HORNSEA is situated on the East coast of Yorkshire, midway between Flamborough Head to the North and Spurn Point in the South., and is approximately 16 miles from the City of Kingston Upon Hull, 12 miles from the Minster town of Beverley and 14 miles from Bridlington. It is a small seaside town with a population in the region of 7,000 and it is a popular place for visitors from the West and South Ridings of Yorkshire, many of whom own caravans on the bracing North Sea coastline.
The town centre is a conservation area with historic houses dating back to the 15th century and surrounding the town centre Hall Garth Park, the parish church is St. Nicholas dating back to the 12th century, there is an award-winning local folk museum and the town is renowned for the famous Hornsea Pottery and the newer Freeport shopping park but the gem of Hornsea remains the Mere.
Hornsea Mere is remarkable in that it is the largest freshwater lake in Yorkshire, and is situated only three-quarters of a mile from the North Sea. It covers 467 acres, compared with Semerwater’s 80, and is some two miles long, three-quarters of a mile wide at its broadest part, and at the most 11 or 12 feet deep.
The mere owes its origin to the glacial deposits that formed Holderness, where before had been sea, after the last Ice age. Many water-filled hollows, of which the mere is the survivor, covered the surface of the land, resembling the present-day Norfolk Broads. The mere itself was once larger, perhaps three miles long, and has been reduced in size by draining and by the breaking in of the sea.
Famous visitors to Hornsea include Lawrence of Arabia who was a frequent visitor to the White Cottage in Eastgate and Winifred Holtby who lived in Cliff Road whilst she was writing her novel “South Riding” which was based upon the Holderness area.
ALDBROUGH
Eight miles south of Hornsea, this rambling old village stands astride the main road to Withernsea and is a mile from the sea-washed cliffs. A mile north along the road to Hornsea was once the moated castle of the de Melsa family who held the surrounding lands. Monuments to the family are in the old church which contains work from the late Norman period to the 1 5th Century. Lying on two tombs decorated by shields, are the effigies of an armoured knight and his lady, thought to be John de Melsa and his wife - last of the family which died out in 1377. The helmet over the knights tomb is said to have been used as a coal scuttle when a school used to meet in the church Also of interest is the Saxon sundial built into the South arcade. The rim inscription has been translated as “Ulf built this Church for the poor and for Gunware”. It is possible that the same Ulf was the Saxon earl who gave a drinking horn to York Minster and whose own church now lies buried under the sea.
ATWICK
This is a pleasant little village built around the village green on to which face the inn, the shops and the old market cross - now just a shaft on a large base with three high steps patched with cobbles from the sea, now only eight hundred yards away. The red-brick church with saddle-backed tower was moved to its present position in 1876.
BEEFORD
Here an attractive 15th century church beckons the visitor as its handsome tower
peeps from protecting trees. The spacious church interior houses a brass portrait on the chancel floor of Thomas Tonge, a rector in the 15th century. He is shown wearing a rich vestment and holding a book.
BEWHOLME
This is a small but pretty tree-shaded village in the heart of pleasant agricultural countryside.
BRANDESBURTON
A large scattered village Brandesburton is now by-passed by the busy main road to Bridlington. The weatherbeaten cross and old church with its low embattled tower are worth seeing. Much of the architecture is five to seven hundred years old and brasses refer to the St. Quintin family whose ancestors served with William the Conqueror. John Hymbers, Rector of Brandesburton in the 19th Century, left money in his will to found the famous Hull School, Hymers College.
BURTON CONSTABLE
This wholly agricultural parish is famous for its Hall, a spacious mansion of Tudor brick set in seven hundred acres of parkland as the ancient home of the Constable family. There is a splendid view of the east front from the road after passing Marton. The Hall is well worth a visit, it is open on Saturday and Sunday afternoons from Easter to late May and then on every afternoon (except Mondays and Thursdays)until the end of September.
CATWICK
This small hamlet is on the Beverley road between Sigglesthorne and Leven. After
the first World War it was one of the thirty-one ‘Thankful Villages” of England to which all the men returned after the war. It has a small restored church with a 15th century tower.
COWDEN
This is a collection of bungalows and an inn standing near the main road in the
vicinity of military firing ranges. An unmade road leads to the cliff.
DRIFFIELD
Known as the Queen of the Wolds and the centre of the sheep rearing area, this
market town is well worth a visit particularly to the new Bell Mills Rural Centre with its woodland walk, craft centre, tea shop, garden centre, wood carver and children’s corner.
DUNNINGTON
Scattered houses and an old church, containing original Norman work in a restored
building, stand here among the fields where lanes meet.
GOXHILL
Here a few farms and cottages hide with a small church amongst the trees near the old Wassand railway crossing. On a 14th century stone is the carving of a figure of Johanna de Lellay; which makes one wonder whether this family, who ruled the district 700 years ago, had anything to do with the old name for Hull Road – Lelley Lane.
GREAT HATFIELD
This small village is only ‘great’ because its opposite number - the hamlet on the west side of the railway line (Little Hatfield) is even smaller. It is a peaceful village with a beech-shaded pond and a splendid carved Cross where three lanes meet.
LEVEN
This large village stands at the intersection of the Beverley, Hornsea and Bridlington roads. A disused canal connects it with the River Hull some three miles away across the ‘Carrs’. An enquiring visitor may find the canal and enjoy a pleasant walk along its banks by taking the Hempholme Road and turning left to cross a bridge. The 19th century church contains a fragment of a Saxon Cross shaft and a 13th century font which is a relic of the previous church.
LONG RISTON
As its name implies this is a long village with the church of St. Margaret’s standing alone in the fields to the north of the village. The tower is 14th century.
MAPPLETON
This small village is thought to have been named after the maple trees growing in the vicinity and its name is occasionally spelt with one’ P. The cliffs here are subject to fierce erosion by the North Sea and it has been computed that the 14th century church (which has a tall spire) will be swallowed up by the waves in AD. 2099 unless protective measures are taken! At the carpenter’s shop there were over fifty nameplates of vessels wrecked in the vicinity during the last half century.
NUNKEELING
This is a solitary place in green fields with a farm house and cottages and a simple church. The latter is all that remains of a Benedictine Nunnery founded about A.D. 150 for probably twenty nuns in the black habit of that order. There are monuments of a knight and his lady thought to be Sir Andrew Faucomberg and his wife (about A.D. 1260).
RISE
Rise Hall, now a boarding school in two hundred acres of parkland was established by the Bethel! family, one of whom was Governor of Scarborough Castle during the Civil War. The church was rebuilt in 1845 and contains rich glass carvings.
ROWLSTON
The ‘W’ is often omitted from the name of this little group of estate houses set back from the main road to Withernsea near the Hall. In the 18th century William Brough, an official of the High Court of the Admiralty lived at the Hall and it is said that the pirate, Paul Jones, fired a cannon ball at it every time he passed up and down the coast.
SEATON
This pretty village stands on a hairpin bend on the road to Hornsea. In the middle ages the poor of Seaton could collect wood from the common to the north-east providing “they carried the wood on their own backs”.
SIGGLESTHORNE
Probably the bonniest village in the district. Sigglesthorne has a picturesque 13th century church with a squat enbattled tower, and a huge altar stone covering a grave in the churchyard. All the roads in the village are shaded by fine old trees.
SKIRLAUGH
Here are the headquarters of the Holderness Borough Council. The old village stands on both sides of the Lambwath Stream near which is found one of the most
perfect Gothic churches in the whole country. A sieve maker’s son from Skirlaugh
became Bishop Walter Skirlaw of Durham, who built many churches and bridges in
his diocese. In 1403 he built the church which now stands in the village. Richly
decorated outside with battlements, pinnacles and moulding, inside it contains a
view of the whole building uninterrupted by chancel arch or screen.
SKIPSEA
This large village stands a mile from its caravan suburb on the cliff top. The 15th century church is well worth a visit. Before William the Conqueror, Skipsea must have been an important place. Bronze and Iron Age settlements would possibly be found on such an island in the centre of a swampy area. William gave Holderness to a Flemish adventurer called Drogo de Bevere in recognition of his support during the invasion of England. From the churchyard the raised mound in the field to the west draws the eye like a magnet. It was on this mound that Drogo’s simple castle was first erected, protected by the circular earthworks with their palisades. Drogo married a relation of William the Conqueror. When he grew tired of her charms he murdered her and rode off to London, leaving her body in his wooden castle. From William he borrowed money to visit Normandy for a short holiday and never returned. After Drogo’s hurried departure the castle was no doubt strengthened by the Albemarle family until it was demolished by an order of Henry III because the reigning Lord of Holderness was becoming a little too self important.
SWINE
Now a small farming community off the main road, the history of this village goes back to Roman days and spears and Roman coins have been found in the nearby
fields. During Stephen’s reign a Priory was founded at Swine, and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The present church contains the chancel, the last relic of the Priory with its 12th century arcades of arches and massive round pillars. The church is an amazing mixture for the pulpit dates from 1 619 and the tower from 1 787. Both village and church are well worth a visit.
ULROME
This hamlet on the Hornsea-Bridlington road gained notice by the discovery in 1880 of an ancient British lake-dwelling platform buried beneath the surface of the fields. After examination the excavations were filled in again. The wooden platform was 90 feet long and 60 feet wide and great oak supporting piles have been driven into what was once a lake similar to Hornsea Mere. Here must have lived men of the Stone and Bronze Ages.
WITHERNWICK
This small village contains a small, often repaired church built of sea cobble and brick.