Sculcoates
The parish of Sculcoates lay on the east bank of the
River Hull to the north and north-west of the town
of Hull. (fn. 1) It covered an area of 738 acres. (fn. 2) The river
formed the eastern boundary of the parish, while
to the north and west lay Cottingham. The boundary
with Cottingham on the north ran from a point
on the river near Stoneferry along streams and ditches
at the south end of Newland Fields. On the west it
ran along a dike at the east end of Newland Tofts,
on the line later taken by Prince's Avenue. On the
south the boundary with Hull followed Spring
Dike, later Spring Bank and Prospect Street. (fn. 3) During
the 17th century the northern boundary was called
'the king's banks' and the western, south of Derringham Dike, 'the king's stone'. (fn. 4) The south-east part
of the parish immediately next to the walls of Hull
comprised Trippett. The Corporation of Hull had
rights there from the mid-15th century, and had
indeed tried to extend them over the whole of
Sculcoates. (fn. 5) In 1801, when the Sculcoates Commissioners were created, Trippett remained beyond
their jurisdiction. In 1837 it was incorporated in
the borough of Hull together with Sculcoates but
was treated as a separate liberty. (fn. 6)
'Skuli's cottages' may have been built in the 12th
century on the bank of the River Hull where silting
had raised the level of the land, and where drainage
was making the surrounding salt-marshes more
habitable. (fn. 7) By the 17th century about a dozen houses
lay between the Charterhouse and St. Mary's
Church, along a road which ran close to the river.
The road to Beverley crossed the parish on the west,
and was joined, just to the north of Sculcoates,
by the road from Cottingham. (fn. 8) During the 18th
century buildings spread along Sculcoates Lane,
which ran from the church to the Beverley road. (fn. 9)
At the end of the century the southern part of the
parish was being developed as a suburb of Hull,
and George Street, Grimston Street, Savile Street,
and Charlotte Street had been built to the east of
the Beverley road. To the west of the road, around
the infirmary, were Mill Street, West Street, and
Brook Street. (fn. 10) Development continued in the early
19th century with the building of Jarratt Street
and Wright Street, and by 1817 houses had been
built around Stepney Lane, on the east side of
the Beverley road. (fn. 11) By 1834 houses were being built
along both sides of the road, and the southern part of
the parish was densely built-up. (fn. 12)
The principal buildings in the parish were for
long the Carthusian Priory and the Charterhouse
hospital in the south of the parish, and St. Mary's
Church in the north. (fn. 13) Other public buildings were
added, however, in the course of the 18th century.
These included the workhouse and Sculcoates Hall.
The hall, which stood in Jarratt Street, housed the
Petty Sessions, and was later used by the improvement commissioners. (fn. 14) In 1759 the rebuilding of
the church was begun, (fn. 15) and in 1777 Hull General
Infirmary was built. In the early 19th century
Christ Church and some nonconformist chapels
were provided for the growing population of the
parish, (fn. 16) and a dispensary, an asylum, (fn. 17) and assembly
rooms were among new public buildings which
appeared in the south part of Sculcoates as the area
became fashionable. (fn. 18)
There was a manor-house in Sculcoates by 1346;
in that year John Grey received a licence to fortify
it. (fn. 19) It stood on the river bank in the 17th century (fn. 20)
but had disappeared by the 1780s. In the 18th
century the poverty of the parish was reflected in
its domestic architecture: in 1743 most of the
families, it was said, 'have but one low room' or
'live in a chamber'. (fn. 21)
The village had a predominantly agricultural
character until the late 18th century when industries
were established beside the river. A windmill is
recorded in 1558, however, and there was a Lime
Kiln Close in 1573. (fn. 22) There is evidence of brickmaking in the parish from the 1650s onwards: in 1656
there was a Brick Close, and in 1662 part of Bush
Dike Close was appropriated for making bricks. (fn. 23)
There was a brewery in Sculcoates by 1700, (fn. 24) and
by 1740 a new industry, sugar-refining, had been
established there and a sugar-house built on the
growths of reclaimed land near the river. (fn. 25) In
addition shipbuilding, weaving, wool-combing,
chair-making, and dyeing are among occupations
recorded in the parish in the mid-18th century. (fn. 26)
By 1784 there were shipyards in Trippett, (fn. 27) and by
1818 there were more shipyards and a timber yard
in Church Street, a foundry to the south of Cannon
Street, and a glue manufactory. (fn. 28)
Sculcoates was for long a small, poor settlement.
In 1334 it contributed £1 14s. to the fifteenth, (fn. 29)
and in 1377 only 19 adults paid the poll tax. (fn. 30) In
1524 seven taxpayers paid 11s. 6d. in all, (fn. 31) and in
1584 the parish provided four men at a muster. (fn. 32)
In 1672 15 householders were chargeable for the
hearth tax. (fn. 33) Numbers increased during the 18th
century, however, and in 1743 88 'little and poor'
families were counted. (fn. 34) The subsequent development of Sculcoates as a suburb of Hull was reflected
in the growth of the population: it reached 5,448
in 1801 and 13,468 in 1831. (fn. 35)
Among records of parish government which have
survived are churchwardens' accounts covering, with
gaps, the period from 1757 to 1834. In the late 18th
and early 19th centuries parish meetings were usually
held at Easter, but occasionally in February or
June, to elect officers, audit accounts, and levy a
parish rate. The meetings frequently took place in
the Charterhouse chapel. The earliest recorded rate,
that of 1757, was of 1s. in the pound; it raised £29
from property valued at £576. Similar sums were
raised until 1771, except in 1761 when a rate of
1s. 6d. 'towards finishing' the new parish church
brought in £46. Later rates varied from 1d. to 6d.
in the pound. There was a striking increase in the
rateable value of the parish, however, as a result of
its development as a residential suburb of Hull:
it was valued at £3,096 in 1784 and £45,812 in 1837.
The sum raised in 1837 was accordingly as high as
£286. The only rate known to have been raised for
other than general purposes was one of c. 1795
which brought in £175 for 'bounties given to five
volunteers raised in this parish'. Expenditure in the
earliest recorded years varied from £9 to £29.
Towards the end of the century it rose sharply,
reaching £153 in 1793, for example.
In addition to churchwardens and overseers of
the poor, a constable is mentioned, in 1757 and 1758.
Overseers themselves are mentioned only twice.
In 1758 the same two men acted as overseers and
churchwardens. In 1770 the offices were held
separately by different men. (fn. 36) The parish maintained
its own workhouse. (fn. 37) With its growth as a suburb of
Hull, Sculcoates acquired a new body to supplement
the work of the vestry. In 1801 improvement commissioners were appointed for the parish and they
continued to act until after its absorption in the
borough. (fn. 38)
Manors and Other Estates
The manor of Sculcoates comprised two carucates.
The overlordship, when first mentioned in the 13th
century, was held by the Archbishop of York. (fn. 39)
The archbishop is last mentioned in this connexion
in 1378, (fn. 40) although he probably remained overlord
until the 16th century, when the manor was acquired
by the Crown. An intermediary lordship is recorded
from 1281 until the early 15th century. During this
period four bovates in Sculcoates were held under
the manor of Cottingham. (fn. 41)
The first demesne lord of SCULCOATES seems
to have been Benet de Sculcoates, who held it late in
the 12th century. (fn. 42) By 1221 the manor had passed
to Robert de Grey, Benet's nephew by marriage. (fn. 43)
Sculcoates remained in the hands of the Greys until
late in the 14th century. They at first held 12 bovates
of the Archbishop of York, and by 1294 they had
acquired the remaining 4 bovates. (fn. 44) From about
1312 until 1330 Robert de Moreby, who had married
the widow of John de Grey the elder, shared the
lordship of the manor with John de Grey the
younger. (fn. 45) In 1376 Robert de Grey granted the manor
to John de Neville. (fn. 46) A year later Neville granted it
to Michael de la Pole, (fn. 47) and in 1379 Pole granted
it to the Carthusian Priory of Hull. (fn. 48) The manor
passed to the Crown at the Dissolution, (fn. 49) when it
was valued at £86 a year. (fn. 50)
The fee of four bovates which belonged to Cottingham manor was held in 1281 by the family of
Meaux. (fn. 51) By 1294, however, the Greys held the fee
as tenants of the Meaux family, and retained it
until at least 1318. The land was later granted by
Sir John de Meaux to Haltemprice Priory, and the
priory held it in 1406. (fn. 52) Presumably at the Dissolution it came into the hands of the Crown and was
re-united with the rest of the manor.
In 1552 closes in Sculcoates were let by the Crown
to Robert Thornton and Thomas Aldred. In 1558,
however, the whole manor, together with the reversions of the leases, were granted to Sir Henry
Gate and Thomas Dalton. Gate and Dalton are said
to have divided the property into three parts c. 1560,
Gate keeping one-third and Dalton two. (fn. 53) In
1563–4 Gate granted four messuages from his share
to Dalton. (fn. 54) The rest of Gate's share passed in 1588
to his son Edward, (fn. 55) who granted it in 1589–90
to John Aldred. (fn. 56) One of the Dalton shares remained
in the Dalton family. (fn. 57) The other is said to have
been granted in 1560 to Alexander Stockdale. (fn. 58)
Stockdale's son Robert conveyed it to John Aldred
and others in 1594; it was to be sold by them to pay
his debts. Their title to this share was disputed,
however, by members of the Estoft family who
claimed that Stockdale was lunatic, and that the
share had been sold to them. (fn. 59) Nevertheless, Aldred
and the others retained the share and conveyed it to
Mathew Brownell in 1600. (fn. 60) By 1658, however, it
had been acquired permanently by the Aldred
family. (fn. 61) The Aldreds now held two shares of the
manor. In 1668 John Aldred conveyed both shares
to John Dalton, and the manor was thus re-united
under the lordship of the Dalton family. (fn. 62)
John Dalton was, in fact, the penultimate member
of the main line of Daltons. In 1685 he devised the
manor to his brother Thomas (fn. 63) who died childless,
and in 1700 the manor passed with other Dalton
estates to Thomas's widow Elizabeth. (fn. 64) She subsequently married Robert Dolman, who became
lord, (fn. 65) but on his death the manor remained in the
hands of Elizabeth's family, the Withams. (fn. 66) Part
of the Witham family estate, including land in
Sculcoates, was dispersed by Act of Parliament in
1767 and was acquired by the Broadley family. The
rest of the Witham's land in Sculcoates passed to
Francis Fowkes in 1758 and seems also to have
come to the Broadleys. (fn. 67)
In addition to the Carthusian Priory and Haltemprice Priory, the Canons of North Ferriby had lands
in Sculcoates. By 1536 they held seven closes of
land which had formerly belonged to the Charterhouse. (fn. 68) Other small estates were amassed in Sculcoates by builders at the end of the 18th century.
William Settle, for example, acquired plots there
in 1795. (fn. 69) These small estates, together with the
estate of the Dock Company, to the north of Queen's
Dock, were developed as a residential suburb in
the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Agriculture
Nothing is known of the pattern of agriculture
in Sculcoates during the Middle Ages, although
meadow and pasture are mentioned in 1294. (fn. 70) By
the 16th century there was common pasture called
Ox Pasture, and meadows lay on the west of the
Charterhouse, from which they took their name. (fn. 71)
A 17th-century map depicting the inclosure of
Sculcoates shows meadows called Great Ings and
Little Ings lying on the west and east respectively
of the Beverley road. Next to them lay Great Pasture
and Little Pasture. Two other meadows, Hall Ings
and South Ings, are mentioned, but their position
is not shown. The map depicts three fields which
may represent the pattern of arable farming in the
parish before inclosure. West Field extends from
the village to the Beverley road; in the north-east
corner of the parish is Green Fields; and next to it
lies North Field. (fn. 72)
Inclosure may have taken place in Sculcoates as
early as the 16th century. North Ferriby Priory had
several closes among its possessions in Sculcoates
then, and a Bush Dike Close existed by the early
17th century. (fn. 73) During the 17th century itself much
of the parish seems to have been inclosed. The
precise date at which this occurred is unknown:
certainly the process had been completed by 1691.
The method of inclosure followed is equally uncertain. By 1691 there were fourteen principal landowners. Thomas Dalton was the largest with an
estate comprising 22 plots, the acreage of sixteen of
which amounted to 167 a. The Corporation of Hull
had five plots, three of which contained in all 29 a.,
and a Mr. Catlin also held 29 a. Three estates were
between 10 a. and 20 a., and four were under 10 a.
The remaining four estates were each of one or two
plots, and their acreage is unknown. (fn. 74)
The appropriation of land in Sculcoates for
industry in the 18th century swiftly changed the
hitherto agricultural character of the parish. Nevertheless, North Field, Green Fields, and Great and
Little Ings were mentioned as late as the 1750s and
were apparently still used for farming. (fn. 75) By the end
of the 18th century land which had not already
been built on was used for feeding cattle on permanent grass, (fn. 76) and in the early 19th century there
were market gardens. (fn. 77)
Flooding was as great a threat to Sculcoates
as it was to neighbouring parishes in the Hull valley.
Maintenance of the river bank, exclusion of salt
water from land drains, and drainage of fields and
pastures were doubtless primary considerations from
an early date. By 1668 at least one sluice, Sculcoates
Clough, had been built; it lay near the middle of the
village. (fn. 78) During the 18th century there were regular
assessments for its repair and maintenance. Until
the 1770s between 20 and 40 people were assessed;
thereafter the number rose to between 60 and 80.
The totals raised were usually under £20, although
in 1726 £35 was collected. (fn. 79) The river bank was also
closely inspected. The growth of industry along
the river sometimes caused dangerous obstructions,
as around 1740 when the piles on which the sugarhouse stood caused currents to damage the bank
severely. (fn. 80) At the end of the century the drainage of
Sculcoates was improved when new drains were
built there as part of the Beverley-Barmston level. (fn. 81)