Hallikeld


Hallikeld was a Wapentake, which is an administrative division, in the historic county of the North Riding of Yorkshire. It was one of the smaller wapentakes by area and consisted of seven parishes.

History

The name Hallikeld derives from the Old English Halig, and the Old Norse Kelda. Keld appears in various places in Northern England and means Spring, with the Halli prefix meaning holy. This is thought to be taken from some fresh water springs in the Melmerby area, which were located within the wapentake. Fields to the south of Melmerby are labelled as Hallikelds on Ordnance Survey mapping from 1909. As the wapentakes were ancient divisions, the spelling of them has evolved and changed over time. Latterly it was spelt as Hallikeld, but has been historically recorded as Hallikell and Halikeld.
Portions of the wapentake were interchanged with Hang East and Birdforth wapentakes. At times, the wapentake was considered to be in the West Riding of Yorkshire, despite being on the north bank of the River Ure, which was the historical dividing line between the West and North Ridings of Yorkshire. In 1914, the wapentake had seven parishes; Burneston, Cundall, Kirkby Hill, Kirklington, Pickhill, Wath and West Tanfield. Hallikeld was bordered on the north by Gilling East, on the east by Birdforth, the south by Claro and the west by Hang East. The River Ure formed its southern border and the River Swale formed its eastern and Northern border. The wapentake was some long and at its widest, only across.
The boundaries of the wapentakes were being constantly redrawn; in the early part of the 19th century, Hutton Conyers was in Hallikeld, and Exelby, Leeming and Newton was transferred into the district at the same time.
In 1831, the number of houses in the wapentake was listed as 1,419 spread across 1,395 families. The population at that time was 6,424, which by 1885, had dropped to 5, 441.

Settlements

NameParishPopulationPLUNameParishPopulationPLUNameParishPopulationPLU
Ainderby QuernhowPK107THowePK33TNorton-le-ClayCU146G
AsenbyTW238GHowgraveKK25GPickhill with RoxbyPK388T
BaldersbyTW267GHumburton with MilbyKB139GRainton with NewbyTW411G
BurnestonBU342BKirby-on-the-MoorKB189GSinderbyPK93T
CarthorpeBU304TKirklingtonKK305BSwainby with AllerthorpePK27B
Cundall and LeckbyCU200GLangthorneBE136BSuttonKK121G
DishforthTW332GLangthorpeKB196GTheakstoneBU82B
East TanfieldKK35GMarton-le-MoorTW209GThornton BridgeBR47G
Exelby, Leeming and NewtonBU633BMelmerbyWA338GWathWA196G
GatenbyBU69BMiddleton QuernhowWA123GWest TanfieldTW693G

The populations given are for the year of 1831. In 1821, the parishes of Bedale, Brafferton, Pickhill, Topcliffe and Wath crossed the borders into the adjacent wapentakes (Hang East, Bulmer, Allertonshire, Birdforth and Allertonshire respectively.