Whitgift is a small linear village 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 approximately east of

Goole Goole is a port town and civil parish on the River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town's historic county is the West Riding of Yorkshire. According to the 2011 UK census, Goole parish had a population of 19,518, an increa ...

. It is located alongside the River Ouse and north of the A161 road between

and

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A ...

Ousefleet Ousefleet is a small hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England approximately east of Goole. It is located just south of the River Ouse and north of the A161 road between Goole and Scunthorpe. It forms part of the civil parish of Twin ...

and Reedness are to the east and west respectively. It 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 authorit ...

of Twin Rivers. Historically Whitgift was part of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

Features

There was for many years a Whitgift ferry, which may originally have predated the village.

Church

The Church of Mary Magdalene (on the Whitgift side of the border between Whitgift and Reedness) dates from 1304 (replacing an earlier building, 11th–12th century or earlier). It has a famous clock with an unusual feature: instead of 12 (XII in Roman numerals) it has a 13 (XIII). Reasons vary, but local rumour relates that it may be due to the church being adjacent to a pub (now closed) at which the painter imbibed before completing the job. The church 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 1967 and is now recorded 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, a ...

, 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 w ...

Hall

Whitgift is also notable for

Whitgift Hall Whitgift may refer to: *Whitgift, East Riding of Yorkshire, a small village near the confluence of the River Ouse and the River Trent. * John Whitgift, an English archbishop, who founded or gave his name to: ** the Whitgift Foundation ** the Whit ...

, a

grade II* 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 ...

listed Georgian manor house built in 1704 by a family called Stephenson. Since it was built, it has undergone significant change. For example, bay windows were added and the current owners have a caravan site and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

pond.

Lighthouse

Whitgift lighthouse was erected just north of the village in the late 19th century, for the

Aire and Calder Navigation The Aire and Calder Navigation is the canalised section of the Rivers Aire and Calder in West Yorkshire, England. The first improvements to the rivers above Knottingley were completed in 1704 when the Aire was made navigable to Leeds and the ...

: a five-storey cream-painted tower with a stone base, it stands high. It remains operational, a waymark for ships travelling to and from

docks, and is Grade II listed.

Other

Other features include a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

chapel, but Whitgift mainly consists of a sparse strip of houses spread out over its length bounded by the River Ouse to the north and fields to the south looking towards Eastoft.

History

The place-name 'Whitgift' is first attested in a Yorkshire charter of circa 1080, where it appears as ''Witegift'', and in a charter of 1232 where it appears as ''Whitegift''. The name is thought to mean 'Hviti's or Hwita's gift'. Whitgift was previously a

that was part of the Goole Rural District in the

from 1894 to 1974, then in Boothferry district of

Humberside Humberside () was a Non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England from 1 April 1974 until 1 April 1996. It was composed of land from either side of the Humber Estuary, create ...

until 1996.

References

External links

The Ancient Parish of Whitgift

Whitgift's entry on Goole On The Web

The clock which counts to 13
{{Authority control , additional=Q26630261 Villages in the East Riding of Yorkshire