Ottringham Parish information from Bulmers' 1892.

OTTRINGHAM:
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 of Hedon - Rural Deanery of Hedon - Archdeaconry of the East Riding - Diocese of York.

The area of this parish, as returned in the Ordnance Survey, is 4,304 acres. The rateable value is £6,082, and the population in 1891 was 575. The surface is generally level, and the soil rich and fertile; the subsoil is clay. The chief crops are wheat, clover, beans, and mustard, and there is also some rich grazing land in the marsh. The exors. of Francis and William Watt are lords of the manor and principal landowners. The following have also land in the parish: Lord Hotham; Mr. William Gibson, Ottringham Marsh; Mr. James Gibson, Ottringham; Mr. William Wallis, Ottringham Marsh; Miss Tate, Richmond; Rev. Thomas W. Daltry, Madeley Vicarage, Staffordshire; Mr. Jonathan William Gibson, Ottringham Grange; the trustees of Mrs. Wright; Mrs. Clarkson, Wakefield; Mr. Todd, Selby; and Mr. Samuel L. Haldane, Hull.

Ottringham is a place of considerable antiquity, and like Ottrington in the North Riding, is supposed to have received its name from the Ottrings or descendants of Othere or Otter, who, in the pagan belief of the early Saxons, was descended from the animal whose name he bore. The place is mentioned in Domesday Book, and had both a church and a priest at the time of the Conquest. There were then two manors; one, containing four carucates of land, was held by two Englishmen named Tor and Torchie; and the other, in which there were six carucates and a half to be taxed, belonged to the Church of St. John of Beverley. The former manor subsequently came, sometime in the 13th century, into the possession of the Lascelles, one of whom sold part, and gave the remainder of his demesne lands to the Abbey of Meaux. After the dissolution of religious houses, the lands belonging to the Abbey of Meaux and the Church of St. John of Beverley reverted to the Crown, and in the reign of Charles I., the manor of Monk Garth or Ottringham Marsh was granted to Sir Francis Cobb. In 1790 Richard Watt, Esq., purchased the manor and other lands from the trustees of Francis Boynton, Esq., and they still remain in the possession of this family.

The village is pleasantly situated on the road between Hedon and Patrington, six-and-a-half miles east-south-east of Hedon, 12 miles east-by-south of Hull, and about three quarters of a mile south of the station of its own name, on the Hull and Withernsea branch of the North-Eastern Railway. The Church of St. Wilfrid is a venerable edifice of stone in the Early English and Decorated styles, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, chantry, south porch, and a western tower with elegant spire, containing three bells. The upper part of the spire was repaired in 1810. In 1843 the church was re-roofed, and it was further restored about 30 years ago. The nave and aisles are divided by arcades of four pointed arches. The chantry, which is on the south side of the chancel, was founded by Richard de Ottringham, who munificently endowed it for the support of seven monks from the Abbey of Meaux, who should celebrate the Divine offices for the soul of the founder and those of his ancestors. There are no monuments sufficiently interesting to demand notice.

The church was given by William de Ottringham and Richard, his brother, to the Priory of Bridlington, but it was afterwards appropriated to the Collegiate Church of Beverley; and as there was no reservation for the maintenance of a vicar, the ministerial duties were performed by a stipendiary curate. After the Reformation the rectory, with the great and small tithes, was granted away by the Crown, and has since passed by sale through several hands. It now belongs to the exors. of Francis and William Watt, who are the patrons of the living, which is worth £130 a year, including eight acres of glebe. The present incumbent is the Rev. William Lucas, M.A., of St. John's College, Cambridge, who resides at Hedon.

The Wesleyans have a commodious chapel, erected in 1856, in lieu of an older one converted into a Sunday school. The National School, erected about 55 years ago, consists of main room and classroom, with accommodation for 100 children. It is endowed with the interest of £100, bequeathed by Mrs. Mary Fox, in 1792. The school is mixed, and under the charge of a master. The average attendance is between 50 and 60.

Church Lands is a farm at the north-east end of the parish, containing 95 acres, now let at £1 an acre, which is applied to the repair of the church and roads, the relief of the poor of the parish, and the support of the school. There are no deeds or writings to show by whom they were left, but they are supposed to be the lands referred to in the will of William Saunders, priest, who died in 1571, bequeathing certain lands in the open fields of Ottringham, called Church Balks, for the repair of the church windows, bridges for a church road, bell ropes, &c.

An amusing story is related of one Stephen Brignal, who was married here in 1787, to Mrs. Mary Trisby, and paid the minister, clerk, and ringers all in farthings. The parson received 252 as his fee, the clerk 72, and the ringers 250. He also threw a considerable number among the crowd.

[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.