STEETON CONSERVATION AREA
Historical Development
Steeton, c. 2 miles north-west of Keighley, is situated in the Aire valley on the millstone grit of the Upper Carboniferous Period. The settlement stands on the lower valley slopes of Steeton Moor and south of a crossing point of the River Aire. It is one of a number of hamlets that developed alongside the valley route between between Glusburn and Keighley and is a township within the parish of Kildwick (N.Yorks.), and lies within the wapentake and liberty of Staincliffe.
Evidence for early settlement is sparse and is represented by a Bronze-Age axe and a 3rd-century Roman coin, both found in or in close proximity to Steeton. It is believed that the Keighley to Glusburn route partly followed the course of a Roman road (Margary 721) connecting Bradford to Glusburn and the Roman Fort at Elslack 3 miles further on. Between Keighley and Steeton it followed the line of Hollins Lane that becomes Hollins Bank Lane. An archaeological excavation in 1921, in the field opposite The Hollins (SE 0455-4332, PRN 3473), revealed an undisturbed section of the road 16ft wide, with stone kerbstones, and having a camber of 18 inches, that was considered to be Roman (I. D. Margary, Roman Roads in Britain, 1973, p.407).
Stiuetune is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, the name probably derived from the Old English elements stylic, a stump, and tun, a farmstead - meaning a farmstead built of, or amongst, stumps (Smith 1961). Steeton Beck is thought to have been the historic boundary between the two Domesday vills of Steeton and Eastburn that by the late-13th century had been amalgamated to form the combined township of Steeton with Eastburn (M.Faul & M.Stinson, Domesday Book, Yorkshire, Part Two, 1986, 21W15). Steeton manor was held by a number of families including the Percys and Cliffords. The Stiveton family were underlords of the manor in the 12th century followed by the Plumptons around the 15th century. After the death of Sir Robert Plumpton in the 16th century the manor was divided and land eventually became freehold. The largest freeholders were the Garforths who resided at Steeton Hall and subsequently purchased the hall and lands in the 17th century.
Documents suggest that a manor house and chapel were situated here by the 13th century. A charter granted by the prior of Bolton, in the 13th century, allowed Elias de Stiveton to celebrate divine service in his chapel at Steeton. The site of this chapel, as indeed the layout of the village, is unknown (though see section on Steeton Hall below). The chapel may have been an oratory within or near the manor house, with some farmsteads situated near the manor house and early routeways. Dwellings were probably situated away from the river crossing since the area, prior to 19th improvements to the river, was prone to flooding. Poll tax records of 1379 reveal that 21 married couples and 17 single inhabitants resided within the township of Steeton, which included Eastburn.
Records of 1583 reveal that Steeton in this period comprised a number of tenements, a manor house and mill. A total of 26 tenants paid rental on land and tenements here in 1583, compared to Eastburn with only 9 tenants. Anthony Garforthe paid £12 rent for the manor house, and 24s for the corn mill, watercourses and dams, situated on the side of Steeton Beck. Many holdings comprised a dwelling, barn, orchard, garden and croft; one holding supposedly used as a manor court in times past. There was no woodland of any significance or value. Common land comprised 300 acres of heathland on Steeton Moor, where tenants of Steeton and Eastburn had common pasture for their cattle. It is believed that Steeton was the second largest township in Kildwick parish, but its population diminished in the 17th century, possibly created by a change in land holdings when groups of small holdings were merged to form larger holdings and fewer tenancies (Clough 1886).
The present Steeton Hall may have been the site of the earlier manor house. The hall was rebuilt, according to a datestone, by the Garforths in 1662. In the late 18th century a carriage drive and garden features were created, but after the sale of the hall in 1819 the carriage drive was redirected, and around 1863 the hall was partly rebuilt. It is traditionally believed that a small plot of land to the rear of the hall, subsequently incorporated into a larger enclosure, was a former burial ground (Clough 1886).
According to Jefferys' map of 1775 settlement was situated to both sides of the Keighley route with Steeton Beck flowing northward through the settlement towards the River Aire. This route probably related to Hollins Bank Road, and listed buildings on this road date from the 17th and early 18th centuries. The Keighley and Kendal Turnpike road of 1752-3 originally followed this route, but in the early 19th century it was diverted along a new stretch - down Bar House Lane - that ran off Hollins Lane, closer to Keighley, to the line of the present main A629, that runs through the north side of the village. Settlement had also occurred near Steeton Beck, adjacent to Barrows Lane, and in the vicinity of St Stephen's Road since the Garforths, c. 1780-90, had demolished several cottages that had stood on the present site of the church, and on each side of the brook near the corn mill.
Nineteenth-century improvements included a new routeway from the village to the river crossing, and a new bridge. Jefferys' map of 1775 records a meandering route leading northwards from the village to the river which passed to the east of Steeton Hall. In 1826 this was replaced by the present, more direct, Station Road. Steeton Bridge over the River Aire was constructed by the County in 1804-5 to the plan of Bernard Hartley, Surveyor of Bridges to the West Riding. It was built by Benjamin Muschamp and cost £3529 7s 103/4d to construct (Clough 1886, 36).
Previous to this construction carts and carriers crossed by means of a nearby ford above the present bridge or used Kildwick Bridge. Foot travellers used a wooden bridge, which was situated near Steeton Beck and extant in the 17th century.
The development of the village in the 19th century was probably influenced by industrial activity such as cotton, and subsequently worsted and bobbin mills. In 1822 Steeton, with Eastburn, comprised a population of 612 with 136 dwellings. These numbers had doubled by 1861, and had increased to 1497 inhabitants and 357 dwellings by 1881-2. The growth in population encouraged the building of the Wesleyan chapel (1826), the Primitive Methodist chapel (1850), and St Stephen's church in 1880. Improvements to the village included the connection of gas and water supplies about 1878, and street lighting in 1883. Settlement in this period and until the early years of the 20th century was mainly retained within and around the early core of the village (O.S. 1894, O.S. 1934).
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