There are two interpretations of the name. One is from the Old Norsevaett-vangr, or 'field for the trial of a legal action'. Another theory is that it was the "Wet Field" compared to the nearby dry field at Driffield.[3]
The village is mentioned twice in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Wetuuangha. The lesser mention simply records its existence: "In Wetwang the archbishop 13+1⁄2carucates". The mention is under "Warter Hundred" on original folio 381V: East Riding.[13] Earlier in the Domesday Book, there is a fuller description (Folio 302V: Yorkshire) within the listing of the land of the Archbishop of York:
In Wetwang there are 13+1⁄2 carucates to the geld, and there could be 7 ploughs. Archbishop Ealdraed held this as 1 manor. Now Archbishop Thomas has it and it is waste. TRE worth £4. This manor is 2 leagues long and 1+1⁄2 broad
— Folio 302V: Yorkshire) within the listing of the land of the Archbishop of York
A carucate is the area of land a man with 8 oxen can plough in a season, sometimes cited as around 120 acres (49 ha). In Wetwang there were 13+1⁄2 of them available for the tax take ("geld"). A "plough" was a carucate which was being ploughed, rather than grazed or fallow. A league is around 3 miles (4.8 km). After the conquest, Wetwang was waste land held by Archbishop Thomas. [12]
St Nicholas's Church is of Norman origin and was restored between 1845 and 1902. In 1966, the church was designated a Grade II* listed building.[14] It is on the Sykes Churches Trail devised by the East Yorkshire Churches Group.[15] The church has a ring of three bells (tenor 7 long cwt 0 qr 12 lb; 796 lb or 361 kg in A), the oldest of which (the tenor) dates from c. 1450.[16]
Wetwang was once known for its black swans, after which the village pub, the Black Swan, is named.[17]
^"Sykes Churches Trail Southern Route". Beverley, East Yorkshire: East Yorkshire Historic Churches Group.
^Central Council of Church Bell Ringers. "Wetwang, S Nicholas". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Central Council Publications. Retrieved 8 June 2022.