Bellasize 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 ...

in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

, England. It is situated approximately east of the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

Howden Howden () is a market and minster town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of York to the north of the M62, on the A614 road about south-east of York and north of Goole, which lies across the Ri ...

History

The name of the hamlet derives from the French meaning ''beautiful seat (belle + assis, belasis, belasyse)'', and has the same derivation as Belsize. Historically in the wapentake and liberty of

Howdenshire Howdenshire was a wapentake and a liberty of England, lying around the town of Howden in the East Riding of Yorkshire. In the Anglo-Saxon period, the district was under the control of Peterborough's monastery, but it was confiscated by Edward ...

, the village now forms part of the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Blacktoft Blacktoft is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The village is situated on the north bank of the River Ouse, west from where it joins the River Trent and becomes the Humber. It is approximately east from Howd ...

RAF Bellasize

Fields to the south of the village were used by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

(and the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

) as RAF Bellasize between 1916 and 1919, and 1939–1945. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the site was used by No.s 31 and 76 Squadrons in the Home Defence role. During this period, it was noted that the site was prone to flooding from the nearby River Ouse. It was pressed back into service during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as a relief landing ground for No. 4 Elementary Flying Training School, who were based at nearby Brough airfield (to the east). The site had a grass runway which extended to .

References

* Villages in the East Riding of Yorkshire {{EastRiding-geo-stub