Bellasize is a

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

and former

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, now in the parish of

Blacktoft Blacktoft is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The village is situated on the north bank of the River Ouse, Yorkshire, River Ouse, west from where it joins the River Trent and becom ...

, in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

, England. It is situated approximately east of the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

Howden Howden () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of York to the north of the M62 motorway, M62, on the A614 road about south-east of York and north of Goole, ...

. In 1931 the parish had a population of 122.

History

The name of the hamlet derives from the French meaning ''beautiful seat (belle + assis, belasis, belasyse)'', and has the same derivation as Belsize. Historically in the wapentake and liberty of

Howdenshire Howdenshire was a wapentake and a liberty of England, lying around the town of Howden in the East Riding of Yorkshire. In the Anglo-Saxon period, the district was under the control of Peterborough's monastery, but it was confiscated by Edward ...

. Bellasize was formerly a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in the parish of

Eastrington Eastrington is a small village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately to the east of Howden and south east of York. The civil parish is formed by the village of Eastrington and the hamlets of ...

, from 1866 Bellasize was a civil parish in its own right, on 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Blacktoft, Eastrington and Laxton, part also went to form

Gilberdyke Gilberdyke is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately south-east of York and west of Hull. Gilberdyke lies near to Howden which is away. It lies on the B1230 road, south of the M62 ...

RAF Bellasize

Fields to the south of the village were used by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(and the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

) as RAF Bellasize between 1916 and 1919, and 1939–1945. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the site was used by No.s 31 and 76 Squadrons in the Home Defence role. During this period, it was noted that the site was prone to flooding from the nearby River Ouse. It was pressed back into service during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a relief landing ground for No. 4 Elementary Flying Training School, who were based at nearby Brough airfield (to the east). The site had a grass runway which extended to .

References

* Villages in the East Riding of Yorkshire Former civil parishes in the East Riding of Yorkshire {{EastRiding-geo-stub