Some Hull place names explained

Bransholme - either Bran's water meadow ir water meadow of the boar (brandt) Old Norse. Mentioned in t :) e Doomsday book
Drypool - a dried up pool, also Dripol or Dridpol
Gipsyville - 20th cenury, after nearby factory that manufactured 'Gipsy Black' polish
Holderness - headland (nes) of the hold (nobleman) - Danish (cf Stadtholder, the name given to the Dutch monarchs)
Hull - formerly Wyk or Wyke, meaning an inlet or bay in Old Norse/Danish but now taking its name from the River Hull whose name may be Celtic as many Yorkshire rivers are. Interestingly the course of the river has changed considerably and there used to be an inlet of the Humber in the area of Wyke to the west of the river called Sayercryk, probably Anglian for 'sea creek' and corrupted to 'Sewer'. This is presumably the origin of the otherwise unattractively named 'Sewer Lane' in the Old Town.
Marfleet - the pool stream, ?Norse
Myton - the name of the original settlement, the Monks of Meaux Abbey built a grange here and named it Wyke. The name persist e.g. in Myton Bridge.
Sculcoates - Skuli's cottages, old Norse
Southcoates - possibly old Norse, Soti's cote (cottage)
Stoneferry - earlier Stanfordrak - Stanford probably meant the stony ford and rak is Norse for a strip or lane, although it is difficult to imagine the river being shallow enough to ford - perhaps the ford was across a tributary stream. Later the site of a ferry across the river.
Summergangs - a road 'gang' across the Ings which was only passable in summer, or a corruption of 'South mere' - either way an indication that this whole area was once much wetter. The whole Southcoates / Summergangs / Drypool area was called Ings because it all consisted of wet meadowland in the flood plain of the river. Summergangs became a large area of common pasture but was too wet for use in the winter until drains like Summergangs Dyke were built.
Wincolmlee - no-one really seems to know the origin of this place name but the fact there is also a Wincolmblee in Newcastle would seem to suggest a Scandinavian origin. I am still looking into Wilmington and Trippett.
Wyke - a corruption of Norse 'vik' meaning mouth or creek.

Yorkshire Crafts

Traditional Yorkshire Crafts

Rag rugs
Also known as clippy rugs, peg rugs and proddy mats, rag rugs were the original household recycling activity. They are made out of small scraps of cloth cut into strips which are pushed through a piece of sacking with a pointed wooden tool to form tufts. Often the colours were just randomly distributed but sometimes they were formed into brightly coloured geometrical designs. A large rag rug would be found in front of the range in many working class households, from minors cottages to Dales farmhouses. Smaller strips were used as draught excluders along the bottoms of doors and the Dent museum has some nice circular seat covers made by the same technique. The tradition seems to have been strongest in West Yorkshire where clipping and lengths of selvedge from the textile mills were widely available, but were also associated with fishing districts such as Whitby and were made across the Dales.

Quilting and Patchwork

A quilt from Yeadon, W.Yorks
in the Quilters Guild Collection

The quilting tradtion most strongly associated with the North East also extended into parts of Yorkshire. For reasons I have not been able to establish quilt making seems to be particularly strong in mining areas, whether the coal mines of the North East, the Scottish lowlands, South Wales or the leadmines of Swaledale. They also stretched into neighbouring rural areas like Weardale and the Scottish borders. Many Yorkshire quilts are of the strippy type or the distinctive monochrome white and turkey red quilt. In fishing districts women often wore quilted petticoats, whose designs were drawn from wholecloth quilts. The Beamish museum holds examples from the northern parts of Yorkshire and examples are also held by small local museums like the Swaledale Museum in Reeth and the Beck Isle museum in Pickering.

Knitting
There was a small industry in the Yorkshire Dales in the 19th century knitting socks, caps, gloves and that kind of thing. I can remember when I was trying to learn to knit as a child being told by my grandad that it was 'like the Terrible Knitters of Dent'. 'Terrible' in this instance meant very skilled and fast. Knitting for Dent folk was definitely not a hobby but a desperate attempt to make ends meet in this most isolated of dales, where most households had to supplement the meagre income from hill-farming . All the family knitted, continuing knitting in the dark and even under the bedcovers when the candles had gone out. The women knitted as they walked around and performed domestic tasks. They could knit at an immense speed, knitting in time to traditional knitting songs and counting with the Dales counting systems used by shepherds to count their sheep. The use of these systems stretches across the Dales and Cumbria and share similarities with Welsh, suggesting that

Knitters in front of the Parish Church, Dent

they date back to pre-Roman times when a Brythonic language was used by the Celtic peoples of this area. They used traditional goosewing knitting sticks tucked into the belt to hold the needle. Dent folk were too pooorr to afford proper needles and made them instead from wire bought from the hardware shop. They sharpened these on the stones of the fireplaces. Apparently marks left by this process can still be seen in some farmhouses in the Dale. Whilst walking, the abllolf wool wwas hung from the waist on a clew hook. They made both plain, coarse every-day items and high-quality fine, patterned items which share similarities with the Sanquhar and Fairisle traditions. These tended to be in a two-colour scheme of natural white and dark wools  Good examples can be seen in the Reeth, Hawes and Dent museums.

In quite a separate tradition, the wives of fishermen along the coast knitted ganseys for their men

Hull fishermen wearing ganseys

folk.  Although the word gansey derives from Guernsey, Yorkshire was definitely the centre of production of ganseys although they were worn in some ither fishing communities like the east coast of Scotland. It is likely that the herring fleets who travelled to Yorkshire ports each year brought the knitting tradition with them, as girls also came down to gut and clean the fish landed. Each Yorkshire village hand its own style (e.g. Staithes, Scarborough, Filey, Flamborough) and each family its own variant on this pattern. If a fisherman drowned, those who found the body would know which village and family he belonged to from the design of his gansey. They were usually navy blue although a Sunday best one would be in a different colour. They were knitted in the round - tight fitting and with a high neck to keep out the elements. The designs reflected marine life, with anchors, ropes, waves, herringbone, flags and other symbols linked to the sea. Whilst walking balls of wool were carried on a clew-hook from the belt. In the Dales, knitters preferered to use a goose-wing knitting stick tucked into a ordinary belt. Designs still exist from places like Filey and Flamborough, where there is still a business selling traditional ganseys and the fishermen on their cobbles still wear traditional ganseys. Examples can be seen in places such as the Filey and Whitby museums. They were won with nothing underneath and just a neckerchief to stop chafing around the neck. Like the Dales knitters, knitters used a knitting stick and belt. Hull Maritime Museum holds a knitting stick carved in the shape of a fish.

Hattersley Loom (Copyright
Clem Rutter, used under creative
commons licence)

Weaving
The whole economy of West Yorkshire came to depend on woollen cloth production by the great mills but originally this was a small-scale domestic activity as it still is in the Western Isles. It is curious to note that the weaving of tweed, which is so associated with the Isle of Harris now, was acrtually introduced by a Yorkshireman on Hattersley looms developed in the county. There is little left of the hand weaving tradition in.Yorkshire now, but you can still see the old weavers houses in places like Holmfirth with long rows of windows in the upper stories. In Leeds you can also see the Cloth Halls where the weavers brought their cloth to sell, along with inns where they each merchant would trade their cloth.

Hull - not just about fish

Fishing may be what many people associate with Hull but it was a relatively insignificant part of the history and economy of the city before the 20th century. For most of its history, Kingston upon Hull has been a city built on European trade.

Wilberforce House, birthplace of the abolitionist, built in
1656 for the Listers, a wealthy merchant family
(Copyright Bernard Sharp, used under creative commons
licence)

The history of Hull is all about its geography. On the north bank of the wide Humber estuary on the east coast of England it faced the Low Countries and Germany with ports like Antwerp, Rotterdam and Hamburg. It also had ready access to the Nordic countries, the Baltic and Russia. Hull stands at the mouth of the smaller River Hull where it drains into the Humber. It was the town's proximity to the river Hull which gave Hull its initial prosperity, as wool travelled down the river from the lands of Meaux Abbey across the East Riding and was exported out of the port of Wyke (Hull). This came to the attention of the King who acquired Wyke for himself and granted it a Royal Charter in 1299, making it 'Kingston upon Hull'. Hull became part of the great Hanseatic league which had a virtual monopoly on trade in the Baltic, and imported timber, tar, resin, flax and hemp required for ship building, metal ores from Sweden and Scandinavian furs in exchange for cloth and grain. Another major import was wine. By the seventeenth century the influence of the Hanseatic league was waning but the fortunes of the Hull merchants continued to rise.

During the Industrial Revolution  Hull's position on the river Humber had become the more important geographical factor. The cloth produced in the mills of West Yorkshire, coal from the South Yorkshire mines, lead from the Dales and steel from Sheffield all flowed down the Ouse and Trent rivers via Hull to Germany, the Low Countries, Sweden, the Baltic ports and Russia.  These long-standing European trade links, although affected by wars in Europe from time to time, were much more consistent than the notoriously unstable American cotton trade, where slumps brought hardship and starvation to large parts of the Lancashire population. This was perhaps partly due to the diversity of ports which Hull traded with meaning merchants could tranfer trade in time of war - although the vessels used were often designed for a particular route such as the Hull to Hamburg route.

Unsurprisingly Hull became a major centre of ship-building. The materials required for this like tar, hemp and timber were imported by the Hull merchants. Hull shipbuilders built some very well known vessels, including the 'Bounty' of mutiny fame. Each merchant family had his staithe on the west bank of the river with its warehouse. Behind the merchants built fine houses which faced onto the High Street. This layout is still visible today. You can view the cobbled Bishop's Staithe and Blaydes' Staithe leading down to the riverside and the grand houses belonging to the Maister, Blaydes and Wilberforce families. You can also view the old dry docks by Myton Bridge and on Dock Office row where it was entirely natural to see the prow of a ship poking out between two houses.

Prince Street Hull (Copyright Paul Harrop
used under creative commons licence)

The late 18th and early 19th centuries were the peak of prosperity for the city and this is reflected by the number of fine Regency houses around the Old Town. The town walls had to be removed to give the population more room to expand. The merchants and ship owners moved out to desirable addresses in the suburbs like Anlaby Road, Coltman Street and Cottingham. The town had a flourishing social life with several theatres, botanic gardens, etc. The ancient Hull Grammar School educated the likes of William Wilberforce while new colleges like Kingston College, Hull College and Hymers College were founded to meet the needs and aspirations of this burgeoning merchant class. The city was home to many grand civic buildings. Fittingly, one of the finest buildings in the town was the new Dock Offices proudly positioned by the lock between Prince's and Queen's Docks. Hull merchants invested their money in all the enterprises of the Victorian era like trams and the Hull and Barnsley Railway. Altogether the Hull merchants were a highly influential and prosperous group in the 19th century on both a local and a national level.

Hull also developed a number of manufacturing industries of its own and it is interesting to see how these apparently disparate industries sprang up. For example, Hull's rapeseed oil industry developed into the paint industries which used oils in their production and alongside this was a trade in brush manufacture. 'Humbrol' of Airfix model fame was originally the Humber Oil Company. Crown Paint is also based in Hull. Cod liver oil which improved the nutrition of generations of British children for was first manufactured by Mr Smith and his Nephew - a FTSE 100 company still based in the city. It was also a centre of corn milling and this evolved into a starch industry. This is where Reckitt and Coleman began. They became one of the cities biggest employers and manufacturers of dozens of iconic British brands like Brasso and Dettol. Close to Reckitt's Dansom Lane factory stands a building which was a large nineteenth century corn mill and further along Holderness Road is the wind-powered mill that belonged to J. Arthur Rank's father Joseph.



Secretaire bookcase by
Mordecai Kitching of Hull

Hull was a centre of very fine cabinet making and of the manufacture of church organs which may be linked not only to its trade in timber but also to close cultural links and flow of skills between Hull and the great musical centres of Germany, the Netherlands and the Baltic. Hull was also home to fine watch and clockmakers, jewellers and silversmiths. Many of the highly workers in these small industries were refugees fleeing antiSemitic persecution in Eastern Europe.

Thus a visitor to nineteenth century Hull would have been struck by a culturally vibrant, properous and cosmopolitan city whose merchants proudly displayed their new-found wealth in fine civic and commercial buildings and in infrastructure like new railways, trams and docks. If Hull is to recover her civic pride I feel her citizens need to rediscover and connect with this great mercantile past and the associated trade in ideas, arts, culture and skills which came with it from Northern Europe.

What's with all these Hall Garths in the East Riding? More mediaeval manors.

You might notice that there are many sites named Hall Garth around the East Riding. The name indicates a site of some antiquity, usually the site of a mediaeval moated manor. Garth was a Norse word for an enclosure and later a garden. In the Middle Ages before extensive drains were constructed most of what is now arable land around the Hull valley was marshy and frequently flooded. Those who could afford to do so would build on a moated platform to manage the flooding issue. This also offered a defensive aspect but this may have been a secondary consideration. Sites named Hall Garth can be found at the following locations:-

• Beverley - common land facing the Minster across Keldgate. This was the site of the archbishop's palace, of which the earthworks can still be seen in the pasture where a noticeboard gives more information about the site. It was known as Bishop's Dings also. Dings in old Germanic languages meant a place of assembly or trial. The buildings probably included a jail as the Archbishop carried authority in mediaeval times akin to a king. Excavations of the site revealed that there were a number of substantial buildings and a timber bridge which may have been a drawbridge over the moat. 
• Hornsea - the earthworks of Hall Garth are still visible in what is now a park, including parts of the moat. The manor belonged to St Mary's Abbey in York. 
• Goodmanham - the listed building now on the Hall Garth site is not the mediaeval one but the 19th Century Rectory.
• Burstwick: Burstwick was a Royal manor and one of the most influential in the country in its day. It was an extensive, square-moated site, probably fortified. The buildings included a dovecote, windmill, two chapels and inner and outer gatehouses. There are fishponds and other remains also.
• Lockington - south of the village, now occupied by a house of the same name which dates from the 1600s.
• Bishop Wilton - Archbishop Neville built his manor here and the earthworks can  be seen at the eastern end of the village. The moat is still partially flooded. There was probably a gatehouse in the South West corner. There are remains of two mediaeval fishponds. The village also has a very impressive Norman church which features on the Sykes churches trial. 
• Leven - to the west of the village. The manor of Leven was said to have been given by Edward the Confessor to the collegiate church of St John of Beverley who retained it until the Dissolution. The farm at Hall Garth has been so called since at least 1650 and is likely to be the site of the manor house. Heigholme was added to the manor of Leven and was the location of a moated manor house which was eventually replaced by Heigholme Hall. 
• Pocklington - originally in the hands of the crown and the Dukes of Albemarle, this passed into the hands of the de Pokelyngtone family. The Hall Garth is thought to have stood at the site which later became known as Teresa Cottage. 
• Faxfleet - this little village lies in what would have been fens in the Middle Ages. Some of the land belonged to Thornton Abbey across the water in Lincs - still the site of one of the UK's most impressive late monastic gatehouses. The manor itself came into the possession of the Knights Templars - indeed, it was some of the first land given to the Order in England. This was probably given by the Lords of Broomfleet. . They established a preceptory at North Ferriby. 

Other sites which are not called Hall Garth but are moated sites of a similar nature include Cowick, North Duffield, Riccall, Howden, Leconfield, Cherry Burton, Bishop Burton, Scorborough, Roos, Hedon, Winestead, Harpham, Kexby, Everingham, Haisthorpe, Bransholme and Etton . Whether the name of the Cottingham residential home Hallgarth has any historical origins I have not been able to establish but its location near the original central crossroads of the mediaeval village near to the parish church suggests this.