Spen village

When Robert Nevill, lord of Raby granted land on the Tyne to Newminster Abbey in the 13th century he also gave the monks free passage from their wood at Chopwell through the vills of Spen and Winlaton to the river. In 1370 Katherine, widow of Hugh de Fery, held 4 messuages and 100 acres in Berley and Spen. From this it appears that Spen was, in the Middle Ages, the property of the Nevills and not part of Chopwell.