The records list every hamlet and village using the wapentake system. The Wapentakes of Staincliffe and Ewcross cover Craven but also areas beyond such as Sedbergh to the North. Young King Richard II had commanded that poll tax to pay off the debts he'd inherited from the Hundred Years' War. Its first application in 1377 was a flat rate and the second of 1379 was a sliding scale from 1 groat (4p pence) to 4 marks. But the third tax of 1381 of 4 groats (1 shilling) and up was applied corruptly and led to the Great Rising of 1381.