Rawcliffe (or Rawcliffe in Snaith) 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

, England on the border with

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

. It is situated approximately west of

Goole Goole is a port town and civil parish on the River Ouse, Yorkshire, River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town's Historic counties of England, historic county is the West Riding of Yorkshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom censu ...

and south of

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

. It lies on the banks of the

River Aire The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England, in length. Part of the river below Leeds is canalised, and is known as the Aire and Calder Navigation. The ''Handbook for Leeds and Airedale'' (1890) notes that the distance from Malha ...

just north of the M62 and on the

A614 road The A614 is a main road in England running through the counties of Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire. Route Beginning at Redhill, Nottinghamshire, Redhill, the northernmost point in the Nottingham suburb of Arno ...

. Rawcliffe, along with nearby

Airmyn Airmyn is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated at the mouth of the River Aire with the River Ouse, Yorkshire, River Ouse, approximately north-west of Goole. It lies to ...

, was the location of one of the first reliable reports of the practice of

warping in agriculture Warping was the former practice of letting turbid river water flood onto agricultural land, so that its suspended sediment could form a layer, before letting the water drain away. In this way poor soils were covered with fertile fine silt (or warp), ...

in the 1730s.

Overview

The civil parish is formed by the village of Rawcliffe and the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

Rawcliffe Bridge Rawcliffe Bridge is a small hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately south-west of Goole and lies just south of the M62 motorway. It forms part of the civil parish of Rawcliffe which lies just to the north ...

which lies just to the south-east of the village. According to 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 ...

, Rawcliffe parish had a population of 2,379, 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 2,087. The village is served by a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

on the Pontefract Line

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

, originally part of the

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company before the Railways Act 1921, 1923 Grouping. It was Incorporation (business)#Incorporation in the United Kingdom, incorpo ...

route to nearby

. The parish was part of the

Goole Rural District Goole was a rural district in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It was created under the Local Government Act 1894, based on most of the Goole rural sanitary district (two parishes of which in Lincolnshire became part of ...

in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

from 1894 to 1974, then in Boothferry district of

Humberside Humberside () was a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in Northern England from 1 April 1974 until 1 April 1996. It was composed of land from either side of the Humber, created from portions of the East Riding of Yorkshire, West Riding of ...

until 1996. The parish church is dedicated to St James and was designated a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

in 1986. A Local Nature Reserve, Sugar Mill Ponds, has been created on the site of an old sugar factory at Rawcliffe Bridge.

Gallery

File:The Green, Rawcliffe - geograph.org.uk - 456321.jpg, House on The Green File:Rawcliffe Nr Goole, Jemmy Hirst at the Rose and Crown - geograph.org.uk - 123012.jpg, Jemmy Hirst at the Rose and Crown File:Rawcliffe Nr Goole, Royal Oak - geograph.org.uk - 123020.jpg, The Royal Oak File:Rawcliffe Near Goole, Rawcliffe Church - geograph.org.uk - 89343.jpg, St James' Church, Rawcliffe

References

* Villages in the East Riding of Yorkshire Civil parishes in the East Riding of Yorkshire Local Nature Reserves in the East Riding of Yorkshire {{EastRiding-geo-stub