Colton can be understood through a range of historical connections: road routes, ecclesiastical building history and a site surrounded by a moat each provide a different perspective. The village’s history includes a mention in the Domesday Book, a chapel documented in 1254, houses and church buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries, and a possible interpretation as an early settlement. To understand the village, it helps to distinguish between its geographical setting, the dates of its buildings and archaeological interpretations.
Historic Roads and Early Village History
A Roman road from Tadcaster to York ran south through Colton. The Streete, described as the Roman road from York to Tadcaster, forms the northern boundary of the parish. This places two geographical details side by side: a historic road route running south through Colton and a northern parish boundary formed by the Streete. The first describes a route; the second, the function of a parish boundary.
Colton is mentioned in the Domesday Book, and a chapel is documented in 1254. The Domesday Book names the village, while the year 1254 provides a specific date associated with the chapel. A possible Romano-British settlement complex extends across the parish boundary between Colton and Copmanthorpe, where it meets Appleton Roebuck; its date is uncertain. Alongside the chapel reference documented for 1254, there is thus an archaeological interpretation whose date remains unknown.
Church and Building History
At the heart of the village, St Paul's, Colton stands in its own small churchyard. The single-nave red-brick church was built in the late 19th century. “Single-nave” describes a building with one nave; the term identifies its basic form, while red brick describes its material. The church’s location, design and date of construction each offer a different way to understand its place in Colton’s history.
Colton Lodge adds a house dating from the early to mid-18th century to the village’s architectural history. It is listed on the National Heritage List for England. According to tradition, it was built as a hunting lodge for the Morritt family of Rokeby Park. The construction period and the traditional account of its use as a hunting lodge answer different questions: when the house dates from, and what purpose its construction is said to have served.
A Site in the Landscape
The site in Colton surrounded by a moat also brings together several points in time. It may have originated in the 11th or 12th century. The 1596 Bolton-Percy parish map shows it covered with trees. Extensive remains of the site survive; today, the land is permanently used as pasture. A possible early origin, a specific depiction from the 16th century and its present-day use as pasture therefore sit side by side.
Comparing these dates helps distinguish between connections of varying degrees of certainty: St Paul's represents the late 19th century, Colton Lodge the early to mid-18th century, while an origin in the 11th or 12th century is only a possibility for the moated site. This places buildings with established dates alongside a cautious archaeological interpretation.
Discover more destinations: Ripon, Nawton, Cayton, Spofforth, Malton, Masham, Carperby, Hebden.
View the wider travel guide: North Yorkshire.
