Welton (or Welton with Melton) 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. The parish extends to the bank of 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 River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Trent, Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms ...

at its southern extreme, and into the

Yorkshire Wolds The Yorkshire Wolds are hills in the counties of the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire in Northern England. They are the northernmost chalk hills in the UK and within lies the northernmost chalk stream in Europe, the Gypsey Race. ...

in the northern part. The

A63 road The A63 is a major road in Yorkshire, England between Leeds and Kingston upon Hull. A section between North Cave and Hull forms the eastward continuation of the M62 motorway and is part of the unsigned European route E20, Euroroute E20. Route ...

and Hull to Selby railway line both bisect the parish east–west, south of Melton and Welton. The civil parish is formed by the villages of Welton and Melton 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 ...

of Wauldby. According to the 2011 census, Welton parish had a population of 2,176, 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 1,560. Welton village is situated approximately north-east of the town of Brough on the north side of the

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

. It is on the

Yorkshire Wolds Way The Yorkshire Wolds Way is a National Trail in Yorkshire, England. It runs 79 miles (127 km) from Hessle to Filey, around the Yorkshire Wolds. At Filey Brigg, it connects with the Cleveland Way, another National Trail. In 2007 the Y ...

National Trail, a

long distance footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, equestrianism or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exce ...

. Major landmarks in the parish include Welton Waters, a former clay pit, and home of Welton Waters Adventure Centre and Welton Sailing Club; Melton Bottom Quarry, a chalk quarry in Melton; and the ''Melton West'' and ''Melton Park'' industrial estates. The exposed boulder clay at Red Cliff on the Humber bank is an archaeological site returning Roman deposits. Minor landmarks and sites of interest include Nut Wood and Wauldby Scrogs (now a

Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. It has planted over 68 million trees since 1972. The Woodland Tru ...

property) in Wauldby, and the Raikes mausoleum within the wooded valley of Welton Dale.

Welton village and dale

Welton village lies at the southern end of Welton dale; both village and valley have been long appreciated for their picturesque qualities. The Church of St Helen is at the centre of the village, with a defunct mill pond to the north and west. Most of the village's housing is of brick, predominantly red, some painted or rendered in with most buildings two storied, either Georgian or

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

in style. Welton was recorded in

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

in the 11th century as "Welleton", then a small village with 53 persons recorded and no church. The name derives from the

old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''wella'' (spring) and ''tūn'' meaning "farm by the spring(s)"; the area is the site of several springs, (see also gipseys) including St Annes Well in the grounds of the former Welton House. The name 'Welton with Melton', and sometimes 'Welton cum Melton' has been used to differentiate from other larger nearby towns called Welton, such as

Welton, Lincolnshire Welton (; or Welton by Lincoln) is a large village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish was recorded as 4,327 in the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census. It is ...

. In 1519 the first recorded instance of an accidental fatal shooting in England was recorded at Welton. The highwayman

Dick Turpin Richard Turpin (bapt. 21 September 1705 – 7 April 1739) was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's trade as a butcher ear ...

was charged with horse theft from Thomas Creasy at Welton in 1739 and later tried and hanged in York, in local legend he was arrested at the Green Dragon in Welton. Welton Dale - geograph

Enclosure Enclosure or inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land", enclosing it, and by doing so depriving commoners of their traditional rights of access and usage. Agreements to enc ...

of the township was enabled by the (

24 Geo. 2 This is a complete list of acts of the Parliament of Great Britain for the year 1750. For acts passed until 1707, see the list of acts of the Parliament of England and the list of acts of the Parliament of Scotland. See also the list of acts of ...

. c. ''22'' ), the ( 11 Geo. 3. c. ''52'' ), and the ( 12 Geo. 3. c. ''61'' ). The Williamson's, merchants of Hull undertook much of the tree plantation along the roads around Welton, and in Welton Dale. ''Welton Mill'' located at the northern edge of the village at the bottom of Welton dale was constructed in the late 1700s and early 1800s, and altered in 1861; it is a five-storey brick built building, with a breastshot

water wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous b ...

of diameter. Raikes mausoleum at the northern end of the dale close to Wauldby was built 1818. The village's population increased from 449 in 1801 to 672 in 1832, in 1861 it was 688. By the 1855 the village was well established; in addition to modest dwellings there were substantial houses and halls within and on the village's periphery: ''Welton Grange'' (about 1741), ''Welton Hall'' (about 1770), ''Welton House'' (rebuilt 1769/9), ''Spring Hill'' (later ''Welton Manor'', built 1820), ''Welton Hill'' (1830) ''Welton Garth'' (1830s), and the vicarage of the church of St Helen's. The mill (''High Mill'') and pond at the northern outskirts of the village at the bottom of Melton Dale were also established. In addition to the parish church several non-conformist missions had been established by the 1850s including meeting places for

Wesleyan Methodists The Wesleyan Church is a Methodist Christian denomination aligned with the holiness movement. Wesleyan Church may also refer to: * Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia, the Australian branch of the Wesleyan Church Denominations * Allegheny W ...

Unitarians Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present) ...

Primitive Methodists The Primitive Methodist Church is a Christian denomination within the holiness movement. Originating in early 19th-century England as a revivalist movement within Methodism, it was heavily influenced by American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–18 ...

and Independents, both Wesleyans and Primitives had chapels built in 1815 and 1869 respectively. Welton House was demolished in 1952, St Anne's Community Special School was established on part of the site in 1974. Welton was made a

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

in 1974, several village buildings built during the 18th and 19th century are grade II listed, as are the larger houses of Welton Hill, Welton Lodge, Welton Grange, Welton Manor, and Welton Hill. The Green Dragon, Welton Mill, St Helen's church and the memorial fountain on the village green are also listed.

St Helen's church

It has been speculated that a church existed in Welton before 1100, the current church is thought to date from the reign of

William Rufus William II (; – 2 August 1100) was King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Normandy and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales. The third son of William the Co ...

; coins from the period were found in the foundations of part of the church during its 19th-century restoration. The church was restored several times through its history; in the 1860s a substantial restoration of the church took place, at a cost of £6,000 funded by a Miss Broadley of Welton. The restoration was by

George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), largely known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he ...

, resulting in a church in a 13th-century

gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style; the resulting structure was essentially rebuilt and added a south

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

and north

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

, with some 15th-century columns and arches, and a

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Lutherans and Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a pisci ...

retained, a scalloped column

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

, an

effigy An effigy is a sculptural representation, often life-size, of a specific person or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certain ...

of a knight, and a

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...

date to the 12th and 13th centuries. The restoration also introduced stained glass windows by

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

and

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August 183317 June 1898) was an English painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. Burne-Jones worked with William Morris as a founding part ...

, and by

Jean-Baptiste Capronnier Jean-Baptiste Capronnier (1 February 1814 – 31 July 1891) was a Belgium, Belgian stained glass painter. Born in Brussels in 1814, he had much to do with the modern revival of glass-painting, and first made his reputation by his study of the ol ...

. The church was

grade II* listed 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, H ...

in 1968.

Welton civil parish

The main habitation in Welton civil parish is Welton village; the village of Melton is the only other village sized habitation; Wauldby, a former village, consists of a manor house, farm buildings and cottages.Ordnance survey, 1:25000, 2006 The parish is primarily rural, the northern part is within the

with a high point of in the north-west of the parish, the southern part is in low-lying land on the banks of the Humber Estuary at an elevation of around or less. Both Welton and Melton villages lie at the foot of the Wolds hills; to the south were ''Welton Common'' and ''Melton Common'', and near the Humber bank ''Welton Ings'' ''and Melton Ings''.Ordnance survey, 1:10560, 1855; 1891–2; 1910; 1952–3, 1:10000 1971–2; 1984 (see

Ings ''Ings'' is an old word of Old English origin referring to water meadows and marshes. The term appears in place names in Yorkshire (such as Hall Ings, Bradford, Fairburn Ings RSPB reserve, Clifton Ings in York, Derwent Ings, Sutton Ings, Acast ...

). The

Hull and Selby Railway The Hull and Selby Railway is a railway line between Kingston upon Hull and Selby in the United Kingdom which was authorised by an act of Parliament in 1836 and opened in 1840. As built the line connected with the Leeds and Selby Railway (opened ...

(1840), and the

(1963) link

westwards and forming north to south barriers to movement in the parish.

History

Human activity in the parish dates to the prehistoric period, Redcliff, on the Humber bank at the boundary with the neighbouring parish of

North Ferriby North Ferriby is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Haltemprice area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. History Humber Estuary "The archaeology of the intertidal wetlands of the Humber Estuary is of internatio ...

is evidenced to have been a trading site during the period of the

Roman conquest of Britain The Roman conquest of Britain was the Roman Empire's conquest of most of the island of Great Britain, Britain, which was inhabited by the Celtic Britons. It began in earnest in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, and was largely completed in the ...

(1st century AD), evidence of iron working at the site has also been found. A linear

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house in the territory of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Nevertheless, the term "Roman villa" generally covers buildings with the common ...

existed at Welton Wold, thought to be the earliest example in the East Riding, the Roman villa was demolished by 340 AD, and the entire location destroyed by quarrying in the 20th century. Both Wauldby and Welton were recorded in

in the 11th century. At the time of the first

inclosure act The inclosure acts created legal property rights to land previously held in common in England and Wales, particularly open fields and common land. Between 1604 and 1914 over 5,200 individual acts enclosing public land were passed, affecting 28,0 ...

affecting Welton (1751) the banks of the Humber were improved, preventing flooding of approximately of ''"Welton Ings"'', with drains constructed, and roads made to access the improved pasture. A further were enclosed by a second 1772 act. The parish was enlarged in 1888 by adding part of the chapelry of Melton and then absorbed the rest of it in 1935; the township of Wauldby became part of the parish in 1935. Industrial development altered the physical geography of the parish during the 20th century; in 1892 the only development was a brick and tile works on the Humber bank, excluding numerous small pits dug in the wolds for chalk extraction. In the 1920s the Humber Portland Cement Co. Ltd. was established, and a quarry

Melton Bottom Quarry Melton may refer to: Places * Melton, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. ** City of Melton, the local government area containing the suburb and surrounding area ** Electoral district of Melton, the Victorian Legislative Assembly ...

opened. Clay extraction for the cement works became extensive and eventually extended westwards along the Humber bank into ''Welton Ings''. A tin smelting works Capper Pass, Melton opened in 1937. By 2000 the cement works and smelter had closed, with some residual chalk processing activity (Quicklime manufacture) at the cement works site. In the early 2000 the industrial sites began to be redeveloped into warehousing and manufacturing estates (named 'Melton Park'); additionally the ''Melton West'' industrial estate (2007, extended 2011), and another ''Melton Park'' (or ''Melton Business Park'') industrial/commercial estate (begun 2007) were built on a mostly greenfield site between the A63 and railway line, and increased the area given over to non-agricultural development beyond that used by the earlier cement and tin works. Part of the former clay pits in Welton Ings were used as an artificial late, ''Welton Waters'', of , and used for recreational sailing, and other activities. As of 2012, quarrying at ''Melton Bottom Quarry'' continues. By 1970

greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

based

horticulture Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

had started to be developed south of Welton village – this became extensive and extended westwards into the neighbouring parish of

Elloughton-cum-Brough Elloughton-cum-Brough is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated to the west of Kingston upon Hull, Hull city centre and covering an area of . It comprises the town of Brough, East Ri ...

by the 1980s; by 2006 this had been reduced in scale, in part due to the expansion of the suburban outskirts of Brough, which by 2006 extended into the western fringe of the parish.

Notable people

* Elizabeth Sanderson, Baroness Sanderson of Welton, British political advisor, life peer, and journalist *

Jacqueline Stieger Jacqueline A. N. Stieger (born 1936) is a British artist and sculptor who primarily works in cast metal, creating jewellery and medals as well as larger sculptures. She has executed architectural commissions for churches and chapels in the UK, Fran ...

, sculptor and medallist, has lived and worked at Welton since 1969

Notes

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

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