Cowlam is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

in the Cottam

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

of the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

, England, and in the Yorkshire Wolds. The hamlet is on the B1253 Bridlington to

North Grimston North Grimston is a village in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It was historically part of the East Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. It is situated between Norton-on-Derwent and Wharram-le-Street on the B1248 road. It is pa ...

road, north from the

county town In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...

Beverley Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...

, east from the village of

Sledmere Sledmere is a village in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, about north-west of Driffield on the B1253 road. The village lies in a civil parish which is also officially called "Sledmere" by the Office for National Statistics, although th ...

, and north-west from the parish hamlet of Cottam. The hamlet contains eight houses and two farms."Cowlam"
''The Villages of the Yorkshire Wolds'', Driffield Online. Retrieved 23 March 2019

History

Older names for the settlement were 'Colume' and 'Coleham', and the ''

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

'' lists the

manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

as 'Colnun'. Cowlam in 1066 was in the Hundred of Toreshou, of eighteen geld units—taxable units assessed by hide area—and contained 5.6 households and three ploughlands. In 1066 the lordship was held by Ketilbert, who held thirteen manors in the north of Yorkshire. Cowlam was transferred in 1086 directly to king

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...

. Cowlam was previously a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

encampment, evidenced by

earthworks Earthworks may refer to: Construction *Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour * Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil *Earthworks (military), m ...

, from the hamlet, and a later medieval village that was deserted in the late 17th century. The church of St Mary at Cowlam is one of the churches on the

Sykes Churches Trail The Sykes Churches Trail is a tour of East Yorkshire churches which were built, rebuilt or restored by the Sykes family of Sledmere House in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The tour was devised by the East Yorkshire Historic Churches Group ...

. It is a small medieval church with a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

, and was restored in 1852 to a design by Mary E. Sykes, daughter of

Sir Tatton Sykes, 4th Baronet Sir Tatton Sykes, 4th Baronet (1772–1863) was an English landowner and stock breeder, known as a patron of horse racing. Life A younger brother of Sir Mark Masterman Sykes, he was educated from 1784 at Westminster School. Matriculating at Bras ...

. The living of the parish was held by the family of

Barnard Foord Bowes Barnard Foord Bowes or Barnard Bowes Foord (7 July 1769 – 23 June 1812) commanded a British brigade in several battles during the Peninsular War. He joined the 26th Foot Regiment as a junior officer in 1781 and rose in rank by purchase to beco ...

. In 1966 the church was designated a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and is now recorded in the National Heritage List for England, maintained by Historic England.

References

External links

* * Deserted medieval villages in the East Riding of Yorkshire Hamlets in the East Riding of Yorkshire {{EastRiding-geo-stub