Burstwick Parish information from Bulmers' 1892.

BURSTWICK:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1892.

Wapentake of Holderness (South Division) - County Council Electoral Division of Keyingham - Petty Sessional Division of South Holderness - Poor Law Union of Patrington - County Court District and Rural Deanery of Hedon - Archdeaconry of the East Riding - Diocese of York.

This parish comprises the townships of Burstwick-cum-Skeckling, and Ryhill-cum-Camerton. The former contains 4,195 acres of land belonging chiefly to Sir Frederick Augustua Talbot Clifford-Constable, Bart., J.P., D. L., of Burton Constable, who is lord of the manor; Todds's devisees; H. J. Atkinson, Esq., M.P., Gunnersbury House, Acton, Middlesex; Mrs. Holmes, Burstwick; Mrs. Dunn, Barmby Moor; Mrs. Ringrose-Ion, Hillstead, Torquay; F. A. Boyd, Esq., Beverley; Mrs. Lutwidge; R. J. Hosdell, Camerton Hall; Mrs. E. Davis, Willoughby; Jas. S. Soutter, Hedon; W. Rodmell's Trustees; David Goundrill, Burstwick; Messrs. Lucas and Aird; Exors. of Thomas Byron and Mr. George Burnham, Burstwick. The soil and subsoil are clay, sand, and gravel, and the chief crops are wheat, beans, clover, oats, and flax. The rateable value is £5,922, and the population in 1891 was 437.

Brostewic, Domesday Book informs us, had belonged to Earl Tosti, and the Conqueror gave it with the rest of Holderness to Drogo. It was an important manor, and had belonging to it the following berewics : - Paghel, Nichuetun, Holm, Notele, and Scachelinge; to it also belonged the soke of these places - Sudtone, Scachelinge, Camerinton, Torne, Holme, Diche, Sprotele, and Prestone. This manor has always been retained by the lords of Holderness in their own hands, and for a long period it was the Caput Baroniæ, or chief residence of the lords of the seigniory. On the several occasions when the seigniory was escheated to the crown, this manor became for the time a royal possession, and several royal visits to Burstwick are recorded. The park was stocked with deer, and contributed its quota of venison to the king's table in London. According to Rymer's Fœdera, the Countess of Carrick, Queen of Robert Bruce, after the defeat of her noble husband in 1306, was consigned by Edward I. to the care of Richard Oysel, steward of the royal manor of Holderness, at Burstwick. The king gave very explicit instructions as to her treatment. She was to have with her two women of her own country, one a lady of honour and the other a chamber-maid, who were to be of good age and not gay; two pages who were also to be of good age and prudent, one of whom shall carve for her; a foot-boy to wait in her chamber, being sober, not a riotous person, to make her bed and perform such other offices as pertain to her chamber; a valet who shall be of good bearing and discreet, to keep the keys and serve in the pantry and cellar; and a cook. Three greyhounds were to be kept for her diversion in the warren and parks, and she was to have as much venison and fish as she should require. She was detained here about one year.

The later lords of Holderness have resided at Burton Constable, and their mansion here, or castle, if such it was, fell to decay. "Its site," writes Mr. Poulson in his History of Holderness "is said to have been visible on an eminence in the south park, with a moat surrounding it, in 1782," but he continues "it is doubtful whether the moat may not be that which surrounded the old house that stood within it, and which forms nearly a square, comprising about four acres of land; the moat, although in some measure filled up, is easily defined." The south park retained its deer till 1722.

The village of Burstwick is situated nine miles east-by-south from Hull, three miles south-east from Hedon, and half-a-mile north from Rye Hill station, on the Hull and Withernsea branch of the North-Eastern railway. It occupies an elevated situation and commands extensive views of the surrounding country. A small stream or drain divides the village into two parts, one of which is Burstwick (proper) and the other the ancient hamlet of Skeckling. The church is situated in the latter, and consequently, in former times, that place took precedence in the parish name, Skeckling, or Skeckling-cum-Burstwick. It is a spacious structure of stone and rubble, rebuilt in the early part of the 14th century, and dedicated to All Saints'. The plan comprises a chancel with a north aisle, nave with north aisle, and a south chapel forming a transept, a modern porch of brick entirely covered with ivy, and an embattled western tower containing one bell. The chancel was rebuilt about 50 years ago, and contains a plain sedile and the remains of a piscina. All the windows are filled with stained glass, one of which is a memorial of the Rev. William Clarke, M.A., who was for upwards of 40 years vicar of the parish, and at his death in 1852, left the interest of £500 for the education of poor children in the parish of Burstwick. The east window was restored and filled with stained glass to commemorate the 25th year of the incumbency of the late Rev. Frank Bowes King, M.A. The fabric is very muchin need of restoration, to effect which, it is estimated the sum of about £700 will be required.

The church of Skekeling was given by Stephen, Earl of Albemarle, to the Priory of Birstall, which was a cell to the Abbey of Albemarle, in Normandy, and in 1228 it was appropriated to the abbot and monks of that house, and a vicarage ordained. It was subsequently transferred to the abbot and convent of Kirkstall, and it remained in the possession of that house till the Reformation, when the patronage reverted to the Crown. It has since passed through various hands, and now belongs to Mr. Lucas. The impropriate tithe amounts to £212. The living is a discharged vicarage, worth £200 net, including 110 acres of glebe, with residence, held by the Rev. John Maynard, who was instituted in 1891.

There are chapels in the village belonging to the Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists; the former was built in 1847, and the latter the following year.

A School Board for Burstwick-cum-Skeckling was formed in 1872, and two years later the present school was erected, and opened in 1875. It is a substantial building of brick, with teacher's house attached. The school is mixed, with accommodation for 120, and an average attendance of about half that number.

Some of the farms preserve, in their names, memories of the past. There are South Park, with remains of old fish ponds, and North Park, with traces of a moat. Burstwick Garth, now called Old Hall, was long the property and residence of the Appleyards, one of whom was knighted by Charles I., on the field, for his services and loyalty. Burstwick Grange, once called Gospel Farm, in the foldyard of which a chalybeate spring was discovered sometime in the last century. It was 16 feet deep, and the water had a temperature of 800. Nuttles, spelt Notele in Domesday Book, gave a name to the family of Nuthill, who possessed the manor through many reigns. Sir Peter de Nuthill was high sheriff of Yorkshire in the 26th year of Edward III. (1353). In later times it belonged to the Withams, afterwards to the Champneys, who sold it to Mr. Todd, of Tranby Park. The estate formed a distinct manor. There was formerly a chapel here, which was subordinate to the mother church of Skeckling. The patronage was vested in the family of Nuthill. The chapel was demolished in 1535, at which time the living was said to be worth £2 per annum.

Ridgmont is a farm of 600 acres, partly in this parish and partly in Burton Pidsea. It was farmed for several generations by the Stickneys, a family belong to the Society of Friends. It was here that Mrs. Sarah Ellis, nee Stickney, was born. Whilst still a spinster, she became favourably known in literary circles by the publication of her "Pictures of Private Life." Numerous other works came, subsequently, from her pen, all tending to the moral, social, and intellectual improvement of her own sex. Her best known works are "The Daughters of England," "The Wives of England," "The Mothers of England," "The Women of England," and "Look to the End." She also achieved some fame as a poetess. The farm is now in the occupation of Mr. Wm. Reynolds.

RYHILL, or RIAL and CAMERTON, form a joint township, containing 1,477 acres of land, belonging chiefly to J. R. Ringrose, Esq., Sutton; W. H. Harrison-Broadley, Esq., Welton, Brough; Christopher Sykes, Esq., M.P.; Mr. John Leonard, Ryhill; the vicar of Burstwick, and Ward's devisees. The manorial rights belong to Sir F. A. Talbot Clifford-Constable, Bart, The rateable value is £2,520, and the number of inhabitants 263. The village of Ryhill stands on the road from Hedon to Patrington, three miles south-east of the former place, and one mile south from Burstwick. The place takes its name from the family of De Ryell, its ancient possessors. There is a small Wesleyan Chapel here, and a little north of the village is a station on the Hull and Withernsea Railway, which the North-Eastern Railway Co. have re-named Rye Hill. It was formerly called Burstwick. Those responsible for the change have taken a little liberty with the orthography.

The Thorngumbald United District Board School is situated in this township. It was erected in 1876, at a cost of £1,200, and was enlarged in 1890, by the addition of an infant department. There is accommodation for 135 children, and an average attendance of 94.

CAMERTON, is a small hamlet near Ryhill. In Domesday Book it is called Camerington. It formerly belonged to the Boothebys, and in later years to the Omblers, who erected the hall. The estate is now the property of J. R. Ringrose, Esq., and the hall is occupied by Mr R. J. Hosdell.

[Description(s) from Bulmer's History and Directory of East Yorkshire (1892)]

Directories

• Transcript of the entry for the Post Office, professions and trades in Bulmer's Directory of 1892.

Scan, OCR and html by Colin Hinson. Checking and correction by Peter Nelson.