| Description | The 'site of a hall' is recorded on the Ordnance Survey First Edition 1:2,500 map of 1892, lying adjacent to south west of St. Boloph's Church (PRN 1152). In 1871 it was recorded that the 'Old Hall, Elizabethan or earlier, was demolished before 1870 (Forrest 1871, 43).
A large building located at Knottingley is shown on Saxton's map of 1577, Warburton's map of 1720 and the 1775 map by Jeffrey's, although any relationship to the 'site of hall' shown on the Ordnance Survey map is presently unknown.
As noted above the site shares a close spatial relationship with the medieval (or possibly earlier) St. Boloph's Church (PRN 1152). It is possible that the 'hall' may have been associated with the church, perhaps providing accommodation for the clergy? Another possible interpretation is that the site may have been the location of a manor house, as a close spatial relationship between church and manor house can be seen in other medieval settlements. A 'Manor House' is recorded on the Ordnance Survey 1892 map, to the north of the 'hall'. It is unclear as to whether a later house has simply assumed the name of 'Manor House' as an act of grandiosement by the owner, however, it is possible that this general locale has had associations with a manor house (the site of hall?) and hence the name? Another possibility is that the 'hall' was associated with Meaux Abbey who were known to have holdings in Knottingley (Michelmore in Faull and Moorhouse, 1981, 423).
A field inspection in 1963 recorded that the site had been obliterated by quarrying (Lewis 1963). It should be noted, however, that on the Ordnance Survey First Edition 1:2,500 map of 1892 only the western section appears to have been quarried, and therefore archaeological deposits may survive on the eastern side of this site. |