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Cottingham, Yorkshire, England. Further historical information.

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COTTINGHAM

COTTINGHAM, a parish in the wapentake of Harthill; 6 miles NW. of Hull. This place is of considerable antiquity and ranks amongst the most pleasant, healthful, and populous villages, of the East Riding of Yorkshire. The population of the parish of Cottingham, amounts to 2,479.

Cottingham was known as a manor at the time when Domesday book was compiled; and it is stated by Leland in his Collectanea, that William d'Estoteville or Stuteville, being sheriff of Yorkshire, entertained King John at his house in this town, and in 1200, obtained from that monarch a licence to hold a market and fairs* here, and to fortify his castle. This mansion, under the designation of Baynard castle; remained a monument of feudal magnificence in the successive possession of the Stutevilles, the Bigods and the De Wakes, until the reign of Henry VIII. when it was destroyed by fire, ** but the ramparts are still visible, and the fosses with which it was surrounded are seen in the gardens which now occupy the site of the ancient castle and its precincts. The story of the conflagration of Baynard castle is curious, and characteristic of the monarch in whose reign it was destroyed: Henry, who was then at Hull, hearing that Lord Wake of Cottingham, had a very beautiful wife, sent a message to his lordship informing him that it was his intention to dine with him the day following. This intimation the noble baron received with feelings resembling those by which the patriarch was moved when the Princes of Egypt condescended to notice him on account of his wife Sarai: to say that Lady Wake, was his sister would have been unavailing, her lord therefore took a still more effectual means of preserving his wife's honour and his own head; for on the very night that the message was received from the king, the steward, by order of his master, set fire to the castle and burned it to the ground: it was of course given out that the fire was accidental, but it appears from certain family manuscripts that it was a sacrifice made by a subject, to avert the consequences apprehended from the contaminating presence of a licentious prince. Henry, in the munificence of his disposition, offered to present his lordship with £2000. towards the rebuilding of Baynard castle, but his lordship was in no humour to receive presents from a person whose friendship he so much dreaded, and this once famous edifice has been suffered to sink into utter ruin. On the death of Lord Wake, without male issue, the lordship of Cottingham, with two thousand four hundred and sixty-six acres of land, came into possession of the Duke of Richmond; the Earl of Westmoreland and Lord Powis, who had married his three daughters, since which time the estate has been divided into three manors called Cottingham Richmond, Cottingham Westmoreland and Cottingham Powis.

- * The market has long been discontinued, and the only fair now in existence is held on the feast of St. Martin.

- ** in August, 1541.

In the 15th year of the reign of Edward II. Thomas Lord Wake founded and built a monastery for the canons of the order of St. Austin, or Black Canons at Cottingham; but finding that a perpetual title could not be made to the site, the monastery was removed, in 1324, to a neighbouring hamlet, about a mile to the southward, called Alta-prisa, or Haltemprice, in the county of Hull, and dedicated to the nativity of our blessed Saviour, the annunciation of the Virgin Mary, and the exaltation of the Holy Cross. This religious house continued to flourish till the dissolution, when there was a prior and eleven canons, who were endowed, according to Dugdale, with £100. 0s. 3½d. and according to Speed with £178. 0s. 10½d. In the 32nd year of Henry VIII. the site was granted to Thomas Culpepper, but the house sunk into ruin, and has now totally disappeared. Haltemprice now belongs to the ancient family of the Ellerkers, is extraparochial, and pays no parish rates. The parish, church of Cottingham is a large and handsome gothic structure, built in the year 1272, and dedicated to St. Mary, the virgin. A stately tower or steeple arises from the centre; the interior is commodious and well lighted, and the walls are adorned with several elegant monuments, especially those of the Burtons of Hotham. In the choir is an old tombstone without date, nearly as ancient as the church, erected to the memory of Nicholas de Stuteville the founder. The living is a vicarage, not in charge, of the certified value of £42. of which the Rev. James Deans, is the incumbent, and the Bishop of Chester, the patron. There are two meeting houses here; the Independent chapel, of which the Rev. Spedding Curwen, is the minister and the Methodist chapel, supplied with a change of ministers from the annual conference. There is also an endowed school for the education of ten poor children, the revenue of which is £40. per annum, bequeathed by Mark Kirby, Esq. of Hull, in 1712 and a dole of £10. a year left by Robert Mills of Cottingham and distributed amongst the poor at Christmas.

There are numerous springs of excellent water in and about the town, and in the estate of Thomas Thompson, Esq. adjoining to the ancient road called Keldgate, leading from Cottingham to Eppleworth, are intermitting springs resembling the Vipsies or Gipsies springs on the wolds. The openings of these springs are numerous and the quantity of water issuing from them is very great. They begin to flow in the spring, and continue for two or three months, when the water totally subsides, and the ground continues perfectly dry for an interval of two, three or four years. With such intermissions the springs seem sometimes almost forgotten until the reappearance of the water brings them to the remembrance of the inhabitants, who in their familiar language are accustomed to say " Keldgate springs have broke out "

Twenty years ago Cottingham was a favourite place of residence for the more opulent portion of the merchants of Hull, and it still boasts of many handsome country houses, gardens and pleasure grounds; but they have rather diminished than increased during that period. The parish forms an irregular figure approaching to a square, and is about 4 miles in extent from East to West, and from North to South. The soil is various and is occupied in a manner suited to its quality. Immediately adjoining the town the land is chiefly cultivated as garden ground, and produces large quantities of fruit and vegetables for the Hull market. In the village of Newland, in the eastern part of the parish, there is a great extent of pasture and meadow land, from which Hull is supplied with milk and butter; and on the edge of the hills to the west are many very considerable farms of arable land in an improved state of cultivation. Two stage coaches run daily between Cottingham and Hull, and from the facility of communication the former may be considered in the suburbs of the latter place. The population of the parish of Cottingham, amounts to 2,479.

The following is the entire data from Langdale's Topographical Yorkshire Dictionary:

Thomas Lord Wake of Lyddel, in 1322, founded a Monastery here, for black Canons, but not being able to procure a perpetual title, the monastery was removed in 1324 to Newton, since called Alta Prisa, or Haltemprice, a hamlet, about a mile further to the south. Not the smallest vestige of it is to be seen; the site is occupied by a farmer, and is the property of the family of the Ellerkers of Risby. --Burton.

Cottingham was formerly the seat and lordship of Robert de Stuteville or, Estoteville, who was descended from Robert Grundebeofe, a Norman Baron, William de Stuteville, his heir, being High Sheriff the county in 1202, entertained King John at his house here, and about the same time obtained a licence from the same King to fortify it. The estates came by marriage to the Lords de Wake, and afterwards by a daughter of John de Wake, to Edmund, Earl of Kent, from whom descended Joan, wife to Edward, the warlike Prince of Wales, who defeated the French in so many engagements. Thomas de Wake, in the 12th Edward II. obtained from that Prince, a grant for a weekly market, and two fairs annually, at Cottingham; and in the 1st of Edward III. he obtained a grant from that King to make a castle of his manor-house here, and to fortify it. Henry VIII. when on a visit at Hull, in 1541, hearing that Lord Wake of Cottingham, was married to an accomplished Lady, fixed a day for honouring them with his company; but the amourous monarch was disappointed of his visit; for his lordship, less ambitious of the honour, than alarmed for the too probable consequence of such a compliment, on the eve of the visit, set fire to his castle, and burned it to the ground. This castle, then called Baynard-Castle, is now only to be discovered by its moat and ramparts of earth, which are appropriated to a market and private garden. This ancient castle covered two acres of ground, upon the site of which the manor-house was afterwards built. The old court-house is yet standing, and in which the court is always called. --Camden. --Tickell.

[Description(s) edited mainly from various 19th century sources by Colin Hinson. ©2010]