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Kippax Local History
Read up on the history of Kippax.
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The first settlers
When people first settled in the Kippax area is unclear. Certainly there was a great deal of activity in the lower Aire valley from the Neolithic (New Stone Age: 3,500-2,000 BC) onwards. The construction of the henge monument at Ferrybridge began at this time, although it developed in size and complexity as other monuments were built around it. This process lasted well into the Iron Age (800 BC -70 AD) as can be seen from the recently discovered chariot burial at Fryston Park.
This process was mirrored by an intensification of farming along the Magnesian Limestone belt on which Kippax is situated. The Magnesian Limestone also provided a way in which travellers could avoid the boggy areas of the Plain of York further to the east long before the Romans thought of constructing a road there.
Sadly little trace of this activity has been recovered in the immediate are of modern Kippax. A Neolithic stone axe was found near the church and is now deposited with Leeds Museum. A similar one was also found in Allerton Bywater, while Kippax Local History Society found a scatter of flint debris during a field walking exercise on a site to the east of Kippax.
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The Roman Period
By the time the Romans established their fort at Castleford in the early 70s AD the area was probably quite populous with many little farms surrounded by their own cluster of fields. Part of one such complex was excavated at Ledston in the 1970s and again in the 1990s. Though no buildings were revealed, the excavations did uncover evidence of changing field layouts and the development of the agricultural economy. These included a number of beehive querns (corn-grinders which resemble an old-fashioned beehive in shape) and rows of pits which some archaeologists interpret as having been used for grain storage.
Similar farms also existed on the Kippax side of the Roman road. Some show up as cropmarks (outlines caused by differential growth patterns) which can be seen in aerial photographs. There have also been chance finds of Roman material in the Kippax area. These have included coins, glassware and pottery.
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Anglo-Saxon Kippax
The first recorded mention of Kippax as a place comes in the Domesday Survey compiled for William the Conqueror in 1086 although there was undoubtedly a village there long before that time. In Domesday the name is spelled Chipesch. Cippa is an Anglo-Saxon personal name and the second element of the word means 'ash tree'. Therefore Kippax must have grown up around Cippa's ash tree.
Kippax Minster
Whatever its origins the village seems to have prospered for at some time it became the centre of an important parish. The English parishes were laid out in a massive reorganization by Theodore, a Greek monk who became archbishop of Canterbury (669 -680). However, the original church at Kippax was more than just an ordinary parish church. Later documentary evidence suggests that it might have been a mother church or minster. Minster churches like York and Dewsbury were responsible for expanding the sphere of influence of the church in society. They established daughter houses in adjacent communities and these daughter houses would pay back a portion of their revenues to the mother church. Even after Kippax had lost this function in the later Middle Ages the records of Pontefract Priory show that the churches of Swillington, Garforth and Whitkirk were still dependant on St Mary's at Kippax.
Domesday Kippax
By the time of Domesday Kippax was the centre of a large estate which stretched northwards from the River Aire as far as Aberford. Three of these settlements (Kippax, Barwick and Ledston) are assessed together so it is impossible to say what the size of any of the individual communities might have been. The Domesday Survey also records the existence of three churches. The foundations at Barwick and Kippax are both early: Anglo-Saxon sculptural fragments have been found at both sites. However, no trace of an early church is known at Ledston. There is one in the adjacent village of Ledsham, but at the time of Domesday Ledsham was in the manor of Fairburn.
However the significant factor is the value put on the manor of Kippax (including Barwick and Ledston). Its pre-conquest value was estimated at 16, a huge amount when you consider that Tanshelf (the Anglo-Saxon predecessor of Pontefract) was worth only 20. More remarkably, in 1086 the value of the manor of Kippax was still the same. This is unusual as many West Yorkshire communities suffered badly from what became known as the Harrying of the North' – a series of punitive 'slash-and-burn' raids which William undertook to put down rebellion in the north of England. Tanshelf, for example, was valued at 15 in 1086. For some reason the manor of Kippax escaped serious consequences, something which seems quite surprising when you consider that the manor is crossed by one of the major north-south routes at the time.
Cheney Basin
After the conquest William I gave the manor of Kippax and its dependant settlements to Ilbert De Lacy as part of a vast manorial holding called the Honour of Pontefract. De Lacy initially retained Kippax as the administrative centre for this part of the Honour though later it was moved to Barwick in Elmet. It was probably De Lacy who built the large circular earthwork now known locally as Cheney Basin. What the structure looked like is unclear: no excavation has been done on the site and a recent geophysical survey failed to define any structures which may still lie buried beneath the surface. However the ringwork probably represents the remains of a high circular structure like the later medieval shell keeps, which served as a vantage point and if necessary a place of last refuge. Administrative and domestic buildings would probably have been in an outer courtyard or bailey as they were known. This is likely to have been in the area now occupied by the churchyard.
St Mary's Church
The earliest parts of the St Mary's Church may also date to this period. Perhaps, it had lost its minster function and was in need of refurbishment. This work can still clearly be seen along the rear wall of the church and at the base of the tower. These have been constructed with rubble masonry laid in a herringbone pattern. This technique enables the construction of a wall without squared stone. The effect is similar to that of a row of books tilted over on a library shelf. All the tops remain at roughly the same height and any unevenness can be levelled by tilting the next course of stonework in the opposite direction. This technique was used by the Anglo-Saxons but archaeologists now believe that these parts of the church were built after the Conquest rather than before. Perhaps De Lacy employed local craftsmen who were still working in a traditional, rather old-fashioned style. It is also possible that the herringbone work would not have been visible when this phase of development was completed. The exteriors of Anglo-Saxon churches were sometimes plastered over and whitewashed. This would hide any defects in the construction.
* There's lot more information about local places on the WYAAS website at: www.archaeology.wyjs.org.uk
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