Graveship ( ang, grafansċip) was a subdivision of a medieval estate each was under a grave who was selected every year. An example is the manor of

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

, which was managed with 12 graveships. The OED defines a graveship as: "In the West Riding of Yorkshire: a district, in some instances a subdivision of a large parish, in others comprising a number of parishes; so called as having formerly been administered by a grave or a body of graves."

Grave

The term has ancient origins, Morehouse in "The History and Topography of the Parish of Kirkburton and of the Graveship of Holme" defines Grave (prepositus in Latin deeds) as probably derived from the Anglo-Saxon Lenere or the German

Graf (feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is "coun ...

(Middle-German ''grave'') and in that sense means an officer, whose duty it was to collect the lord’s rents and/or execute administrative orders in the graveship. In most of England, the official would have been termed a reeve but in the manor of Wakefield, he was termed a grave and was selected at the Michaelmas Great Court Leet by four sworn men of the graveship, at which point either the grave or a designated deputy took an oath of service.

List of Graveships of the Manor of Wakefield

Alverthorpe Alverthorpe is a suburb of, and former village in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. History After the start of the Industrial Revolution woollen and worsted yarns were spun and woollen and worsted cloth woven in the mills and factories that w ...

Hipperholme Hipperholme is a village in West Yorkshire, England, located between the towns of Halifax and Brighouse in the Hipperholme and Lightcliffe ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 11,3 ...

* Holme *

Horbury Horbury is a town in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated north of the River Calder about three miles (5 km) south west of Wakefield and two miles (3 km) to the ...

Ossett Ossett is a market town in the City of Wakefield metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated between Dewsbury, Horbury and Wakefield. At the 2011 Census, the population was ...

Rastrick Rastrick is a village in the county of West Yorkshire, England, between Halifax, 5 miles (8 km) north-east and Huddersfield, 4 miles (7 km) south. The population of the Calderdale Civil Ward at the 2011 census was 11,351. It is perhaps best ...

Sandal Sandals are an open type of footwear, consisting of a sole held to the wearer's foot by straps going over the instep and around the ankle. Sandals can also have a heel. While the distinction between sandals and other types of footwear can some ...

Scammonden Scammonden or Dean Head was a village close to Huddersfield, in the Dean Head Valley, England, before the valley was flooded to create Scammonden Reservoir in the 1960s. The M62 motorway crosses the dam wall and then passes through a cutting to t ...

* Sowerby *

Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

* Thornes *

List of other Graveships

Howgrave Howgrave is a civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It is a very small parish, with an area of only and an estimated population in 2014 of only 10. There is no modern village in the parish. The site of the de ...

Notes, citations, and references

Notes

Citations

References

'graveship'
Yorkshire Historical Dictionary. Accessed 12-4-2020. *
Map of Wakefield Manor
in Wakefield Manor Court Rolls, v.1 p. 26 * * Medieval England Anglo-Saxon England {{England-hist-stub