Howden

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Howden (disambiguation)

Howden

Coordinates: 53.744111° N 0.863416° W
Population	3,810 (2001 Census^[1])
OS grid reference	SE749281
Parish	Howden
Unitary authority	East Riding of Yorkshire
Ceremonial county	East Riding of Yorkshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	GOOLE
Postcode district	DN14
Dial code	01430
Police	Humberside
Fire	Humberside
Ambulance	Yorkshire
UK Parliament	Haltemprice and Howden
European Parliament	Yorkshire and the Humber

Howden is a small market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies next to the M62, on the A614 road about three miles north of Goole and 17 miles south west of York. Howden holds a significant historic importance, William the Conqueror giving the town to the Bishops of Durham in 1080 ^[2]. The wapentake of Howdenshire was named after the town, the Bishops of Durham also owning the wapentake.

1 Early history
2 The ruin of Howden's Minster
3 Howden through the 1800s
4 Howden in the 20th century
5 Howden in the 21st century, and modernisation
6 Politics in Howden
7 See also
8 Notes and references
9 External links

[edit] Early history

One of the earliest recorded parts of Howden's history is King Edgar of England giving his first wife, Ethelfleda, Howden Manor in 959 AD ^[3], the beginnings of a long connection with the royal court of England.

In 1080, William the Conqueror gave the town, including its church, which would later become the minster, to the Bishop of Durham, who promptly conferred the church to the monks of Durham. However, he kept Howden Manor for himself. Records show that the church, was, at first, a rectory, but conflicting records also show that Hugh, Prior of Durham, was given a bull from Pope Gregory IX for appropriating this church towards the maintenance of 16 monks.^[4]

Howden's royal connections continued, when, in 1191, Prince John spent Christmas in Howden. Nine years later, John, now King of England, granted Howden the right to hold an annual fair. ^[3]

A view of the front of Howden Minster.

In 1228, work began on the current Howden Minster, though it was not to be finished until the 15th century when the chapter house and top of the tower was added by Bishop Walter de Skirlaw.

In the 14th and 25th centuries, Howden became a centre for pilgrims because of John of Howden's alleged miracles in the latter part of the 1200s. ^[5]

The most prolific of these tales was that John of Howden, at his funeral in 1275, raised his arms from his open coffin during his requiem mass to greet his host. As such, he has become regarded as a saint, though the Catholic Church has never made this official. Through the pilgrims, Howden received the money that it needed to complete the Minster, fulfilling John of Howden's prophecy that he would continue aiding the Minster from beyond the grave.

[edit] The ruin of Howden's Minster

Some of the original stones from the ruins of Howden Minster.

Henry VIII, in 1548 dissolved the Collegiate churches, Howden among them. During her reign, Elizabeth I gave the revenues of the Manor of Howden to local landowners. These landowners, however, refused to repair the choir of the church, ^[2] which, eventually, fell into ruin.

The minster fell into further ruin during the English Civil War, when the Parliamentarians used it as a stable during their stay on the way to lay siege to Wressle Castle. The troops damaged the interior extensively, destroying the organ, much of the wooden structures, and damaging some of the masonry. When leaving the town, it is said that they were playing the pipes of the organ like penny whistles ^[2].

On the night of 29 September, 1696, after nearly 150 years of neglect, the roof of the choir fell down. The minster ruins were left where they fell until 1748 when the site was cleared, and the townsfolk took them for their own. Many used the masonry as building stones ^[2].

[edit] Howden through the 1800s

In the early 1800s Howden became famous throughout Europe for its horse fair, held every September. In Georgian times, the fair was quoted in The Sporting Magazine in 1807 as being the largest fair for horses in the Kingdom. ^[6]

The fair, at its height, attracted all the principal horse dealers from every part of the United Kingdom. It is estimated that up to 4,000 horses were displayed for sale every day of the fair. It is estimated that the total worth of this kind of sale was £200,000. ^[6]

Representatives of the British Army attended the fair, and it is thought that Wellington's cavalry used horses bought at Howden in the Napoleonic Wars.

Howden's architecture is chiefly from the Georgian and Victorian era, most of the town centre exclusively being built in this period. Most of Howden's pubs were built during this time, and it is said that, at one point, there were more pubs in Howden, per square half mile than anywhere else in the country. ^[7]

The town was the scene of an early rail disaster which killed 5 passengers when a large iron casting fell from a wagon, and derailed the train. It was one of the first accidents to be investigated by the new Railway Inspectorate.

[edit] Howden in the 20th century

The plaque about Neville Shute on 78, Hailgate

In 1915, during the First World War, the British Admiralty needed to find a suitable site in the northeast of England for a new airship station, to protect the ports and ships from the threat of attack by German U-boats.

The Royal Naval Airship Station Howden opened in 1916. It not only provided protection for the shipping along the east coast, but also provided jobs for hundreds of civilians. This helped to turn round the town's fortunes, which had been suffering since the building of the port at nearby Goole, and the passing of the horse fairs.^[8]

Between wars, and then during the Second World War, the author Neville Shute worked in Howden for the Airship Guarantee Co, as part of the team that created the R100. While here, Shute worked alongside Barnes Wallis, the scientist and inventor of the bouncing bomb. Shute lived at number 78 Hailgate, and a plaque is now fixed to the house to commemorate this. ^[9]

Shute, however, is not always popular in Howden, because of what he wrote in his autobiography, Slide Rule: Autobiography of an Engineer:

The lads were what one would expect, straight from the plough, but the girls were an eye-opener. They were brutish and uncouth, filthy in appearance and in habits. Things may have changed since then — I hope they have. Perhaps the girls in very isolated districts such as that had less opportunity than their brothers for getting in to the market and making contact with civilization; I can only record the fact that these girls straight off the farms were the lowest types that I have ever seen in England, and incredibly foul-mouthed.

- Slide Rule: Autobiography of an Engineer, Neville Shute, 1954.

In 1932 Howden Minster's renovations were completed, and the minster's bells now chimed every 15 minutes, a tradition that continues to this day.

A view of Howden town centre, with the Minster in the background.

It is popularly believed that on the night of 24 June 1954 the historian A.J.P. Taylor spent the night at the Wellington Hotel, and that he broke a water jug and a shaving mirror while staying there. However, this is untrue, as Taylor spent the night at the Bowman’s Hotel, next door to the Wellington. It is also untrue that he broke the jug and mirror. Instead, he broke his wrist falling from the unusually high bed.^[10]

In the latter part of the mid 20th century, two banks and a Co-op, the town's largest grocery store, opened, giving the people of Howden a more convenient infrastructure.

[edit] Howden in the 21st century, and modernisation

The main offices of the Press Association in Howden on Bridgegate.

In late 2003 The Press Association (PA) completed building work on what it calls its 'Operations Centre', despite notable opposition from the residents of Howden, and it stands on the site of the old Georgian Police Station. This left Howden without a police presence in the town until late 2005. The building was officially opened by the Prince of Wales, continuing Howden's relations with the Royal Family.

PA employs several hundred employees, most of which have been brought into the town from Leeds and London, at this building and others in the town. The local public transport facilities have proved inadequate for many staff who commute, as much of the work is done round the clock. This has led to considerable strain being put on Howden's parking facilities, leading to the creation of a Controlled Parking Zone embracing most of the central area of the town.

Recently, online retailer Ebuyer.com also relocated their Headquarters from Sheffield to Howden. Their vast warehouse and office building is on Ferry Road, close to Howdendyke.

Plans for the further development of Howden include a permanent set of traffic lights, more housing, an industrial estate and a larger grocery store to be built on the disused 'United Carriers' site.

Howden Minster currently is going through another renovation, with the aid of English Heritage. The Minster hopes to raise £300,000 in the next two years ^[2].

Howden was recently featured in The Times newspaper's top 20 list of places with the best standard of living in the UK. ^[11]

[edit] Politics in Howden

The parliamentary seat of Howden and Haltemprice is currently held by David Davis (as of 2006), the Shadow Home Secretary. The civil parish of Howden had a population of 3,810, according to the 2001 UK census. The civil parish also includes North Howden and part of Boothferry.

The current Howden town councillor is Mark Preston, of the Conservative Party.