Location: Aberford, Yorkshire
Places / associated places: Aberford, Yorkshire
Location & Extent
GPS Location & Recorded Land Areas
Representative GPS point: 53.8286, -1.3432
Identity: confirmed — The registry record, location at Aberford in the West Riding of Yorkshire, authority reference GB/NNAF/M170152, and associated historical evidence consistently identify the medieval manor of Aberford held by the Gramary family and later included in the Gascoigne estate. The 1251, 1307 and 1335 market-and-fair grants were explicitly to be held at the manor of Aberford.
Representative point: 53.8286, -1.3432
Basis: settlement_proxy — Aberford Market Cross beside the south gate of St Ricarius' Church. The market and fair were granted to be held at the manor of Aberford, and the documented market site provides the best surviving geographic proxy for the medieval manorial and commercial centre. No securely identified medieval manor-house site has been established.
Point confidence: medium
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: Medieval to early modern; no securely reconstructable perimeter identified
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The available evidence establishes the manor's association with Aberford village, its manorial court or estate, market and fair, and later incorporation into the wider Gascoigne estate centred on Parlington. It does not provide a documented manor boundary, estate map, mapped rental, enclosure plan, tithe plan, or other source sufficient to distinguish the historical manorial extent from the parish, township, or later Gascoigne estate. A polygon would therefore be speculative.
Sources:
- The National Archives Discovery: Aberford Manor, F244620: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F244620 — Registry identity, authority reference, historical description, and associated manor-record context.
- Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs to 1516: Yorkshire, Aberford: https://archives.history.ac.uk/gazetteer/yorks.html — Records the 1251 grant of the Wednesday market and fair to Richard de Grammayr, the 1307 grant to Hugh Despenser, and the 1335 grant to William de Gramary, each to be held at the manor.
- Market Cross beside South Gate to Church of St Ricarius, Aberford, Historic England list entry 1135611: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1135611 — Provides the documented market-cross location at National Grid Reference SE 43326 37126, corresponding approximately to 53.8286, -1.3432.
- The Aberford and District Parish Plan: https://www.aberford-pc.gov.uk/docs/Masterplan/Archive%20Documents/Masterplan%202003/2003%20Aberford%20Parish%20Plan.pdf — Summarizes the 1166 Gramary holding of Aberford and the 1251 market and fair grant, and describes the historical connection between Aberford, Parlington, and the Gascoigne estate.
- The Gascoigne Family, c. 1309-1592: Gentry and Identity: https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/20459/1/C.%20Bovis%2C%20The%20Gascoigne%20Family%20%28PhD%2C%202017%29.pdf — Supports the later Gascoigne estate context, including the inclusion of Aberford among John Gascoigne's estates by his death in 1557.
- Parlington Estate, Historic England list entry 1447854: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1447854 — Documents Parlington as the later Gascoigne estate centre near Aberford and describes the estate's historical relationship with Aberford and its surrounding land.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- The representative point is a historically supported village-centre proxy, not a confirmed manor-house coordinate.
- The historical territorial extent of Aberford Manor remains insufficiently documented for a defensible polygon.
- The later Gascoigne Parlington estate must not be treated as identical to the medieval manorial boundary.
About the Manor
Aberford Manor was the principal medieval manor of Aberford in the West Riding of Yorkshire, associated with the village, its manor court or manorial estate, and the market and fair granted by Henry III in 1251. The manor is recorded in 12th- and 13th-century sources in the hands of the Gramary family. A royal grant of the market and fair to Hugh le Despenser in 1307 indicates a temporary change or interruption in the Gramary holding, while a further grant to William de Gramary in 1335 shows the manor or its relevant franchise again associated with the Gramary family. The documentary descent is incomplete after the 14th century. By the 16th century the manor was incorporated into the expanding Gascoigne estate centred on Parlington and nearby Aberford properties; John Gascoigne's estate is specifically recorded as including the manor of Aberford by the time of his death in 1557. By the later 19th century Colonel Frederick Charles Trench Gascoigne was explicitly described in local directories as lord of the manor of Aberford. The sources do not establish every intermediate conveyance or the precise date at which the manor passed from the Gramary family to the Gascoignes.
Ownership / Holder Account
The earliest securely identified holder is Richard le Gramaire, who held Aberford, and apparently Becca, in 1166. By 1251 the manor was associated with Richard le Gramary's grandson William, who received a royal grant of a weekly Wednesday market and an annual fair to be held at his manor of Aberford. In 1307 the market and fair were granted to Hugh le Despenser, probably reflecting a forfeiture, royal intervention, or temporary displacement of the Gramary interest; the available source does not provide a complete conveyance or explain the legal basis of the change. In 1335 the same privileges were granted to William de Gramary, and the Victoria County History market-and-fair gazetteer states that the manor was presumably forfeited and subsequently returned to the Gramary family. There is then a substantial documentary gap. The Gascoigne family had acquired extensive estates in and around Aberford by the 16th century. A study of the Gascoigne family, citing the West Yorkshire Archive Service Gascoigne estate papers, records that John Gascoigne's estate had grown to include the manors of Parlington, Aberford, Potterton, and Barnbow by his death in 1557, but it does not identify the precise conveyance by which Aberford Manor entered the Gascoigne estate. The later succession within the Gascoigne family is not fully documented here. Sir Thomas Gascoigne, 8th Baronet, is described in an early nineteenth-century account as lord of the manor, and Colonel Frederick Charles Trench Gascoigne is explicitly identified as lord of the manor in 19th-century local directories. Further research in the Gascoigne family papers, deeds, fines, inquisitions post mortem, and manorial records would be required to reconstruct the missing 14th- to 19th-century descent.
Manorial Rights & Privileges
Historic manorial rights / privileges (2)
Weekly Wednesday market at Aberford
Provisional
A royal grant in 1251 authorised a weekly Wednesday market at William de Gramary's manor of Aberford; the franchise was later granted to Hugh le Despenser in 1307 and to William de Gramary in 1335.
Annual fair at Aberford, associated with St Denis
Provisional
A royal grant in 1251 authorised an annual fair at the manor of Aberford; the privilege was later granted to Hugh le Despenser in 1307 and to William de Gramary in 1335.
Records & References
Sources and references mentioning this manor/title which are not necessarily conveyances or transfers.
3 records found.
1875: list of tenants and holdings, with other manors
Held by: Sheffield City Archives
Further information: NRA 4707 Elmhirst
1834-1889: call books (2)
Held by: Sheffield City Archives
Further information: NRA 4707 Elmhirst
1834-1847: court book
Held by: Sheffield City Archives
Further information: NRA 4707 Elmhirst
Conveyance & Descent
First holder to present holder: blood proximity & distance travelled
First recorded holder: Richard le Gramaire
Present holder:
Recorded title journey: 7 holder entries in this manor's saved Conveyance & Descent history.
No recorded holder currently has a usable saved direct-blood or collateral-blood relationship path from which to calculate proximity percentages.
First recorded holder → present holder
A usable saved blood relationship path between the first recorded holder and the present holder has not yet been recorded, so that first-to-present genealogical distance cannot be calculated.
Richard le Gramaire
Transfer: Earliest securely recorded holder; the later Gramary holding is described as connected with his family, but the precise succession is not documented in the sources consulted.
Shared holding: Gramary family
Co-holder: William de Gramary
A source based on the West Yorkshire archaeological survey states that Aberford and Becca were held by Richard le Gramaire in 1166. The evidence establishes a direct link between Richard le Gramaire and Aberford, but does not identify the legal form of his tenure or the exact date when his interest ended.
Source: M. L. Faull and S. A. Moorhouse, eds., West Yorkshire: An Archaeological Survey to 1500, as cited by the CRSBI entry for St Ricarius, Aberford; corroborated by the Aberford Parish Plan. — source link
William de Gramary
Transfer: Associated with the Gramary family holding after Richard le Gramaire; the source describes William as Richard's grandson, but the precise conveyance or succession instrument is not identified.
Shared holding: Gramary family
Co-holder: Richard le Gramaire
Previous holder: Richard le Gramaire
In 1251 Henry III granted Richard le Gramaire a weekly Wednesday market and an annual fair to be held at the manor of Aberford. A near-contemporary historical summary identifies William, described as Richard's grandson, as the relevant later Gramary holder. Because the evidence does not preserve a direct conveyance of the manor to William, this entry records the documented family holding and the associated manorial franchise rather than asserting an undocumented inheritance transaction.
Source: Victoria County History, Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs to 1516, Yorkshire entry for Aberford, citing Charter Rolls 1226-1257, page 354; corroborated by the Aberford Parish Plan. — source link
Transfer: Royal grant of Aberford's Wednesday market and St Denis fair to Hugh le Despenser, to be held at the manor. The source does not establish whether this represented ownership of the whole manor, a franchise held with the manor, royal custody, or a temporary forfeiture of the Gramary interest.
Holding arrangement: Other
Previous holder: Gramary family
The 1307 Charter Roll entry grants Hugh le Despenser the Wednesday market and the fair at Aberford. The Victoria County History gazetteer treats the entry as evidence relevant to the manor and notes that the manor was presumably forfeited and later returned to the Gramary family. Since the legal basis and extent of Hugh's interest are not fully stated, this is recorded as a documented manorial or franchise interest rather than an unqualified conveyance of the freehold manor.
Source: Victoria County History, Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs to 1516, Yorkshire entry for Aberford, citing Charter Rolls 1300-1326, page 81. — source link
William de Gramary
Transfer: Royal grant of Aberford's Wednesday market and fair to William de Gramary. The Victoria County History source interprets the sequence as indicating that the manor had been forfeited and was subsequently returned to the Gramary family, but the underlying conveyance or restoration instrument has not been identified.
Shared holding: Gramary family
Co-holder: Richard le Gramaire
Previous holder: Hugh le Despenser, earl of Winchester, 1st Baron Despenser, royal administrator
On 18 September 1335 the Wednesday market and the fair associated with Aberford were granted to William de Gramary, to be held at the manor. This is the latest securely dated medieval evidence linking the Gramary family directly with Aberford Manor. The return from the Despenser interest is inferred by the Victoria County History gazetteer from the sequence of grants; the precise legal transfer remains unknown.
Source: Victoria County History, Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs to 1516, Yorkshire entry for Aberford, citing Charter Rolls 1327-1341, page 345. — source link
John Gascoigne of Lasingcroft, Barnbow, and Parlington
Transfer: By the time of his death, John Gascoigne's enlarged estate included the manor of Aberford. The precise acquisition, grant, purchase, or other conveyance by which Aberford Manor entered the Gascoigne estate is not established.
Shared holding: Gascoigne family
Co-holders: Sir Thomas Gascoigne, 8th Baronet, Colonel Frederick Charles Trench Gascoigne
A modern scholarly study of the Gascoigne family, citing West Yorkshire Archive Service estate material, states that John Gascoigne's estate had grown by his death in 1557 to include the manors of Parlington, Aberford, Potterton, and Barnbow, together with extensive lands in the surrounding area. The same study records the 1546 purchase of Parlington from Sir Thomas Wentworth, but it does not prove that Aberford Manor was conveyed in that transaction. The Aberford link is therefore recorded, while the intervening transfer from the Gramary family and the exact date of Gascoigne acquisition remain open.
Source: C. Bovis, The Gascoigne Family, c. 1309-1592: Gentry and Identity, PhD thesis, University of York, discussion of John Gascoigne's estate and citation to West Yorkshire Archive Service, WYL115/115/DZ/2054. — source link
Sir Thomas Gascoigne, 8th Baronet, 8th Baronet of Parlington
Transfer: Later Gascoigne holding; the source identifies Sir Thomas as lord of the manor but does not document the immediate predecessor or the instrument of succession.
Shared holding: Gascoigne family
Co-holders: John Gascoigne of Lasingcroft, Barnbow, and Parlington, Colonel Frederick Charles Trench Gascoigne
Previous holder: Gascoigne family
An early nineteenth-century biographical account of Samuel Hick refers to the late Sir Thomas Gascoigne as lord of the manor in the Aberford area. The wording and context directly connect him with manorial authority at Aberford, but do not provide a formal conveyance or a precise commencement date.
Source: Everett, The Village Blacksmith; passage describing Samuel Hick seeking permission from Sir Thomas Gascoigne, lord of the manor, to obtain stone near Aberford. — source link
Transfer: Later Gascoigne succession; the available directories identify him as lord of the manor but do not state the conveyance or exact date by which he succeeded to the manor.
Shared holding: Gascoigne family
Co-holders: John Gascoigne of Lasingcroft, Barnbow, and Parlington, Sir Thomas Gascoigne, 8th Baronet
Previous holder: Gascoigne family
Local directory evidence for the 1870s and 1880s identifies Colonel Frederick Charles Trench Gascoigne as lord of the manor and chief or principal landowner at Aberford and in the adjoining townships of Sturton and Parlington. This is direct evidence of his manorial status at Aberford, but the intervening succession from Sir Thomas Gascoigne and the exact date of acquisition are not documented in the sources consulted.
Source: History, Gazetteer and Directory of the West-Riding of Yorkshire with the City of York and Port of Hull, volume covering Aberford, 1887; the Aberford entry states that Colonel Gascoigne was lord of the manor and a chief landowner. — source link
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