Spofforth is named in the Domesday Book, compiled by Norman commissioners in 1086, entered under the hundred of Burghshire in Yorkshire. The survey assessed Spofforth at 2.0 carucates of taxable land.

At the time of the survey, Spofforth supported a recorded population of 1 villager, 4 smallholders, 24 freemanmen, working 6 ploughs between them.

By 1086 Spofforth was worth 5.51 shillings, up from 2 shillings before the Conquest – in contrast to many Yorkshire neighbours whose valuations collapsed.

The survey lists 2 manors at Spofforth 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 Spofforth (1086)

Churches: 0
Cattle: 4
Pigs: 22
Sheep: 40
Horses (cobs): 1
Meadow: 4 acres

Other Settlements in Burghshire

The Meaning of the Name

The name Spofforth is of Anglo-Saxon origin. Its final element derives from the Old English word ford, a river crossing. 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 ford’.

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

Listed Buildings Near Spofforth

Historic England records 16 listed buildings within about a mile of Spofforth. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.

Grade II*