Leconfield is a village and

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 ...

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, about north-west of

Beverley Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...

town centre on the

A164 road List of A roads in zone 1 in Great Britain beginning north of the River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is ...

. The civil parish consists of Leconfield, the village of

Arram Arram is a small (population 200) farming village in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north of the market town of Beverley and east of Leconfield. It forms part of the civil parish of Leconfield. The ma ...

and the

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 ...

Scorborough Scorborough is a village in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the A164 road, about north of Beverley and south of Driffield. It forms part of the civil parishes in England, civil parish of Leconfield. The church of St ...

. The

2011 UK census A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...

gave the parish a population of 2,127, an increase on the

2001 UK census A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

figure of 1,990.

History

Leconfield Castle was the home of the

Percy family The English surname Percy is of Norman origin, coming from Normandy to England, United Kingdom. It was from the House of Percy, Norman lords of Northumberland, derives from the village of Percy-en-Auge in Normandy. From there, it came into use ...

Dukes of Northumberland Duke of Northumberland is a noble title that has been created three times in English and British history, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain. The current holder of this title is Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of ...

. There are extensive Tudor brick remains on the visible mound and the moat also remains. Among those born there was William Percy (1428–1462), Bishop of Carlisle. John Leland (16th century) described Leconfield Castle as a large house enclosed by a moat and a large attractive park; three quarters of the house was built of timber, the rest of brick and stone. In 1823, Leconfield (then spelt 'Leckonfield') was a civil parish in the

Wapentake A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Southern Schleswig, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Bishopric of Ösel–Wiek, C ...

of Harthill. The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

was under the patronage of

George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

. A medieval

Lord of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

had been Peter de Brus, Lord of Skelton. The population in 1823 was 302, and the occupations included ten farmers, one of whom was the

landlord 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 ...

of ''The Roebuck''

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, a bricklayer, a shopkeeper, a carpenter, a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

, and butcher, and the landlady of ''The Bay Horse'' public house.

Community

Leconfield was home to

RAF Leconfield Royal Air Force Leconfield or more simply RAF Leconfield is a former Royal Air Force station located in Leconfield (near Beverley), East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The site is now used by the MoD Defence School of Transport Leconfield or D ...

until 1977, when the RAF withdrew and the Army School of Mechanical Transport (now the

Defence School of Transport The Defence School of Transport (DST) Leconfield is located at Normandy Barracks, Leconfield near Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire in England. It is a tri-service organisation which forms part of the Defence College of Logistics Policing and ...

) took over the site. However, until 2015, Leconfield was used by the RAF as an airfield for their Sea King helicopters of 202 Squadron. The church, dedicated to St Catherine, was designated a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in 1968. It features in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...

maintained by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

. The village used to contain a post office, which shut in 2022. Leconfield Recreation Club, with a football pitch, is located in Miles Lane.Retrieved 2 March 2020.
/ref>

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in the East Riding of Yorkshire Civil parishes in the East Riding of Yorkshire