The Churches of Marfleet

HULL:
The Churches of Marfleet, by Peter Kessler

Source=h:/!Genuki/RecordTranscriptions/ERY/ERYPeterKessler.txt St Stephen's Roman Catholic Church & Neighbourhood Centre stands at the south-west corner of Annandale Road and Stonebridge Avenue in Marfleet. The church was opened in 1966 as part of the Catholic expansion from the centre of Hull. By 2010, two sisters who were living and working on the marginalised estate in this area were supporting what had become the small Roman Catholic Faith Community of St Stephen's, which no longer had a resident priest.

St Hilda's Community Church Marfleet stands at the north-east corner of Annandale Road and Ivybridge Walk in Marfleet. The area is part of the Greatfield Estate, which is also the location of Craven Park, home to Hull Kingston Rovers rugby team. The church was dedicated in 1960 as a chapel of ease to the Marfleet parish church of St Giles (see below). It was designed by H R Spencer and was built partly from funds provided by the Humberside Appeal for Church Extension.
Early Marfleet belonged to a cell at Burstall in Holderness which was part of the Abbey of St Martin D'Auchy, Aumale (SeineInférieure). This included the parish church of St Giles (see below), which was a chapelry of the parish church of Paull, a church which was given in 1115 by Stephen, earl of Aumale, along with other Holderness churches, to St Martin D'Auchy. In 1395 Marfleet, along with the other English possessions of St Martin's, was granted to Kirkstall Abbey.

St Giles Parish Church of Marfleet sits at the eastern end of Church Lane, off Marfleet Lane. The first church on this village site was mentioned about 1217 as a chapel of ease to the parish of Paull when it was endowed with an acre of meadow land by Adam de Marfleet. Marfleet remained a chapel of ease to Paull at least until 1650, when it was said to be 'fit to be made a parish'. By 1706 it was described as a parish church. No details of the medieval church exist.
In 1793 work began to rebuild the church. The new church, designed by George Pycock of Hull consisted of a nave with Gothic windows and a cupola over the west gable. The church was in bad shape in 1865, and was subsequently demolished after suffering severe flooding. The present Geometric style church was built in 1883-1884, designed by J T Webster of Hedon. It consists of a nave, with a portal at the west end carried up into a bell turret, a chancel, and a vestry.

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