Latest Updates

Was Gulliver of 'Gulliver's Travel's' from Givendale?

Phil Gilbank explores the local connection of Givendale to the classic novel Gulliver's Travels. It is an intriguing 17th Century story that Phil has researched for several years. Charles Atkins was from an upper class family that lived in Grimthorpe Manor House, and he went to Pocklington School in 1656.

From there he became an unscrupulous rogue who was thrown out of the Royal Navy for cowardice, dismissed twice as an East India Company surgeon, and sacked from the Indonesian militia. He is then believed to have become an upmarket pirate who later wrote about his experiences. And it is claimed that he was the role model for Gulliver in the classic novel. This talk was first given to the history group in a short talk on the 15th February. It was then presented to the residents of Rogerson Court in Pocklington on 17th April, 2024 and recorded by Andrew Sefton and made into a YouTube video,

Pocklington Town Council recently celebrated 50 years with an exhibition and celebration day on Saturday 27th April 2024 in the Community Hall at Burnby Hall.

A new addition to the website is a copy of the boards on display in the old court house and Andrew Sefton has been examining some of the old records from storage boxes and finding some interesting information about the town. Past officials of the council are visible on small cards which are scanned here for full perusal.

The story of Charles Steels who created the 'Pocklington Steamship Company'.

He was born 2nd Feb. 1852 in Chapmangate the son of Richard and Mary Steels and died 22nd Mar.1896 age 44. He never married and had no children. Charles was involved in the setting up of the 'Pocklington Steamship Company' along with other investers. They had two ships, one was named the 'SS Pocklington' after the town and the second was named the 'SS Charles Steels' named after himself.

Christmas recollections of Pocklington Station by Ken Durkin

I wish my children could have seen Pocklington railway station at Christmas in steam days. I used to go for Mr Drake's box of fish I would go to the ticket office window and look in. The floors were well foot worn from years of wear. There was a big fire blazing in there and you could feel it on your face at the window. Inside were Mr Williamson, Madge Gillery and Trevor Buttle it was always decorated with paper chains and holly and ivy. The gas lighting with its yellow glow added to the Christmas Dickens feeling I would get my ticket and go on to the platform. On the left was the passenger waiting room with its great big fireplace and its fire blazing. I would stand with my back to it. Sometimes I would go up to the footbridge, someone used to decorate it with holly and greenery on the handrails at each end of the bridge. [This article has updated photographs of Pocklington station].

Thursday, 19th Oct. 2023

Andrew Sefton delivered a follow up talk on the old shops of Pocklington due to popular request. His last talk in January 2020 was just prior to lock down and the subsquent Covid pandemic. The idea for it was sparked by a Facebook post by Pete Nelson listing all the old shops he could remember. Andrew has collected further pictures and researched information on some of the old families that ran the shops. He had been supplied family pictures of people running the shops from his presence on the Facebook Group 'Pocklington District Heritage' and his contact email on this website. He also conveyed his thanks to people who had supplied pictures to enable his talk and in particular Roger Pattison and David Bowman.

Some of the interaction from the audience was very valuable who contributed their memories and included a granddaughter of Fred Lee who afterwards provided some further family information. At the first talk Tarn Morris brought a large shop sign for Fred Lee and coincidentally this event also attracted a large shop sign brought in by Gregg Huber which was for Gelders shop.

Friday 8th Sept. 2023

Phil Gilbank knows his beer, and he knows all of Pocklington hostelries and the history of them. On a fine September evening, he led a swarm of 70 interested Pocklingtonians around the town to hunt out the stories of the lost pubs and breweries. We discovered a ghost story, a drunken jockey and a den of cock fighting at The Black Bull and the Black Swan. Even three lads on bikes started following, wondering what it was all about. Phil took us to Scaife Brewery which was next to No. 6 Pavement. We learnt houses built of bricks smaller than 2.75” in height were built before 1767. He showed us a steep pitch of roof means that house was thatched and told us water from the beck was not really clean enough in those times to make beer. He missed out a couple of other notable bygone pubs as it was getting dusk, so there might be enough to do an 'Old Pocklington Pubs 2'?

Death of Harry Hughes

Tributes have been paid following the death of Harry Hughes – the chairman of the 102 (Ceylon) Squadron Association.

Harry Bartlett, the secretary of the association said: “It is with a great deal of personal sadness, I must inform you of the passing of Flight Lieutenant Harry Hughes, DFC, DFM, Navigator, who also flew with 692 Squadron (Pathfinders) in 1944/45.

"He flew 35 operations with 102 (Ceylon) Squadron and over 50 with 692 Squadron (Pathfinders). “Harry was our Association Chairman for the past seven years and a member of the 102 (Ceylon) Squadron Association since its inception. "He was also a past chairman of the Pathfinder's Association and was a member of the Consultation Committee for the Green Park Bomber Command Memorial. "He was a larger than life character who, along with Tom Sayer another of our past chairmen, strove to keep the memory of the sacrifice by Bomber Command crews in the public view. "He passed away at his home in Cornwall, seventeen days before his 101st birthday. His family were with him.”

In April 1942 Harry trained as an Air Observer (Navigator) at the 8th Air Observer’s School, flying Avro Anson aircraft, which was operated under the British Commonwealth Training Plan, in Ancienne Lorette, Quebec City, Canada, qualifying in July of that year. He returned to England and went to 15 Operational Training Unit at Harwell, continuing to fly in Ansons and then went to the Conversion Unit at RAF Riccall where he moved to the Halifax.

He came to 102 (Ceylon) Squadron in February 1943, flying with Flying Officer Hartley. Having finished his tour of operations in September 1943, as an NCO, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal and moved to the 1653 Conversion Unit as a Navigation Instructor. In July 1944 he went back to operational flying, attending 1655 Mosquito Conversion Unit at Upper Heyford, before being posted to 692 Squadron. Harry flew 50 operations with 692 Squadron. All of them over Germany and including daylight operations.

As a Flying Officer, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in February 1945. In total Harry accrued almost 1,500 hours of operational flying. He returned to Pocklington many times in his later years for the 102 Squadron Assiciation's reunions and in 2016, aged 92, he enthralled a packed audience in All Saints church with a talk of his poignant and humorous stories from his time in WWII Pocklington. He then popped over the road to enjoy a pint for the first time in over 60 years in his favourite wartime watering hole, the Station Hotel.

Arthur Aylett of Allerthorpe was on the list of interviewees undertaken by the late Dr. Alf Peacock (of the York Educational Settlement and editor of the magazine 'Gunfire').  In the 1980s, he interviewed around 220 veterans of WW1.  After his death they were given to the York Oral History Society who, with the support of Lottery funding, transcribed them, contacted living relatives and published a book in 2014, "These Were Earth's Best: Voices of the First World War", (copies are still available).  Arthur's interview was used in the book and is the only recollection of the Waggoners in the text.

A new book on the history of Woldgate School with pictures and stories of the school buildings, and the people involved in the building and running of the school, and pupils’ experiences from the early days until the 60th anniversary of its opening.

This book, covering the history of Woldgate School 1958-2018, is the first to be published about the school itself. It is written by three authors with close connections to the school - a former headmaster John Brown; a past head of the history department Geraldine Macdonald; and Jane Henley a Pocklington and District Local History Group committee member and past Parent-teacher Association representative. Andrew Sefton, Pocklington and District Local History Group Archivist and former pupil, did the typesetting and layout and encouraged the authors throughout.

Many photographs and reminiscences have been provided by the school and ex-pupils and teachers. The project started following the 60th Anniversary of the opening of the school and has taken 5 years of research and many meetings to put it together and release it. We are indebted to the Wates Group and Pocklington District Local History Group for sponsoring the production of the book.

To add your memories to the project click here:

Price £5.00 *

The book is now available from Woldgate School reception, W&C Forth and online via ebay.

If you wish to add your memories to the project click here, they will then appear on this website.

At the AGM Phil Gilbank talked about the areas extensive Viking heritage in place names and recently discovered Viking artefacts which point towards an encampment of a contingent of the great Viking army of 867 following discovery of many gaming pieces, and book clasps that look like plundered items.

On the eve of the coronation Phil Gilbank related 'Pocklington's Royal Connections' - it consisted of a guided tour round All Saints pointing out the many Pocklington people and features linked to kings and queens. The church's direct associations with the crown go back over 900 years; plus there were numerous reminders to locals who became royal officials - in many cases gaining or losng fortunes when they were in or out of favour with the monarch, or in some cases, even losing their head. There were also stories of Pocklington's connections with bizarre coronation ceremonies of yesteryear.

Pocklington & Wetwang have Iron Age and Gilbank Connections

Phil Gilbank gave a talk to Fridaythope Fimber Wetwang Archaeology Project (FFWAP) in Wetwang on 27th March 2023 on Axes, Coins, Pots & DNA/Isotopes. Phil talks about the latest research on the Pocklington and Wetwang Iron Age burials and the newly found links between the two places. He also discusses his own family connections between Pocklington and Wetwang and the discovery of his ancestor being involved with Mortimer's excavations on the Yorkshire Wolds after being transported to Van Diemen’s land to serve a 7 year sentence.

Paula Ware revealed the latest findings about Pocklington archaeology, and launched a major publication about the town's excavations, and displayed the remarkable Pocklington Shield in public for the first time, when she talked in Burnby Hall Community Hall on 23rd February 2023. For a full report of the evening Click Here.

Paula's talk - 'Pocklington's chariots, swords and spears - latest updates' mirrored that of the recent publication: 'Chariots, Swords and Spears: Iron Age Burials at the Foot of the East Yorkshire Wolds', a 300-page, hardback volume by Oxbow Books; which details the Burnby Lane and Mile excavations 2014-18 that produced a host of Iron Age and Saxon finds.

Paula, managing director of MAP Archaeological Practice which excavated both sites, outlined the latest disclosures in her talk at Burnby Hall community hall. It included some of the research into the Pocklington artefacts and skeletons since they were first unearthed.

George Todd started a grocers shop in 1896 on the New Pavement on the premises of the old brewery of George Scaife and was trading there for many years. George started his career in groceries working for 13 years at Charles Steels Grocers in Market Place. The Todd family had links with Pocklington from early times.

Pocklington clock and watchmakers have been researched by Phil Gilbank. Lots of people have an interest in old clocks (the technical term is (‘horology’), perhaps prompted being given the key to wind up a Victorian wall or mantle clock at their grandparents. While grandfather, or more correctly longcase, clocks generate particular curiosity. The longest serving Pocklington watch and clockmakers were clearly the Gilsons of Market Place – where Thomas started out in business in 1828 and remarkably carried on making watches up to his death, aged 85, in 1894, when his grandson, also Thomas, was assisting him and later became a watchmaker in Lancashire.

An Anglo-Saxon coin found at Pocklington has recently been linked to Paulinus converting locals to Christianity in 627 AD.

The 1,400-year old mid-Saxon gold coin, discovered by a metal detectorist at Pocklington in 2007, was recognised almost a decade later as a ‘Paulinus Gold Shilling’, attributed to the episcopy of the first Bishop of York, 627-633. And the tiny coin was further conjectured to be a commemorative token given by Paulinus after carrying out the first baptisms in Pocklington beck.

Pocklington District Heritage Festival a success!

A week of heritage events for Pocklington and District started with an Academic Conference:

16th November 2022 - "Recent Developments in Archaeology in Eastern Yorkshire" at The Community Hall, Burnby Hall, Pocklington. The conference highlighted recent developments in archaeology and geology in Eastern Yorkshire. Organised by Pocklington District Heritage Trust in partnership with Bridlington U3A Geoarchaeology Group, the conference will hear five presentations illustrating the wealth of archaeology within Eastern Yorkshire; including some investigations within the boundaries of the proposed UNESCO Global Geopark for East Yorkshire.

The conference programme included a talk on the archaeology of the western Wolds by Peter Halkon, an update by the team from Historic England and the York Archaeological Trust on its ‘Food For Thought’ Yorkshire Wolds project, presentations about Geoarchaeology, Hanging Grimston, and archaeologist Paula Ware relating the story of discovering three Iron Age chariots in East Yorkshire.

Day 2 & 3 was a Pop-Up Museum, Exhibition, book sales, School Visits. The photograph (right) was taken by Sean Quinn.

Day 3 included An Iron Age Beanfeast

The evening had food, drink, music and history all with an iron age twist at Pocklington Community Hall.
It had an introductory address by eminent local archaeologist Peter Halkon, plus Celtic story telling and performance by the Haiga group of Shiptonthorpe. A traditonal Celtic supper was enjoyed with live music from Celtic and Folk Band ‘Shiftipig’

Saturday was a free day of family friendly information and actvites including:
· Children’s face paintng by Claire
· Iron age and Roman dressing-up clothes
· Colouring and drawing of iron age activity books
· Jewellery making with glass beads
· Pot making
· Celt vs Roman sword fight
· Mini archaeological dig
· Also, a Horrible History Walk and Talk - gruesome stories of Pocklington's grisly past with Phil Gilbank.

A new book was published for the festival called "Exploring Pocklington's Past" written by Peter Halkon, Details about the book and how to order are available here.

Sue Bond researched the stained glass of All Saints Pocklington Church and gave a talk on Thursday 23rd June 2022. She researched each one and revealled the stories of the local people who commissioned each window, and the renowned Victorian artists and craftsmen who made them.

Her illustrated talk was organised jointly by Pocklington & District local History Group and Pocklington Church Friends.

In conjunction with her talk, Sue has also produced a booklet about the church windows which was launched on the night. The 40-page booklet is packed with colour photographs, information and background material and is available from the Church office.

Local historian Phil Gilbank unfolded Pocklington church's links to Victorian icons Augustus Pugin and Herbert Minton at the launch of a major fundraising campaign in the town’s All Saints Church on the 2nd April. The appeal, titled 'Hundreds of Tiles, Thousands of Feet', is to restore the church’s famous porch tiles, designed by Gothic revival architect, Pugin, and made at the Minton tile factory - with both having strong local connections. The porch tiling is an outstanding example of Victorian craftsmanship but has been breaking up at an increasing rate – particularly at the front edge - and the work expected to cost in excess of £40,000. A church spokesman said: “Pocklington's porch is listed by Pesvner as one of the notable pieces of Victorian church design in the East Riding. However, the church's floor is all the more worthy for the stories behind it.

"All Saints is a Grade 1 listed building, so a basic repair is not an option and we have to restore it the the highest standards. The final result will bring it back to the colourful state of when it was originally created in 1885."

The appeal launch started on Saturday 2 April, and the evening's programme included a live music recital, and a technical briefing on restoring the encaustic tiling.

Pictured: Churchwardens Nigel Laws and Tina Morley and vicar Rev Jake Belder (centre) show some of the broken tiles in the porch doorway at All Saints.

An old Pocklington clock returns to the town after 200 years. The Pocklington District Heritage Trust is now appealing for someone to temporarily house it where it can be seen by the community. The grandfather clock - more correctly termed a longcase clock - was made in Pocklington 198 years ago, but has spent most of its life in other parts of Britain. The owners, John and Claire Doyle, had kept and cared for it for the past 15 years at their home in Glossop, but after reading an article on the pocklingtonhistory.com website they decided to donate it back to where it originated.

The heritage trust is now looking for someone to look after it until its museum plans come to fruition. Phil added: "Having brought it back to Pocklington, it would be a shame if it was out of view of the community. So we are appealing to any public building or local business that might like to house it for the time being in a place where it can be seen."

Anyone who might be interested in looking after it for the heritage trust can make contact by email on pocklingtonheritage@gmail.com, or Phil's mobile is 07944 006133. The clock was made by Reuben Milner in his Pocklington workshop in Regent Street. Identifying it was easy, not only is 'R Milner Pocklington' painted on the clockface, but inside is a label saying: 'Reuben Milner, Regent Street, Pocklington 1823.'

William Wilberforce & Pocklington 250 - Pocklington and District Local History Group and Pocklington All Saint's Church recently held an open evening of history talk, readings and poetry, exhibition and choral entertainment to celebrate the arrival of William Wilberforce in Pocklington in November 1771. It was held on Thursday 18th November 2021.

On November 5, 1605, Guy Fawkes and a group of radical English Catholics tried to assassinate King James I by blowing up Parliament's House of Lords. The plot went badly wrong and all of the conspirators were executed. Soon after, Britons began to celebrate Fawkes' demise and the survival of their king by burning effigies, lighting bonfires and setting off fireworks—a tradition which has continued to this day. There is a link to the plotters from the Pocklington area as the Wright brothers John and Christopher's mother was Ursula Rudston from Hayton who married Robert Wright the conspirators father. The brothers sister Martha also married another conspirator Thomas Percy.

The diary of Atkinson Skinner the Pocklington Church of England School headmaster has been transcribed by Chris Watson for the years 1882-1888. Chris has given his kind permission to reproduce it on this website. Atkinson Skinner was the Master at Pocklington (Mixed) National School from 1888-1923. Prior to this, he was Master of Barnetby le Wold in Lincolnshire (1882-1885) and Huggate National School (1886-1887). Atkinson's brother had a confectionary shop in the Market Place. Edwin Skinner had his own shop from 1913 - 1927 and was located where Danby's newsagents is today.

Lewis Carroll first met the young girl Alice Donkin whilst visiting the Donkin family in the Manor House at Barmby Moor in 1862. It is said that she was the inspiration for the character Alice in his world-famous novels “Alice in Wonderland” and “Alice through the looking glass”. Carroll’s diary clearly documents his visit to Barmby Moor along with his association with Pocklington School Headmaster Dr. Frederick Gruggen. Carroll was experimenting with photography and took a photograph of Alice hanging outside the bedroom window in 1862 with a rope ladder and titled the photograph ‘The elopement’.

A new novel has now been released by David Ebsworth titled ‘A betrayal of heroes’. The author was inspired by Phil Gilbank’s talk on YouTube entitled ‘La Neuve in Pocklington and the Liberation of Paris’ and it helped him to write this novel about the Spanish Republicans who stayed in Pocklington just prior to the D-Day invasion of France and who were instrumental in the liberation of Paris. The author has given full attribution in the book to the Pocklington and District History Group, and it is obvious he has used much inspiration for his novel from the video. He mentions many Pocklington locations such as Phil describing the flamenco guitarist playing in the Feathers, and has used his research on the Pocklington History website to mention Pocklington characters such as Mr Barker the dairyman. His research for this book has been immaculate. It is a weighty tome and judging from the positive reviews about the author's books, it is well worth a read and has lots of references to the Pocklington area.

Tom Sayer a Halifax Bomber pilot in 1943	Tom at a remembrance parade in 2014

It is with sadness we record the death of Tom Sayer DFM, who for many years was Chairman of the 102 (Ceylon) Squadron Association, age 98. Tom visited Pocklington each year for the Association reunion weekends and for the November remembrance parades at Barmby Moor. On 10th May 2015, Pocklington and District Local History Group arranged a memorable talk about his experiences of being a WW2 Bomber Pilot and how he flew out of Pocklington Airfield as pilot of a Halifax bomber plane. The late Simon Kularatne (whose father was also a pilot who flew out of Pocklington) interviewed Tom. He gave a remarkable account of his training in Canada, his bombing missions, his many close calls for him and his crew. They were shot on many occasions by enemy fire, and then after surviving over 30 missions, moved to training glider pilots in readyness for the D-Day landings. Tom's often moving account of his life as a pilot in wartime Pocklington gave a vivid account of the period and left a lasting impression in the memory of all the large audience in attendance in Pocklington Church. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal in 1943 when he was aged just 21. He will be remembered by the people of Pocklington for his bravery and the last of his generation of brave air crew who flew from Pocklington airfield.

Pocklington solicitor and historian, Roger Bellingham, was the president of Pocklington and District Local History Group from its inception in 2007 until his death in January of this year, aged 88. And he has made sure that his decades of research will become a lasting legacy by leaving his substantial collection of local books, articles and papers to the group.

Roger made a major contribution to Pocklington's historical record from the outset of coming to the town in 1961 to practice law at Powell & Young. He immediately set about surveying and recording local buildings and places with his wife, Barbara, then played a leading role in a local interest group that put together the book 'Pocklington 1660-1914 - a small East Riding Market Town', published in 1972. He photographed the then derelict Pocklington Canal before restoration got underway, and some of his pictures of Pocklington in the 1960s and 1970s are currently being shared on the Pocklington District Heritage Facebook page.

He was active in numerous local organisations, including being the first secretary of both the Burnby Hall Gardens Trust and the Dr Fairweather charity, clerk to the governors at Pocklington School and a committee member of the Arts Society, the Yorkshire Museum of Farming, and the fundraising group that built the Francis Scaife Swimming Pool. He was renowned nationally for his work on parish registers and migration, and was a long term treasurer of the Local Population Studies Society.

For many years Roger carried out these, and more, community roles, plus his historical research and writings, alongside his legal work. But his passion for local history gradually took over, seeing him reduce his hours as as senior partner at Powell & Young to embark on a degree in local history at University of Hull; then taking early retirement in 1991 to commit to a history PhD at University of Leicester.

These 50 years of researching and recording Pocklington history saw Roger create an extensive archive of books, maps and documents from the 17th century onwards; and he left detailed instructions in his will that these should be offered to the local history group. His son and daughter, Chris and Dilly, accompanied him as children on many of Roger's early photo shoots, and they recently held a garden party in Pocklington to celebrate his life, attended by colleagues, friends and representatives from many of organisations he was involved with.

Afterwards, Dilly handed over the first batch of his papers to history group officials, Andrew Sefton and Phil Gilbank, commenting: "My father was fascinated by local history. I remember his delight when the recent excavations on The Mile confirmed his longstanding theory about Pocklington's Anglo-Saxon origins. He was very interested in the plans to create a museum in the town and we are pleased that so many of his books and papers can have a new home with the Pocklington and District Local History Group."

History group chairman, Phil Gilbank, added: "Roger Bellingham devoted decades to researching Pocklington history, and his archive is a unique record of the town's past. Our hopes for the future include developing a heritage centre and research room in Pocklington, and if this comes to fruition housing Roger's archive within it will be a fitting memorial to his inspirational work."

pic: Dilly Bellingham (right) hands over one of her late father's documents to local historfy group chairman, Phil Gilbank. It is a handbill detailing the rules of Pocklington School, the National Church School built by Mr Denison on West Green in 1819, which moved to a new site on New Street after the arrival of the railway in 1847.

Book and a film - available now at a venue near you!

Thanks to a grant by East Riding Council, the history group has been able to produce a bigger and better second edition of a 'Pocklington History & Heritage Trail' booklet. The first edition came out in 2008 as a 16 page volume and had almost sold out. The new publication looks very similar on the outside, but it has been expanded and updated to 27 pages, and includes some new information about the town's history, in addition to more than 20 maps, illustrations and photographs. It is available at Forth's bookshop, or via the website, price £4.99. In addition to the book, we have also produced a video focusing on the same town centre subject. When the lockdown was at its height we decided to produce an online walk and talk around Pocklington to complement the heritage trail booklet. Part 1 of the town trail video, which takes in the church, Market Place and Market Street, is now finished.

I was sent a photograph from a member of the Nelson family. The clergyman in the middle looks like Ian McNaughton Smith who was vicar 1921-33.It looks like a choir/orchestra for a fund raising event.In this period it is likely there were members of the Lamb family on the photograph who had musical talent.The location may be Burnby Hall, Major Stewart used to open the gardens occasionally in aid of the church. If anyone recognises any of the people on this photograph, please let me know.

We are sorry to record the loss of one of the biggest contributors to Pocklington history John Nottingham. His work on the Water Courses in and around Pocklington was important also the Brickworks in the area, local tythe and enclosure maps for many of the local parishes including the most difficult one to work out the Pocklington Enclosure award for 1757, and his best and last work was “RAF Pocklington and Local Area Losses”, which he insisted on being made freely available on this website when it could have easily sold as a book. This website will certainly miss his considerable input.

Legends, Miracles, Myths and unreasonable speculation abound in the early Medieval period. Andrew Sefton has written an article published on April 1st to the Facebook Group - Pocklington District Heritage about some stories and speculation originating in the Pocklington District from that period.

Some old photographs of Warter and the Priory have emerged on the Facebook group with thanks to Colin Boynton. The Demolition of Warter Priory in 1972 - the photographs of Peter Smith, The Exterior of Warter Priory in old photographs and postcards, The Interior of Warter Priory in old photographs and postcards, Warter Home Guard in 1940-1945.

Jim Hall and Les Kitchen were great friends and were both raised at Garths End in Pocklington. They were children growing up through the war and witnessed some unforgettable events in that time and place. Both went to Pocklington School and both went to the local Scouts in the 1940's, and both watched as bomber aircraft used Garths End to line up for the runway. They saw their houses damaged by German Aircraft, a bomb dropping on Garths End on the opposite side of the road hitting a house, and at the corner of Garths End and Yapham Road, Red House was almost destroyed by a bomber plane crashing into it. Jim Hall memories and Les Kitchen memories were preserved and kindly provided by Jim's son Chris for the website.

Donald McGregor supplied his memories of attending Pocklington School. It’s about 25 years since he last visited the town and almost 57 years since he left Pocklington school where he was a boarder between 1958 and 1964. He relates that he spent many Sunday afternoons wandering along the old airfield runways looking for memorabilia of dropped items like ammunition cartridges. He also flew from the airfield once with Jeff Allison in his Proctor 3 G-AMGE light aircraft to Yeadon Airport in Leeds.

Everingham now joins PocklingtonHistory.com with a general history from Bulmer's Directory for 1892, A history of Everingham's unique Roman Catholic Church written by Gill Hodgson and some photographs of the village.

"RAF Pocklington and Local Area Losses" is an exclusive new publication only available on PocklingtonHistory.com. It was written and researched by Mike Silburn and John Nottingham and has taken many months of work to produce. It is a remarkable and comprehensive study of all the aircraft losses from RAF Pocklington in WW2 and includes the nearby airfields of Elvington, Holme-on-Spalding Moor, Melbourne and Full Sutton.

Station Garage was where Travis Perkins is today, near the roundabout and was situated on the site of the present Aldi Car park. It was demolished just prior to the opening of the new Aldi store in 2011. Pete Kunkel sent me a photograph of the staff from 1984 with all the names. He also sent his Pocklington Infants school class photograph from 1965 and supplied some of the names, if you know any of the missing ones let us know. Pete also took part in a memorable Football Match between Melbourne F.C. and York City F.C. in 1984 and kept the memorabilia.

A new trade directory has been added. We now have Pigot's Trade Directory for 1828-29 to consult. Highlights include James Noble - Portrait Painter and a conveyance from Pocklington to Hull by water on the Union Packet from River Head - sails occasionally!

The Buck Inn was one of Pocklington's oldest inns. An 1825 sale notice describes the inn as "from time immemorial has been a well established and good accustomed inn". It possibly dates from the seventeenth century and a butcher Thomas Buck who was named in a 1606 old indenture "Thomas Buck of Pocklington, butcher and wife Johane (another daughter of Christopher Jewitson)". Butchers often combined their meat business with selling ale, and providing a hostelry for the horse, livestock and leather fairs held in the town and labour hiring fairs common in the 19th century. Pictured right is Billy Harrison in Christmas 1938 playing Laurel and Hardy with violins in the Buck Hotel.

The last Pocklington mummer died in 1930, but the tradition goes back hundreds of years, and some say to pagan times. At Christmas time the mummers would dress in disguise using characters from local tradition or national prominence and visit local houses and remote farms. They would perform plays in the living room and collect money and eat the provided food by the host. The principal characters are St. George (…of dragon fame.), Captain Slasher, The Turkish Knight, The King of Egypt, Doctor and several men-at-arms who challenge St. George to a duel and are subsequently slain. The Doctor enters and demonstrates his skill by resuscitating the dead knights. Many historians believe that this drama is a celebration of the death of the year and its resurrection in the Spring. This year the places that keep the tradition going include Knaresborough in North Yorkshire. Due to Covid-19 restrictions they have cleverly created a way of performing it using Zoom!

The Ullathorne family is now included on the family section, their claim to fame was William Ullathorne who was born in Market Place, Pocklington, on 7th May 1806 the eldest of ten children of a local grocer. His father, also William, came from a family of West Riding landed gentry that forfeited its estates to the claims of the Stuart insurrection in 1745. William senior became a shoemaker, then draper, before marrying and setting up in business in Pocklington. William Junior became a Roman Catholic missionary to Australia and first bishop of Birmingham. He was influential in securing the final abolition (1857) of the British system of transporting convicts to Australia.

Looking further back up the family tree, it is possible to trace this family to Sir Thomas More (pictured left) and even further back to William the Conquerer. The Buttle family of Pocklington also link in to this tree.

Read about the six sons of the Dykes family from Market Street, Pocklington, who all served for the king in the Great War, two of which won the Military Medal. Sergeant Fred Chapman Dykes, the third son, was also in the Territorial Force, and was called up when hostilities were begun, was sent to the front in April 1915. He was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field, going out under heavy shell fire and carrying a wounded officer to a place of safety. He was married, with two children, and before the war was employed in the waggon works at Horbury. Corporal Arthur Dykes, aged 26, joined the Territorial Force soon after the outbreak of war and went to the front with his brother Tom. He was awarded the Military Medal for his courageous work during the night of July 31st—August 1st 1917. Corporal Dykes, acting on instructions, took charge of a raiding party of 48 men, and came in contact with 160 of the enemy, armed with bombs, bayonets, and daggers. The enemy made an attack, which was met with great skill and daring. Cpl. Dykes led the men, and they used their bombs and bayonets to such good effect that the enemy were completely repulsed, a number of the party being left dead in No-Man's-Land. Their officer in charge was captured, and important documents seized. Corpl. Dykes was an old scholar of the Pocklington National School, of which Mr. A. Skinner was the head teacher. These stories and more can be read in "Adieu to Dear Old Pock" the book covering all soldiers from Pocklington and district who took part in ww1. It is available from Forth's stationers in the town or via online through eBay.

Paula Ware has given a 'virtual' talk to the Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society on the Pocklington Chariots. For a limited time her talk can be viewed here.

Fred Lee was a pioneer of Cinema in Pocklington. He build the first Cinema which was the Central Cinema in the town and obtained a kinematograph license in June 1912. His first film projector was lit using a gas lamp but switched a few months later to electric. He suffered a premature death in 1918 from Pneumonia and a massive funeral was held in Pocklington to acknowledge the town entrepreneur.

Another family research page has been created and a family page created by Rick Hagyard of Canada has been rescued after its disappearance. Rick found and published many early Hagyard from Pocklington family wills. Some of the branch then emigrated to Ontario and Manitoba in Canada. Rick has recently contacted me and provided another old photograph for the web page.

Kay and Edwards haulage company were started in 1955 out of the balk Pocklington and were dissolved in 1996 after moving to Full Sutton Industrial Estate. It is still fondly remembered in Pocklington for employment of delivery drivers in the area.

Pocklington history's contribution to 'Black History Month' is Sergeant Lincoln Orville Lynch DFM , an air gunner serving with No 102 Squadron, Royal Air Force, photographed wearing his flying kit by the rear turret of a Handley Page Halifax at Pocklington. Lynch, from Jamaica, volunteered for service in the RAF in 1942, and in 1943 won the Air Gunner's trophy for obtaining the highest percentage of his course during his training in Canada. On his first operational flight with No 102 Squadron he shot down a German Junkers Ju 88.

The 2020 AGM was finally held after a delay due to Coronavirus. It was meant to be held last April but was postponed to October 2020 and like other meetings that have to take place in the middle of a pandemic, it had to be a virtual meeting. It was open to all and we still had a good attendance with some using the new technology for the first time.The full report is available on the news items, but the main outcome was the present committee was re-elected and a summary of the past 18 months was provided by Andrew Sefton.

Canon Noel Duckworth (left) was Chaplain of Pocklington School from 1958-61. He was an Olympic rowing cox and Japanese Prisoner of War in World War 2 and who served in 2-Cambs regiment and who also appeared on 'This is Your Life'. He gave a remarkable speech recording his ordeal which was broadcast on the BBC and a transcript survives and was given on the eve of the official Japanese surrender in Singapore on 12th Sept 1945.

Flight Lieutenant John J Blair DFC (right) was born in 1919 in Jamaica. In 1941, at the age of 22 he volunteered for service in the RAF and was enlisted into Bomber Command. Following training in Canada, he joined 102 Squadron as a Navigator at RAF Pocklington. This is a link to a video made by Mark Johnson the great-nephew of John Jellicoe Blair, one of almost 500 Black Caribbean air crew in the RAF during the Second World War.

"Clegg’s People" was a Yorkshire Television series made in the early 1980's. In this episode Michael Clegg interviews three people working in Yorkshire in different artistic fields about their work. For his third interview, Clegg visits the Arts Centre in Pocklington. The Pocklington Cinema shows a film has just finished screening and the curtains go up to reveal the collection of penny arcadia, old slot-machines, collected by John Gresham. One of the machines shows an English execution, and Gresham shows others in action, with a young woman assistant winding one of the machines. Gresham gives an account of their history and how he came to acquire the objects 12 years previously, which held 333 machines. He states that 100 of these are on show, dating between 1886 and 1939, some possibly earlier. The first one he acquired was a space invader machine. Together they look at more of the collection, including a football game from 1896, the first of its kind, and an acrobat, an American execution and a Chinese torture. Some were collected from the father of Alice and Evelyn Dennison from Leeds, including a What the Butler Saw. After the Arcadia closed in 1994, the collection was sold to an American Greg McLemore in 2004 who now exhibits the machines in Pasedena, California, USA. In the film Fast Forward to 14m 40s to see Pocklington.

Further additions to the district information has been added which includes the Hearth Tax 1672-73 for Seaton Ross and the Trade Directories for 1892-1909 for Melbourne, Storwood and Thornton.

York Archaeological Trust conservation project to protect important Pocklington Iron Age burial objects is now complete.

The York Archaeological Trust (YAT) has been working on the chariot and other grave goods discovered on the Persimmon Homes development. Excavations at the site by MAP Archaeological Practice in Malton Paula Ware, managing director of MAP Ltd, said: “The upright horses were positioned in motion, as though leaping upwards out of the grave. “The skeleton of the ‘warrior’ man was placed in a crouched position in the bed of the chariot with a remarkably well-preserved bronze shield, and a beautiful decorated enamelled brooch.” The corroded and fragile nature of the items meant that field conservation techniques such as the use of plaster bandages and block lifting, as well as very careful handling, were employed to lift the objects safely and transfer them to the conservation laboratory for further work.

See Geoff Sheasby's inspiring Yorkshire Day Speech

The forgotten faces of Pocklington - Michael Tayleure photographed many people of Pocklington in his portrait studio in the town in Victorian times. They survive by surfacing many years later from house clearances and auction sites. They have no names, they are forgotten people. No one alive today knows who they are. So, encourage everyone to write a name on the back of a photograph so that future generations will know their identity.

Phil Gilbank is an expert on Pocklington's Catholic Heritage and has researched the long history Pocklington has had with the Catholic faith. Pocklingtonians have always been a rebellious lot and usually chose the losing side in national events. Examples include 'The Pilgrimage of Grace' and 'The English Civil War. But Phil gets hold of the story in typical scrum down fashion and tackles a complicated story with accomplishment. His talk has been made into a video using his original presentation slides.

Old Family Group Photographs is a new section added to the web site. The Moor family of Barmby Moor were a significant family in the area and probably the best known descendant being Denis Moor who had the electrical shop in Pocklington. Their farm was Barmby Grange which was later the location of Pocklington Airfield and Pocklington Industrial Estate.

Next is the Smithson family of St. John's Lodge Pocklington with the oldest certified family photograph taken by Michael Tayleure in 1874. Lastly, the family of William Johnson of Pocklington with another very early group photograph.

Jenifer Roberts has written a new book called "Where the Wind Blows" which includes information of the Rudston family of Hayton. Jenifer describes the book as "An enthralling family saga told through a remarkable collection of letters written by members of a family divided through emigration and tragedy. It is a fascinating story of one family's journey through the 19th century begins in the wheat fields of Lincolnshire, moves through Australia, Ireland and the Atlantic Ocean, and ends in a crumbling sandstone monument on the north Yorkshire coast." The book is available on Amazon.

A well remembered Pocklington beat group of the 60's 'Roy and the Zeroes'.

Beatlemania in the 1960's inspired many pop bands to start up a pop or rock band. All that was needed was drum set, a bass guitar, an electric guitar and a singer with a mop of hair!.

The Pocklington area had a few bands in the 60's and 70's and we explore the music and the people of the time.

Bands remembered included 'The Targets' (Pocklington), 'The Strangers' (Barmby Moor), 'The Corvettes' (Seaton Ross), 'The Zeroes' (Pocklington), 'Jason and the Argonauts' (Barmby Moor), 'Sons of Witch' (Pocklington), 'The Rocking Helliots' (Pocklington), the folk band 'Prussian Blue' (Bishop Wilton) and the Bluegrass band 'The Crocker Brothers' (Millington).

The Oaks, was run on Saturday 4th July 2020 at Epsom and took place on the same day as The Derby for the first time. Phil Gilbank writes of the ancient associations of thoroughbred horse racing in the Pocklington area and some of the local characters involved.

Next is an intriguing story of Spanish Republicans, who as part of the Free French, congregated in the East Riding of Yorkshire in 1944 and stayed in Pocklington prior to the D-Day landings.Rafael Gomez Nieto - the last survivor of 'La Neuve', the company of Spanish republican soldiers that lived and trained in Pocklington before going on to be the first troops to liberate Paris in August 1944, has recently died aged 99. Another victim of the deadly CoronaVirus. People in Pocklington knew him as Ralph Gomez.

A talk was given by the Pocklington and District Local History Group Chairman Phil Gilbank in Thixendale in October 2019 and has been made into a video.

Unknown photographs for recognition. If you know any of the people on these local photographs please contact me.

The (left) photograph was taken in Warter in the 1930's. Possibly at Warter Priory. We would be grateful if anyone could recognise the occasion, give it an accurate date, and identify any names.The (right) photograph is a reunion of WW1 veterans in Pocklington.

We explore the mystery of the Warter Priory relic 'The hand of Saint James'. This relic possessed powerful healing properties, and performed miracle cures throughout the twelfth century. Warter Priory ran St. Giles' hospital in Beverley and no doubt attempted to heal many pilgrims on their way to visit the tomb of St John in Beverley Minster. But Reading Abbey also possessed a hand of St. James, so the mystery deepens. (Left: the hand of St. James in St. Peters R.C. Church, Marlow).

Pocklington hopefully will have a new Vicar for All Saints Church soon, so we felt it was time to revisit and update the list of Vicars which goes back to 1349. Phil Gilbank has done some research to unearth some missing incumbents and the list of vicars board in the church may need to be revised. Right: The last Vicar of Pocklington, the Rev. Geoffrey Hollingsworth.

Due to popular request, WARTER has been added to PocklingtonHistory.com. We have traditionally tried to stick to the old Harthill Wapentake (Wilton Beacon Division) as our area of coverage for the Pocklington and District Local History Group. However, it is clear that we have had to add further parishes as these places still have an affinity to the town and the town in turn views them as local villages.

Warter is also such an interesting local place with the history of the Priory ancient and modern, and it contains, very close to Pocklington, The Yorkshire Wolds Heritage Centre in Warter Church. The first items to be added include the Bulmers directory for 1892, a Gallery of Photographs, Saint James Church, the 1844 Tithe Apportionment, the History of Warter with the web page designed to be used as an educational resource.

Also added is the excavation report of Warter Priory from a victorian antiquary W.H. St. John Hope who explored the site of the old priory destroyed in the reformation. The pre-reformation survey of the priory is included complete with Yorkshire accent!

Also, (see left), an old print has been discovered by Phil Gilbank of Kilnwick Percy, one of the earliest images we have of it.

Rafael Gomez Nieto - the last survivor of 'La Neuve', the company of Spanish republican soldiers that lived and trained in Pocklington before going on to be the first troops to liberate Paris in August 1944, we are saddened to report has died of Coronavirus aged 99. People in Pocklington knew him as Ralph Gomez.

Another Tithe Map apportionment has been completed by John Nottingham and Mike Silburn this time for the parish of Bolton. We thank John and Mike for their continuing work on these maps. Also added is the Bulmers 1892 trade directory entry for Bishop Wilton and Bolton. An interesting recent lecture has appeared on YouTube given by Dr Peter Halkon, the recognised authority on the early East Riding of Yorkshire.

* Coronavirus COVID-19 update *

Our Chairman, Phil Gilbank, has issued the following statement (01/04/2020):

You will hardly be surprised that due to the current pandemic the Pocklington & District Local History Group will have to postpone its 2019-20 Annual General Meeting and review of the year scheduled for April 16.

While we are careful to manage the group's affairs appropriately and in line with our constitution, nevertheless, our AGM has usually been low key with election of officers and the annual accounts invariably approved without dispute. The local history year of 2019-20 has produced many highlights and achievements and it is a shame that its finale of final two meeting cannot happen, but all the indications are that the year end position is once again sound and acceptable.

We had already arranged another wide ranging and hopefully interesting programme of talks and events for the coming year, which will clearly need to be on hold until the local and national position is safer and clearer. We will publicise what and when we are able to resume meetings in 2020-21, and we should then be able to add on 2019-20 AGM matters in retrospect.

If anyone, has any local history news, information, research or discovered items and artefacts, please contact Andrew Sefton as he will be delighted to share it via the website which we will continue to update and expand.

Finally, stay well and stay safe; perhaps local historians can get today's horrific events into perspective better then most - after all Pocklington has previously endured and come through plagues in the Bronze Age, C14th and C17th, cholera in C19th and Spanish 'Flu in C20th. As Harry S Truman said in the 1950s: "There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know".

Melbourne has been added to the website with an enclosure map from John Nottingham and Mike Silburn, a transcription of the Bulmers 1892 trade directory and some old photographs of the village.

In 1936 a pupil in Seaton Ross school wrote "Perhaps one of the greatest improvements to the village of Seaton Ross is the Bus Service". Everingham Bros. of Pocklington introduced a service to all the villages to the south and west of Pocklington including Seaton Ross, Melbourne, Sutton on Derwent and Elvington.

On the 20th November 2014, Jim and Margaret Ainscough gave a talk on a wartime Evacuee from Hull who had vivid memories of the town. He gave Jim a description of a walk around Pocklington when departing the train at Pocklington Station.

A new book, ‘The Arras Culture of Eastern Yorkshire – Celebrating the Iron Age’, has been published with local expert, Peter Halkon, as its editor. Following Paula Ware's successful sell out event in Pocklington on the 19th February, Paula and Peter Halkon will be jointly presenting "Chariots In The Landscape Of Iron Age East Yorkshire" - featuring the spectacular recent discoveries at Pocklington, it was due to be held at Hull University at 6.30pm on March 25th, but due to COVID-19 restrictions has been postponed. Entrance is free, but attendees must register on Eventbrite. Peter will have copies of his book available for purchase.

John Snell from Pocklington, sentenced to death at York assizes in 1816 for stealing a gun, a side of bacon and other articles from William Cook of Newton upon Derwent but his sentence was commuted to transportation to Australia.

He was then transported for a Life sentence aboard the ship 'Almorah', one of 180 convicts in April 1817 and arrived in Sydney on 29th August 1817 and from there transported to Van Diemen's Land penal colony aboard the ship 'Pilot'.

John Smith of Bielby was one of a group of self taught mathematicians and amateur astronomers from the Pocklington area and who all were friends and associates in the 1820's.

Donkey Races were a common event in Pocklington and usually held on the rugby ground, which must have had consequences for the pitch! An old schedule has been found for 1952 to add to the ones already on the site for 1964 and 1965.

Pocklington Wills and Inventories have been added to the site. These were originally transcribed by David Neave but put into spreadsheet form by Roger Bellingham. All the wills and inventories can be consulted in original form at the Borthwick Institute for Archives at York University.

Pocklington and District Local History Group in conjunction with Woldgate School, are raising money for the publication of a book on the history of the school. Following on from the success of the 60th anniversary of its founding, it was felt by the organisers of the event that a book should be created recording the history of the school and preserving the memories of its staff and pupils. The organisers and editors of the book will be ex-headmaster John Brown and Jane Henley committee members of Pocklington and District Local History Group. Any person donating £10 or more will get their name mentioned in the book as a sponsor. Any surplus monies will go to the Woldgate School fabric fund. The link to sponsor the production of the book is here: GoFundme Woldgate Book

Fangfoss 1845 Tithe Apportionment	Kilnwick Percy 1839 Tithes	Thornton 1845 Tithe Apportionment

Thanks to more great work from Mike Silburn and John Nottingham we have the plotted maps of land ownership and occupancy using the Tithe Maps for Fangfoss Parish, Kilnwick Percy Parish and Thornton Parish. Very useful for understanding where your ancestors held land in 1839 and 1845. Click on the maps above to go to the full detail.

Pocklington's Heritage Beanfeast proved to be a resounding success with 170 people packing into Burnby Hall for an evening of food, drink, music and an archaeology lecture, all with a Celtic twist, plus a pop-up museum of local artefacts. The event was in aid of efforts to turn Burnby Hall into a community and heritage centre that could house the internationally important archaeology found recently in Pocklington.

For more information on the evening <click here>.

John Nottingham and Mike Silburn have extended their researches into the enclosure acts and tithes apportionments in the local area and have produced a map and associated table for the parish and village of Burnby as at 1849, listing the landowners and their then tenants. We are grateful to John and Mike for their meticulous work in producing these local tithe and enclosure maps which are so useful for local and family history.

New Article on the Robson family of Pocklington

This new article on the Robsons of Pocklington was written by the late John Alan Robson who died in 2018. His daughters have given their kind permission to reproduce his extensive research.

Part of his family research focused on Thomas Robson (Solicitor of Pocklington) who lost 3 sons during the time of the first world war, two of which are mentioned in despatches for their bravery; Lt. Col. Frederick William Robson DSO and Captain Edward Moore Robson MC. The third son Richard Robson (pictured here), a solicitor in London, died in 1918 from a long standing heart condition. A multiple tragedy for the family was compounded by the death of Eva, Thomas Robson's wife in 1915.

Yapham and Meltonby Tithes apportionment for 1844

John Nottingham and Mike Silburn have again combined forces to produce a very complex map and associated table showing the 1844 Tithes Apportionment for Yapham and Meltonby.

Hasn't Pocklington grown!

Pocklington residents and visitors alike will be well aware of the extensive, ongoing residential housing developments within the town and especially around the outskirts.

John Nottingham has produced a composite map to illustrate just how much our market town of Pocklington has expanded over the last century or so.

Click on the map (left) to view the changes in just 100 years,

Stephen Caunce gave a talk to the Pocklington and District Local History group on Thursday 21st March, 2019 entitled "The Highlight of the Rural Year: The Agricultural Hiring Fairs of East Yorkshire, 1890-1925.". In addition to this, Stephen kindly provided an article to accompany his talk on Martinmas Hull Hiring Fair.

Another mammoth task has been completed by John Nottingham and Mike Silburn for the Bishop Wilton Enclosure map for 1772.
The sheer number of closes within the parish area, often only 1-2 acres in size and many more than in other local villages, means the map is far more detailed than usual.

To view the map click the link below, followed by the View Full Screen Link to see it in full detail :-

Bishop Wilton Enclosure 1772

The Ogle family were brickmakers in Melbourne and one branch in 1830 led by Henry Ogle emigrated to Maryland in the USA taking their brickmaking skills with them and built the local church there (pictured right). Henry's descendants have contacted decendents of the family still in this locality to exchange information.

More local bricks have been found with names embedded on the frogs. These include a 'Sykes' brick found in Sledmere and a brick possibly used as a drain brick and spelt in the Yorkshire way as "Dreain". J N P was most likely a brick made by "John Nottingham Pocklington" who was running the Burnby Lane 'White Brick Works' in 1879.

Another map has been created showing Millington 1771 Enclosure & 1843 Tithes Apportionment.

In the mid-1800s. Dr Frederick Gruggen (the then Headmaster of Pocklington Grammar School) consolidated, extended, improved and mapped the school's land holdings during his headship. A map has been created using the unique map in the possession of Pocklington school on Pocklington School Land Ownership in 1862.

The Everingham Family of Pocklington. Entrepreneurs who established many businesses in Pocklington. John T. Everingham was a master tailor and outfitter and his sons were pioneers of the Motor Cycle. John's son Wycliffe Galland Everingham established the garage still there today (as a filling station) on the corner of Barmby Road and George Street, Wycliffe created the first electrical business in the town, and also John's sons Irwin and Sydney established the Everingham Brothers bus service.

Pocklington strays now has an entry on the west coast of Ireland in County Mayo on the remote island of Achill. Edward Weddall was born in Burnby in 1844. He went to sea to become a ship's captain and late in life, his second marriage was to Emily, an irish nurse he met in France whilst recovering a tropical disease. They lived in Achill where Edward died. Emily wanted his gravestone to be a celtic cross which was objected to as a symbol of Irish Independance. Emily was a remarkable lady and fought the authorities to get her way and eventually became a champion of Irish Independance and a supporter of Sinn Fein.

Seaton Ross joins PocklingtonHistory.com !

The Seaton Ross Enclosure was quite late in 1814 but this new map also includes the 1851 Tithes apportionment together with all the names.

Bulmers trade directory for 1892 has also been transcribed. Read about one of Seaton Ross's most famous sons William Watson.




Pete Nelson started a topic in Pocklington Community Facebook with the words "They say that nostalgia isn't what it used to be" and proceeded to list the shops in Pocklington that he remembered, but which have disappeared. He sent me the list and a page has been created with links to a photograph. If you have any more you can provide, please send them to my email, and I will add them to the page.






The biggest map yet produced is for the Pocklington enclosure award for 1757 which links two maps, the second of which shows the Pocklington open field system upon which the award was made. The enclosure award allocates the ownership of the enclosed fields and garths to the individual people contained in the inset table. This is the culmination of many years of work by Roger Bellingham and latterly John Nottingham and we congratulate them both for their efforts and considerable achievement.


East Cottingwith joins PocklingtonHistory.com !
A new map depicts the subdivision of the outlying lands in the parish of East Cottingwith as allotted by the 1774 enclosure act, plus the various 'Close' (field) allotment owners listed in the table. The Village properties and garths have a seperate map to the parish enclosure for easier visiblity. Bulmers trade directory for 1892 has also been transcribed.

Bielby Parish Enclosure in 1817 depicts the subdivision of the outlying lands within the parish of Bielby, plus the properties within the village, allotted by the 1817 enclosure act. The various 'Close' (field) and property allotment owners' names are listed in the table.





Barmby Moor parish at various stages of its history from the late-1700s at enclosure time to the early 1900s. It shows the parish boundary in 1783, The 'Close' (field) boundaries as allotted in the 1783 enclosure act, and landowners and occupiers in the mid-1800s. If you have a piece of research to share please contact us.


Pocklington strays is new section on the website to record people from Pocklington and the area who have been buried away from the area but which their home place is mentioned on the monumental inscription.



A major piece of new research by John Nottingham and Mike Silburn is exclusively released on PocklingtonHistory.com. The Allerthorpe tithe apportionments for 1839 is now available to view. See which village properties and outlying fields your ancestors owned in 1839 in Allerthorpe parish.

Also, Pocklington Iron Age finds map has been updated to version 2.10.


Geoff Sheasby is Pocklington's current Town Crier. He has made a study of the history of Pocklington Bellmen (as they were commonly known).

In the first war the bellman had to warn the townsfolk when the gas was going off, and he was not always popular for doing so.




The rural East Riding's only World War 1 Victoria Cross winner, Harry Wood, was permanently commemorated in his home village on 13th October 2018. The Archbishop of York presided over a ceremony to honour the local hero at his birth place in Newton on Derwent. Members of his family unvieled the new permanent memorial to him in the village.

The young face of William Walker whose image appeared on the opening Saturday of the Pocklington Flower Festival - 'Remember Rejoice' brought in by his great nephew Robert Walker of Melbourne. Unfortunately the photograph was too late to be included in the new book for Pocklington and District on World War One which now is available for sale at ebay and local book stores. William Walker was wounded (shot in his thigh) at the Somme. He came back to England for recovery, and went back to the front only to be killed later at the Battle of Menin Road Ridge on 20th September 1917, aged 21.

The York Press have reviewed the book and conclude "Adieu to Dear Old Pock stands as a moving testament to that sacrifice."

The new WW1 book "ADIEU TO DEAR OLD POCK" is now available from local book stores. The above link also takes you to the book's surname index which means you can look up if your relative is included in the researched names.

The book is now available at:

W & C Forth, 13 Waterloo Lane, Pocklington.
Readwell & Wright Ltd., 69 Market Place, Pocklington.
Army Museum, 3A Tower St, York.
Burnby Hall Bookshop, Burnby Hall Gardens, The Balk, Pocklington.
Now also available at ebay

Good News !!!

Burnby Lane Archaeology dig has won "Rescue Project of the year" 2018 that is held by Current Archaeology magazine.

Congratulations to Paula Ware and her MAP Archaeology Team for a fantastic result. Also a big thank you for everyone who voted for our project. This will lead to a massive boost in our online petition, now with over 3800 signatures, and campaign to create a heritage facility in the town to store and display the finds. If you have not already done so, please Sign our Petition and also check out the Rescue Project of the year competition.

Can you identify this event in Pocklington? It may be a meeting of the Mothers Union and from the dress it could be taken in the 1940s. Can you name anyone on it, or provide a more accurate date then please let us know.



Woldgate School celebrated its 60th Anniversay of its opening this year and a photograph has been supplied of one its first classes. Class 1B of Miss Ulyatt in 1958.






To help with the idea of creating an Iron Age Museum and Heritage Centre, Pocklington Heritage Partnership (a collaboration of various groups) have created a district map to identify all the past Iron Age discoveries in the surrounding district. The surprising outcome is how extensive the finds are from the lowland and wolds escarpment areas together with the new large and substantial Cemetery found in the town at Burnby Lane makes Pocklington a logical place for a Museum to be situated.

The discovery of the lost Pocklington Council School Honours Board. Thanks to Paul Jennings this has now been found and rescued from a rubbish skip !


Bishop Wilton Local History Group was active between 2002 - 2012. It produced 20 bulletins of high quality research and information. They can now be purchased online and all revenues will go to Bishop Wilton Church. Visit the list of bulletins in the store.

** Update: Payment for the bulletins is now via Paypal


Arthur Barker of the Barker's Dairy family of Pocklington, recorded his recollections of growing up in Bielby and Pocklington and later being called up for active service during WW2 and to eventually receive the British Empire Medal.




Pocklington Council School girls with their teacher William Lamb and which looks from the style of clothes to be around 1910-1918 but would appreciate any feedback on specific date or any names you could provide.




Cockfighting was practiced in Pocklington since at least the seventeenth century. William Westoby, gent of Pocklington, left a Cock Pit in his will of 1707. By the 1820's public opinion was changing about banning the barbaric sport led by political leaders including William Wilberforce. Letters of protestation appeared in the papers and one in 1828 to the Yorkshire Gazette has been added to the web page.

Right: Alfred Summerson, a blacksmith's son who became a solicitor, was a leading contributor to the commercial and charitable life of Pocklington during the early years of the 20th Century and played a major role in the town during the First World War. Jim Ainscough has written a biography on this Pocklington solicitor who became a leading councillor on the Pocklington Urban District Council which was disbanded in 1935.

Left: Denis Moor interviewed earlier this year about his recollections of the Pocklington Canal, and diving in it when a member of the York sub-aqua club.

Obituaries: Pocklington & District Local History Group is sad to record the passing on Aug 18th of committeeman, Denis Moor aged 88, after a difficult battle with serious illness in the past couple of years. His funeral was on 1st Sept. 2017 at All Saints church. Denis was a talented electrical engineer who started out as an employee of Eric Lee's, and then set up his own business in Market Place where for decades he would repair anything and everything electrical. He was also a talented subaqua diver who dived to wrecks throughout Britain, and who recorded the underwater world of the Pocklington canal in a unique archive of hundreds of photographs that he recently deposited in the Treasure House. But Denis was perhaps best known in Pocklington for his stories about the town's people, places and events, from growing up in the 1930s, through the war years, including a favourite tale of being flown round the county by RAF Pocklington Squadron Leader Gus Walker in his personal plane, up to the present day. Denis' fund of stories was inexhaustible, and he loved telling them. His contribution to Pocklington's local history was recognised in April when he was made the History Group's first Life Member, and he told his tales to the end - he is pictured above being interviewed and filmed as part of the Pocklington Canal Heritage Project in July, when Denis added value to the archaeological dig into Robert Denison's warehouse site at Canal Head with his childhood reminiscences about playing in the warehouse ruins and learning to swim in the canal. Denis' demise follows on from the passing of another Pocklington man with a great knowledge of local history, Ken Durkin, who died in June. Though not an active member of the Local History Group, he nevertheless sought out and shared with us innumerable snippets and photographs about Pocklington history.

The last Pocklington 'Mummer' died in 1930. He was Christopher Scaife who used to perform the old plays at Christmas time and travelled around most of Yorkshire with a tradition that went back hundreds of years and with its origin in pagan times. If anyone has a photograph of Christopher Scaife please contact me. Also, the discovery of a 1940 Oak House Cinema programme in a Chimney !


More photographs received of Woldgate School in 1959 and also in 1961 and also Barmby Moor Carnival Queen from 1937. Recently added is the inside of Pocklington National school 1961. If you can add any names please contact us. Please send any photographs or school groups you would like to see added to this reference website for the town and district.

This year's 102 Squadron Association reunion saw a former RAF Pocklington pilot jet all the way from Australia to meet up for the weekend with three of his former World War II comrades. Ron Houghton, who lives in Sydney, was back in Pocklington for a week to take in the 102 Association reunion, based at the gliding club on the ex-WWII airfield, and visit some of his old haunts of over 70 years ago.

The cold war between powers in the Eastern Bloc (the Soviet Union and its satellite states) and powers in the Western Bloc (the United States, its NATO allies and others) was a sensitive time in the 1960's. Full Sutton Airfield had Thor Missiles installed and Elvington Airfield with Vulcan Bombers.


The story of the Wolds and Buckrose Spitfire is an inspirational story of a young Norwegian pilot who gave his life in the Battle of Britain flying a Spitfire partly bought by the people of Pocklington called the 'Wolds and Buckrose'.


Chariot discovered! - At the Burnby lane David Wilson Homes development, archaeologists have discovered the remains of an Iron Age Chariot with two horses. The discovery has been classified as of International Importance and a press release has been issued by David Wilson homes. If you have not signed our petition to keep the Burnby Lane Iron Age finds in Pocklington, please do so.

Allerthorpe School in 1920 group 2 class.
If you can add any names please contact us or have any school photographs to add to this website. Names to faces are always being added please keep checking the web pages.


Focus on Yapham:
A 1949 cricket team and 1954 cricket Team photograph. A 1960's WI meeting in Yapham School. Mr and Mrs Frear in their garden. Mr. Frear was a WW1 Wagoner.


Focus on Barmby Moor: A 1922 Barmby Moor School Photograph, an early Barmby Moor school group and a photograph of the very first Barmby Moor Carnival in 1935. A historical walk around Barmby Moor will take place on the evening of Thursday 29th June as part of our updated programme of events for the next year.

Please sign our petition to keep the Burnby Lane Archaeology finds in a heritage facility in Pocklington. The Pocklington and District Local History Group is leading a feasibilty study into the possibilities for this project and need to gauge support for the idea from the people of the town, If you agree sign the petition!

Left: an Iron Age Spear from the Parisi people who lived in the Pocklington area

The Nunburnholme Community Archaeology Project ran from 2014-2016 and included archaeology investigations on Nunburnholme Wold overlooking the village. The project involved locals from Nunburnholme, supported by other East Riding volunteers and led by Dr Peter Halkon, Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Hull who has strong links to Nunburnholme.

The project discovered evidence of activity at Nunburnholme from the Neolithic through to the Medieval periods, and included finds from an substantial Iron Age hilltop enclosure at Nunburnholme Wold. The Nunburnholme project can be viewed on their website .

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