Place:Holme on Spalding Moor, East Riding of Yorkshire, England

Watchers
NameHolme on Spalding Moor
Alt namesHolme-on-Spaulding-Moorsource: Getty Vocabulary Program
Holme-upon-Spalding-Moorsource: Wikipedia, A Vision of Britain through Time
Holmesource: Domesday Book (1985) p 307
Burseasource: hamlet in parish
Hasholmesource: hamlet in parish
Tollinghamsource: hamlet in parish
Welhambridgesource: hamlet in parish
TypeParish (ancient), Civil parish
Coordinates53.833°N 0.779°W
Located inEast Riding of Yorkshire, England     ( - 1974)
Also located inYorkshire, England    
Humberside, England     (1974 - 1996)
East Riding of Yorkshire, England     (1996 - )
See alsoHarthill Wapentake, East Riding of Yorkshire, Englandwapentake in which it was located
Howden Rural, East Riding of Yorkshire, Englandrural district in which it was situated 1894-1974
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Holme on Spalding Moor (also known as Holme-upon-Spalding-Moor) is a large village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Howden and 5 miles (8 km) south-west of Market Weighton. It lies on the A163 road where it joins the A164 road.

In terms of major cities, the village is closest to York which is just under 20 miles (32 km) away to the west, while Kingston upon Hull is 3 miles further to the east. The civil parish is formed by the village of Holme on Spalding Moor and the hamlets of Bursea, Hasholme, Tollingham and Welhambridge. According to the 2011 UK census, Holme on Spalding Moor parish had a population of 3,172, an increase on the 2001 UK census figure of 2,948.

Historically, Holme on Spalding Moor was an ancient parish in the wapentake of Harthill. From 1894 until 1974, Holme on Spalding Moor was located in Howden Rural District.

Contents

Humberside 1974-1996

In 1974 most of what had been the East Riding of Yorkshire was joined with the northern part of Lincolnshire to became a new English county named Humberside. The urban and rural districts of the former counties were abolished and Humberside was divided into non-metropolitan districts. The new organization did not meet with the pleasure of the local citizenry and Humberside was wound up in 1996. The area north of the River Humber was separated into two "unitary authorities"—Kingston upon Hull covering the former City of Hull and its closest environs, and the less urban section to the west and to the north which, once again, named itself the East Riding of Yorkshire.

The phrase "Yorkshire and the Humber" serves no purpose in WeRelate. It refers to one of a series of basically economic regions established in 1994 and abolished for most purposes in 2011. See the Wikipedia article entited "Regions of England").


Local History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Holme-on-Spalding-Moor village is named for its location on the Spalding Moor. In very early censuses of England (before the 16th century) the village was sometimes listed as Holme, Spalding Moor, Yorkshire, though there is little evidence of any other towns scattered across the moor at that or any time. The word Holme is Danish of origin and means island.

Spalding Moor was a marsh, dominated by a single hill which consists of Keuper marl; on the hill a small church was built in the 13th century which served as a landmark across the moor. The village was built on the holme west of the church, hence the name.

Through the 17th and 18th centuries, the main occupation for people in the village was growing and dressing hemp. This gave rise to it sometimes been referred to as "Hemp-Holme".

In July 1984, a late Iron Age logboat (750–390 BC), now known as the Hasholme Logboat, was discovered at Hasholme in the south-east of the parish. The area was also noted for being a centre of Roman pottery. Numerous excavations have taken place since 1853, when several urns that had been found in the village were donated to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society.


In 1823, Holme-on-Spalding-Moor was in the Wapentake of Harthill. Baines' History, Directory and Gazetteer of the County of York records the alternative village name of "Hemp Holme", taken from the parish' former cultivation of hemp. A bed of gypsum was recorded in which ammonites were found. The church stands in an elevated position, on which is also sited a beacon, which gave its name of Holme Beacon to this contemporary part of Harthill Wapentake. The parish church and rectory was in the patronage of St John's College, Cambridge. There were two chapels, one Roman Catholic, the other, Methodist. Local landowners allotted land (cow-gates), for the personal use of their labourers. Population at the time was 1318. Occupations included twenty-three farmers and yeomen, three blacksmiths, two wheelwrights, three shoemakers, four shopkeepers, two coal dealers, two corn millers, a tailor, a butcher, a joiner, a bricklayer, and an ornamental plasterer. There were the landlords of The New Inn, The Hare and Hounds, The Sun, and The Blacksmiths' public houses. A carrier operated between the village and Market Weighton on Wednesdays, and Howden on Saturdays. Within the parish lived a banker, a steward to Lady Stourton [Mary Langdale], Charles Langdale at the Hall, a gentleman and a gentlewoman, a surgeon, and the parish rector. Baines records a traditional belief that a cell for two monks was founded at Welham Bridge on the edge of Spalding Moor by vavasours or constables. One monk was charged with guiding people over wasteland, the other praying for the safety of travellers.

Holme-on-Spalding-Moor was served by Holme Moor railway station on the Selby to Driffield Line between 1848 and 1954.

Holme Hall is a country house which was the seat of the Langdale barony. The hall was designated a Grade II* listed building in 1966 and is now recorded in the National Heritage List for England, maintained by Historic England. It is now a Sue Ryder Care Home. The chapel is in use as the village's Roman Catholic church

RAF

The moor was the site of a Royal Air Force station, RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor, which was active during the Second World War and for several years thereafter as a bomber facility, being officially closed in 1954 and transferred to the U.S. Air Force. The USAF moved out in 1957, and the field was sold to a private firm.

It continued in private hands until 1984, when its last tenant, British Aerospace, moved out. It was in a rather dilapidated condition by that time, and upon its closing several of the more notable buildings were destroyed and the runways removed. The hangars and several other buildings remain and are used by a variety of industrial and agricultural tenants, though all are in various states of disrepair.

Research Tips

  • GENUKI on Holme-on-Spalding-Moor. The GENUKI page gives numerous references to local bodies providing genealogical assistance.
  • The FamilySearch wiki on the ecclesiastical parish of Holme-on-Spalding-Moor provides a list of useful resources for the local area.
  • Howdenshire History provides histories of towns and villages in the area provided by a local family historian. The stories of some families who emigrated to Ontario, Canada, are included.
  • A Vision of Britain through Time on Holme upon Spalding Moor (VoB's version of spelling).
  • A Vision of Britain through Time provides links to three maps of the East Riding, produced by the United Kingdom Ordnance Survey, illustrating the boundaries between the civil parishes and the rural districts at various dates. These maps all expand to a scale that will illustrate small villages and large farms or estates.
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Holme-upon-Spalding-Moor. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.