The name Crayke is of Brittonic origin,[2] derived from the neo-Brittonic Cumbric crẹ:g, meaning "a crag" or "prominent rock" (Welsh craig).[3] The village is named in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Crec, part of the Yarlestre hundred and noted as belonging to the Bishop of Durham.(For instance, Michael Lapidge in Anglo-Latin Literature 600–899, Hambledon Press, London 1996) According to the chronicler Symeon, the Northumbrian King Aelle appropriated Crayke and used it as his headquarters during the unsuccessful campaign against the Danes in 867.It was so named following the time of the Danish invasions, when the body of St Cuthbert was unearthed and travelled around the north of England to protect it.[3] William Ralph Inge, author, Anglican priest, professor of divinity at Cambridge, and dean of St Paul's Cathedral was born in Crayke in 1860.[20] There are 28 Grade II listed buildings in the village,[21] including the Brandsby Royal Observer Corps monitoring post that operated from 1964 to 1991 at Zion Hill Farm on Key Lane.