FIELD SYSTEMS AND PLACE NAMES
OF OLD KNOTTINGLEY
SOME FACTS AND THEORIES
by TERRY SPENCER B.A.(Hons), Ph D.
INTRODUCTION :
BEGINNINGS :
DOMESDAY : PORT OF KNOTTINGLEY :
MANORIAL RE-ORGANISATION :
GAZETTEER
THE PORT OF KNOTTINGLEY:
The population remained small until the end of the twelfth century by
which time the general demographic surge which had occurred nationally
was accentuated in the area around Pontefract by the construction of the
Castle and the subsequent development of the town as the seat of the de
Lacy lordship. The developments exercised a considerable influence upon
the manorial vill at Knottingley, the most significant factor being the
decision to erect a water powered corn mill on the bank of the Aire. The
most suitable site for this construction was adjudged to be in the
middle of the demesne land on the north western side of the manor. There
is no extant record of the building of the mill and the earliest record
of its existence is dated 1218 by which date it was already well
established. The mill was most probably built within a few decades of
the possession of the manorial holding by Ilbert de Lacy and the
installation of Rannulf Grammaticus as his sub-tenant. (19)
The construction of a weir across the river in order to supply the
motive power for the mill wheel curtailed the movement of vessels beyond
that point. Henceforth all goods and materials required transhipment and
in consequence, the vill became an important staging point which rapidly
developed the status of an inland river port, being the prime point of
supply for Pontefract Castle and other areas of central Yorkshire.
The number of inhabitants of the vill naturally increased in consequence
of the manorial development and this expansion was accompanied by an
increase in the demand for peasant holdings held of the manorial lord in
return for service labour. By the fourteenth century the existent system
of land tenure was strained, necessitating the reorganisation of the
surrounding field system. An interesting glimpse of the manor is
afforded by the Poll Tax of 1378 which accesses the taxable land value
as 18s 6d, shared amongst 73 persons, the most prominent taxpayer being
one Betissa Bronne who kept a handmaid and a serving man and was amerced
in the sum of 6d. (20)
Terry Spencer
INTRODUCTION :
BEGINNINGS :
DOMESDAY : PORT OF KNOTTINGLEY :
MANORIAL RE-ORGANISATION :
GAZETTEER
<PREV
| NEXT>
|
