A Brief History of the Village
The site of the oldest settlement is probably along the tracks of Binns Lane, Rycroft and Croft Head. It is impossible to give an accurate date when the first settlers arrived, but the eighth century is the most likely. The site was above Glus Beck which meant the ‘shining stream’. It would have been rough uncultivated land, moorland and forest, with wolves, wild boar and deer around at this time.
Before 1066 much of the area was held by Earl Edwin, a Saxon nobleman. However he broke his oath of loyalty to William of Normandy and the King took his land in revenge.Therefore in the Domesday Book it is described as ‘Terra Regis’ or ‘Lands of the King’. The Corn Mill is mentioned in a twelfth century document. It is likely that the a large section of the Parish boundary, goes back to these Norman times.
A Snapshot of the Village
Why the two names Glusburn and Cross Hills? Technically Glusburn is the Parish but when the first Post Office was set up, it was sited beside the then major thoroughfare in the area. This crossed the River Aire and was about three quarters of a mile from the centre of Glusburn. The houses and shops that developed around it were then given a Cross Hills postal address. Another anomaly is that Glusburn does not have its own Church of England, Parish Church. Instead Cross Hills is part of the much older, Kildwick Parish and Glusburn is part of Sutton Parish.
