BALDERSDALE MANOR

Identity: confirmed — The exact TNA/MDR record F240712 is titled Baldersdale Manor and is located at Romaldkirk, Yorkshire. Independent evidence confirms a historical Lordship or Manor of Baldersdale in the parish of Romaldkirk, distinct from the nearby manors of Cotherstone, Hunderthwaite and Cotherstone-with-Hunderthwaite.
Representative point: 54.5683, -2.0567
Basis: supported_manorial_centre — Approximate representative point in Baldersdale at Hury Reservoir, within the historical Baldersdale landscape. Baldersdale follows the River Balder from the upper dale through Hury to Cotherstone; the available evidence identifies the manor geographically but does not locate a surviving manor house or definitive manorial centre.
Point confidence: low
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period:
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The available sources establish the manor's location within Baldersdale and Romaldkirk parish, and describe the dale's historical farms and landscape, but do not provide a documented polygon or sufficiently explicit perimeter for the manorial land. The boundaries of Baldersdale Manor should not be substituted with the modern parish, township, reservoir, valley or administrative boundaries.
Sources:
- The National Archives Discovery: Baldersdale Manor, F240712: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F240712 — Authoritative MDR/TNA record identifying the exact manor as Baldersdale Manor at Romaldkirk, Yorkshire.
- Manorial Society of England and Wales, 2022 Register: https://www.msoew.co.uk/archive---2022-register.html — States that the Lordship of the Manor of Baldersdale, in the parish of Romaldkirk, North Yorkshire, was registered in 2022.
- The Story Durham: catalogue of Huddleston and related estate records: https://www.durhamrecordoffice.org.uk/catalogue-item/?ByRelevancy=Yes&ImagesOnly=&ItemID=165368&PageNum=45&Variations= — Records seventeenth- and eighteenth-century property in Baldersdale and identifies related holdings under the manors of Cotherstone and Hunderthwaite, helping distinguish the named Baldersdale locality from neighbouring manorial jurisdictions.
- Historical topography of Romaldkirk parish: https://hcr1945.wixsite.com/longstaff-talltrees/part-14-appendix-iv-wills-in-the-ea — Describes Baldersdale as a distinct tributary dale in Romaldkirk parish, bounded by Hunderthwaite Moor and Cotherstone Moor, with settlements and farms including Hury, New Houses, Pitcher House, Briscoe and West Park.
- Hury Reservoir, County Durham, British Place Names: https://britishplacenames.uk/hury-reservoir-county-durham-ny960191 — Provides the representative coordinate 54.5683, -2.0567 for a central, named feature within Baldersdale.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- No reliable evidence was found for a specific manor house or surviving manor-house site belonging to Baldersdale Manor.
- No documented historical boundary map, survey perimeter or parcel schedule sufficient to reconstruct the manor's full territorial extent was located.
- Baldersdale appears historically to have contained lands associated with more than one manor, including Cotherstone and Hunderthwaite; therefore the entire modern valley or parish must not be treated as the manor boundary.
- The representative point is an approximate geographic/manorial-centre proxy at Hury Reservoir, not a confirmed manor-house location.