BENNINGHOLME
The half a dozen, dispersed farmhouses and
cottages of Benningholme mostly stand on the
higher ground, overlooking the valley of Lambwath stream, c. 3 km. NNW. of Swine village.
Granges of Swine priory were established at
Benningholme and, on lower-lying ground, at
Fairholme, in the south-west corner of the
township. (fn. 84) The name Benningholme, meaning
'Benna's water meadow', is an Anglo-Scandinavian hybrid, as may be Fairholme, or 'fair
water meadow'. (fn. 85)
Benningholme township, later Benningholme
and Grange civil parish, was of 1,471 a. (595
ha.) (fn. 86) until it was enlarged by the transfer of c.
35 a. (14 ha.) from South Skirlaugh in 1885. (fn. 87)
In 1935 it and Swine civil parish were combined
as the new civil parish of Swine. (fn. 88)
Benningholme had 69 poll-tax payers in
1377 (fn. 89) and 17 houses assessed for hearth tax in
1672. (fn. 90) The hamlet comprised a dozen houses,
then closely-built, in 1772. (fn. 91) The population
grew from 78 in 1801 to 108 in 1841 and thereafter fluctuated, reaching 120 in 1881 and standing at 93 in 1931. (fn. 92)
The scattered houses of Benningholme hamlet include four cottages of 1904 and a house of
the 1960s, all built by the Crown (fn. 93) which owns
the place. Benningholme Hall and the other
older houses are discussed below. (fn. 94)
MANORS AND OTHER ESTATES
In 1066 Ulf held 2 carucates and 5 bovates at BENNINGHOLME as soke of his manor of
Aldbrough. The estate had passed to Drew de
Bevrère by 1086 and later formed part of the
Aumale fee. (fn. 95)
Two carucates at East Benningholme, with
other land in Holderness, were evidently
granted by a count of Aumale to his butler. (fn. 96) In
1221 Amand the butler's daughters Beatrice de
Friboys and Hawise de Surdeval, their overlord
William de Forz, count of Aumale, and others
were disputing Benningholme manor. (fn. 97) Land at
East Benningholme was given to Swine priory
by Hawise and to Nunkeeling priory by
Beatrice. (fn. 98) In 1252 the butler's fee was evidently
held by Beatrice and John de Surdeval, presumably Hawise's heir. (fn. 99) The Surdeval share seems
to have descended to John de Surdeval, named
as a lord at Benningholme in 1316, (fn. 1) and then to
his son Amand (fl. mid 14th century). (fn. 2)
Much of the butler's fee was held by Geoffrey
Berchaud (d. by 1276) and then by his son John. (fn. 3)
Geoffrey Berchaud's heir was recorded as tenant
of the count of Aumale at Benningholme and in
other parts of the fee in 1287, (fn. 4) but by that date
Simon Constable seems to have bought Berchaud's interest and possibly another share of
the butler's fee from Geoffrey Vernon and
Gillian de Friboys's daughter Joan Verder. (fn. 5)
Constable held 3 bovates in demesne at Benningholme in 1287, (fn. 6) and the lordship of 2 carucates there later descended in his family. (fn. 7)
The Rouths held a manor of Benningholme
under the Constables. William of Routh had
land at Benningholme in 1250, and Sir Amand
of Routh's manor was recorded c. 1300. (fn. 8) John
of Routh (d. by 1311) was succeeded by his son
Amand, who was named as a lord of Benningholme in 1316. (fn. 9) By 1377 the estate seems to have
been enlarged with land belonging to another
Amand's wife Christine. (fn. 10) It later descended,
like Tansterne, in Aldbrough, (fn. 11) in the Rouths, (fn. 12)
before passing to the Cutts (fn. 13) and Michelbournes. (fn. 14) In 1483 the estate, sometimes called
a manor, was said to comprise only six houses
and 2¼ bovates at Benningholme. (fn. 15) In 1552 John
Michelbourne settled his moiety of Benningholme manor on his son John, but it evidently
later passed under that settlement to another son
Thomas and then once again descended with
Tansterne. (fn. 16) At the partition of the Michelbournes' estate in 1614, Sir Richard Michelbourne received Benningholme manor with
lands in Swine and Coniston. (fn. 17) Two houses, 3½
bovates, and other land were sold shortly afterwards. (fn. 18) Sir Richard Michelbourne died in 1638,
and in 1647 his sons sold the rest of the estate at
Benningholme, comprising 3 houses, 2 bovates,
other land, and pasture rights, as an appurtenance of Routh manor, to Thomas Chatt (d. by
1661). (fn. 19) The estate has not been traced further.
Another manor of BENNINGHOLME was
held by Sir Peter Buckton in 1401, and Peter
Buckton, presumably another, was recorded as
a tenant of the Constables at Benningholme in
1447. (fn. 20) The manor descended to William Buckton (d. 1506), who left it to his sons Robert and
Ralph Buckton; it then comprised 1½ carucate. (fn. 21)
It was perhaps the same manor which William
Layton and Ralph Holtby granted to Lancelot
Holtby (d. 1561). Holtby's son George (fn. 22) sold it
to James Wayte and John Metcalfe in 1585. (fn. 23)
That manor, held of the Constables and comprising ½ carucate in Bennningholme, was sold
by Metcalfe to William Thompson in or shortly
before 1617, by him in 1625 to Alexander Emerson, father and son, and by the younger
Emerson in 1629 to Sir John Lister and his son
Hugh (fn. 24) (d. by 1678), who was probably succeeded by his son John. (fn. 25) From John's son
Lutton (fl. 1714) (fn. 26) the manor descended in turn
to Lutton's son William (d. 1760), (fn. 27) his widow
Grace (fl. 1796), and their daughter Harriet
Green. The Greens sold the manor with c. 285 a.
to Robert Harrison in 1807, (fn. 28) and it later
descended with Harrison's larger estate. (fn. 29)
Figure 21:
In 1625 the manor house site was recorded as
Hall garth. (fn. 30) The manor house sold in 1807 (fn. 31)
was replaced as the chief house by Benningholme Hall, built by Robert Harrison (d. 1821) (fn. 32)
and provided with grounds of c. 30 a. which
included a small lake, islands, and a temple. (fn. 33)
The white-brick house has a five-bayed entrance
front with an Ionic porch and windows set in
blank arches, and a garden façade with bows
rising through both storeys and a cast-iron verandah to the ground floor. A red-brick, northern wing was demolished and a smaller, south
wing added in 1974. (fn. 34) Hall Farm which stood
nearby was probably the old manor house; of
two storeys with attics and dating from the 18th
century or earlier, it was demolished c. 1985. (fn. 35)
Peter of Benningholme gave Swine priory
land at West Benningholme, and the house had
a grange there by 1235 (fn. 36) and was named as one
of the lords at Benningholme in 1316. (fn. 37) After
the Dissolution, the Crown let Benningholme
grange to Sir Richard Gresham in 1541 and in
1554 sold it, as 1/40 knight's fee, to Lady (Joan)
Constable and her son Sir John Constable. (fn. 38)
It comprised 236 a. in 1578. (fn. 39) Benningholme
grange and land formerly belonging to the
priory at Ganstead (fn. 40) descended to Sir Henry
Constable, viscount Dunbar, who settled them
on a younger son Matthew. (fn. 41) Matthew forfeited
his estate to the Commonwealth for treason (fn. 42) but
regained it before his death in 1667, when his
brother John Constable, viscount Dunbar, gave
it to another brother Henry (d. 1700). Henry
left his estate, which also included a former
grange of the priory at Fairholme, (fn. 43) to his
nephew William Constable, later viscount Dunbar. (fn. 44) The granges descended with the rest of
the Constable family's estate to William Constable, who sold the Benningholme and Fairholme estate, then comprising 690 a. in four
farms, to Thomas Harrison in 1769. (fn. 45) Harrison
had bought another estate at Benningholme, of
439 a., in 1767. (fn. 46) He died in 1795 or 1796, (fn. 47)
and his estate passed to Robert Harrison, who
bought another farm with at least 94 a. at
Benningholme in 1800 (fn. 48) and Benningholme
manor in 1807. (fn. 49) Harrison (d. 1821) devised his
Holderness estates to his daughter Ann (d.
1836), with remainder to his grandson Robert
Harrison. In 1859 Robert Harrison's assignees
in bankruptcy sold his estate in Swine parish to
the Crown; it then comprised, besides Benningholme manor, 1,578 a. there and at Fairholme,
North and South Skirlaugh, and Arnold, mostly
in four farms. (fn. 50) The Benningholme estate later
descended with the Crown's manor of Swine,
bought in 1866. (fn. 51) In 1995 the Crown had 602 ha.
(1,487 a.) at Benningholme. (fn. 52)
Benningholme Grange farmhouse is modern;
the earlier house was demolished in 1967, (fn. 53) but
its outbuildings, including an 18th-century cottage, remain.
Swine priory's grange of Fairholme was
recorded from the early 13th century. (fn. 54) The
Crown sold it in 1558 to William Edrington and
Edward Beseley, (fn. 55) from whom the 70-a. estate
passed, perhaps in 1594, to Marmaduke Langdale (d. 1611) (fn. 56) and later to Henry Constable
(d. 1700). Thereafter Fairholme descended like
Benningholme grange. (fn. 57)
William de Ros, later Baron Ros of Helmsley
(Yorks. N.R.), held 1 carucate at Benningholme
as mesne lord in 1287, (fn. 58) and the lordship later
descended like Roos manor in the Ros family
and their successors. (fn. 59) The land was evidently
subinfeudated to a cadet of the Ros family,
together with Thorpe manor, in Aldbrough,
with which it later descended. (fn. 60) In the 1550s the
estate included only 2¼ bovates. (fn. 61) It has not
been traced beyond its sale to John Eldred and
William Whitmore in 1611. (fn. 62)
Peter Hildyard's manor of BENNINGHOLME, mentioned in the 1370s, and the
manor of 'Swine' left by Martin Hildyard (d.
1544 or 1545) were perhaps the same, (fn. 63) but no
more is known of it.
Beatrice de Friboys gave Nunkeeling priory
2½ bovates and other land at East Benningholme
in the earlier 13th century, and in 1535 its estate
there was valued at just over £3 10s. a year. (fn. 64)
After the Dissolution, a house, 3 bovates and
other land, and pasturage there were granted to
Sir Richard Gresham in 1540, (fn. 65) and the estate
later descended with Nunkeeling manor. (fn. 66)
Meaux abbey was given 1 bovate, 10 a., all of
'Tyrnyngholmum', and three tofts at East Benningholme by Amand the butler between 1210
and 1220; part of that estate was later granted
to Sir Simon Constable. (fn. 67) After the Dissolution,
the abbey's land at Benningholme descended with
its manor of Arnold to the Micklethwaites. (fn. 68)
Thornton abbey was recorded as a lord at
Benningholme in 1316, perhaps for land attached to its manor of Woodhouse, in Arnold. (fn. 69)
The rectorial tithes of Benningholme Grange
were sold by William Thornton to Cuthbert
Constable in 1738 and by William Constable to
Thomas Harrison, with the landed estate there,
in 1769. (fn. 70) Harrison already had other tithes in
Benningholme township, (fn. 71) and, at the inclosure
of Benningholme ings in 1778, he was awarded
6 a. and a rent charge of £3 for his tithes there. (fn. 72)
Robert Harrison merged the remaining tithes
in his Benningholme and Fairholme estate in
1843. (fn. 73)
ECONOMIC HISTORY
Common lands and inclosure
Little is known of the commonable lands of Benningholme. The tillage was
reduced by Sir John Cutt, who inclosed land
there and at Skirlaugh for pasture before 1517, (fn. 74)
but West field was named in 1616, and in 1748
East, Great, and Little fields were recorded. The
location of some of the open-field land is evident
from the ridge and furrow which survives near
Benningholme Hall and Pasture House Farm. (fn. 75)
Some grassland lay in the fields, but most of
the commonable meadow land was in the ings, (fn. 76)
which after mowing were grazed between
August and March. (fn. 77) Rough grazing was provided largely by the carrs, or marshlands. In the
earlier 13th century Swine priory and Meaux
abbey resolved a dispute over marshland lying
between their two houses by agreeing to inclose
part of the waste, leaving the rest as a common
pasture for both houses and their tenants. (fn. 78) The
common pastures, which were overcharged c.
1600, (fn. 79) also included a pasture in the south of
the township; (fn. 80) High and Low pastures, mentioned in 1767, were presumably divisions of the
southern pasture. (fn. 81)
Swine priory's intake from the carrs adjoined
its grange at Benningholme, and Fairholme
grange may have been established to exploit it; (fn. 82)
Newland near Fairholme was named in 1367. (fn. 83)
Other early inclosures made from the commonable lands probably included a 67-a. pasture
close called New field, which was shared by two
farmers in 1653. (fn. 84)
Much of the commonable land remaining in
the 18th century was then inclosed. Out carr, or
Wawne common, c. 400 a. extending alongside
Benningholme grange from Arnold in the north
to Newlands in the south, was presumably all or
part of the medieval common pasture. It was
partitioned by the owner of the former granges,
William Constable, and the lord of Wawne
manor, in 1751 or 1752, and soon after divided
into closes. The ditch and bank made then to
separate Constable's eastern half from the rest
was later part of the Benningholme-Wawne
boundary. (fn. 85) Benningholme ings were inclosed
with the adjoining meadows of Arnold in 1778
under the Long Riston and Arnold inclosure Act
of 1771; they then comprised 95 a. Thomas
Harrison received 57 a., Mrs. Lister 24 a., and
there were three other allotments of under 10
a. (fn. 86) Despite the inclosures, some pasture in
Benningholme seems to have remained commonable into the 19th century. (fn. 87)
Benningholme Grange had its own pinfold in
1554, (fn. 88) but it is not known whether its grounds
constituted an agricultural system separate from
the rest of the township. Ridge and furrow evidence shows that Park, or Grange Park, close,
so called since the 17th century, was once part
of the open fields, and there is no other record
of a park there. (fn. 89)
FISHERIES
Fisheries at Benningholme included one in Out dyke, let by John Constable
in 1551, (fn. 90) and another in a former turbary, at
Benningholme Turf pits; (fn. 91) it was perhaps the
same pool which was called Pitfield Fish pond
in 1852. (fn. 92) Possibly another pool was the 'broad
water', from which rushes, or 'dumbles', and
fish were taken without licence in the 17th century. (fn. 93) There were over 100 a. of willow beds and
other woodland at Benningholme in the 1850s, (fn. 94)
but much had been cleared by the early 20th
century. (fn. 95)
FARMS
There were usually three or four farmers at Benningholme in the 19th and earlier 20th
century; in 1851 all four farms exceeded 200 a.
and the largest was of nearly 500 a. Two
smallholdings were also recorded c. 1930. (fn. 96) In
1995 three of the Crown's farms at Benningholme were of over 121 ha. (300 a.), the largest
holding being of 296 ha. (732 a.), and there was
one small farm. (fn. 97)
MILL
Nothing is known of the mill which
stood on Mill hill in the north-east of the
township. (fn. 98)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
View of frankpledge at Benningholme and the regulation of
agriculture there belonged to Burton Constable
court in the 16th and 17th centuries. Officers
appointed in the court included a constable, an
aletaster, a pinder, and a bylawman for Benningholme. (fn. 99) Fourteen people were relieved permanently in the township in 1802-3, and between
1812 and 1815 there were 6-8 on permanent and
5-8 on occasional relief. (fn. 1) Benningholme township, later civil parish, joined Skirlaugh poorlaw union in 1837 (fn. 2) and remained in Skirlaugh
rural district until 1935. As part of Swine civil
parish, Benningholme was taken into the new
Holderness rural district in 1935 and the
Holderness district of Humberside at reorganization in 1974. (fn. 3) In 1996 Swine parish became
part of a new East Riding unitary area. (fn. 4)
ROMAN CATHOLICISM
There may have
been a dozen papists at Benningholme in the
1580s, but any other record of recusancy there
was presumably made under Swine. (fn. 5)