Place:Campsall, West Riding of Yorkshire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Campsall is a village to the north-west of Askern. Campsall is the central village in the former civil parish located in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The parish also included the settlements of Norton (or North settlement) and Sutton (or South settlement), which are to the north and south respectively. In 1938 Norton became the name of the civil parish. The Parish is situated on the “Magnesian Limestone Belt”, a landscape feature formed by a narrow north-south trending escarpment. The Magnesian Limestone Belt is typified by well-drained and fertile soils which were ideal for agriculture and the establishment of settlements like Campsall. Prior to the industrial revolution, the area to the east was occupied by the inaccessible and waterlogged marshes of the Humberhead Levels, whilst to the west was the Barnsdale Forest, an area associated with the legend of Robin Hood and various outlaws and bandits who preyed upon travellers on the Great North Road.

Following the Conquest a large Norman church was built out of local stone to serve the local population who were engaged with agricultural and rural employment during the mediaeval period. During this time Campsall was rapidly growing in importance and was granted a Royal Charter in 1294 entitling it to a weekly Thursday market and an annual four-day fair. These had ceased by 1627. A public house, the Ring of Bells (now called the Old Bells) was opened near the church and this pub is believed to be one of the oldest in Yorkshire.

During the 18th century the village was dominated by the landed gentry. At opposite ends of the village, the Bacon-Franks constructed Campsall Hall and the Cooke-Yarboroughs built Campsmount. The villagers were still mostly employed with farming and working on the two estates and even the establishment of nearby Askern Colliery in 1910 had little impact on the work force of Campsall.

It was not until the 1950s that major changes began to affect the village. During this time the Bacon-Franks abandoned Campsall Hall. From 1956 the local authority and the National Coal Board developed a large area of housing in Campsall Park and Campsall Hall was converted into flats until 1986 when it was demolished. The Cooke-Yarboroughs left Campsmount in the late 1930s and the building was used as a military hospital until demolition in the 1950s. A private housing estate was built during the 1970s in the grounds of Campsmount Park.

Today Campsall has become established as a village of two parts. There is the old village near the church which still retains some of its rural charm, its cottages occupied by commuters who work in Leeds, Sheffield, Pontefract and Doncaster. There is also the newer part of Campsall formed in the 1950s from the Council and NCB [National Coal Board] housing projects.

Historically, Campsall was an ecclesiastical parish in the wapentake of Osgoldcross. From 1894 until 1974, Tanshelf was located in Doncaster Rural District.

Research Tips

• GENUKI on Campsall. The GENUKI page gives numerous references to local bodies providing genealogical assistance.
• The FamilySearch wiki on the ecclesiastical parish of Campsall provides a list of useful resources for the local area.
• A Vision of Britain through Time on Campsall.
• A Vision of Britain through Time also provides links to three maps for what is now South Yorkshire, produced by the United Kingdom Ordnance Survey, illustrating the boundaries between the civil parishes and the rural districts at various dates. These maps all blow up to a scale that will illustrate small villages and large farms or estates.

• Ordnance Survey West Riding 1888. The "Sanitary Districts (which preceded the rural districts) for the whole of the West Riding.
• Ordnance Survey West Riding South 1900. The rural and urban districts, not long after their introduction. (the southern part of Bradford, the southern part of Leeds, the southern part of Tadcaster Rural District, the southern part of Selby, Goole Rural District, and all the divisions of Halifax, Huddersfield, Wakefield, Doncaster, Barnsley, Rotherham and Sheffield)
• Ordnance Survey West Riding 1944. The urban and rural districts of the whole of the West Riding after the revisions of 1935.