7. Place Name

The place name "Sutton" is by no means uncommon, in the records of nearly a thousand years ago there were eleven villages of this name in Yorkshire. The name is a combination of the words sut - south and on - town or dwelling. Thus evidently Sutton is a collection of dwellings to the South, presumably of the parish church. The land which forms the township today is probably almost the same as that seized and ruled over by some Saxon chief.

To the North the parish boundary runs about midway down the valley. Apparently when the first boundaries were made, this was agreed as giving about the same amount of fertile land in the valley to the adjoining townships of Sutton and Glusburn. When standing in the village the Western boundary is clearly seen. It is on the horizon and runs down the Crag to the valley to meet the Northern boundary.

The first village of Sutton would be a few small huts on the banks of the stream, which rises on the moors to the South-west. The village would be practically surrounded by the great ancient forest of Malsis. This stretched from Cowling Stream half-way up the steep Crag, by Jackfields and on until it met the trees of Sutton Clough. The forest continued to the East towards Steeton. It would provide food and shelter for the first inhabitants of Sutton.