Nesfield is a small village, north-west of

Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within ...

on the north bank of the

River Wharfe The River Wharfe ( ) is a river in Yorkshire, England originating within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. For much of its middle course it is the county boundary between West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. Its valley is known as Wharfedale. ...

, in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Nesfield with Langbar, in the county of

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, England. Historically in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, the village sits at the southern edge of the

Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty The Nidderdale National Landscape is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in North Yorkshire, England, bordering the Yorkshire Dales National Park to the east and south. It comprises most of Nidderdale itself, part of lower Wharfedale, the Wa ...

History

Nesfield is recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as belonging to Lord William Percy and as having two ploughlands. The name Nesfield derives from a mixture of

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

and

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

; ''Neates-feld'', which means ''Open land where cattle were kept''. The name has been recorded in different forms at least a dozen times, being ''Nacefeld'' in the Domesday Book, ''Nesfeld(e) in Qwhorfdale'' in the 15th century, and even ''Nesfeild'' (with the ''I'' and the ''E'' reversed) in the 17th century. However, the history of the settlement predates the Domesday Book as to the west of the village is the remains of ''Castleberg'', an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

fortified location. Many artefacts have been found on the mound including a copper key almost in length (surmised to be the key for gates to the Roman compound), urns and human bones. However, this is all conjecture and there is no evidence to support that Castleberg was part of the Roman Empire in the area, although Ilkley (

Olicana Ilkley Roman Fort is a Roman fort on the south bank of the River Wharfe, at the centre of the modern town of Ilkley, a Victorian spa town in West Yorkshire, England. Identification The traditional view is that ''Olicana'' is the fort at Ilkley, ...

), was known to have had a Roman settlement/camp. The site is above sea level, and is thought to have attracted early settlers as the ground around Castleberg falls away from the raised patch of land in all directions, so being naturally defensive. The village used to be in the township of Nesfield with Langbar, in the

wapentake A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and in Cumberland County in the British Colony of ...

of Claro, in what was the West Riding of Yorkshire. later, this became the

Wharfedale Rural District Wharfedale was a rural district in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1894 to 1974. It comprised the northern side of lower Wharfedale, the lower Washburn Valley and several parishes between Leeds and the River Wharfe. Until 1937 it also inc ...

, and since the Yorkshire boundary changes of 1974, the village is now in North Yorkshire (separated from West Yorkshire by the River Wharfe), and in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It used to be in the parish of Ilkley, but is now in the civil parish of Nesfield with Langbar, which at the 2011 Census had a population of 180. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the

Borough of Harrogate The Borough of Harrogate was a local government district with borough status in North Yorkshire, England, from 1974 to 2023. Its council was based in the town of Harrogate, but it also included surrounding settlements, including the cathedral ...

, it is now administered by the unitary

North Yorkshire Council North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the council has been a unitary authority, being a county coun ...

. In 2015, North Yorkshire County Council estimated the population to be 170. The stocks at the east end of the village date back to the 18th century and are now

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

. A church was consecrated in the village in August 1892 on land donated by the Duke of Devonshire, and was known as Christ Church, being able to seat 120 people. Due to a lack of attendance, it was demolished in 1955. Besides agriculture, the other main industry in the village was a bark mill, which used horse or donkey power to grind up the bark for use in tannery. This mill is believed to have only operated during the 19th century. A suspension bridge across the River Wharfe, erected in 1896, connects the village via West Hall to

Addingham Addingham (formerly Haddincham , Odingehem 1086)Mills, A. D. (2003). ', Encyclopedia.com is a village and civil parish in the City of Bradford West Yorkshire, in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated near the A65 road, A65, south-east ...

on the south side of the river.

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

{{Commons category-inline
Map of the village
Villages in North Yorkshire