Whitgift is a small linear village and former

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 ...

, now in the parish of Twin Rivers, 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 approximately east 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 ...

. It is located alongside the River Ouse and north of the

A161 road This is a list of A roads in Great Britain, A roads in List of A roads zones in Great Britain, zone 1 in Great Britain beginning north of the River Thames, east of the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 (roads beginning with 1). Single- and double-d ...

between

and

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town in Lincolnshire, England, and the county's third most populous settlement after Lincoln, England, Lincoln and Grimsby, with a population of 81,286 in 2021. It is the administrative centre and largest settleme ...

. Ousefleet and Reedness are to the east and west respectively. Historically Whitgift was part of 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 ...

. In 1961 the parish had a population of 191.

Features

There was for many years a Whitgift

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

, which may originally have predated the village. Between November 1606 and February 1607, a persistent cold weather spell froze the River Ouse, and the ferry could not operate. However, records indicate that ".. men, women and children, horses and wagons loaded went on ye water at Ouse here at Whitgift ferrie and son continued until ye xiiii day of Februarie...".

Church

The Church of

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

(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 Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

) 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 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 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, ...

, 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 Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

Hall

Whitgift is also notable for Whitgift Hall, a

grade II* 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 ...

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 ''Bay Windows'' is an LGBT newspaper, published weekly on Thursdays and Fridays in Boston, Massachusetts, serving the entire New England region of the United States. The paper is a member of the New England Press Association and the Nationa ...

were added and the current owners have a

caravan Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Campervan, a type of vehicle also known as a motor caravan *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Caravan (trail ...

site and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

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 River engineering#Canalization of rivers, canalised section of the River Aire, Rivers Aire and River Calder, West Yorkshire, Calder in West Yorkshire, England. The first improvements to the rivers above Kn ...

: 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 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 ...

Other

Other features include a

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

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 part of the Goole Rural District in the

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. On 1 April 1983 the civil parish was abolished to form Twin Rivers.

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 Former civil parishes in the East Riding of Yorkshire