A brief history of the Village
There was a settlement here before the Norman Conquest. Chesinc, an early spelling of Keswick, suggests there was a dairy farm established by Saxon lords. An agricultural estate was recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086. [Click on the link at the foot of the page to see the reference in the Survey.] Meadows, pasture and woodland along the banks of the Wharfe formed the northern limits of this estate or township; Keswick Beck marked the southern and eastern boundaries. The earliest dwellings were in the vicinity of Moor Lane, which, as its name suggests, led to an area of open grazing to the west. Housing would spread slowly over the next one thousand years to include what is now Main Street, School Lane and Whitegate, but the boundaries of the very early township were similar to those of the modern civil parish of East Keswick.
Back in the Middle Ages the neighbouring settlements of Bardsey and Collingham belonged to the monks of Kirkstall Abbey, but the fortunes of East Keswick, a township in the manor Harewood, lay with private landlords. In the 12th and 13th centuries East Keswick was granted to the Mohaut family who probably built the moated house between Keswick Beck and Moor Lane. Around 1260, after three generations of Mohauts, the estate was divided between seven daughters and, over the next few hundred years, parcels of land in East Keswick belonged to a succession of non-resident landlords. Those who lived in the village were mostly farmers but, whatever their status, all residents were involved in a communal system of agriculture which exploited the resources of the land within the township. Crops were cultivated in narrow strips in three large open fields and rights to graze animals and collect wood were strictly regulated. Flour may have been milled locally and there is evidence of cloth making. The parish church was in Harewood and tracks leading across the moor would have been used, not only to attend baptisms, marriages and burials, but also to visit the medieval market and other entertainments in Harewood. Civil administration was based on the pre-conquest wapentake of Skyrack which took in parishes around the north and east of Leeds from Ilkley to Kippax.
Surviving documents provide snapshots of village life. When in 1539 Henry VIII requested an assessment of men available in the event of a French invasion, ten of seventeen ‘able-bodied males’ in East Keswick could provide horses and six of these were described as archers. Elsewhere are 16th and 17th century records of the commoners who rented plots of land, often scattered among the three open fields. The Hearth Tax of 1672 listed 36 properties with fireplaces. While most reported just one hearth, two larger houses had four and five respectively. Some names may have survived from this time. Gateon House Lane, actually just in Bardsey but overlooking the village from the south, and Clitheroe House in School Lane, could both be derived from village families recorded both in the Hearth Tax and earlier documents.
At the end of the 17th century, ownership of most of the farming land was divided among several non-resident landlords, while local affairs were conducted by the more successful tenant or yeoman farmers. Nearly every family was in some way involved in farming, but other trades including blacksmiths, shoemaking and weaving were traditionally carried out locally. In the 18th century the aspirations of some families may have been affected by the greater ambitions of the new landlord in Harewood. When Edwin Lascelles bought the estate in 1739 he set about adding to existing holdings in neighbouring villages. By the end of the century he owned more than two thirds of the farmland in East Keswick. The extent to which the enclosure of the common land and open fields in 1801 adversely affected villagers is debatable, but it was of great benefit to the Harewood estate which continued to buy land here for another hundred years until it owned all but a few fields.
Early in the 19th century lime burners produced fertiliser from the limestone quarries in the east of the village. Later, although the village remained a predominately farming community, it changed in response to the growth the industrial towns of West Yorkshire. There were improved communications as roads improved and the railway passed nearby. Towards the end of the century market gardens helped supply the growing population of Leeds. A Wesleyan Methodist Chapel had opened in 1792 and by the middle of the century there was also a Primitive Methodist meeting house and a new Wesleyan chapel was planned. In 1856 the Anglican congregation finally got their own church building and a house in the centre of the village was extended to house a resident curate. During the second half of the 19th century there were two small educational boarding establishments, Sunday schools and a day school.
An early 20th century historian remarked that the village had a ‘pleasant prosperous look … accessible by good driving roads from Leeds as well as from stations on the Leeds Wetherby railway, the place is much visited in the summer season’. At that time there were about 115 houses. Thatch and flags were replaced by slate roofs, but more drastic changes in building styles were to come, starting with Brooklands at the southern approach to the village. A number of older cottages were demolished and the local authority bought land for housing. In 1950 death duties forced the Harewood Estate to sell its land in the village and existing tenant farmers took advantage of this. A significant proportion of this land is still farmed in the 21st century, while small farms and market gardens near the centre have given way to new housing. Previously administered by the old West Riding County Council, East Keswick became part of Leeds in 1974. At that time most of the village was designated a conservation area as “... a fine example of an old farming village, consisting of tightly developed, pleasant, small stone properties, [with] two churches, a Church of England school and two public houses.” By the end of the century there was no longer a school, but the number of residential properties had increased fourfold since 1900. When the ecclesiastical parish of Harewood ceased to exist in 1978, East Keswick became part of Bardsey Parish. Meanwhile, in the 21st century, the geographical area of the medieval township comes under the civil Parish Council, established here in 1894, representing continuity of a village community over hundreds of years.
Back in the Middle Ages the neighbouring settlements of Bardsey and Collingham belonged to the monks of Kirkstall Abbey, but the fortunes of East Keswick, a township in the manor Harewood, lay with private landlords. In the 12th and 13th centuries East Keswick was granted to the Mohaut family who probably built the moated house between Keswick Beck and Moor Lane. Around 1260, after three generations of Mohauts, the estate was divided between seven daughters and, over the next few hundred years, parcels of land in East Keswick belonged to a succession of non-resident landlords. Those who lived in the village were mostly farmers but, whatever their status, all residents were involved in a communal system of agriculture which exploited the resources of the land within the township. Crops were cultivated in narrow strips in three large open fields and rights to graze animals and collect wood were strictly regulated. Flour may have been milled locally and there is evidence of cloth making. The parish church was in Harewood and tracks leading across the moor would have been used, not only to attend baptisms, marriages and burials, but also to visit the medieval market and other entertainments in Harewood. Civil administration was based on the pre-conquest wapentake of Skyrack which took in parishes around the north and east of Leeds from Ilkley to Kippax.
Surviving documents provide snapshots of village life. When in 1539 Henry VIII requested an assessment of men available in the event of a French invasion, ten of seventeen ‘able-bodied males’ in East Keswick could provide horses and six of these were described as archers. Elsewhere are 16th and 17th century records of the commoners who rented plots of land, often scattered among the three open fields. The Hearth Tax of 1672 listed 36 properties with fireplaces. While most reported just one hearth, two larger houses had four and five respectively. Some names may have survived from this time. Gateon House Lane, actually just in Bardsey but overlooking the village from the south, and Clitheroe House in School Lane, could both be derived from village families recorded both in the Hearth Tax and earlier documents.
At the end of the 17th century, ownership of most of the farming land was divided among several non-resident landlords, while local affairs were conducted by the more successful tenant or yeoman farmers. Nearly every family was in some way involved in farming, but other trades including blacksmiths, shoemaking and weaving were traditionally carried out locally. In the 18th century the aspirations of some families may have been affected by the greater ambitions of the new landlord in Harewood. When Edwin Lascelles bought the estate in 1739 he set about adding to existing holdings in neighbouring villages. By the end of the century he owned more than two thirds of the farmland in East Keswick. The extent to which the enclosure of the common land and open fields in 1801 adversely affected villagers is debatable, but it was of great benefit to the Harewood estate which continued to buy land here for another hundred years until it owned all but a few fields.
Early in the 19th century lime burners produced fertiliser from the limestone quarries in the east of the village. Later, although the village remained a predominately farming community, it changed in response to the growth the industrial towns of West Yorkshire. There were improved communications as roads improved and the railway passed nearby. Towards the end of the century market gardens helped supply the growing population of Leeds. A Wesleyan Methodist Chapel had opened in 1792 and by the middle of the century there was also a Primitive Methodist meeting house and a new Wesleyan chapel was planned. In 1856 the Anglican congregation finally got their own church building and a house in the centre of the village was extended to house a resident curate. During the second half of the 19th century there were two small educational boarding establishments, Sunday schools and a day school.
An early 20th century historian remarked that the village had a ‘pleasant prosperous look … accessible by good driving roads from Leeds as well as from stations on the Leeds Wetherby railway, the place is much visited in the summer season’. At that time there were about 115 houses. Thatch and flags were replaced by slate roofs, but more drastic changes in building styles were to come, starting with Brooklands at the southern approach to the village. A number of older cottages were demolished and the local authority bought land for housing. In 1950 death duties forced the Harewood Estate to sell its land in the village and existing tenant farmers took advantage of this. A significant proportion of this land is still farmed in the 21st century, while small farms and market gardens near the centre have given way to new housing. Previously administered by the old West Riding County Council, East Keswick became part of Leeds in 1974. At that time most of the village was designated a conservation area as “... a fine example of an old farming village, consisting of tightly developed, pleasant, small stone properties, [with] two churches, a Church of England school and two public houses.” By the end of the century there was no longer a school, but the number of residential properties had increased fourfold since 1900. When the ecclesiastical parish of Harewood ceased to exist in 1978, East Keswick became part of Bardsey Parish. Meanwhile, in the 21st century, the geographical area of the medieval township comes under the civil Parish Council, established here in 1894, representing continuity of a village community over hundreds of years.