Ravenfield
Ravenfield = "Ravenfield" = Raven's open field
The name Ravenfield is of Norse origin and the settlement was probably founded during the viking occupation of the area during the 9th century.
The name may derive from the Norse personal name "Hrafn" or from the bird.
Domesday
In 1086 it was only a small settlement with 2 villeins and 4 smallholders sharing one plough team. It was part of the honour of Conisbrough that belonged to William de Warenne. Although no mention of it is made in the Domesday Book, there is later evidence that part of the township fell within Roger de Busli's honour of Tickhill. Kirkby's Inquest of 1284-5 shows Robert de Sandeby as holding two parts of the township of the honour of Tickhill.
14th Century
In the late 14th century, the population of Ravenfield was probably around 120. Apart from John de Connesburgh, esq, who paid 40d, Hugh Bacon, butcher, who paid 12d and Robert de Ravenfield, cloth fuller, who also paid 12d, all the 74 tax payers listed in the 1379 Ravenfield Poll Tax return paid at the standard rate of 4d each.
Ravenfield Estate - Westby Family
From the reign of Henry III the main estate in Ravenfield was held by the Westby family. The direct Westby line ended in the 17th century and Ravenfield then passed to George Westby of Whalley (Dby). The Westbys were supporters of the parliamentary cause during the civil war and Thomas Westby acted as a justice of the peace under the Commonwealth. His son, Wardell-George Westby, was MP for Malton and a commissioner of the customs. Having no male heir, he sold Ravenfield in 1749 to Elizabeth Parkin. The purchase price was reputedly £28,000.
Ravenfield Estate - Elizabeth Parkin
Elizabeth Parkin, although known as Mrs Parkin, was a prosperous spinster with business interests in Sheffield, London and Bristol. She had inherited the fortunes of her grandfather, father and two uncles and her interests included coal mining, import-export, money lending, gunpowder mills and brass wire manufacture. Part of her fortune went to revive the run down estate at Ravenfield. The medieval church was replaced in 1756 with a completely new church designed by the York architect, John Carr. Mrs Parkin also employed Carr to design a completely new georgian mansion on the site of the Westbys' house.
On Elizabeth Parkin's death in 1766, the estate passed to her cousin, Walter Oborne and, on his death in 1778 to another cousin, Matthew Worgan. He too died without heirs and under the terms of Mrs Parkin's will, Ravenfield then passed to a distant relative, William Parkin Bosvile, a descendant of Thomas Bosvile, vicar of Braithwell in the 17th century. Both William and his brother Thomas died without heirs and the estate then passed in 1824 to a cousin, Thomas James Birch, who took on the name Bosvile. On his death in 1829 the estate was inherited by a cousin Thomas Bosvile Lee, who took on the name Thomas Bosvile.
The family remained at Ravenfield until 1912 when they moved to Leyburn. The Ravenfield estate was sold off in lots in the 1930s and the hall was purchased by the Badger family of Ravenfield Hall Farm. The hall seems to have been largely unoccupied until the Second World War when a prisoner of war camp was built in the park and the hall was used for training.
After the war, the hall and Hall Farm passed to the Heath family but the hall remained empty and was used for storing straw. The building was badly damaged by fire in 1961 and was demolished the following year. The remaining stables and outbuildings have since been converted into dwellings. Much of the parkland became the property of Phoenix Social Services for use by the workforce at Steel, Peech and Tozer's steelworks. Restoration work on the park was undertaken by British Steel and South Yorkshire County Council in the 1980s.
Development and growth
The village of Ravenfield remained a small, rural settlement until the present century, with the quarrying of grindstones being the only industrial occupation. In 1801 the population was 172 and rose to 241 in 1841. There was a fall to 180 in the next decade, following which the population began to grow again, reaching 217 in 1901. The opening of Silverwood Colliery near the southern boundary of the parish led to the building of houses in Silver Wood, within the Ravenfield boundary. As a result the population reached 352 in 1921 and 485 in 1931. Continued housing development after the war, particularly in the Ravenfield Common area, saw the population of the village climb to 995 in 1961 and 1,636 in 1991.
(Extracted from:- RMBC, Patchwork of Parishes, 1997)