WITHERNWICK
THE village of Withernwick lies 14 km. northeast of Hull and 4 km. from the coast. (fn. 30) The
southern parish boundary is formed by Lambwath stream, an ancient boundary which formearly also separated the middle and northern
divisions of Holderness wapentake. (fn. 31) The name
Withernwick may be an Anglo-Scandinavian
hybrid, meaning 'dairy farm near a thorn
tree'. (fn. 32) In 1852 Withernwick township contained 2,822 a. (1,142 ha.), comprising all
2,691 a. (1,089 ha.) of the ecclesiastical parish of
Withernwick and detached parts of Mappleton
parish amounting to 131 a. (53 ha.). (fn. 33) The township, later civil parish, was enlarged in 1885 by
the transfer of Scarshaws, of 39 a. (15.8 ha.),
from Aldbrough parish, and the civil parish still
has 1,157 ha. (2,859 a.). (fn. 34)
There were 145 poll-tax payers at Withernwick in 1377, (fn. 35) and 56 houses were assessed for
hearth tax in 1672. (fn. 36) The parish had 48 families
in 1743 and 61 in 1764. (fn. 37) The population of
Withernwick rose from 292 in 1801 to 356 in
1811 and 513 in 1851. Numbers declined from
the 1870s, to 449 in 1881 and 365 in 1891, recovered in the first decade of the 20th century,
but then fell again to 345 in 1951 and 312 in 1961.
The village later grew, notably in the 1970s,
when the population increased from 325 to stand
at 435 in 1981. In 1991 the usual population was
440 of whom 436 were actually counted. (fn. 38)
The parish is largely on boulder clay, and
practically all of the land lies below 15 m. above
sea level, falling from about 14 m. in the centre
of the parish, close to the village, to under 7 m.
in the south, alongside Lambwath stream. Land
over 15 m. is found only at the eastern boundary,
in the north-west corner of the parish, and as
several small hills formed by the sand and gravel
deposits which provided both the village and its
northern outlier with their sites. The low-lying
alluvial land in the south was mostly occupied
by old inclosures, almost certainly as grassland,
and the higher ground on either side of the
village by the open fields. (fn. 39) The commonable
lands were inclosed in the early 19th century,
the long drawn-out process being confirmed by
award in 1814. (fn. 40)
Withernwick is drained by Lambwath stream,
which was recorded as defective in 1367, (fn. 41) and
by tributaries flowing southwards across the
parish. Withernwick beck was the main tributary
until largely replaced in the early 19th century;
a scheme to improve the drainage of the low
grounds adjoining Lambwath stream in Withernwick and neighbouring parishes was then
designed by William Chapman and carried out
in 1812 as part of the inclosure process. Two
new, embanked drains were made, one, known
later as Catchwater drain, to carry water from
the north and centre of the parish southwestwards to a new outfall into Lambwath
stream close to the western boundary, and the
other flowing westwards close to Lambwath
stream. (fn. 42) Lambwath stream was later transferred
to Keyingham Level Drainage Board, which still
existed in 1998. Despite the improvements, the
land alongside Lambwath stream remained
liable to flooding. (fn. 43)
From the village minor roads lead north to
Great Hatfield, in Sigglesthorne, west to Rise
and Beverley, and east to join the main Holderness coast road near Aldbrough village and also
at Great Cowden, in Mappleton. The roads were
improved at inclosure, that to Rise and Beverley
being described in 1809 as a new road. (fn. 44) A lane
runs along the western parish boundary from
Rise to Marton, in Swine, over Lambwath
bridge, which was mentioned in 1367; (fn. 45) the
southern part is called Lambwath Lane and the
northern stretch, now only a bridleway, Folly,
formerly Oak Tree, Lane. (fn. 46) Another minor road,
confirmed in 1814 as the Hull-Hornsea road, (fn. 47)
crosses the west end of the parish, and there was
formerly a side road from it leading to Folly
Lane. (fn. 48) The Hull-Hornsea railway, opened in
1864, ran through the parish with a station 2 km.
west of the village beside the Rise road at
Whitedale. (fn. 49) The station was closed for passen
gers in 1964 and entirely on the closure of the
line in 1965. (fn. 50) The track has been lifted and its
course designated as a footpath; the station
buildings were used as private houses in 1992.
WITHERNWICK village. The pattern of
garths suggests that Withernwick village had a
linear plan running north-south down the
middle of the parish. Its buildings formed three
groups, the church and most of the houses occupying a small hill overlooking the Lambwath
valley, with other buildings standing c. 500 m.
away on another eminence at North End and a
few more, closer to the village centre, at South
End. Earthworks at North End suggest that it
may once have been larger. It was possibly also
less separate from the rest of the village; c. 1800
two buildings stood between it and the main part
of the village on land later called Old Garths. (fn. 51)
Conversely, South End, named in 1630, (fn. 52) and
the rest of the village have virtually been joined
by recent building. The village is mostly built
along a winding street, incorporating Main
Street and parts of the Beverley and Aldbrough
roads; in a western back lane, comprising East
and West Lambwath Roads but formerly also
known at least in part as South Lane; and beside
Church Lane, which connects the street and
back lane. There was a second cross lane south
of Church Lane c. 1800, when the northern part
of the street was called Leaper's Lane and a side
lane continuing it eastwards Townside Road,
later Chapel Lane and now High Street. High
Street and a path continuing it northwards to
North End, known since the early 19th century
as Butcher Lane, may formerly have been parts
of the main village street. (fn. 53)
Except for the church, the village is built of
brick. The oldest surviving houses include 18thand 19th-century cottages in Church Lane
and the later 18th-century Withernwick Hall,
formerly North End House, an L-shaped farmhouse of two storeys with a pedimented
entrance. (fn. 54) Elm Tree House, formerly Cottage,
in West Lambwath Road, was evidently built
soon after 1855 by John Taylor. (fn. 55) It has a threebayed façade of white brick under a slated and
hipped roof; a pedimented doorcase is set in a
shallowly projecting central bay which rises
through both storeys to an eaves pediment.
Other 19th-century houses include farmhouses
and terraced cottages. In the 1960s and 1970s
the district council built an estate of c. 50 houses
north of the church, (fn. 56) and then and later there
was much piecemeal building in the village.
Private houses were being added in East Lambwath Road in 1992 and in West Lambwath Road
in 1998. The council provided a sewage treatment works near Lambwath stream for the new
housing c. 1970. (fn. 57)
Two or three houses were licensed at
Withernwick in the mid 18th century but later
and in the early 19th century only one, called
the Gate. (fn. 58) It stood in High Street and was
recorded, together with a beerhouse, until 1889,
when it was called the Gate Hangs Well inn.
The successor house, the Falcon, Main Street,
was trading by 1892 and still existed in 1992. (fn. 59)
A lodge of the Ancient Order of Foresters was
founded in 1839 and had 160 members by 1895,
when it left the order and became the Withernwick Foresters' Society. It rejoined the order
in 1912 and was mentioned until 1948. (fn. 60) The
Foresters built a hall in Main Street in 1890 and
in 1910 also owned half a dozen houses in the
village. The hall was used for the monthly lodge
meetings and rented out for other gatherings. (fn. 61)
It was sold in 1948 and converted to a house; the
façade was copied for a craft shop, built beside it
in 1987. (fn. 62) Withernwick in 1892 boasted, besides
the friendly society, a church institute, a cricket
club, and a Conservative association. (fn. 63) The
cricket club played on a ground near
Withernwick Hall until at least 1937, a football
club on land south of Westlands Farm during
the 1920s, and a tennis club near Prospect House
Farm in the 1920s, and 1930s. (fn. 64) Village sport
later declined, but c. 1985 the parish council
bought land on the Aldbrough road mostly for
recreation. (fn. 65) A wooden building was put up in
Main Street on land rented from the Poor's
Land charity for the Women's Institute in 1939
and was later used as the village hall. (fn. 66) A branch
library was held in the Methodist schoolroom in
the 1970s. (fn. 67) Allotment gardens were provided
about 1900 on land awarded as a sand pit at
inclosure in 1814 and on part of the Bethell
estate beside the Beverley road; they were still
used in the 1940s. (fn. 68)
OUTLYING BUILDINGS. Houses away from
the village include Whitehill, formerly Wheat
Hill, Farm, built by 1772. (fn. 69) Westlands Farm was
apparently built c. 1805 during the process of
inclosure, and Withernwick Grange had been
put up by 1828, probably to replace the house
nearby shown in 1812. Other new farmhouses in
the late 1820s were Ruddens, Whitedale, Homer
House, and Little West Hill Farms. (fn. 70) Glebe
Farm was added in 1899. (fn. 71)
MANORS AND OTHER ESTATES
In 1066
Morkar had 6 carucates at Withernwick as soke
of his manor of Mappleton, and Thor had a
manor of Withernwick containing 1 carucate. By
1086 both estates had passed to Drew de
Bevrère, whose tenant Wazelin held all or part
of Thor's manor, (fn. 72) and they were later part of
the Aumale fee. The lordship of the Aumale fee
passed to the Crown and later to its grantees, (fn. 73)
and in 1362 the tenant in demesne held
WITHERNWICK of Edward III's daughter
Isabel as ⅓knight's fee. (fn. 74)
William le Gros, count of Aumale (d. 1179),
was said to have given 8 carucates in Withernwick to Peter de Fauconberg, whose son Walter
had inherited by 1202 and whose grandson (Sir)
Peter de Fauconberg defended his title in 1231. (fn. 75)
The Fauconbergs, Lords Fauconberg from the
late 13th century, (fn. 76) retained the estate, usually
called a manor but sometimes reckoned part of
the neighbouring manor of Rise. (fn. 77) Much of the
land had apparently been alienated by c. 1300,
when Walter, Lord Fauconberg, (d. 1304) held
in Withernwick c. 2 carucates in demesne and
had bond tenants with 1½ carucate. (fn. 78) In 1316,
in the lifetime of his son Walter, Lord Fauconberg, (d. 1318), the lords of Withernwick were
said to be Anastasia, widow of that Walter's son
Sir Walter (d. 1314), and John de Fauconberg,
presumably Sir Walter's brother and later Lord
Fauconberg (d. 1349). (fn. 79) From the death of
John's son Walter, Lord Fauconberg, in 1362
his widow Isabel held the manor until her death
in 1401; it then comprised 2½ carucates in
Withernwick, and 3 carucates more there and in
Great Hatfield, all apparently in the hands of
tenants. In 1372 Walter's son Sir Thomas
Fauconberg sold the reversion to Sir John
Neville (d. 1388), whose son Ralph Neville, earl
of Westmorland, (d. 1425) duly succeeded in
1401. (fn. 80) He evidently gave the manor to his son
William Neville, who married Sir Thomas
Fauconberg's daughter Joan and was later held
to be Lord Fauconberg. Neville died, as earl of
Kent, in 1463, and his relict held the manor until
she died in 1490. Withernwick then fell to the
share of the Nevilles' grandson Sir James
Strangways, (fn. 81) whose descendant James Strangways sold it to (Sir) Richard Gresham in 1530. (fn. 82)
In 1546 Gresham granted the manor in
exchange to the Crown. (fn. 83) Withernwick manor
then comprised some 17 carucates held by freeholders and tenants at will. (fn. 84) At least part of
Withernwick was still held by the Crown in
1598. (fn. 85)
Part of the manor, including the manor house
and 7 bovates, was let in 1576 to William
Knowles, (fn. 86) and it was perhaps that holding
which was later regarded as the manor. Marmaduke Langdale (d. 1611) held a 7-bovate manor,
together with c. 1 carucate more in Withernwick,
bought by him in the 1590s. (fn. 87) His estate descended like Woodhall, in Swine, to Sir William
Langdale (d. by 1685), (fn. 88) who was succeeded in
Withernwick by his son Marmaduke. (fn. 89) Marmaduke sold the manor in 1703 to Hugh Bethell
(d. 1717). (fn. 90) It then descended, once again with
Rise manor, in the Bethells. (fn. 91) The estate was of
nearly 600 a. c. 1790, and was evidently enlarged
later. (fn. 92) Charlotte Bethell, widow of William (d.
1799), sold part of the estate in 1809. (fn. 93) The
Withernwick estate comprised 669 a. in 1831,
and 699 a. in 1852. (fn. 94) W. F. Bethell bought the
241-a. Withernwick Grange farm and c. 20 a.
more from the Alders in 1865, and a further
118 a. in 1872. (fn. 95) In 1915 William Bethell had
985 a. in Withernwick. (fn. 96) The 189-a. Manor farm
was sold to William Bulson in 1930; (fn. 97) Straits
farm, of 160 a., was sold in 1942, and in 1943
the 187-a. Whitedale farm and c. 250 a. in
Withernwick Grange farm were also, disposed
of. The 132 a. then remaining unsold, mostly in
Ruddens farm, was vested in R. A. Bethell in
1943, (fn. 98) and the slightly enlarged farm was transferred in 1973 to his son, H. A. Bethell, who
still owned it in 1995. (fn. 99) William Bulson (d. 1962)
was succeeded in Manor farm by his widow Vera
and sons Geoffrey and J. C. Bulson. The farm
was sold in lots c. 1990. (fn. 1)
A chief house, recorded from 1304, was called
Hall Garth in 1576. (fn. 2) It may have stood at South
End on the site of the later Manor House or
Farm, which was built or rebuilt c. 1840. (fn. 3)
A cadet branch of the Fauconbergs held 1
carucate and 2 bovates in Withernwick, which
by 1325 Walter de Fauconberg, possibly Lord
Fauconberg (d. 1318), had granted to Thomas
de Fauconberg. (fn. 4) Thomas (d. 1349) was succeeded by his son Walter, (fn. 5) and he, who died in
or soon after 1360, possibly by his son John. (fn. 6) It
was presumably the same estate, then described
as a manor of WITHERNWICK and including
22 houses and 260 a., which Roger Fauconberg
(d. 1455) held of the duke of Buckingham, and
which in 1460 was ordered to be partitioned
between Roger's nephew Walter Nuthill and
sister Isabel Suthill. (fn. 7) The estate has not been
traced further.
The archbishop of York had 1 carucate in
1086. (fn. 8) Part at least belonged later to the provost
of the archiepiscopal church of St. John at
Beverley (Beverley Minster), and c. 1370 Sir
Amand of Routh was recorded as holding 2
bovates at Withernwick of the provost. (fn. 9)
A small estate was held of the Ros family in
the mid 14th century, and that lordship later
descended as part of their manor of Roos to the
Cecils and the Kirkbys, who had it in the 18th
century. (fn. 10)
The RECTORY was annexed to the prebend
of Holme in York Minster in 1230, and from
1259 the prebendary had the glebe land, the
rents of the church's tenants, and the corn tithes
and a few hay tithes. About 1295 the landed
estate comprised a house and 2½ bovates, and
6s. 6d. was received from two tenants. (fn. 11) The
rectory was briefly lost during the Commonwealth. In 1650, when Susanna Moore held it
as prebendal lessee, the glebe land and tithes in
Withernwick were valued at £56 net. (fn. 12) In the
later 17th century the glebe land comprised 2
broad bovates and c. 50 a. of inclosed ground. (fn. 13)
By 1693 compositions were paid for the corn
tithes of South End field; (fn. 14) the rate was 8s. 10½d.
a year for each broad bovate and 6s. 8d. for a
narrow one in 1802, when tithes of old inclosures
were similarly paid by composition. At inclosure
in 1814, the rector was awarded 110 a. and rent
charges of £3 5s. 0½d. for his tithes, and 36 a.
for the glebe. (fn. 15)
In 1864 the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, as
expectant owners of the prebendal estate under
the Cathedrals Act of 1840, sold the reversion
of the 201-a. farm to the lessees Thomas Woodward, Thomas Harrison, and William Green in
undivided thirds. Green's share was to revert
to Thomas Harrison Green, (fn. 16) and in 1865 the
Greens bought the other thirds from Harrison
and Woodward. By 1883 Sarah Green (d. 1890)
and Mary Harrison Green owned the farm. (fn. 17) In
1891 T. C. B. Dixon (d. 1906) bought the farm,
named later as Prospect House farm, and in 1909
his executor Robert Dixon sold it to William
Northgraves. (fn. 18) J. W. Croft, who bought the farm
in 1947, gave it in 1967 to Mr. D. W. Croft and
his other children. (fn. 19) Mr. Croft bought the other
shares in 1947, and in 1993 he and his wife, Mrs.
M. A. Croft, owned the farm. (fn. 20)
The rectory house was mentioned c. 1295, as
the prebendary's manor house, (fn. 21) and again from
1649. (fn. 22) The large Prospect House Farm dates
from c. 1800 but has been much remodelled.
George Alder acquired an estate during the
protracted inclosure process. He bought a farm
of c. 175 a. from Ann Edwards in 1803, 23 a.
more in 1806, and nearly 200 a. from Charlotte
Bethell in 1809, (fn. 23) besides exchanging land with
several proprietors. When the award was eventually made in 1814, he received 573 a., far more
than the other allottees. (fn. 24) Alder sold 174 a. to
William Lee in 1826, (fn. 25) and died c. 1845. His son
John and another George Alder offered the
estate, again of c. 600 a., for sale in 1864, and
the next year they sold the 241-a. Withernwick
Grange farm and just over 100 a. more, mostly
to W. F. Bethell. (fn. 26) In 1870 George Alder sold
Whitehill farm, of 247 a., to Sir William
Wright. (fn. 27)
Hugh son of Walter of Withernwick gave
Meaux abbey 2s. rent from ½ bovate in Withernwick between 1221 and 1235, but it was evidently later lost. (fn. 28) Peter de Fauconberg had
given Thornton abbey (Lincs.) 1 carucate in the
parish by 1190. (fn. 29) After the Dissolution the land
was granted to the short-lived Thornton college
in 1542. (fn. 30) It was later granted to George Salter
and John Williams, and sold by them to Roger
and Peter Watson. (fn. 31) By the 15th century the
Hospitallers had an estate in Withernwick which
passed to the Crown at their suppression. (fn. 32) St.
Thomas's hospital, Southwark, was awarded
32 a. at inclosure in 1814 in exchange for land
at Bewick, in Aldbrough. (fn. 33) It bought 13 a. more
in 1865, and the 43-a. Little Westhill farm in
1949; (fn. 34) the 88 a. in Withernwick was sold to the
Leonards as part of the Bewick estate in 1972. (fn. 35)
Lambwath manor lay partly in Withernwick
but it is treated under Marton, in Swine.
ECONOMIC HISTORY
COMMON LANDS AND INCLOSURE. North and South Ends at
Withernwick had their own open fields, but by
the 17th century they were evidently managed
together. (fn. 36) North End field and South End field
were recorded from 1541. (fn. 37) Each End had in fact
two fields, to the east and west. In 1545 the
manor thus included 1 carucate 'in both fields',
and other land in East and West fields. (fn. 38) The
tillage was further divided between an infield
and an outfield: South End field included an
infield bovate in 1657, and in 1682 both Ends
may have had an eastern infield. (fn. 39) The outfield
had been reduced by the making of closes by
the mid 17th century, a 27-a. close being
recorded in 1641 and another outfield close, of
c. 50 a., adjoining the poorly drained Lambwath
grounds in 1663. (fn. 40) Land in ridge and furrow in
the south-eastern corner of the parish may have
been part of the outfield. By the mid 16th century arrangements within the fields had probably
been changed by the division and consolidation
of strips: there were then several small plots, or
odd lands, besides broad and little bovates. (fn. 41) A
broad bovate was later said to comprise c. 16 a.,
and a narrow one c. 12 a. (fn. 42) The description of a
bovate as broad or narrow is believed to refer to
the width of the lands which composed it, broad
lands in the East Riding being usually twice as
wide as narrow lands. (fn. 43)
Twenty-six acres of meadow land was
recorded at Withernwick in 1086, (fn. 44) and in the
14th century there was meadow adjoining and
belonging to the tillage. (fn. 45) Leys were recorded
later in the fields, (fn. 46) and in 1715 it was agreed
that strips amounting to a 7 ft. breadth in each
narrow bovate, and proportionately more for a
broad bovate, should be lain down as meadow.
The common pastures were evidently stinted
at 2 beast gates for a bovate in 1304. (fn. 47) By the
later 17th century there were two common
pastures at North End, Criftins, and New, later
North End Field, pasture. (fn. 48) It is not clear
whether they were intercommoned by the
farmers of South End. In the late 17th and early
18th century the stint for a bovate was about 2
gates in the winter pasture, 2–3¼ gates in the
fallow, and 4–6 gates in the harvested field and
pastures in autumn. Grazing was evidently
scarce: twenty houses no longer having gates
were listed in the 1670s, and injunctions against
letting pasturage rights to outsiders were frequent. There may nevertheless have been substantial numbers of sheep in the 18th century,
when a village shepherd was waged and bylaws
were made to restrict the grazing of the pastures
by sheep. (fn. 49) The cropping of gorse in the pastures
was also regulated by bylaw, labourers and
others without rights to it being forbidden to
cut it in 1713.
Early inclosures were made at unknown date
in the south-east corner of the parish and at its
western end, where the name Ruddens means
'cleared land'. (fn. 50) the rest of Withernwick was
inclosed under an Act of 1801–2, the lengthy
process being confirmed by award in 1814. (fn. 51)
Allotments from the commonable lands totalled
1,506 a., and c. 140 a. of old inclosures in
Withernwick and 36 a. more in Bewick, in
Aldbrough, were involved in exchanges. (fn. 52) There
were then more than 476 a. in North End field,
over 359 a. in South End field, more than 84 a.
in North End Field pasture, over 65 a. in
Criftins and Hills, and 12 a. at Mill hill. George
Alder was awarded 573 a., Charlotte Bethell 278
a., the rector 146 a., and John Leaper 116 a.
There were also five allotments of 50–99 a.,
seven of 10–49 a., and twelve of under 5 a. The
lesser allotments included those of the archdeacon of the East Riding as rector of Mappleton
and the incumbent of that church for their tithes
in Withernwick township.
FARMS BEFORE 1700. In 1086 four villeins
worked a plough on the archbishop's estate, (fn. 53)
and two bordars were recorded on the manor
formerly belonging to Thor. The latter holding
had land for one ploughteam, but it then seems
to have been only half cultivated, and the value
of the manor had been halved since 1066. (fn. 54) In
the mid 16th century free tenants of Withernwick manor held nearly 4 carucates, and tenants
at will 12 carucates and 7 bovates; there were
then 38 holdings, one of which was of 3 carucates, another of 2 carucates and 2 bovates, eight
of 6–9 bovates each, seven of 4 bovates each,
and four of 2 bovates or less. The 17 remaining
holdings, comprising houses and plots of land,
were evidently small. (fn. 55) In 1682 of 49 holdings
in Withernwick, 24 each included less than
three pasture gates in the fields, 12 had from
three to nine gates each, and 13 had ten or
more each. (fn. 56)
Withernwick 1812
LATER AGRICULTURE. Experiments with
the new husbandry were made before final inclosure. In 1785 it was agreed that each narrow
bovate in the East fields should be sown with 1
stone of clover seed, and in 1792 the West fields
were sown with clover at the rate of 4 lb. for
each pasture gate held there, or 5 lb. if the gate
were stocked with sheep. (fn. 57) Only 814 a. was
returned as under crops in Withernwick in
1801. (fn. 58) In 1905 there were 1,652 a. of arable land
and 843 a. of grassland, (fn. 59) and arable land was
still predominant in the 1930s, when the grassland lay mostly around the village and alongside
Lambwath stream. (fn. 60) Some of the grazing was
used by half a dozen cowkeepers from the mid
19th century, and later a little of the arable area
by one or two market-gardeners. (fn. 61) In 1987 of
1,146 ha. (2,832 a.) returned for Withernwick
civil parish, 963 ha. (2,380 a.) were arable and
156 ha. (386 a.) grassland, 1/5 of its rough grazing.
Woodland then occupied 5 ha. (12 a.). (fn. 62)
There were c. fifteen farms in Withernwick in
the 19th and earlier 20th century, of which seven
in 1851 and over half in the 1920s and 1930s
were of 150 a. or more. In the latter period they
also included one or two poultry farms and
smallholdings. (fn. 63) In 1987 of 21 holdings returned
for the civil parish, one was of 200–299 ha.
(494–739 a.), two of 100–199 ha. (247–492 a.),
six of 50–99 ha. (124–245 a.), ten of 2–29 ha.
(5–72 a.), and two of under 2 ha. There were
then over 9,000 pigs, c. 300 head of cattle, and
100 sheep in Withernwick. (fn. 64)
At the end of the 19th century an annual horse
show and a hiring fair in November were held
in Withernwick. (fn. 65)
TRADE AND INDUSTRY In the mid and late
19th century 'very good bricks' and tiles were
made from the red clay near Lambwath stream,
and later at a yard off Main Street, (fn. 66) where lowered ground and ponds remained in 1992. A
garage was operated in the village c. 1925, and
another, beside the railway station at Whitedale,
has been run since the 1930s. (fn. 67) In 1992 fitted
furniture was made in a workshop on the
Aldbrough road.
MILLS William le Gros, count of Aumale,
(d. 1179) had a mill in Withernwick, probably
driven by the beck or Lambwath stream. (fn. 68) A
windmill was recorded on the manor from
1304. (fn. 69) The Crown sold the mill to Edward
Ferrers and Francis Phillips in 1610, (fn. 70) but it was
evidently resold soon afterwards, and later
belonged, with the manor, to the Langdales and
the Bethells. (fn. 71) The mill was perhaps rebuilt
before or after the sale, a 'new windmill' existing
by 1612. (fn. 72) The old mill may have stood west of
the village, where the site of a former mill was
mentioned in 1763; the mill then in use, presumably the earlier 'new' mill, stood on the eastern
edge of the village. (fn. 73) A post mill, it ceased to
grind in the 1890s, (fn. 74) and was soon afterwards
demolished. (fn. 75) The mill house, south of the
Aldbrough road, (fn. 76) remained in 1993.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Great courts for
the view of frankpledge were held twice a year
and small courts every three weeks on Roger
Fauconberg's manor in the 15th century. (fn. 77)
Courts were held on the Bethells' manor in the
earlier 19th century. (fn. 78) Surviving parish records
include churchwardens' accounts and assessments from 1748 to 1853 (fn. 79) and a bylaw book of
1673–1809. The bylaws seem to have been made
primarily for North End but were often extended to the whole township by agreement; in
1789 one man was said to have signed 'the top
town agreements and not the bottom'. The pains
were mostly concerned with agricultural regulation, including drainage and fencing, but in
1711 it was agreed that parish officers not rendering an account were to pay a fine to the poor. (fn. 80)
Regular poor relief was given to 14 people in
1802–3, and in each year between 1812 and 1815
some 30 inhabitants were relieved regularly and
up to 12 occasionally. (fn. 81) Poorhouses adjoined
the churchyard until their removal, probably in
1857 soon after the rebuilding of the church. (fn. 82)
Withernwick joined Skirlaugh poor-law union in
1837 (fn. 83) and remained in Skirlaugh rural district
until 1935, when it became part of the new
Holderness rural district. It was taken into the
Holderness district of Humberside at reorganization in 1974. (fn. 84) In 1996 Withernwick parish
became part of a new East Riding unitary area. (fn. 85)
About 1985 the parish council bought a piece
of land on the Aldbrough road and later used it
as a playing field; in 1993 it was proposed to
consecrate part as a cemetery. (fn. 86)
CHURCH
There was a church at Withernwick
by 1115, when it was given with others in
Holderness to Aumale priory, later abbey,
(Seine Maritime). (fn. 87) In 1228 the abbey ceded the
church to the archbishop of York, who annexed
it to the prebend of Holme in York Minster in
1230. (fn. 88) A vicarage ordained in 1259 was in the
gift of the prebendary, who had peculiar jurisdiction. (fn. 89) Under the Cathedrals Act of 1840 the
archbishop became patron again in 1868. (fn. 90) The
parish was enlarged by the transfer to it of the
detached parts of Mappleton parish in 1962, (fn. 91)
and in 1979 the benefice was united with those
of Aldbrough with Colden Parva and Mappleton
with Goxhill. The archbishop has one turn in
three in the patronage of the united benefice. (fn. 92)
In 1535 the vicarage was valued at £6 7s. net,
after the deduction of a small pension to the
rector. (fn. 93) The improved annual value was £30
net in 1650, when the vicar was charged with
the repair of the chancel. (fn. 94) By 1674 an augmentation of £5 a year had been granted from
the rectory. (fn. 95) An annuity of £39 from the
Common Fund was received from 1868 and
another, of £43, from 1871, (fn. 96) and in 1883 the
living was valued at c. £280 net. (fn. 97)
Practically all of the income came from tithes
and offerings. The hay tithes were paid by an
annual composition, set or confirmed by award
of 1589, those from the open fields at the rate of
8d. each for most of the bovates and the tithes
of Lambwath meadows at 6d. an acre. (fn. 98) In 1716
the hay tithes of the Lambwaths contributed
£20, the hay tithes from the fields £2, and wool,
lamb, and other small tithes c. £4 to an income
of £35. (fn. 99) At inclosure in 1814, the vicar received
93 a. and rent charges totalling £4 19s. 6d. for
tithes. (fn. 1) Those remaining, on c. 210 a. mostly
belonging to the Constables, were commuted in
1843 for rent charges totalling £42 17s. (fn. 2) The
allotment for tithes and the farmhouse built on
it, probably in 1899, were sold as Glebe farm
in 1920. (fn. 3)
In 1259 a house, or a site for one, was assigned
to the vicar, who was to pay a rent for it to
the rector. (fn. 4) A vicarage house and adjoining close
were recorded north of the street from 1535,
when 2s. paid to the rector as a pension may in
fact have been the rent. (fn. 5) The house was rebuilt
between 1749 and 1764, and in the earlier 19th
century it was divided into three cottages and
let. The building was demolished shortly before
1860, when a new house was built to designs by
Mallinson and Healey of Bradford on the site,
which had been enlarged by purchase. (fn. 6) The
vicarage house was sold in 1978, (fn. 7) and the incumbent of the united benefice later lived at
Mappleton or Aldbrough. (fn. 8)
In the 15th century the poor living was often
resigned and exchanged by incumbents, two of
whom were defamed c. 1480. Withernwick was
held with Stillington (Yorks. N.R.) in 1567 and
by a puritan, Henry Thurscross, in the 1590s. (fn. 9)
For many years in the 18th century the vicar
lived at Great Hatfield, in neighbouring Sigglesthorne parish, whence he served, besides
Withernwick, the churches of Goxhill and
Mappleton. A service was held weekly at Withernwick in the mid century and communion was
celebrated five times a year, with 50–100 recipients. (fn. 10) The vicar was probably often nonresident in the early and mid 19th century, when
a curate was employed to do the duty; in the
1880s the vicar, then resident, had an assistant
curate. (fn. 11) By the 1860s there were two Sunday
services; then and later in the century c. 20
people usually received at the 10 or so celebrations of communion held each year. Communion was weekly by the mid 20th century but
in 1931 the average number of communicants
was only nine. (fn. 12)
Figure 35:
Withernwick Church Before Rebuilding In The 1850s
The 'God's love bede' to which Agnes Constable left a cloth in 1521 may have been a poorhouse. (fn. 13) About 1 a. in Withernwick was given
to support a light, presumably in Withernwick
church. (fn. 14)
The church of ST. ALBAN, a dedication
recorded in the earlier 16th century, (fn. 15) is built
of boulders and rubble dressed with ashlar and
banded with red brick; it comprises chancel and
nave with north vestry, south aisle, and south
porch. It was largely rebuilt c. 1854. (fn. 16) Reset
12th-century chevron voussoirs in the nave may
have come from the north doorway of the earlier
church. (fn. 17) The eastern bays of the arcade are
14th-century. On the north side of the nave
there was formerly a medieval chapel, perhaps
the St. Mary's aisle (angulo) mentioned in
1521, (fn. 18) which was later replaced in turn by a
schoolroom and the present vestry. The east
window was 15th-century. (fn. 19) In 1722 a brick
tower was built into the west end of the nave in
place of a belfry (pyramis). (fn. 20) The nave was given
a west gallery and in 1806 a new roof, but by
then the appearance of the building was marred
by brick patching and in 1840 the windows were
'more fitted for shops than a church'. (fn. 21) The
rebuilding of the 1850s was generally in a 14thcentury style to designs by Mallinson and
Healey. The plan was retained except that the
tower was demolished, the space being returned
to the nave, and a bellcot was placed over the
chancel arch instead. (fn. 22) In or shortly after 1954
a chapel was formed from the east end of the
aisle. (fn. 23) By 1972 over £1,100 had been bequeathed for the upkeep of the church and
churchyard, (fn. 24) much of which was spent in
renewing the west window c. 1985. (fn. 25)
There are wall tablets to Matthew Topham
(d. 1773), vicar, and his sons. There were two
bells in 1552, (fn. 26) but a broken bell was sold in the
1720s (fn. 27) and the remaining bell was replaced by
two others at the rebuilding. (fn. 28) Also renewed
then was the plate, which includes a service
made in 1854 and given by the vicar. (fn. 29)
The registers of births and baptisms begin in
1652, and of marriages and burials in 1655;
marriages are apparently lacking for some years
but the registers are otherwise complete. There
are transcripts from 1601. (fn. 30)
The base of a cross survives in the churchyard, (fn. 31) which had been closed for burials by
1993. (fn. 32)
The parish clerk received three sheaves of
wheat a year from each broad and two from each
narrow bovate in the parish until inclosure in
1814, when £6 5s. 10d. was substituted. He was
also entitled to 1s. 2d. from each house and 4d.
from each cottage annually. The payments were
again recorded in 1861. (fn. 33)
NONCONFORMITY
There were generally
few recusants and non-communicants in Withernwick in the 17th and 18th centuries, (fn. 34) but 17
papists were recorded there in 1706 and c. 1720
William Langdale, of neighbouring Langthorpe,
in Swine, and three other papists registered
estates in Withernwick. (fn. 35)
In 1676 there were said to be two protestant
dissenters in Withernwick. (fn. 36) In 1783 Thomas
Thompson, a leading Hull Methodist, and
others registered a house there, (fn. 37) and in 1811 the
Wesleyans built a chapel in Main Street, which
was enlarged in 1843 and 1850 and rebuilt in
1914. (fn. 38) The Wesleyans also built a Sunday
school in Main Street in 1845. (fn. 39) The Primitive
Methodists put up a chapel in High Street in
1843 and enlarged the building with another
schoolroom c. 1880. (fn. 40) About 1920, when half a
dozen families were Wesleyan, only a dozen
people attended the Primitive chapel, (fn. 41) which
was then closed; the building was sold in 1923,
used as a builder's store in 1993, (fn. 42) and had been
demolished by 1998, when a house called Chapel
Bricks stood on the site. Services were still held
in the Methodist church, formerly the Wesleyan
chapel, in 1993, but the Sunday schoolroom was
then mostly used as a village meeting place. (fn. 43)
EDUCATION
Matthias North (d. 1713) (fn. 44)
charged land in Withernwick with £2 a year for
schooling or apprenticing children of Withernwick. The land was bought for the poor of Rise
in 1737, (fn. 45) and the rent charge was later received
from the Rise charity. (fn. 46) There was evidently a
schoolmaster at Withernwick c. 1770, (fn. 47) and the
village school was held in the church in the early
19th century. (fn. 48) In 1818 it was attended by 30
boys and girls (fn. 49) and in 1833 by 24; the school was
supported by subscriptions, school pence, and
£1 a year from the charity, (fn. 50) for which four poor
children were taught free in 1823. (fn. 51) The other
£1 a year from North's charity was then spent
occasionally in apprenticing a child. (fn. 52) By the mid
century 17 children were being taught free, all or
most of them at the expense of Richard Bethell
(d. 1864), who left £15 a year for the school. (fn. 53)
A building for the school, which by 1844 was a
National school, was put up in 1846 and enlarged
with an infants' room in 1858, and in 1865 a
master's house was added by W. F. Bethell. (fn. 54)
Average attendance was 70 in winter and 40 in
summer c. 1865. About that date the master ran
a night school for some 15 farm boys but gave
it up as a financial burden, and a night school
attempted later by the vicar was also unsuccessful. (fn. 55) An annual government grant was received
from 1869, and the school was occasionally also
assisted by a rate. (fn. 56) On inspection day in 1871
the school was attended by 48 children, including
some from Ellerby, in Swine. (fn. 57) In 1892 a school
board was formed and the school transferred to
its management. (fn. 58) After the county council
assumed control, it set about remedying the 'very
unsatisfactory' building; alterations were carried
out in 1906, and in 1910 the school was enlarged
to include a new infants' room. (fn. 59) Average attendance at the council school in the early 20th century was c. 80, but numbers later fell to about 50
in the mid 1920s and 34 in 1937–8. (fn. 60) Senior
pupils were transferred to Hornsea County
Secondary School in 1958. (fn. 61) The primary school
had 30 pupils on the roll in 1990. (fn. 62) The master's
house was sold in the 1980s. (fn. 63)
A second school in Withernwick in 1833 was
attended by 22 fee-paying boys and girls. (fn. 64)
CHARITIES FOR THE POOR
A landed
endowment, of unknown origin, belonged to the
poor by 1752, when it was let for £2 13s. a year. (fn. 65)
It comprised a garth of c. 1 a. and a piece of
open-field land, for which ¼ a. was awarded at
inclosure in 1814. In 1823 the rents of the Poor's
Land, amounting to just over £6, were added
to rent charges of £2 from farms in the parish,
comprising the Withernwick Doles charity, and
the combined income was spent on clothing for
widows of the parish and in cash doles given at
Easter. (fn. 66) The Doles charity, which was later
lost, (fn. 67) may have been created under the will of
William Day (d. 1616), who charged an estate
in Withernwick with £2 a year for the poor of
the parish. (fn. 68) By 1901 the income from the Poor's
Land and the £2 rent charge originally given
for education (fn. 69) together produced just over £10,
which was given as doles of 3s. 6d. to 7s. 6d. to
45 people; in 1921, when the joint income was
just over £8, doles of 13s. 6d. each were given
to 12 widows and widowers. (fn. 70) In 1980 the £2
rent charge was redeemed for £27, which was
invested in the name of the Withernwick Poor's
Estate charity, and that charity and the Poor's
Land, with an income of £15 in 1979, (fn. 71) continued to be administered together. In 1985 the
combined income of nearly £19 was given to the
village Darby and Joan club. (fn. 72) In 1993 it was
proposed to amalgamate the eleemosynary charity and the village hall trust, to provide a village
meeting place and recreational facilities and to
give help to the old. (fn. 73)