GOXHILL
Goxhill is the smallest parish in north
Holderness. The settlement lies 19 km. NNE.
of Hull and less than 4 km. south-west from the
coast at Hornsea. (fn. 56) The name Goxhill may be
an Anglian and Scandinavian hybrid meaning
'cuckoo hill', referring in part to the elevated
site. (fn. 57) The suffix 'in Holderness' was occasionally used, presumably to avoid confusion with
Goxhill (Lincs.). The lost settlement of 'Arnestorp', recorded in 1086, may have lain in Goxhill. (fn. 58) In 1852 the parish contained 838 a. (339
ha.). In 1935 it was united with the civil parishes
of Great and Little Hatfield to form Hatfield
parish with an area of 3,303 a. (1,337 ha.). (fn. 59)
In 1377 there were 42 poll-tax payers in
Goxhill. (fn. 60) In 1588, when Goxhill was visited by
sweating sickness, 72 burials were recorded. (fn. 61) In
1672 the parish had 10 houses assessed for
hearth tax and 3 were discharged. (fn. 62) There were
8 families in the parish in 1743 and at least 5
houses in 1764. (fn. 63) From 54 in 1801 the population rose to 68 in 1811 and thereafter fluctuated about 60, before increasing to 70 in 1871
and to 83 in 1891. It had fallen to 60 in 1901
and stood at 70 in 1931. (fn. 64)
The parish is largely on boulder clay and
about half of the land lies more than 15 m. above
sea level. A small deposit of sand and gravel
occurs near the church and a larger pocket in
the south-east corner of the parish. (fn. 65) The commonable lands were apparently inclosed in the
mid 17th century. Goxhill is drained partly by
tributaries of a stream which flows northwestwards to Hornsea mere, one of the lesser
streams forming part of the eastern parish
boundary. Stretches of the southern boundary
are defined by other drains, carrying water
southwards into Hatfield.
A minor road from Wassand, in Sigglesthorne, forms part of the western boundary,
before turning to run along the axis of the parish
to the eastern boundary and then on to Hornsea.
A field road leading south to Little Hatfield, in
Sigglesthorne, defines the rest of the western
boundary, and from the axial road side lanes lead
north to the settlement of Goxhill and south to
Great Hatfield, also in Sigglesthorne. The Hull-
Hornsea railway line, opened in 1864, (fn. 66) crossed
the parish. A station, known until 1904 as Goxhill station and thereafter as Wassand station,
stood close to the settlement; it was closed for
passengers in 1953 and entirely in 1960, before
the closure of the line in 1965. The track has
been lifted but the station house remained in
1992. (fn. 67)
GOXHILL village is situated in the eastern
half of the parish. In 1663 it comprised a wedge
shaped group of garths and closes, divided by a
north-south street and side lanes. The church
stood at the northern end of the street, and most
of the 20 or so houses then in Goxhill were also
built beside it. (fn. 68) By the late 20th century only
the church and half a dozen houses remained
in the village. Apart from the church, the only
noteworthy building is the 18th-century Glebe
Farm. (fn. 69) Outlying buildings include three farmhouses built by the 1820s and since remodelled.
One was called Goxhill Grange in 1828 but had
been renamed Manor House Farm by 1890;
the others were later called Stud Farm and
Grange Farm. (fn. 70)
Goxhill in the mid 19th century
MANOR AND OTHER ESTATES.
In 1066
Morkar had c. 3 carucates at Goxhill and 1½
carucate in 'Arnestorp' as soke of his manor of
Mappleton. All the land had passed to Drew
de Bevrère by 1086 (fn. 71) and was later part of the
Aumale fee.
Robert of Goxhill (d. by 1287) held in GOXHILL 2 carucates and 3 bovates in demesne
and his tenants occupied a further 3 carucates
and 5 bovates. (fn. 72) The manor later passed,
together with the advowson, to the Lelley and
Stokes families. By 1289 it may have belonged
to Ralph Lelley, who then presented to the
church, and Goxhill evidently descended to his
widow Gillian, who was named as lord in 1316. (fn. 73)
The manor, comprising 3½ carucates in the early
14th century and held as 1/12 knight's fee, later
descended from father to son, being held by
Ralph Lelley (d. by 1325), Robert Lelley (d. by
1339), Thomas Lelley (probably d. by 1369),
and Ralph Lelley (d. by 1412). (fn. 74) That Ralph's
widow Agnes presumably held the manor, presenting to the church in 1423 and again in 1452,
but by 1488 the patronage and evidently also the
manor had passed to Robert Stokes (d. 1506).
He or another Robert Stokes was succeeded in
Goxhill by a daughter Elizabeth (d. 1561), wife
of Marmaduke Constable of Wassand and later
of one Ashburne. In the 16th century the manor
apparently extended into Great and Little
Hatfield, and it may also have had appurtenances in Sigglesthorne, which would explain the
references to Goxhill as part of the liberty of
St. John's, Beverley. (fn. 75) It later descended with
Wassand in the Constables and StricklandConstables. The Revd. Charles Constable had
792 a. in the parish c. 1840. (fn. 76) The estate was
enlarged in 1914 by the purchase of c. 40 a. of
glebe land, and in 1992 it belonged to Lady
(Ernestine) Strickland-Constable. (fn. 77)
Meaux abbey was given 4 bovates in Goxhill
by Peter Tuschett and a close there by another
donor c. 1200 but the land was alienated before
the mid 13th century. (fn. 78) William Mayne gave
Nunkeeling priory a rent in Goxhill in 1498. (fn. 79)
ECONOMIC HISTORY
Open fields probably
lay on the east and west sides of Goxhill village:
a close named Little East field was recorded in
1716, and in 1992 ridge and furrow survived
west of the settlement. Rough grazing probably
bordered the main drain in the north-east corner
of the parish, where Southorpe pasture was
mentioned in 1716. (fn. 80) The commonable lands
were evidently inclosed between 1650, when
there were 2 bovates of glebe land, and 1685,
when the rector had 36 a. instead; the rest of
the land inclosed was presumably allotted to the
Constable family. (fn. 81) Inclosure had perhaps taken
place by 1663, when c. 150 a. at the west end of
the parish lay in four adjoining closes which had
apparently been landscaped with trees, probably
by the Constables. (fn. 82)
In 1801 the area returned as under crops in
the parish was 173 a. (fn. 83) There were 573 a. of
arable land and 243 a. of grassland in 1839, and
467 a. and 223 a. respectively in 1905. (fn. 84) The
proportion of arable to grassland was much the
same in the 1930s, when the grassland mostly
lay around the settlement and the outlying
farms. (fn. 85) The parish also included 9 a. of woodland in 1905, (fn. 86) and several small plantations remained in 1992.
In the 19th and early 20th century there were
half a dozen farmers, most of whom had 150 a.
or more. A cowkeeper was also recorded from
c. 1900. (fn. 87)
MILL Mill hill was presumably the site of
the windmill recorded in 1325. (fn. 88)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Regular poor relief
was given to two people in 1802-3 and to half a
dozen a year in 1812-15; one person was aided
occasionally in the earlier year and five a year
in 1812-15. (fn. 89) Goxhill joined Skirlaugh poor-law
union in 1837. (fn. 90) It remained in Skirlaugh rural
district until 1935, and then, as part of Hatfield
civil parish, in Holderness rural district until
1974, when it became part of the Holderness
district of Humberside. (fn. 91) In 1996 Hatfield
parish became part of a new East Riding unitary area. (fn. 92)
CHURCH
A church existed at Goxhill by the
early 13th century, when a rector was recorded. (fn. 93)
The rectory and Hornsea vicarage were united
and the two parishes made one in 1939, but in
1972 that union was dissolved and the former
parish of Goxhill was annexed instead to Mappleton, thenceforward known as the benefice and
parish of Mappleton with Goxhill. (fn. 94)
The advowson descended with the manor in
the Lelley, Stokes, and Constable families until
the later 17th century, when it passed to the
Listers. (fn. 95) In 1758 William Lister sold the
patronage to Thomas Wakefield, then rector,
from whom Marmaduke Constable bought it in
1774. (fn. 96) It then again descended with the manor
until 1901, when Henry Strickland-Constable
exchanged the advowon of Goxhill with the
Crown. The Crown, which also had the presentation of Hornsea, became the patron of the
united benefice in 1939. (fn. 97)
The rectory was worth £5 in 1291 and £9 8s.
6d. gross in 1535. (fn. 98) The improved annual value
was £42 16s. 6d. net in 1650. (fn. 99) The net income
averaged £284 a year in 1829-31 and in 1883
was £200. (fn. 1) Tithes were worth over £7 in 1535
and £30 gross in 1650. They were commuted
for a rent charge of £183 13s. in 1839. (fn. 2) Glebe
land included 2 bovates until 36 a. were evidently substituted for them between 1650 and
1685. (fn. 3) In 1914 the glebe, then of c. 40 a., was
sold to Charles Strickland-Constable. (fn. 4)
The parsonage house, recorded from 1535,
was rebuilt on the same site c. 1745. (fn. 5) It was
evidently unused by incumbents and c. 1830 was
returned as 'not fit'. (fn. 6) There was erroneously said
to be no parsonage house in 1884, when it was
let as the glebe farmhouse, together with another
cottage; both houses were sold with the glebe
in 1914. (fn. 7)
The church had a chantry dedicated to St.
Mary and founded in 1389 by John of Goxhill,
a former rector. Its patronage belonged to the
rector in 1425, when the last known chaplain
was presented. (fn. 8)
There is no evidence for rectors living at
Goxhill in recent centuries. For much of the
18th century the rector, or in 1764, when he
lived at Rowley, his curate, served Goxhill with
Mappleton and Withernwick and lived at Great
Hatfield. In the mid century a service was held
at Goxhill on alternate Sundays and communion
was administered there four times a year with
15 recipients in 1743 and 14 in 1764. (fn. 9) A curate
was employed once more c. 1830. (fn. 10) In the 1860s,
when the incumbent again also served Mappleton, service was weekly but communion was still
only quarterly and there were no more than 8
communicants. (fn. 11) Goxhill was served alone c.
1880, when two weekly services and monthly
communions were provided, but later the
church was again held in plurality, with Hornsea, until the union of 1939, services being provided by the rector and an assistant curate. (fn. 12) The
church was used only occasionally for services
in 1992. (fn. 13)
Figure 19:
Goxhill Church c. 1830
The church of ST. GILES, so called in 1412,
was in disrepair by the early 18th century and
was largely rebuilt in 1786 at the expense of
Marmaduke Constable. (fn. 14) The tower was replaced in 1817, and in 1840 the Revd. Charles
Constable paid for the rest of the church to be
rebuilt once again. (fn. 15) The church comprises
chancel with pentagonal apse, nave, and west
tower, and is in a plain, Gothick style. (fn. 16) It is
built of boulders and brick, but the south sides
of the chancel and nave have been faced with
stone and the rest of the building rendered. The
slate roofs are prominent and have deep eaves.
Inside, the nave roof is borne by beams with
large, pendant bosses, and the fittings include
19th-century oil lamps.
Burial at Goxhill ceased in the 1940s. (fn. 17)
Memorials inside the church include a late medieval, carved floor-stone to Joan Lelley in the
chancel, a floor-stone to Marmaduke Constable
(d. 1690) in the nave, and a wall tablet to the
Constables of Wassand. A restored 12th-century
tub font, found at Hornsea, (fn. 18) and the stonework
of a 15th-century piscina incorporating arms,
apparently of the Lelley family, (fn. 19) are also preserved in the church. The modern font was
removed to West Newton chapel-of-ease, in
Aldbrough, in 1939. (fn. 20) There were two bells in
1552 but later only one. (fn. 21) The plate includes two
cups, one of 1827, and a paten of 1830. (fn. 22) The
registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials
date from 1561 and are complete. (fn. 23)
NONCONFORMITY
A protestant dissenter
was recorded at Goxhill in 1676, (fn. 24) but no other
evidence of nonconformity has been found.
EDUCATION
The children of Goxhill have
gone to school at Sigglesthorne, Hornsea, and
Great Hatfield in the 19th and 20th centuries. (fn. 25)
CHARITIES FOR THE POOR
None known.