Duck decoys

Recently, I passed a sign to ‘Decoy’ near Watton which caught my attention as I had only discovered what a decoy was last year when holidaying in East Anglia. Essentially a duck decoy was an idea imported from the Netherlands and was a place where ducks could be caught for food. The name derives from Dutch meaning ‘duck cage’, and consisted of a central pool with several ‘pipes’ radiating from it where the ducks could be funnelled into the enclosed pond. Duck decoys were used locally from Tudor times.

There are several examples in the Hull valley, including the one at Watton. Others include one at Meaux (420 yds south west of Meaux Decoy Farm) which shows up clearly on Google Earth images.  A third is located at Scorborough, where the names Decoy Wood and Decoy Farm give a clue to its location. The Watton and Meaux decoys are very similar in plan. They all ceased to function in the late 18^th century for the same reason – the drainage of the adjacent carrs (wetlands) where the ducks resided. The Beverley and Barmston Drainage Act was passed in 1798. All three decoys are all now located amidst acres of arable fields, but as noted in the previous post, the surrounding areas would have been marshy at the time of the decoys. The Watton decoy was reported to produce as many as 400 ducks a day from 1000 acres of surrounding marshland – almost entirely gone today. In the late 19^th century it was still frequented by rare species of duck, garganeys, gadwalls and other birds like ruffs, which today are characteristic only of isolated wetland areas of the Hull valley like Tophill Low and Swinemoor.

The existence of these decoys is another reminder of the past landscape of the Hull valley but also of the strong influence the Netherlands has always had on this area. From Holland a wide variety of processes were imported into the East Riding, including land drainage techniques, brickmaking – and also the construction of duck decoys.

Beavers - in Beverley?!

Two alternatives have been proposed for the origins of the name Beverley . The commonly-quoted explanation is that it meant ‘beaver stream/lake’ but other experts have suggested it might derive from a word for pagan shrines which were once found in the area in pre-Christian times. The modern observer, examining the area around Beverley, could be forgiven for being more than a little sceptical about the beaver explanation. I must confess that I was myself

We need to understand, however, the way that the landscape around Beverley has changed since the Middle Ages. The arable farmland which characterises the Hull Valley today only exists because of the construction of the drains that crisscross the area. Many of these drains were constructed in the Mediaeval period, often by monastic houses such as Meaux Abbey and Watton Priory (such as the Monk Dyke nr Leven). Before drainage, most of the low lying ground in the Hull Valley was very wet. A look at a modern map shows that word ‘Carr’ occurs frequently in the Hull Valley, but rarely on the Wolds (e.g. Weel Carr, Tickton Carr, Molescroft Carr, North Carr at Thearne, Lockington Carr, Watton Carr, Hotham Carr and North Frodingham Carrs). These are areas of well-drained arable fields today but the word ‘carr’ denotes an area of wet woodland and shows that these places were once much wetter and extensively wooded. There were also extensive marshes and several large meres in the East Riding which have vanished (such as Wallingfen near North Cave and Oxmarrdyke near Gilberdyke, for example). Botanical evidence is still to be found today in small pockets of wet ground (Pulfin Bog at Eske, for example) and along the margins of the drains, where a wetland flora occurs akin to that of the Fens in East Anglia.

This would have been exactly the sort of territory beavers like. Beavers live exclusively in a wet habitat, modifying or expanding areas of standing water and water channels in order to store food, build their homes  and travel about their territory whilst trees are essential for food, and for dam and lodge construction.  

So when you put together the historical accounts, local placenames and botanical evidence along with the lifestyle of the beaver, the more fitting its place seems on our town’s coat of arms.

Beverley street names

The street names of Beverley have much to tell about its history. Many have passed to us unchanged from the early Middle Ages. Many contain elements of Scandinavian origin, imported by the Danes who took the area from the Angles in the 9th century. One example is use of the word ‘gate’ to mean a road or lane, which can be seen in street names of other former Danelaw towns e.g. Kirkgate (church gate) in Leeds. Highgate, Keldgate,  Lairgate, Hengate, Eastgate and Flemingate are some of the oldest streets in Beverley. Other examples include Keld (a spring, as in Keldgate, Keldmarsh), Begin (a building, as in Newbegin), Moor (as in Minster Moorgate) and some lost examples such as Briddal Midding Lane (midden=Danish for rubbish heap), Holmkyrk Lane (Kirk = church, old name for Holme Church Lane) and Colmankeld Lane

In the Middle Ages, tradesmen grouped together by trade and gave their name to the street. For example, in the area around Saturday Market were Walkergate, Tenter Lane, Mercer Row and Dyer Lane – all occupations connected with the production of woollen cloth. As most of these processes needed water, they were clustered around the Walker Beck. Other examples were Butcher Row, Bredrow or Baker Lane, and Glover Row. Landress Lane, however, is misleading as it is thought to be a corruption of a family name.

Other names give a clue to lost landmarks; Cross Street is near the site of the mediaeval cross which stood at Cross Bridge (roughly at the junction between Walkergate and Butcher Row). The bridge took the High Street (now Toll Gavel) over the Walker Beck, which had not been culverted in the early Middle Ages and divided the town into two. Trinity Lane is on the site of the mediaveal Preceptory of the Holy Trinity. St Giles Croft is near the site of the mediaeval St Giles Hospital. Holme Church Lane led to the mediaeval St Nicholas Church and Mill Lane led to a mill roughly where Norwood Methodist Church now stands. Tiger Lane, formerly called Cuckstool Lane, led to the Cuckstool or ducking stool on the Westwood. Gallows Lane is of similar origin. Woodlands, also called Union Road, led to the workhouse of the Beverley Poor Law Union.

An excellent glossary of Beverley street names can be found at http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=36438 .

Mediaeval Grovehill

Grovehill might seem an insignificant backwater today but its present day appearance belies its past significance to the development of Beverley. In Mediaeval times Grovehill was the wealthy wool town's link to the world beyond via the watery motorway that was the River Hull. The name of the hamlet was apparently first mentioned in 1156 as Gruvale, a name which possibly meant a settlement in a nook in a stream. This stream was the Groval Dyke or Aldbeck. As well as being the location of the main staithe on the River Hull for loading and unloading wares from vessels, Grovehill’s main industry in mediaeval times was pottery and tile/brick-making.  The banks of the Groval beck were rich in clay deposits and in the 14th century it is recorded that the Guild of St John held rights to extract clay from the banks of the Groval Dyke for this purpose. The potteries were well located as production generated offensive fumes and the hamlet was well away from the main town.  What is now Grovehill Road is of very ancient origins and in mediaeval times included what is now Trinity Lane, continuing as the Groval lane from the Fishmarket (Wednesday Market) right down to the staithe on the River Hull. The alternative name for the road was Pottergate or Potterlane in reference to the potteries found there. Presumably fish was landed at the staith and transported into the town for sale in the fishmarket, and wool and other goods where loaded onto barges for export elsewhere in Yorkshire and to the Continent.  Archaeological excavations around the southern Grovehill area (Annie Reed Road, etc) have yielded extensive evidence of pottery, tile and brick making, including remains of kilns, wooden workshops and clay pits. Misshapen and discarded brick and tile remains have been found on the surface of nearby fields and fragments of distinctive Beverley type pottery for domestic purposes has also been been discovered. In the area around the old council depot, evidence of Romano-British occupation has also been found in the form of pottery and tiles suggesting the Romans may also have known about and exploited the same clay deposits. 

Beside the river somewhere near the hamlet, the Gruval manor stood in late mediaeval times. Apparently there is still evidence of the moated manor in fields by the River Hull - looking at images on Google Earth, it seems this may be in the field just to the south of the bridge, behind Post Office depot.