Scrooby History

SCROOBY: EARLY HISTORY

Settlement at Scrooby (then named Scroppenthorp) already existed in 958 A.D. when King Edgar granted considerable land here to Oscytel, Archbishop of York. Thus began the long association with York which was only finally severed in the 20th century.

The ‘Roman Bank’ earthwork, which forms the western boundary of the parish and the edge of Serlby Park, is probably the estate boundary described in the 958 charter, as was the bank, recently destroyed, which formed the eastern boundary of the parish with Mattersey.

The origin of the place-name is uncertain, but may be from a personal name, to which ‘by’, the Scandinavian ending meaning farmstead or village, has been appended.

The Domesday Survey (1086) records Scrobi as a berewick or outlying portion of the manor of Sutton (cum Lound), the property of the Archbishop.

Through the middle ages and until the 18th century, the history and development of the village is closely bound up with its siting on the Great North Road, and its having a manor house of the Archbishops located here. Scrooby’s great claim to fame is through its link with the Pilgrim Fathers, one of whose principal members, William Brewster, resided here