The settlement of Startforth is recorded in William I’s Domesday survey of 1086, entered under the hundred of Land of Count Alan in Yorkshire.

Other Settlements in Land of Count Alan

The Meaning of the Name

The name Startforth 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 Startforth.

Listed Buildings Near Startforth

Historic England records 221 listed buildings within about a mile of Startforth. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.

Grade II

Startforth Hall - 0.33 km
Stable Block North of Startforth Hall - 0.34 km
Outbuildings and Yard Walls to North West of Startforth Hall - 0.35 km
The Manor House - 0.39 km
Entrance Screen to Startforth Hall - 0.39 km
Front Garden Walls and Gatepiers to Startforth House East and West - 0.41 km
Startforth House East Startforth House West - 0.42 km
Old Bridge Over Thorsgill Beck - 0.42 km
Lych Gate to Church of Holy Trinity - 0.44 km
Angel Headstone 4 Metres South West of Organ Chamber of Church of Holy Trinity - 0.46 km
Todman Headstone 11 Metres South of Porch of Church of Holy Trinity - 0.46 km
Church of Holy Trinity - 0.48 km
Footbridge Over River Tees (That Part in Barnard Castle Civil Parish) - 0.58 km
Thorngate Mill - 0.6 km
Mill Court - 0.61 km
Dovecote and Outbuilding to West of West Mews - 0.63 km
Tees House - 0.63 km
Former Factory Building East of Mill Court - 0.63 km
31, Thorngate - 0.64 km
24-34, Thorngate - 0.64 km
Low Startforth Hall Low Startforth Hall East - 0.64 km
Kirby House - 0.65 km
Front Walls and Gate Piers to Low Startforth Hall and Low Startforth Hall East - 0.66 km
25, Thorngate - 0.66 km

…and 197 more listed structures in the area.

Scheduled Monuments Near Startforth

Scheduled monuments are nationally important archaeological sites given legal protection. 4 lie within roughly a mile of Startforth:

Barnard Castle Bridge - 0.93 km
Barnard Castle: ringwork, shell keep castle, chapel and dovecote - 0.97 km
Deepdale Bridge - 1.17 km
Carved rock 160m north west of Abbey Farm - 1.51 km

Startforth Today

Today Startforth lies within the administrative area of County Durham, and the settlement recorded a population of 1,391 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 Startforth on Wikipedia .