Read up on the history of Garforth.
* Click here for latest Garforth and Swillington news.Early beginningsNo one knows for certain when a settlement first developed at Garforth. The Magnesian Limestone to the east of Leeds is rich farming land and aerial photographs have shown that the area was intensively cultivated by the Roman period. Ermine Street, the Roman equivalent of the A1 is only a few miles away and produce from the region could easily be taken to Castleford, York and other Roman towns. However, no trace of a Roman village has been found but the presence of a villa is suspected to the north of Garforth itself.
Anglo-Saxon settlementThe name Garforth seems to derive from two Anglo-Saxon words meaning 'ford by a triangular piece of land'. It is therefore possible that the origins of Garforth arise during the Anglo-Saxon occupation of the area after it had been annexed by the Kingdom of Northumbria in AD 617. An indication of what this settlement might have been like comes from excavations carried out at Parlington Hollins in advance of the construction of the M1-A1 Link road. The archaeologists found two 'sunken floored buildings'. This a typical type of Anglo-Saxon house in which a pit was dug below where a new house is being erected. This is then planked over and can serve an as a type of cellar. In some place the excavation can be quite deep, almost the size of a modern cellar, but at Parlington Hollins they were only 0.20m deep. These buildings were quite widely separated. This suggests, not a village as we would recognize it toady, with regular streets and rows of house, but a more loosely arranged community with houses dotted here and there over the landscape. Other stray Anglo-Saxon finds have also come from Garforth. These have included fragments of pottery and an ornamental strap-end (a metal terminal to which the ends of a woven belt were attached to prevent it fraying). A fragment of Anglo-Saxon cross was once visible in the churchyard at Garforth, but this now seems to have vanished.
Domesday GarforthThe first detailed description of Garforth comes in the Domesday Survey compiled for William the Conqueror in 1086. William's surveyors found that the manor of Garforth was half a league (1.5 miles) long and half a league wide. It had a church and a priest, 4 villagers and 1 smallholder. As Domesday is a tax document, only the heads of families were counted. This means that this figure rather underestimates the population of the village. However, even allowing for each villager having a spouse and two or three children the population must still have been small.
After the Norman Conquest the manor was given to Illbert de Lacy. In 1086 it was worth 30 shillings but before the Conquest it had been worth 60 shillings. This lowering of the value of the manor is possibly a result of the scorched earth policy with which William dealt with a northern rebellion early on in his reign. Garforth was probably lucky. The Harrowing of the North, as it became known, left may West Yorkshire villages entirely 'waste' (unprofitable).
Slight traces of the medieval field system can be seen as ridge and furrow in grassed over areas such as Garforth golf course. Medieval fields were ploughed in such a way as to form long banks or ridges which were further heightened by digging. When areas like this were made into parkland in the 17th and 18th centuries they were just left to grass over giving the landscape a characteristic corrugated effect.
St Mary's ChurchThe present church at Garforth is not the one mentioned in Domesday, but a building of the mid 1840s. Old illustrations show a small building with a west tower, nave and chancel. This could be a rebuild or redevelopment of the Domesday church, but is more likely to be 15th-century work. Some fragments of the old building remain in the churchyard along with two medieval grave slabs. However, many of the architectural fragments were taken away by the Gascoigne family to build a grotto in Parlington Park.
Modern Garforth From the mid 1600s, the Gascoigne's developed their mining interests in and around Garforth. With the advent of the railway Garforth became the bustling little town which we see today, transformed by industry from the quiet village of earlier years.
* The West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service maintains the West Yorkshire Historic Environment Record, a catalogue of archaeological sites, find spots, and historic landscapes and buildings throughout the region. These records are available for consultation by members of the public at our offices in Wakefield.
To make an appointment to do so, email:
wyher@wyjs.org.uk or telephone (01924) 306797.
* There's also lots of information about the archaeology and history of West Yorkshire on the WYAAS website at:
www.archaeology.wyjs.org.uk* Click here to sign up to free news and sport email alerts from Garforth Today.* Click here for latest Garforth Arts Festival news.* Click here to become a fan of Garforth Today on Facebook.* Click here to follow Garforth Today on Twitter.* Click here for Garforth & Swillington's Community Directory, where you will find basic information on a wide range of local community groups and organisations.* Click here to sign our Garforth ex-pats map.* Click here for latest Garforth Town news.* Click here for latest sport in Garforth & Swillington.
