on Wikipedia .

Nearby Domesday Settlements

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

• Thornton - 1.0 km N
• Waplington Hall - 2.8 km NE
• Allerthorpe - 3.0 km E
• Bielby - 3.2 km E
• Chetelestorp - 4.0 km W
• Seaton Ross - 4.2 km SE