Brignall

Human settlement in England

Brignall

Unitary authority

County Durham

County Durham

Region

North East

CountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townBarnard CastlePostcode districtDL12PoliceDurhamFire County Durham and Darlington Ambulance North East

List of places: UK; England; County Durham

54°30′21″N 1°53′54″W / 54.50577°N 1.89846°W / 54.50577; -1.89846

Brignall village is located in an elevated position adjacent to the River Greta, about 2 km upstream from Greta Bridge. The village is within the Teesdale district of south-west County Durham, England, the nearest town is the market town of Barnard Castle. The village is best known for the scenic valley section of the River Greta known as Brignall Banks, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. ^[1] ^[b]

Natural England maps

Maps for Brignall village and the surrounding area, showing Access, Administrative Geographies and other criteria from Natural England: ^[c]

MAGiC MaP : Brignall village.^[2]

MAGiC MaP : Brignall parish boundary.^[3] ^[d]

MAGiC MaP : Brignall village – Listed buildings.^[4] ^[e] ^[g]

MAGiC MaP : Confluence of Brignall stream and River Greta.^[5] ^[h] ^[j]

MAGiC MaP : Brignall Banks SSSI.^[6] ^[k]

MAGiC MaP : Brignall mill and ancient woodland.^[7] ^[l] ^[n]

MAGiC MaP : Greta Bridge and Roman fort.^[8] ^[o]

MAGiC MaP : River Greta " Meeting of the waters " .^[9] ^[p]

Governance

The population at the 2011 Census remained less than 100. Details are kept within the parish of Rokeby. It was historically located in the North Riding of Yorkshire but along with the rest of the former Startforth Rural District it was transferred to County Durham for administrative and ceremonial purposes on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972.

Name

Name history

The name was recorded as Bringhenale in the Domesday Book of 1086 A.D. ^[q] ^[r]

British History Online: ^[11]

Bringhenale, Bringhale (11th cent.)
Brigenhall, Brigenhale (12th–13th cent.)

English surnames

Thomas de Briggenhale appeared in the Poll Tax rolls for the County of Yorkshire in 1379. ^[12]

The following English surnames might be derived from the place name: ^[12]

Brignall
Brignell
Bricknall
Bricknell

Toponym

. . . nook of land ^[13]

Bridge by the nook of land between the stream and the river. ^[u]

Brignall : Brig..en..hale (12th-13th cent.), Brick..n..all (surname);

The name element Brig is from Medieval English brig ( " bridge " ). ^[v] ^[w]

The name element Brick is from Old English brycg ( " bridge " ). ^[x] ^[y]

The name element ' en ' is a common abbreviation of Medieval English atten ( " at the, by the " ). ^[z]

The name element hale is from Old English healh ( " corner, nook, secret place, corner of land left by the stream in a river valley " ). ^[aa] ^[ab] ^[ac]

Name examples

Look up healh in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Examples of place names that might have a similar etymology :

Healaugh near Reeth, Swaledale : " Summer pasture by the nook of land between the Barney Beck and the River Swale ".
Pecknell near Barnard Castle, Teesdale : " . . .nook of land between the Scur Beck and the River Tees ".
Bracknell, Berkshire : Braccan heal (942 A.D.) , Brakenhale ( Brak..en..hale ) ^[ad]

History

Domesday book

The village was recorded in the Domesday Book (1086 A.D.) as a settlement in the hundred of land of Count Alan in the county of Yorkshire. ^[17]

Households: 16 villagers. 3 freemen. 6 smallholders. 1 men
Ploughland: 152.5 ploughlands. 6 lord's plough teams. 12.5 men's plough teams.
Other resources: Meadow 12 acres. Woodland 1 * 1 leagues. 1 fishery. 2 churches.

The list of villages recorded in the local area were described as partially "waste" , possibly due to The Harrying of the North (1069–1070). ^[ae]

Art and culture

The River Greta and the Brignall area were painted by John Sell Cotman^[18] and J. M. W. Turner^[19]^[20]^[21] amongst others.

Bird watching, walking and other outdoor activities can be pursued in the area.

The area features in Sir Walter Scott’s 1813 poem ‘Rokeby’:

”Oh Brignal banks are wild and fair/ and Greta woods are green”.

References

Notes

^ Use Table of Contents for Colour Mapping
^
The map shows: ^[a]
- TOP LEFT – Brignall village
- TOP RIGHT – River Greta and Brignall Banks SSSI
^ MAGiC MaP : Use Table of Contents for Colour Mapping
^
Mapping criteria : See Table of Contents:
- Administrative Geographies > Parish boundary.
^
Mapping criteria : See Table of Contents:
- Designations > Listed Buildings (England).
^ Use Table of Contents for Colour Mapping
^
The map shows: ^[f]
- TOP LEFT – St Marys church in the village
- MIDDLE RIGHT – The old church and several listed structures
^
Mapping criteria : See Table of Contents:
- Designations > Listed Buildings (England).
^ Use Table of Contents for Colour Mapping
^
The map shows: ^[i]
- TOP LEFT – Confluence of Brignall stream and River Greta
- BOTTOM LEFT – The old church and several listed structures
^
Mapping criteria : See Table of Contents:
- Sites of Special Scientific Interest (England).
^
Mapping criteria : See Table of Contents:
- Designations > Listed Buildings (England).
- Habitats and Species > Woodland.
^ Use Table of Contents for Colour Mapping
^
The map shows: ^[m]
- TOP LEFT – Brignall mill
- TOP – Priority Habitat – Deciduous Woodland
- BOTTOM – Ancient and Semi-Natural Woodland
^
Mapping criteria : See Table of Contents:
- Designations > Scheduled Monument (England).
^
Mapping criteria : See Table of Contents:
- Designations > Scheduled Monument (England).
^ Eurvikscire : Page XXIII. See paragraph 4 ( beginning "In Barton . . ." ). ^[10]
^ See also Brignall > History > Domesday book
^ Use Table of Contents for Colour Mapping
^
The map shows: ^[s]
- TOP LEFT – Confluence of Brignall Beck and River Greta.
- BOTTOM LEFT – The old church and several listed structures.
^ Brignall Beck flows slowly through the village and past the church before descending steeply down to join the River Greta below. Where the stream and river meet there is a nook of land with evidence of cultivation terraces and the ruins of the old St Mary's church.^[5] ^[t]
^ WiKtionary : Middle English < brig > " bridge " .
^
Examples of ' Brig ' place names:
- Brig o' Turk , ( Trossachs, Scotland ) : " bridge over the River Turk ".
- Brig o' Balgownie , ( Aberdeen, Scotland ) : " bridge of Balgownie ".
- Brighouse, ( West Yorkshire ) : " bridge house ".
^ Old English < brycg > f. ( " bridge " ). ^[14]
^ WiKtionary : Old English < brycg > " bridge ".
^ Medieval English < atten > ( " at the, by the " ) ^[15]
^ Old English hale equates to Old English healh ^[16]
^ Old English < healh > m. ( " corner, nook, secret place, corner of land left by the stream in a river valley " ) ^[14]
^ WiKtionary : Old English < healh > " corner, angle, recess, nook ".
^ An early form of the town's name, Brakenhale, still survives as the name of one of its schools. See The Brakenhale School.
^ Waste: Estates described as "waste" paid no tax. About 10% of all the estates in Domesday are waste. Most are in the North or on the Welsh Borders. . .^[17]

Citations

^ "MAGiC MaP : Brignall village and Brignall Banks". Natural England – Magic in the Cloud.
^ "MAGiC MaP : Brignall village". Natural England – Magic in the Cloud.
^ "MAGiC MaP : Brignall parish boundary". Natural England – Magic in the Cloud.
^ "MAGiC MaP : Brignall village – Listed buildings". Natural England – Magic in the Cloud.
^ ^a ^b "MAGiC MaP : Confluence of Brignall stream and River Greta". Natural England – Magic in the Cloud.
^ "MAGiC MaP : Brignall Banks SSSI". Natural England – Magic in the Cloud.
^ "MAGiC MaP : Brignall mill and ancient woodland". Natural England – Magic in the Cloud.
^ "MAGiC MaP : Greta Bridge and Roman fort". Natural England – Magic in the Cloud.
^ "MAGiC MaP : Confluence of River Greta and River Tees". Natural England – Magic in the Cloud.
^ *"Eurvikscire : Page XXIII". Open Domesday. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
^ Page 1914, pp. 49–51.
^ ^a ^b *"Last Name : Brignall". Surname DB. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
^ *"Key to English Place-Names: Brignall". University of Nottingham. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b Clark Hall 1916, p. 120.
^ Reaney 1969, p. 37.
^ Clark Hall 1916, p. 323.
^ ^a ^b *"BRIGNALL". Open Domesday. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
^ Brignall Banks on the Greta – John Sell Cotman, Leeds Art Gallery. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
^ The Turner Gallery. A Series of One Hundred and Twenty Engravings Archived 2008-04-11 at the Wayback Machine, Antiquarian Maps and Prints. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
^ Brignall Church by J.M.W. Turner Archived 2006-02-15 at the Wayback Machine, Antiquarian Maps and Prints. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
^ Yorkshire, Brignall Church, after Turner, 1855, Steve Bartrick Antique Prints and Maps. Retrieved 10 March 2008.

Sources

Books

Reaney, P H (1969). The Origin of English Place Names. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Clark Hall, John R. (1916). A Concise Anglo−Saxon Dictionary, Second Edition. The Macmillan Company.

Downloads

Page, W.H., ed. (1914). 'Parishes: Brignall' ,in A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 1. Victoria County History. British History Online. pp. 49–51. Retrieved 1 November 2022.