West Bradford in the Domesday Book (1086)

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

Other Settlements in Craven

• Addingham
• Airton
• Anley
• Appletreewick
• Arncliffe
• Arnford
• Barnoldswick
• Bashall [Eaves]
• Battersby [Barn]
• Beamsley
• Birkby [Hall]
• Bogeuurde
• Bolton [Abbey]
• Bolton [by Bowland]

The Meaning of the Name

The name West Bradford 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 West Bradford.

Listed Buildings Near West Bradford

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

Grade II

• West Bradford Bridge - 0.37 km
• Pillings - 0.39 km
• Halsteads Farmhouse - 0.43 km
• The Three Millstones - 0.45 km
• Horrocksford Hall Barn - 0.6 km
• Lower West Clough Farmhouse - 0.83 km
• Eaves Hall - 0.84 km
• Lane Side - 1.05 km
• Eaves House Cottage and Barn Adjoining to East - 1.18 km

West Bradford Today

Today West Bradford lies within the administrative area of Ribble Valley, and the settlement recorded a population of 881 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 West Bradford on Wikipedia .

Nearby Domesday Settlements

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

• Grindleton - 2.2 km NE
• Waddington - 2.2 km SW
• Bashall Eaves - 3.6 km SW
• Pendleton - 5.1 km S
• Rimington - 6.1 km E
• Bolton by Bowland - 6.4 km NE