The town is mentioned in the
Domesday Book of 1086 as "Eisicewalt" in the Bulford hundred. At the time of the
Norman conquest, the manor was owned by
Earl Morcar, but subsequently passed to the King. In 1265 the manor was passed to
Edmund Crouchback by his father,
Henry III. The manor was caught up in the dispute between the 2nd Earl of Lancaster and
Edward I and the manor passed back to the crown following the
Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322 which resulted in the execution of the Earl at
Pontefract. The manor was restored to the Earl's brother some six years later, but he left no male heir, so the lands passed to his son-in-law,
John of Gaunt in 1361. The lands were next granted to his son-in-law,
Ralph Neville. Following the
War of the Roses, the lands were declared forfeit to the Crown until 1633, when they were granted to
Thomas Belasyse and subsequently became the possession of the Wombwell family.
King John had a hunting lodge there and the royal
Forest of Galtres once surrounded the area. The market place was the site of an old toll booth. The base of the old market cross still exists next to
Easingwold Town Hall, which was built as a public hall. It replaced an old row of 'shambles' where butchers sold their wares. The market place was also the site of a
bullring used for baiting. Under the
Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 a
Poor law union was established in Easingwold in 1837. The town had a
workhouse built in 1756 on Oulston Road. In 1891 a privately owned branch line was opened from the town to the
London-
Edinburgh main line at
Alne after many failed attempts to have the main line pass through or closer to the town. The line ran a passenger service until 1948 and a goods service until its final closure in 1957. The station was located in what is now Station Court. All that remains is the old station house following a fire in 1967 that resulted in its demolition. There are 51 Grade II
listed buildings in Easingwold, including five mileposts and the telephone kiosk in Back Lane. The areas of Long Street; the Parish Church and Church Hill; Uppleby and the market place are all within the Easingwold Conservation Area. In 1908 Lieutenant-General
Baden-Powell, the founder of the
Scout Movement, visited Easingwold as commander of the Northumbrian division of the newly formed Territorial Force. Easingwold's Scout Group was founded two years later. ==Governance==