Place:Arthington, West Riding of Yorkshire, England

Watchers
NameArthington
Alt namesArdintonsource: Domesday Book (1985) p 313
Hardinctonesource: Domesday Book (1985) p 313
TypeTownship, Civil parish
Coordinates53.885°N 1.576°W
Located inWest Riding of Yorkshire, England     ( - 1974)
Also located inWest Yorkshire, England     (1974 - )
Yorkshire, England    
See alsoAdel cum Eccup, West Riding of Yorkshire, Englandancient parish in which it was located
Skyrack Wapentake, West Riding of Yorkshire, Englandearly county division in which it was located
Wharfedale Rural, West Riding of Yorkshire, Englandrural district of which it was a part 1937-1974
Leeds (metropolitan borough), West Yorkshire, Englandmetropolitan borough of which it has been a part since 1974
the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Arthington (#3 on map) is a civil parish and a small village in Wharfedale, now within the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. According to the 2011 UK census, it had a population of 532 with Otley as its post town.

The village is a small collection of dwellings and farms along the A659 road (Arthington Lane) running from Pool in Wharfedale (#23) in the west to Harewood (not on map) in the east, and south of a section of the River Wharfe. Up Black Hill Road to the south is a working stone quarry.

History

Arthington was part of the estate of Aluuard of Northumbria, along with the ancient parish of Adel along with the hamlets of Burdon, Cookridge and Eccup, up until the Norman conquest of England. It was then given to the Count of Mortain (half brother of William the Conqueror). However, it had greatly reduced in value during the Conquest, falling from 30 shillings to 5, and much of the area was described as "waste".

It was in the 12th century that Arthington (or Ardington) as a family name was established, as vassals to the tenant in chief, the Paynel and later the Luterel family. Peter de Arthington donated lands at Arthington to Kirkstall Abbey which led to the establishment of a nunnery known as Arthington Priory. The site is now believed to be occupied by Nunnery Farm, with the main house dated 1585 built from the ruins. By this time the region had improved with more land under agriculture and more inhabitants. Arthington Hall was the home of the Arthington family from Norman times till the 18th century when it was taken over by the Sheepshank family who rebuilt in Italianate style and also paid for the church.

Image:Wharfedale 1917 with local UDs small.png


Governance

Arthington was originally a township in the ancient parish of Adel (#1) in the Skyrack Wapentake, one of the early subdivisions of the West Riding of Yorkshire. From 1894 until 1974 it was part of the Wharfedale Rural District.

In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, all urban and rural districts across England were abolished and counties were reorganized into metropolitan and non-metropolitan districts. Arthington joined the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in the new administrative county of West Yorkshire.

Research Tips

  • GENUKI on Arthington. GENUKI indexes only the ancient parishes. Townships that later became civil parishes are listed on a "supplementary page" following the page for the main parish. The articles only deal with events up until 1820.
  • The FamilySearch wiki for Yorkshire (all three ridings) has articles on all parishes--not just ancient parishes.
  • A Vision of Britain through Time on Arthington.
  • A Vision of Britain through Time provides links to maps of the West Riding, produced by the United Kingdom Ordnance Survey, illustrating the boundaries between the civil parishes and the rural districts at various dates. The location of individual settlements within the parishes is also shown. These maps all expand to a very large scale.
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Arthington. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.