KNARESBOROUGH, an urban district of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, 161 m. W. by N. of York by the L.N.E.
railway and 31 m. N.E. of Harrogate. Pop. (1931), 5,942. Its situation is most picturesque, on the steep left bank of the river Nidd, which here follows a well-wooded valley, hemmed in by limestone cliffs.
Knaresborough (Canardesburg, Cnarreburc, Cknareburg), Crown property before the Conquest, formed part of William the Conqueror's grant to his follower, Serlo de Burgh, who probably founded Knaresborough castle. In the reign of Stephen, Knares borough was forfeited by Eustace Fitzjohn, grandson of de Burgh, and was granted to Robert de Stuteville. From his descendants it passed, through marriage, to Hugh de Morville, one of the mur derers of Thomas a Becket, who, with his accomplices, is said to have remained in hiding in the castle for a whole year. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the castle and lordship changed hands very frequently; they were granted successively to Hubert de Burgh, whose son forfeited them, after the battle of Evesham, to Richard, earl of Cornwall, whose son Edmund died without issue; to Piers Gaveston; and finally to John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, and so to the Crown as parcel of the duchy of Lan caster. In 1317, John de Lilleburn, who was holding the castle for Thomas, duke of Lancaster, against the king, surrendered, under conditions, to William de Ros of Hamelak, but, before leaving the castle, managed to destroy all the records of the liberties and priv ileges of the town, which were kept in the castle. An inquisition
was taken, in 1368, to ascertain these privileges, and the jurors found that the burgesses held "all the soil of their borough yield ing 7s. 4d. yearly and doing suit at the king's court." In the reign of Henry VIII. Knaresborough is said by Leland to be "no great thing and meanely builded but the market there is quik." The castle was probably founded in 107o, but its remains, which include a massive keep rising finely from a cliff above the Nidd, are mainly of the 14th century. During the Civil Wars the Royal ists were obliged to surrender it to Fairfax after Marston Moor, and it was dismantled in 1646. A charter granted by Charles II., confirming earlier charters, allows a market on Wednesday, which is held in the open market square, and a fortnightly fair on the same day from the Feast of St. Mark to that of St. Andrew.
The Knaresborough free grammar school was founded in 1616. The church of St. John the Baptist is Early English, but has nu merous Decorated and Perpendicular additions ; it is a cruciform building containing several interesting monuments. Linen and leather are manufactured, and the limestone quarries employ a number of people, but the population is largely agricultural. Lead ore was found and worked on Knaresborough common in the 16th century.
From 1555 to 1867 the town returned two members to parlia ment, but in the latter year the number was reduced to one, and in 1885 the representation was merged in that of a district constituency.