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Barrow Haven is a
hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
and small
port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
in
North Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire is a unitary authority area in Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 167,446 in the 2011 census. The borough includes the towns of Scunthorpe, Brigg, Haxey, Crowle, Epworth, Bottesford, Kirton in Lindsey and Barton ...
, England. It was the site of a former
ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...
crossing that spanned from the
Humber Estuary The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the ...
to Hull, serving as a place for ships and boats crossing the
Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...
to moor away from the
tidal flow Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...
. A port continues to exist nearby and the area's rail access is based at the Barrow Haven railway station, a stop on the Barton Line.


History


Medieval and early modern

On 5 October 1541
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
conducted a visit to Hull with the
Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
, subsequently reaching Barrow Haven by water. The then
King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiw ...
later travelled by horseback to
Thornton Abbey Thornton Abbey was a medieval abbey located close to the small North Lincolnshire village of Thornton Curtis, near Ulceby, and directly south of Hull on the other side of the Humber estuary. Its ruins are a Grade I listed building, including not ...
. Between the Barrow Beck (a local stream) and West Hann Lane, lie the remains of a large
motte-and-bailey castle A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...
, known as Barrow Castle. Built in the
Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...
style, the two large structures stand with a low
motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...
(a section of raised earthwork) situated between them. Extensive excavations were carried out in 1963 to determine the extent of the remains.


Ferry and railway

With the building of the
railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
line in 1848, the ferry service gradually disappeared as passengers preferred to embark from New Holland, but a market boat operated into the 1940s. The market boat depot was in a ramped building that is now the site where the imported timber is stored. From its inception in 1848, the railway station consisted of a single open platform on the south side of the railway line to the east of Ferry Road. In the early twentieth century, a wooden ticket office and waiting room, with pot-belly stove, was constructed on the northern side of the railway line. This remained in place until the 1970s but with modernisation, the ticket office was removed to a
Railway Museum A railway museum is a museum that explores the history of all aspects of rail related transportation, including: locomotives ( steam, diesel, and electric), railway cars, trams, and railway signalling equipment. They may also operate historic e ...
, in
Kirton Lindsey Kirton in Lindsey, also abbreviated to Kirton Lindsey, is a market town and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. It is south-east from Scunthorpe. History Catherine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry VIII lived at Kirton-in-Lindsey af ...
, on the Windmill site. Later it was taken to
Burgh le Marsh Burgh le Marsh is a town, and electoral ward in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.OS Explorer map: Skegness, Alford & Spilsby: (1:25 000): Geography The town is built on a low hill surrounded by former marsh land, and the mar ...
, near
Skegness Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 19,579 as of 2011, i ...
. An open platform is again in use.


Brickworks

Barrow Haven was once renowned for its bricks and pantiles made from clay recovered from the edges of the Humber. Sanderson's and Pearson's brickyards were located on the west bank of the Haven and Foster's and Greenwood's on the east bank. The land formerly occupied by Sanderson's brickyard is now a caravan site and little evidence of the brickyard remains. These brickyards employed primitive, labour-intensive methods of manufacture. Clay was dug by hand during the summer months and stockpiled for use during the rest of the year. At Pearson's brickyard, the clay was hauled up a slope in metal skips and tipped into the clay mill. The clay mill rolled and squeezed the excess moisture from the clay and then extruded it into a rectangular shape approximately twenty four inches wide by twelve inches deep. This extrusion was cut into manageable segments with a wire and the segments stored in a cool building to wait collection by the labourers who operated the tile and brick-forming machines. These machines were hand-operated and required considerable strength to crank. The labourers were generally employed on '
piecework Piece work (or piecework) is any type of employment in which a worker is paid a fixed piece rate for each unit produced or action performed, regardless of time. Context When paying a worker, employers can use various methods and combinations of ...
' and low-paid. The extruded bricks and pantiles were stored on the shelves of drying-sheds, each approximately fifty yards long. Wooden shutters on the side of the sheds could be adjusted to control the drying rate prior to the bricks and pantiles being taken to the kiln for firing. If the unbaked clay was allowed to dry too rapidly, the bricks and pantiles would develop cracks before firing. The Haven was an important landing point for
barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...
s bringing coal to fuel these brickyard kilns from the
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
coalfields. Once firing began, the kiln was tended night and day as the coal had to be shovelled by hand to keep up the heat. The resulting products were generally high quality and extremely durable.


Haven Inn

An eighteenth-century
coaching inn The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point ( layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of tra ...
, Haven Inn is situated on Ferry Road near the intersection with Marsh Lane. Haven Inn was run by
landlady A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the t ...
Mrs. Naomi Mason from 1902 to 1943; a Mr. Fred Mason farmed the attached land and some other land in Barrow Haven; Mrs Mason, a farmer's wife as well as landlady, and undertook such duties as milking cows, and making butter and cream cheese for sale at Brigg Market.
Poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, a ...
was also kept, and eggs were sent to market. A local bus, owned by Wesley Clark of
Barrow upon Humber Barrow upon Humber is a village and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. The population (including Barrow Hann) at the 2011 census was 3,022. The village is situated near the Humber, about east from Barton-upon-Humber. The small port ...
, took the farmers to
Brigg Brigg ( /'brɪg/) is a market town in North Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 5,076 in the 2001 UK census, the population increased to 5,626 at the 2011 census. The town lies at the junction of the River Ancholme and east–west tra ...
on Market Day (Thursday). At
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
time, poultry were dressed and sold at the market.


Local buildings

The hamlet has the remains of a
windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called windmill sail, sails or blades, specifically to mill (grinding), mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and ...
. There was a small Wesleyan
chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
, now converted into a house; the
datestone A datestone is typically an embedded stone with the date of engraving and other information carved into it. They are not considered a very reliable source for dating a house, as instances of old houses being destroyed and rebuilt (with the old da ...
has been left in the brickwork. There were once
cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a Cotter (farmer), cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager ...
s for workmen along the banks of the
Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...
west of the railway bridge. Access was via a footpath that went through a gate at the north-western end of the railway bridge over the Haven or via West Marsh Lane and two wooden gates on either side of the railway line. These cottages were not provided with electricity, water or sanitation facilities. Kerosene lamps, hand pumps and earth toilets were standard. Floors were generally constructed of brick laid directly on the ground and the walls had no damp-proof courses. Cast iron fireplaces, consisting of a coal-fired open grate with a boiler box on one side and an oven on the other, were the sole means of heating and cooking. Disposal of household rubbish and
night soil Night soil is a historically used euphemism for human excreta collected from cesspools, privies, pail closets, pit latrines, privy middens, septic tanks, etc. This material was removed from the immediate area, usually at night, by workers employ ...
consisted of dumping into the
Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...
at any convenient tide. A shop stocked with produce through the market boat catered for the immediate needs of the local population, but more substantial purchases required travelling to
Barton on Humber Barton-upon-Humber () or Barton is a town and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 11,066. It is situated on the south bank of the Humber Estuary at the southern end of the Humber Bridge. It is s ...
, or to New Holland and from there by
ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...
to Hull. An additional shop, run by a Mrs Dee, was on the Barrow Road; it was a
lean-to A lean-to is a type of simple structure originally added to an existing building with the rafters "leaning" against another wall. Free-standing lean-to structures are generally used as shelters. One traditional type of lean-to is known by its Finn ...
attached to a house. A coal yard was next to the shop, on the Clew Bridge side of the building, which was first owned by Mr. Dee's, but in the 1930s it was owned by a Clifford Hastings. His coal was delivered by
barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...
along the Haven. In later years he had a further coal yard just south of the station.


Water

The workers' cottages alongside the river suffered flooding whenever
spring tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ca ...
s raised the level of the
Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...
. These buildings were largely abandoned by the 1960s and were demolished as tidal fortifications and river bank conservation took place along the south bank of the river. During this same period, the banks of the haven were raised on both sides, from the mouth of the Haven to as far as the old sluice gates. This minimised the Haven bursting its banks during spring
tides Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables can ...
and flooding the houses in the hamlet proper. The sluice gates, locally known as Clew Gates, marked the point where the spring-fed
stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...
from
Barrow upon Humber Barrow upon Humber is a village and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. The population (including Barrow Hann) at the 2011 census was 3,022. The village is situated near the Humber, about east from Barton-upon-Humber. The small port ...
known as the Beck, became the Haven. Approximately 50 metres south of the railway line, a small watercourse, also known locally as 'the clew', drained land from east of Ferry Road into the Haven, passing under Ferry Road through a large pipe. Despite the presence of many salt water-flooded claypits, fresh water springs are common in the area. When the tide is suitable, dabs, flounders and eels can be caught in the haven and the flooded claypits contain roach, perch, tench, bream and eels. A boatyard and dry dock were situated on the east bank of the Haven, immediately north of the railway line. A re-furbished
nissen hut A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure for military use, especially as barracks, made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated iron. Designed during the First World War by the American-born, Canadian-British engineer and inventor Majo ...
and slipway are all that remains of what was once a boat building and repair industry for the Humber's two types of sailing barge, the sloop and the keel. Motor-powered barges, including a Dutch barge and a Humber sloop, still moor in the haven and rest on the mud on their flat bottoms when the tide recedes.


Watercress

Until the 1970s there was a commercial
watercress Watercress or yellowcress (''Nasturtium officinale'') is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae. Watercress is a rapidly growing perennial plant native to Europe and Asia. It is one of the oldest known leaf ve ...
industry, run by the now-defunct Greatford Gardens Watercress Company, using water pumped from artesian bores reaching deep within the limestone strata of the
Lincolnshire Wolds The Lincolnshire Wolds are a range of low hills in the county of Lincolnshire, England which run roughly parallel with the North Sea coast, from the Humber Estuary in the north-west to the edge of the Lincolnshire Fens in the south-east. They a ...
. In some years, the bores became naturally flowing artesian wells when pressure was sufficient to allow the water to reach the surface without the aid of pumps. Spring water with a slight alkalinity, such as that imparted by the limestone strata, is especially suitable for watercress. Some remnants of this industry can be found to the west of the old
sluice gate Sluice ( ) is a word for a channel controlled at its head by a movable gate which is called a sluice gate. A sluice gate is traditionally a wood or metal barrier sliding in grooves that are set in the sides of the waterway and can be considered ...
s, approximately eight hundred yards south of the Haven Inn. Other watercress beds owned by the company were located to the east of Ferry Road but have now been ploughed over and little evidence remains of their existence. At the eastern location, there were approximately twenty five watercress beds each ten yards wide by one hundred yards long. The beds were built with a slight gradient and water was directed through a channel into the highest end and then allowed flow gently down the length of the bed before leaving through a narrow opening at the lower end. The water then flowed into a channel which directed it into the Beck approximately fifty yards to the east of the Clew Gates. The watercress was gathered by hand and put onto wooden trays before being taken to a packing shed where it was divided into bundles, labelled and then the roots cut off. The bunches were then packed into wooden baskets, known as chips and transported by road to the rail and ferry centre at New Holland for delivery to customers. The severed roots were returned to the watercress bed where they were replanted. The company had similar
watercress Watercress or yellowcress (''Nasturtium officinale'') is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae. Watercress is a rapidly growing perennial plant native to Europe and Asia. It is one of the oldest known leaf ve ...
farms at
Healing, Lincolnshire Healing is a village and civil parish in North East Lincolnshire, England. It is situated between Stallingborough and Great Coates, and west from Grimsby. The village dates from at least the early medieval period, but later contracted to a few ...
,
Stamford, Lincolnshire Stamford is a town and civil parish in the South Kesteven District of Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 19,701 and estimated at 20,645 in 2019. The town has 17th- and 18th-century stone buildings, older timber-framed ...
and
Fordingbridge Fordingbridge is a town and broader civil parish with a population of 6,000 on the River Avon in the New Forest District of Hampshire, England, near the Dorset and Wiltshire borders and on the edge of the New Forest, famed for its late medieva ...
, Hampshire. The company ceased its operations in Barrow Haven when it lost its water rights.


Second World War

Barrow Haven was also the site for an
anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
battery, Anti Aircraft battery which provided protection for the city of Hull. Remains of an
observation post An observation post (commonly abbreviated OP), temporary or fixed, is a position from which soldiers can watch enemy movements, to warn of approaching soldiers (such as in trench warfare), or to direct fire. In strict military terminology, an ...
are located on the edge of the
Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...
close to what was once Greenwood's brickyard. Observation post


Maps


Barrow Haven port

The small port of Barrow Haven, north, on the railway line from
Cleethorpes Cleethorpes () is a seaside town on the estuary of the Humber in North East Lincolnshire, England with a population of 38,372 in 2020. It has been permanently occupied since the 6th century, with fishing as its original industry, then develo ...
and
Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...
to
Barton-upon-Humber Barton-upon-Humber () or Barton is a town and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 11,066. It is situated on the south bank of the Humber Estuary at the southern end of the Humber Bridge. It is s ...
handles
timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
from
Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
and
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
.


References


External links

* {{Authority control Hamlets in Lincolnshire Ports and harbours of the Humber Borough of North Lincolnshire