This web page has been produced and is maintained by John A Dabell. Please ask for permission before using; copyright of text and photographs John A Dabell ©2011. Last update December 2011

VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT

The Domesday Book of 1086 records two Saxons holding land at Hickleton along with four ‘villagers’ and thirteen ‘smallholders’ making up the rest. As a consequence of the Norman Conquest these two Saxons, Swien and Arnthor lost their land and it was granted to Aubrey of Coucy, a Norman knight, who held it direct from King William. Aubrey became Earl of Northumbria, but by 1090 had returned to France. William II granted Hickleton to the Balliol's of Bywell and Barnard Castle, they held Hickleton as Tenants-in-Chief, as did their descendents until John Balliol II, King of Scotland lost his English lands to Edward I in 1296.

Hickleton church became part of Monk Bretton Priory in 1246 and its long chancel reflects this period of monastic ownership. The Hickleton lands and church living held by the priory were granted to Richard Turke and he was still in possession in 1545. By 1550 Robert Saunderson had acquired them, passing rapidly to Richard Ellis and William Vicars in 1552, by 1570 Francis Shepherd was the owner. Finally in 1578 Sir Henry Knyvet was in possession selling to Sir Francis Rodes who built a fine Elizabethan house for his son Peter.

The village never grew larger than its Anglo-Saxon origin, peaking in size before the Black Death in 1349, being confined by the size of the parish, around 1100 acres and its adherence to farming. During this late medieval period the village consisted of a Manor House, a Rectory (until the ownership by Monk Bretton Priory), several farms or smallholdings, a medieval bridge and two medieval crosses; all surrounded by open fields.

Monk Bretton Priory