mentioned in the 1086 "domesday book" as "elant", elland retained continuity of tenure from before the norman conquest into the middle ages, as the elland family were descended from anglo-saxon thegns. the manor of elland, with greetland and southowram formed an island of the honour of pontefract in the surrounding manor of wakefield. in 1350 sir john de eland was murdered, as were his son and grandson in the following year, which extinguished the male line of the family and the manor passed to the savile family. from this period, the manor house ceased to be the principal dwelling of a gentry family, as the saviles had their seat at the moated manor of thornhill. elland manor house was never completely reconstructed and, when dismantled and excavated in 1975 by the west yorkshire archaeology unit, it was found to incorporate a 13th-century solar wing – one of the earliest secular buildings in the county. the manor house stood on a knoll aligned with the bridge over the river calder and was destroyed during the construction of calderdale way bypass. the farm buildings survive.