Sproatley in the Domesday Book (1086)

Sproatley appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, entered under the hundred of Holderness [Middle Hundred] in Yorkshire.

Other Settlements in Holderness [Middle Hundred]

• Aldbrough
• Benningholme [Hall]
• Bewick [Hall]
• Bilton
• Burton [Constable]
• Burton [Pidsea]
• Conis[ton]
• Danthorpe
• Dowthorpe [Hall]
• Drypool
• Ellerby
• Elstronwick
• Eske
• Etherdwick

The Meaning of the Name

The name Sproatley 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 Sproatley.

Listed Buildings Near Sproatley

Historic England records 9 listed buildings within about a mile of Sproatley. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.

Grade II

• Cross Base and Cross Fragment 5 Metres South of South East Quoin of Church of Saint Swiyhin - 0.14 km
• Church of Saint Swithin - 0.15 km
• War Memorial - 0.35 km
• Police Station - 0.38 km
• House Opposite Constable Arms - 0.4 km
• The Rise - 0.41 km
• Scott’s House - 0.41 km
• Constable Arms Public House - 0.43 km
• Lodge Farmhouse - 0.82 km

Sproatley Today

Today Sproatley lies within the administrative area of East Riding of Yorkshire, and the settlement recorded a population of 1,211 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 Sproatley on Wikipedia .

Nearby Domesday Settlements

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

• Thirtleby - 2.0 km W
• Wyton - 2.2 km SW
• Lelley Dyke - 2.2 km SE
• Burton Constable - 2.2 km NW
• Fostun - 3.0 km E
• Fostune - 3.0 km E