Selby origins
Selby, on the River Ouse is in North Yorkshire, twelve miles south of the centre of York but was historically a West Riding town. It is a Viking place-name, containing the element ‘by’ signifying a village or farm but was originally called ‘Seletun’ in Anglo-Saxon times, meaning ‘Sallow village’. This is from the Old English ‘salh’ – a sallow copse. Sallow is a kind of willow tree of the genus salix and such trees grow favourably in low-lying, marshy riverside conditions.
Seletun, possibly situated on an earlier Roman site, was seemingly a place of importance in Anglo-Saxon times as it is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year AD 779 in connection with a violent event. At that time Selby (Seletun) lay within the Kingdom of Northumbria and it was here, in that year, that an Ealdorman called Beorn, a high status Northumbrian noble was burned by unnamed Northumbrian ‘High Reeves’ who were also of high status.
Over a century later, Seletun was renamed Selby by the Vikings, presumably sometime after the Danish conquest and settlement of what is now the Yorkshire part of Northumbria in AD 866. Viking raiders and later Viking traders were familiar with the navigation of the River Ouse on which Selby is located. Selby is half way along the river route from the Humber, in the south, to York in the north. The Viking form of Selby’s name is first recorded as ‘Selebi’ in 1030 and then as ‘Selbi’ in 1050.
Only two years after the Norman Conquest, Selby was visited by Norman royalty as it was here, in the year 1068, that a future king of England was born. He was the future King Henry I and is Selby’s most famous son, born here in 1068. His mother, Matilda, the new Queen of England, was staying at Selby while her husband, King William the Conqueror, was busy subjugating the North.
Selby Abbey
It was Benedict of Auxerre in France who founded the abbey at Selby after it is said he was directed in a vision to a place called ‘Selebaie’ somewhere in England. Such miracles and visions are common stories in the foundation of abbeys. Benedict came to England in 1069, bringing with him the preserved finger of St Germain, as a sacred relic, that was expected to attract pilgrims.
When Benedict arrived at Selby it is said three swans landed in the waters on or near the River Ouse. Benedict took this as a sign and with the permission of King William the Conqueror, chose the place as the setting for his abbey. However, being the recent birthplace of Prince Henry may well have been another factor in locating the abbey at Selby.
Benedict died in 1097 and much of the building work of Selby Abbey was undertaken during the time of his successor, Abbot Hugh De Lacy. The Benedictine abbey at Selby was built in typical Norman style with Herringbone masonry and its internal design was similar to that of Durham Cathedral.
In the dissolution of the monasteries, during the reign of Henry VIII, the wealthy and powerful Yorkshire monasteries were mostly destroyed and left to ruin. Selby was lucky enough to escape and although part was pulled down, the central nave survived and in 1618 it became the parish church for the town of Selby.
Sadly, Selby Abbey was not so lucky in 1906 when on October 19th of that year it suffered from a devastating fire. Extensive restoration followed, returning the abbey to the state in which its Norman builders intended.
Internally, the abbey is worthy of exploration with one notable feature being the Washington Window, a medieval stained glass window featuring the red ‘Stars and Stripes’ shield of the Washington family coat of arms.
The window is thought to commemorate a benefaction made by the Prior of Durham, John Wessington (1416-1446) who was a member of the family originating from Washington, near Sunderland, in County Durham, whose illustrious later members included the US president, George Washington. Prior John also made contributions to the development of the church at nearby Hemingbrough.
Selby Abbey overlooks Selby market place which is a bustling place of activity on Monday market days. It was a busy place too in the eighteenth century coaching days when many of its inns first opened in association with Selby’s role as a coaching stop.
The abbey stands within an enclosed green or precinct surrounded by iron railings at the eastern end of the Market Place. The green is bordered on its south side, by a curving street called The Crescent completed by the industrialists John and James Audus in the 1850s. The Crescent is joined by Park Street, from the south, which flanks the neighbouring Selby Park.
On its north side, Selby’s abbey precinct is crossed by a footpath called Abbey Place and bordered by Church Avenue that is itself joined from the north by a narrow street called Church Lane.
Close to Church Avenue is a green, just outside the railings of the abbey precinct. This area was the site of the cholera burial ground where Selby’s victims of the cholera epidemic of 1848-49 were buried, as there was no further room in the abbey’s churchyard.
Over one-hundred people died from cholera in Selby, a town that was particularly vulnerable as an inland port in a riverside location. Following the epidemic, improvements were made to Selby’s drainage system and water supply. A plaque on the abbey railings marks the site of the burial ground which was situated in front of the railings.
Eastward, towards the River Ouse and Selby bridge, are Ousegate, Water Lane and The Quay where we find a flour mill near what was once the site of the Abbot’s Staith on the River Ouse. Here, the Selby abbots built their own riverside warehouses. Remarkably, remnants of a fifteenth century warehouse can still be seen.
Across the River Ouse, to the north east, is the village of Barlby, that was historically in the East Riding of Yorkshire and first recorded as ‘Bardulbi’ – meaning ‘Bardolf’s Farm’. Also historically in the East Riding was the nearby village of Osgodby to the south east of Barlby. This is another Viking place-name meaning ‘farm belonging to Asgaut’ which is an old Scandinavian name. The Ouse formed the historic border between the West Riding and East Riding of Yorkshire as far as the Fulford area on the southern outskirts of York.
Back in Selby, just across from The Quay, to the west, is the broad western end of a street called Micklegate that effectively forms a second market place and parking spaces for cars. At its south east end is The Griffin pub and at the south west end is Finkle Street.
Like the Micklegate in York, Selby’s Micklegate street-name means ‘big street’ or ‘great street’ and it seems likely it is named from its breadth rather than its length as it is relatively short and soon takes on a slight dog-leg where it becomes Finkle Street. This street is actually a slightly longer street than Micklegate and joins the market place to the south east.
‘Finkle’ actually means ‘dog-leg’ street. Finkle Street is an old street-name found in towns of medieval origin throughout the North. York; Richmond; Stockton-on-Tees; Alnwick; Holy Island village; Bishop Auckland; Thirsk; Malton, Sheriff Hutton and Hemingbrough (see below) are also places with Finkle Streets.
Half way along Finkle Street is a broad, arched passageway that forms the entrance to Robert Street on Finkle Street’s north side. Robert Street leads to Back Micklegate on the northern edge of the old part of town.
At the south end of Finkle Street is Selby Market Place, a good point from which to admire Selby Abbey’s western front and its two towers. The Market Place is the home to the George Inn at the north east corner but the focal point of the Market Place is Selby Market Cross of 1790 at the western end. Here, the west end of the market place is joined by an old street called Gowthorpe that follows the A19 and becomes Leeds Road further to the west.
Gowthorpe effectively forms a High Street in Selby and is the home to Selby Town Hall which is in fact a former Methodist Chapel of 1862. The chapel fell out of use in the 1950s and became Selby Town Hall in 1996.
In the Market Place, the Market Cross is a symbol of the town’s historic importance as a trading place. Being situated on a navigable river at the heart of an agricultural district, Selby was actively trading with the Low Countries from medieval times.
The Abbots of Selby were instrumental in developing the town’s trade and industry. Shipbuilding (wooden sailing ships) was carried out here from the fifteenth century and took place in Selby until quite recent times.
The building of Selby Canal in 1778 was a boost to Selby’s trade as Selby became the focus for the West Riding’s trade with the outside world. Selby was effectively an inland port by this time and a home to many mariners. It was well-situated on a highly navigable stretch of the Ouse, but larger sea-going ships of the era would struggle to navigate upstream from Selby towards York
The Leeds and Selby Railway of 1834 was another boost to Selby’s trade, but in the interim, the opening of Goole Docks in 1826, on the River Ouse to the south of Selby would really prove to be Selby’s demise. Furthermore, the extension of the railway to Hull in the 1840s really hit Selby’s potential to thrive as a port, though it did become a railway centre.
Selby was a notorious bottle neck for traffic, due to the payment of tolls that were once required on Selby Bridge. The three bridges across the River Ouse in Selby are all Swing Bridges. Its first road bridge was a wooden swing bridge built in 1792. This superseded an earlier ferry that had operated since at least the thirteenth century. The construction of the bridge involved the demolition of Selby Abbey’s gateway, to make way for an approach road to the bridge called New Street.
The old bridge was replaced in the 1970s by the present Swing Bridge, still known as Selby Toll Bridge, but there is no longer a toll. The bottleneck problem was resolved with the completion of a new additional swing bridge for the A63 Selby bypass, further to the south, on the outskirts of Selby in 2004.
Selby’s third swing bridge is a railway bridge, situated just south of the old Toll Bridge near the centre of town. The railway bridge dates from 1891 and replaced an earlier railway swing bridge of 1839.
Places around Selby
Selby stands on the southward flowing River Ouse at a point half way between York and the river’s meeting with the River Humber to the east of Goole. The town of Selby is surrounded by miles and miles of flat, low-lying countryside. ‘Hilly’ areas are nowhere to be seen and lie far to the west in the Pennine foothills near the outskirts of Leeds or far to the east in the Yorkshire Wolds.
Roads are often slightly raised in the countryside around Selby. They sometimes appear like causeways above the level of surrounding fields, bordered by drainage ditches. Long-sweeping lowland views are punctuated only by trees; distant churches; farms and villages.
Wistow, Cawood and Tadcaster
To the north west of Selby towards the village of Cawood is Wistow, a village with a fifteenth century church dedicated to All Saints. Wistow lies within the Selby coalfield area and was the site of Wistow Colliery which operated from 1983 to 2004. It should not be confused with Westoe Colliery near South Shields in North East England. Wistow was a royal manor and its name derives from ‘wic-stow’ meaning ‘dwelling place manor’.
Cawood, north west of Wistow, is close to where the River Wharfe joins the River Ouse. The Wharfe forms Wharfedale in its upper reaches, then passes through Ilkley, Otley, Wetherby and Tadcaster. It then heads past Kirby Wharfe (a Roman villa site) and then onwards past Ulleskelf and Nun Appleton before reaching Cawood. Ulleskelf means a ‘skelf’ or ‘shelf of land’ belonging to someone called Ulf, and is situated above the Wharfe.
Tadcaster on the Wharfe, nine miles north west of Selby, incidentally means ‘Tada’s Caster’, probably from an Anglo-Saxon with a name something along the lines of ‘Tada’. He would have likely held land on the site of the former ‘caster’ (the Roman fort). The fort at Tadcaster was known to the Romans as Calcaria. In 1066 Tadcaster was known as ‘Tada’.
Since the eighteenth century, Tadcaster has been famed for Sam Smith’s, the oldest brewery in Yorkshire. It has been brewing beer here since 1758. Historic Tadcaster features include a Georgian bridge across the Wharfe. Two miles south of Tadcaster on the A162 is Towton, the site of the Battle of Towton, a Wars of the Roses battle fought on March 29, 1461 during a snowstorm.
South of Towton, towards the village of Sherburn in Elmet we find the village of Barkston Ash, once the central meeting place of a Yorkshire Wapentake of that name in the West Riding. ‘Wapentake’ is a word of Viking origin and describes a kind of early administrative district. The ‘Ash’ of Barkston Ash was an ash tree that supposedly marked the very centre of Yorkshire.
Cawood, south of the meeting of the River Wharfe and River Ouse traces its origins to Roman times. For many centuries it was home to the palace of the Archbishops of York. The palace, of which only the fifteenth century gatehouse remains, was built on the site of a fort built by King Athelstan in pre-Conquest times.
One of the most famous residents of the Archbishop’s Palace at Cawood was Cardinal Wolsey who was Archbishop of York from 1514 to 1530. Wolsey was arrested for treason at Cawood in 1530, on the orders of King Henry VIII. He was ill at the time and died on his way south to face imprisonment in London.
The twelfth century All Saints Church above the River Ouse on the east side of Cawood may have originally been the chapel of the palace but became Cawood’s parish church sometime before it is first mentioned in records in 1294. Inside, the church has a memorial to George Montaigne (1569-1621), who was born at Cawood.
Montaigne (also called George Mountain) certainly did the rounds when it came to holding ecclesiastical posts. Starting out as a priest and deacon at Peterborough, he later served as Chaplain to King James I. From 1610 he was Dean of Westminster and in 1617 became Bishop of Lincoln, holding the post until 1621.
He then became Bishop of London from 1621-1627 and then Bishop of Durham until 1628. In July of that year he secured his final role becoming Archbishop of York, a fitting appointment given the historical connections of his home village. Sadly, he wasn’t in the post for long and died in October 1628, before burial at Cawood.
Riccall
North of Cawood, towards York are Bolton Percy (near Ulleskelf); Appleton Roebuck and Acaster Selby, while further north towards York’s outskirts are Acaster Malbis, Copmanthorpe and Bishopthorpe near the A64. All are in countryside west of the Ouse with Acaster Malbis situated on the western bank of the Ouse itself.
Bishopthorpe is home to Bishopthorpe Palace, the residence of the Archbishop of York. A Manor House was purchased here by the Archbishops in 1241 (then called Andrewthorpe). It developed into a palace and was extended in the eighteenth century.
Other places north of Cawood over on the east side of the Ouse (in the former East Riding) include Naburn on the Ouse itself, just upstream from Acaster Malbis.
Further east, well beyond the river, are the villages of Deighton and Escrick on the A19 between York and Selby. Escrick is the site of Escrick Park, once home to Sir Thomas Kynvet who discovered the gunpowder hidden in the Houses of Parliament by another Yorkshireman, Guy Fawkes of York.
Also north of Cawood on that side of the River Ouse is the village of Stillingfleet and closer still, just across the river to the east, are the villages of Kelfield and Riccall. The name Riccall comes from ‘Richele’ (Rica’s Haugh) meaning ‘riverside meadow belonging to someone called Ricca’. It should not be confused with the River Riccal near Nunnington Hall in Ryedale.
Parts of the church at Riccall are Norman, dating to the twelfth century but it is thought to stand on the site of an Anglo-Saxon church. Riccall is famed as the place where the Norwegian king, Harald Hardrada arrived by river and set up camp before his defeat at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066.
Like Wistow, Riccall was the site of a colliery that operated from the 1980s until 2004. Just south of Riccall is the village of Barlby, near the outskirts of Selby.
Sherburn in Elmet and Barkston Ash
Places west of Selby include the villages of Brayton; Thorpe Willoughby; Hambleton and Gateforth. Further west still are Hillam (north of Knottingley), Monk Fryston and Sherburn-in-Elmet.
The ‘Sherburn’ part of Sherburn in Elmet’s name means ‘bright stream’. Sherburn in Elmet and Barwick in Elmet (near Leeds) refer to an ancient district or kingdom of Welsh origin called Elmet that was situated between York and Leeds.
As the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria expanded from the sixth century, the native Britons (who they called ‘Waelisc’, meaning ‘foreigner’) were absorbed or pushed to the fringes. Some ‘Welsh’ speaking native British kingdoms held out for some time into the seventh century and Elmet was one such kingdom.
Elmet was probably bordered by the River Don and River Wharfe. Elmet’s neighbour, immediately to the west, was another Welsh kingdom called ‘Loidis’, from which we get the name of Leeds. Both of these, along with a Welsh kingdom called Meicen, situated in the marshy heath fields of Hatfield Chase near Doncaster were all eventually swallowed up by the kingdom of Northumbria.
River Aire near Selby
Three or four miles south of Selby we find the course of the River Aire making its journey west to east from its source in Airedale, flowing through Leeds, then onward through Castleford, where it is joined by the Calder, before passing through Knottingley, north east of Pontefract.
Entering the Selby area to the south, the Aire heads past West Haddlesey; Chapel Haddlesey; Temple Hirst; Hirst Courtney and Carlton; all on or near the north bank of the river. On its south side the Aire passes several villages that lie between it and the Aire and Calder Navigation canal. This canal runs roughly parallel to the river, but about two miles further south.
Here villages include Beal on the Aire itself. Then we have Eggborough; Great Heck and Pollington on the canal and a number of places more or less situated between the river and canal like Hensall; Little Heck; Gowdall; Snaith; West Cowick and East Cowick, followed by Rawcliffe and Airmyn, near the outskirts of Goole.
North of Rawcliffe and Carlton, in the area half way between the River Aire and River Ouse are Camblesforth and Drax, where we find Drax power station that can be seen from miles around. Drax village just to its east was the site of a Norman priory, a Norman castle and a Norman church, but today only the church remains.
Interestingly, the name ‘Drax’ comes from the word ‘dræg’ meaning ‘portage’ which describes the practice of carrying boats and their cargo overland from one river to another.
Hemingbrough
We now head back to Selby and follow the east side of the River Ouse within the old East Riding of Yorkshire south-eastward towards Goole. From Barlby and Osgoodby, near Selby, the neighbouring Hull Road also heads south east. This road takes us through the village of Cliffe and onward to Hemingbrough, three and a half miles from Selby.
Hemingbrough is a village with a name meaning ‘Heming’s Burh’, a fortification belonging to someone with the Old Scandinavian personal name Hemingr. It is thought to be named from the Viking Jarl Hemingr, who captained a body of housecarls (royal bodyguards) established in England by Swein of Denmark, the father of King Cnut. Hemingr and his followers were slain by the English around 1015 but in 1026, according to the Norse Knytlinga Saga, Hemingbrough itself was captured by King Cnut.
Before the Norman Conquest Hemingbrough was a manor of the Earls of Northumbria and belonged to the Anglo-Danish earl, Siward and then later to Tostig Godwinson.
It is thought Hemingbrough was confiscated from Earl Tostig and came into the hands of the king following Tostig’s rebellion against his brother, Harold, King of England. At the Battle of Stamford Bridge near York in 1066 Tostig sided against his brother and fought alongside the Norwegian king, Harald Hardrada. The men of Hemingbrough are likely to have fought alongside Tostig as he was their feudal lord.
At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, Hemingbrough was still in the possession of the king but in 1087, shortly before his death, King William the Conqueror gave Hemingbrough to the Prior and Convent of Durham and it would remain in their hands for centuries to come. Along with their neighbouring holdings in Howdenshire (see below) this gave the priory of Durham Cathedral immense influence in this region.
Hemingbrough has a very impressive and imposing medieval church that belonged to Durham priory. The old part of the village is centred on a main street, historically called ‘Town Street’ which is linked to another old street called Back Lane by Water Lane at the north end of the old village and by Finkle Street to the south.
Other parts of the village developed in more recent times. As at Selby and York, the name of Finkle Street may refer to a dog-leg but may be influenced by the name of Finchale Priory (pronounced ‘Finkle’) near Durham which belonged to the Priory of Durham.
Hemingbrough church, dedicated to St Mary and sometimes known as Hemingbrough Minster. It should not be confused with Howden Minster, another prominent church associated with Durham that we will come to in a moment.
Hemingbrough Church or ‘Minster’ is very prominent and clearly intended to impress. It can be seen from miles around. A spire placed within a tower is sometimes called a ‘broach’ (as at Darlington in County Durham) and at Hemingbrough we find such a ‘broach’. It is significantly longer than the tower in which it is situated. Despite its great height being clearly disproportionate to the length of the church it is wonderfully impressive.
The church was built around the thirteenth century and the distinguished needle-like spire was added by the Prior of Durham sometime between 1416 and 1446. One of the powerful Priors of Durham was John De Hemingbrough, who came from this village and served from 1391 to 1416.
Hemingbrough was originally situated above the banks of the River Ouse that was once located on the lower ground just below the west side of Hemingbrough church but at some point in history the course of the river changed direction to the west and the old course of the river is now little more than a ditch. A similar thing happened at Howden but there it was the River Derwent.
Howden and Howdenshire
Just over a mile south of Hemingbrough is the village of Barmby-on-the-Marsh, located on yet another river, the River Derwent. In its upper reaches the Derwent is the predominant river of the Vale of Pickering, beginning its course in the North Yorkshire Moors near Scarborough. It enters the York area at Stamford Bridge, the site of the famed battle of September 25 1066, that took place to the east of the city.
To reach Barmby-on-the-Marsh, the Derwent has flowed south from Stamford Bridge via places such as Elvington; Sutton on Derwent; Sheldrake Nature Reserve; Bubwith; Breighton and Wressle before arriving at Barmby where it joins the River Ouse. At Barmby there are views of the nearby Drax power station across the River Ouse to the west.
After it has been joined by the Derwent at Barmby, the Ouse flows eastward towards Goole and Howden. A road heads east through this low-lying landscape from Barmby through the villages of Asselby and Knedlington to reach the town of Howden.
Barmby-on-the-Marsh, Asselby and Knedlington, along with Howden itself, were all historically part of the Liberty of Howdenshire that historically belonged to the Bishops and Priors of Durham.
Howden has a large cathedral-like collegiate church called Howden Minster that is dedicated to St Peter and dates from the thirteenth century. Historically, the manor of Howden and its surrounding district, forming the liberty of Howdenshire, belonged to the Prince Bishops of Durham from the time of Bishop William of St Carileph (or St Calais). Bishop Carileph was the bishop who instigated the building of Durham Cathedral.
In Roman times much of the area around Howden had been under water but later, successive silting and then later reclamations of wetlands during the twelfth century created extensive agricultural lands.
Back in the eighth century Howden is said to have been the home of St Osana (born circa AD 698), who was the daughter of King Aldfrith of Northumbria and sister of King Osred. She died in AD 750 and an earlier church on the site of Howden Minster was supposedly her place of burial.
According to a thirteenth century Welsh chronicler, a concubine of the Howden rector was subjected to a miracle flagellation after sitting on the now un-located tomb of St Osana at Howden. Frozen to the spot by the force of the saint’s displeasure, the concubine was not released until she had been stripped bare, received a lashing and repented her sins; or so the story goes.
Before the Norman Conquest, Howden had belonged to the Kings of England, one of whom, King Edgar, conveyed it to a woman called Cwen in AD 959. She subsequently bestowed Howden to the monastery of Peterborough. However, Howden was later confiscated from Peterborough by either Edward the Confessor or by Aethelred the Unready, seemingly for defaulting on the Danegeld tax.
At the time of the Norman Conquest, in 1066, Howden belonged to the king. Sometime before the Domesday Book of 1086, William the Conqueror gave Howden to William of St Carileph, the Bishop of Durham, whose land holdings at Howden are mentioned in that great book and survey.
Bishop Carileph conferred the church at Howden (likely situated on the site of an earlier Anglo-Saxon edifice), to the Prior and monks of Durham but the Bishop himself remained Lord of the Manor.
Howden and its surrounding lands called ‘Howdenshire’ became a special liberty where certain privileges prevailed. Much later in the 1640s this liberty or shire was designated a ‘Wapentake’ so it was not a genuine Viking ‘wapentake’ in name. Nevertheless, despite the re-designation of its name, the influence of Durham continued until the abolition of the liberty in 1846, by which time it was under the ownership of the Dean of Durham.
As was the case with the Bishop of Durham’s lands in Allertonshire, Howdenshire always remained within the Diocese of York, so the Bishop of Durham was never its actual bishop, but he was the baronial lord. Like Allertonshire, Howdenshire was not part of the County Palatine of Durham where the bishops ruled as ‘Prince Bishops‘ or virtual kings.
In this respect Howdenshire and Allertonshire were different to Norhamshire, Bedlingtonshire and Islandshire, the isolated Durham exclaves up in Northumberland, that were in effect outlying parts of County Durham, as too was the village of Crayke in ‘Craykeshire’ a part of the Palatine, that is now part of Yorkshire.
Nevertheless, Howdenshire was still arguably the most important and most valuable of the Bishop of Durham’s lands outside of the County of Durham itself. Here there were a wide range of protected privileges within the Howdenshire liberty. For example, the Sheriff of York had no jurisdiction in Howdenshire as that role fell to the Bishop of Durham’s Steward in Howden.
An important reminder of the Bishop of Durham’s historic influence in Howden are the remains of the Bishop’s Manor House or palace that now includes an attached former Georgian house encompassing what was once the hall of the Bishop’s palace.
The bishop’s manor house or palace would have been much more extensive than what we see today. It was one of the favourite residences of the Prince Bishops of Durham and a convenient stopping point on their travels to London.
A plaque near the arch of the old banqueting hall of the manor house recalls that kings Edward II, Henry V and Prince John all stayed here, most likely arriving by barges on the River Derwent.
One tradition says that the building was given to the bishops by Henry III as a safe haven during Scottish raids in the north but the Bishops of Durham were certainly regularly residing at this manor house, well before that time.
Many of the medieval Bishops of Durham spent considerable periods here and it is notable that three of them: – the extremely powerful Hugh Du Puiset (Bishop Pudsey) in 1195; Bishop Walter Kirkham in 1260 and Walter Skirlaw in 1405; all died at this Manor House. In its later years parts of the old Manor House of the bishops fell into ruin and those parts that remained were later used as a farmhouse. Part of the building today is used as a pre-school.
South of the manor house and the market place is Ashes Park that was once the grounds of the Bishop’s palace. This land was given to the people of Howden by a local brewer called Charles Briggs in the 1920s.
Here, there is an extensive fish pond and nearby traces of a moat. Both of these date back to the time of the Bishop’s manor when it was a moated site. The moat surrounded the grounds of the manor house and can be traced in the Treeton Road area.
Part of this moat was formed by the old course of the River Derwent, a river that once flowed through the area to join the Ouse somewhere near the village of Kilpin to the south. Running along the edge of the market place to the north of the Bishop’s Manor House is a street called High Bridge. It is the site of a bridge that once crossed the long lost old course of the River Derwent.
Facing the street of High Bridge in the adjoining street of Hailgate to the east is High Bridge House of about 1700 that is now home to offices of the East Riding Council. In earlier times this location would have been situated across the Derwent from the Market Place.
It is somewhat surprising to discover that it was on the banks of the River Derwent that the settlement of Howden first developed. Interestingly, early recorded spellings of Howden’s name such as ‘Heafuddene’ show it means ‘headland-dene’ or ‘headland valley’, likely from its situation on a spit or headland between the River Ouse and River Derwent. In later times the place-name was often written as ‘Hovedene’ before its present form ‘Howden’ prevailed.
Roger of ‘Hoveden’, famed for his History of England came from Howden. He was the head of Howden Minster and came into conflict with the powerful Bishop of Durham, Hugh du Puiset when the Bishop, ignoring established rights, tried to grant tithes at Howden to the Hospital of Kepier in Durham. Supported by the monks and Priory of Durham and backed by the Pope, Roger has this overturned causing a rift with the bishop. Later, the two men made amends and the Bishop became a patron of Roger’s works.
The River Derwent would have been one of the key features of Howden in historic times. Bishops of Durham and royal visitors would likely arrive at the manor house palace on barges sailing along the River Derwent from the Ouse.
In 1329, an improvement to the navigation of the River Derwent in the Howden area had been made with a ‘New River Derwent’ cut. However, this, like the course of the ‘Old River Derwent’, is now a drainage channel and is called Howden Dyke. In time, the old river and channel silted up and the Derwent would cut a new course to the River Ouse through the marshes at Barmby-on-the-Marsh.
In Howden and linked to the Market Place by the street called High Bridge is the slightly curving street called Hailgate that follows part of the course of the Old River Derwent. Hailgate, historically ‘Halegate’ means ‘halh-street’, from an Old Anglo-Saxon word ‘halh’ meaning ‘riverside meadow’.
Despite the Bishop of Durham’s status as Lord of the Manor in Howdenshire, the real power in this medieval liberty belonged to the Prior of Durham Cathedral monastery. The Prior of Durham received tithes or agricultural taxes from Howdenshire through a complex arrangement involving a Receiver and a team of supporting bailiffs.
The great minster church at Howden, dedicated to St Peter and known as ‘Howden Minster’ was made collegiate by the Bishop of Durham in 1267. Howden church is known as a ‘minster’ because of its historic high status and organisation. It was home to a group or ‘college’ of priests supported by affiliated parishes through prebends. It was not a home to monks, like a monastery, although its ultimate masters were the Priors of Durham Cathedral monastery.
Howden’s organisation was, however, somewhat similar to that of a cathedral monastery. The minster area was home to six canons supported through prebendary revenues collected from the Howdenshire parishes of Howden, Barmby, Skelton, Thorpe, Saltmarsh and Skipwith. The post of a canon in Howden seems to have been considered a high status appointment.
Extensions to the minster were later made through contributions from Walter Skirlaw, the fourteenth century Bishop of Durham, who had strong Yorkshire connections. Skirlaw’s family name came from the East Riding village of Skirlaugh. Bishop Skirlaw was also the major contributor to the building of the great central tower at York Minster.
The appearance and layout of Howden Minster, including its huge crossing tower of 1390, built by Skirlaw, is certainly very similar to that of a cathedral, although parts of the building, including Skirlaw’s chapter house are now in ruin. The collegiate status of the church was dissolved in 1547.
The historian, William Hutchinson (1732-1814) who extensively covered Howden and its shire in his late eighteenth century History of Durham was in much admiration of Howden Minster and wrote “we have nothing in this island of such elegant work in stone, except at Melross Abbey, and in point of symmetry and exact proportion, it excels any part of the Scotch Abbey.”
While exploring the external architecture of the Minster, we will notice a plaque that commemorates the establishment of a Grammar School within the Minster in 1265. The school was founded by the Prior of Durham and focused on teaching Latin and song. Remarkably, this school continued to serve within the minster until 1925.
Howden has grown in modern times, owing to its picturesque nature and proximity to the M62 motorway but there are still several buildings of interest within the old street layout of the town. The old part of the town is centred on a market place overlooked by the minster. Here there is a market cross, still situated on its medieval base.
Howden Minster stands on the west side of the Market Place with the old manor of the Bishops of Durham in the Ashes Park, a little to its south. Within the Market Place itself is Howden’s Shire Hall which dates from 1871 and built in Dutch style.
The Shire Hall originally served as a covered market hall and Assembly Rooms and still continues to serve a number of community purposes for the town. A blue plaque notes that it has been used as a theatre, roller-skating rink, concert hall and cinema.
In the eighteenth century Howden was a significant coaching stop but also noted for its great horse fair. The horse fair was focused on Bridgegate and attracted visitors from far and wide including France, Belgium and Russia.
Up to 16,000 horses might be traded during the horse fair week that was held in September with the street itself packed to the brim with crowds of people and horses. Many of the horses were sold for use by foreign armies.
At its north end Bridgegate continues into Flatgate at what was once the eastern edge of the old part of the old town. Heading the other way towards the Market Place, Bridgegate is joined on its south side by the street of Bishopgate which links it to Hailgate.
Facing Bishopgate from Bridgegate is a prominent Georgian house called Bridgegate House that was historically the home of the Spofforth family.
Continuing along Bridgegate, near the entrance to the Market Place, Bridgegate is joined on its north side by Batty Lane with the Market Place entrance on its south side.
Continuing along Bridgegate, passing beyond the Market Place entrance, Bridgegate is then joined by a street called Minster Court on its north side in an area formerly called St Helen’s Square. Here is situated an ornate war memorial of 1920 described as ‘Art Nouveau Gothic’ and resembling some kind of medieval cross.
A little further along, Bridgegate is then joined by a narrow little cobbled street or lane with lots of character that cuts through the heart of the town. This is Vicar Lane, linking Bridgegate to the Market Place. It includes a good, framed ‘peeping’ view of Howden Minster at its western end that is reminiscent of narrow streets you might find in York.
The name of Vicar Lane refers to vicars connected with Howden Minster’s complex collegiate administration. Interestingly, College Street in York, near York Minster, where we find St William’s College, was historically called Vicars Lane.
Back in Bridgegate if we continue along the street beyond the Vicar Lane entrance we reach Corn Market Hill a little market square, that is quite separate and distant from Howden’s Market Place. This was where grain was once traded and inspected.
Here Bridgegate comes to an end where it is crossed by St John’s Street within Corn Market Hill. St John’s Street offers more framed views of the minster and becomes a little lane heading south alongside the minster churchyard that then takes us beyond into the parkland within the former grounds of the Bishop’s Manor.
Heading the other way along St John’s Street will also bring us into a country lane heading into the nature reserve of Howden Marsh. Beyond Corn Market Hill, Bridgegate becomes Pinfold Street, named from a fold containing pens in which animals were kept.
A plaque on the corner of this street recalls a pub called the Spotted Cow once used by farmers that later became a lodging house for Irish farm workers and is now a private house.
From Corn Market, we can stroll along an especially pleasing street called Churchside, which as its name suggests, runs along the flank of Howden Minster.
Churchside is another street that has lots of character at the very heart of the old town of Howden and has a prime view of Howden Minster.
One particular building of note is number 2 Churchside, a former Victorian commercial building that later came to be occupied by the Yorkshire Banking Company in 1881. It is built in the style of a Florentine palazzo.
Part of Howden’s historic importance as a trading and coaching stop, stemmed partly from its proximity to an important ferry crossing of the River Ouse at the village of Booth, a mile and a half south west of Howden’s centre. Here the River Ouse is much broader and more estuarine than it is at Selby or York and here it is now crossed by the Boothferry Bridge that opened in 1929.
About seven hundred metres or so to the east of the bridge, the Ouse is now also crossed by the M62 motorway bridge of 1972-76. Partly designed by Redpath Dorman Long, it is a steel and concrete structure, encompassing some 7,000 tons of steel, acquired from the company’s Scunthorpe and Teesside plants.
Howden to Goole
Across the Ouse from Howden, near the western outskirts of Goole is the village of Airmyn where the River Aire joins the Ouse. Airmyn has an Anglo-Saxon name that literally means ‘Aire-Mouth’.
Goole itself, unlike the old East Riding town of Howden across the Ouse, was historically in the West Riding. It is close to a hook-shaped loop of the River Ouse and within that hook is the appropriately named village of Hook to the north east. Just across the river from Hook is Howden Dike, Kilpin village and the M62 motorway that bypasses nearby Howden.
Goole is an industrial inland port today but was once simply the name for a small stream or ditch. Early spellings of the locality include ‘Gulle’ which simply means ‘gulley’ or ‘channel’.
The port is located near the so-called ‘Dutch River’, a drainage channel that linked the River Don in the Yorkshire coalfield to the River Ouse. This channel was created by the Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden in the 1620s.
Goole is linked to mill towns like Halifax in the Calder valley to the west by the Aire and Calder Navigation canal which joins the River Ouse on the south side of the town in an area called Old Goole. The development of this canal in the 1820s brought about the official opening of the port of Goole in 1826 and the success of this port would weaken the trade of both Howden and Selby.
From Goole, the River Ouse continues east for about six and a half miles. On the north side of the river are the villages of Saltmarshe; Yokefleet; Blackfoot and Faxfleet. With the exception of Faxfleet (in what was Harthill Wapentake), all of these East Riding villages were situated in Howdenshire.
On the south side of the river are the former West Riding villages of Swinefleet; Reedness; Little Reedness and Ousefleet. Near Ousefleet and Faxfleet, the River Ouse merges with that great river of the midlands, the River Trent and it is here that the two united rivers form the great estuary of the River Humber.
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