Skipwith is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

about north-east of

Selby Selby is a market town and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse, with a population at the 2011 census of 14,731. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until ...

and south-east of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...

in the

Selby District Selby District is a local government district of North Yorkshire, England. The local authority, Selby District Council, is based in the town of Selby. The Local Authority had a population of 83,449 at the 2011 Census. The southernmost dist ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four cou ...

, England. Until the 1974 local government reorganisation Skipwith was part 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 t ...

Manor

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 ...

records that by 1086 Robert de Stutville held a

carucate The carucate or carrucate ( lat-med, carrūcāta or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different form ...

of land at Skipwith. His family held a manor here until 1229, when it passed to Hugh Wake by his marriage to Joan de Stutville. In 1325 it passed to

Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent (5 August 130119 March 1330), whose seat was Arundel Castle in Sussex, was the sixth son of King Edward I of England, and the second by his second wife Margaret of France, and was a younger half-brother ...

by his marriage to

Margaret Wake, 3rd Baroness Wake of Liddell Margaret Wake, ''suo jure'' 3rd Baroness Wake of Liddell and Countess of Kent (c. 1297 – 19 September 1349), was the wife of Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent, the youngest surviving son of Edward I of England and Margaret of France.Marsh ...

. It remained with his heirs until 1418, a decade after their line became extinct with the death of

Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent, 5th Baron Holand, KG (6 January 1383 15 September 1408) was the Earl of Kent from 1400 to 1408. He was the 106th Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1403. Edmund was born in Brockenhurst, Hampshire, the second ...

in 1408.

Churches

Church of England

The oldest parts of the

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

of Saint Helen are

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...

. The west tower began as a porch, but in the 11th century upper stages were added to turn it into a tower. The tower is linked with the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

by a characteristic Saxon plain Romanesque round arch, so the

must also have originally been Saxon. A Norman north

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...

of two

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

was added to the nave in about 1190, linked with the nave by an arcade of pointed arches. This was followed by the south aisle, whose arcade has octagonal columns. The nave and aisles were then extended eastwards with the addition of a third bay. The present

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. ...

was built about 1300. It is lofty and has large, square-headed windows with

Decorated Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed ar ...

tracery. The chancel windows were glazed with medieval stained glass, fragments of which survive. In the 15th century the tower was raised again with the addition of a new bell-stage above the 11th-century Saxon one. In the 16th century, possibly after the English Reformation, a

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper ...

was added to the nave and new square-headed windows were inserted in the north aisle. In 1821–22 the Gothic Revival south porch was added, and in 1877 the church was carefully restored under the direction of

John Loughborough Pearson John Loughborough Pearson (5 July 1817 – 11 December 1897) was a British Gothic Revival architect renowned for his work on churches and cathedrals. Pearson revived and practised largely the art of vaulting, and acquired in it a proficienc ...

. Notably, the south door was replaced but re-using its original 13th-century ironwork. St Helen's is now a

Grade I 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 Ire ...

. St Helen's parish is now part of a joint

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

with the parish of Bubwith with Ellerton and

Aughton Aughton may refer to several places in England: * Aughton, East Riding of Yorkshire * Aughton, Lancashire, a parish in the borough of West Lancashire * Aughton, Lancaster, a hamlet in the civil parish of Halton-with-Aughton, Lancashire * Aughton, ...

Methodist

Two families in Skipwith were Methodists by 1764. The village's Methodists worshipped in each other's homes until 1833, when a Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built. In the 1860s the Vicar of St Helen's claimed that 300 or 400 of the villagers were Methodists. In 1876 the first chapel was replaced with a larger brick one next to the parish school. The chapel is now Skipwith Methodist Church. It is a member of the

Goole Goole is a port town and civil parish on the River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town's historic county is the West Riding of Yorkshire. According to the 2011 UK census, Goole parish had a population of 19,518, an increa ...

and

Methodist Circuit The organisation of the Methodist Church of Great Britain is based on the principle of connexionalism. This means that British Methodism, from its inception under John Wesley (1703–1791), has always laid strong emphasis on mutual support, in ...

Historic secular buildings

The Drovers' Arms, York Road, Skipwith - geograph

Skipwith Hall is early in the 18th century house of seven bays and two and a half storeys, flanked by a three-bay wing on each side. It is now 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 Ire ...

. A school and schoolmaster's house built in 1714, founded and endowed by the bequest of a Dorothy Wilson. In the 1851 its pupils included 11 boarders, and in the 1860s a separate classroom for girls was added. In 1871 the school had 54 pupils but in 1872 this fell to only 30. From the 1900s to the 1930s the school averaged 30–40 pupils, but in 1938 this had declined to 26. In 1957 the school was closed and its pupils were transferred to Thorganby. Since 1959 the school has served as the village hall. south-west of the village is the site of

RAF Riccall RAF Riccall is a former Royal Air Force airfield located north east of Selby, North Yorkshire and south west of Elvington, North Yorkshire, England. History The airfield was opened in September 1942 as a satellite to RAF Marston Moor. It ...

, a training airfield that was a heavy bomber conversion unit in the Second World War. The site is now a national nature reserve known as Skipwith Common.

Amenities

Skipwith has a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

, the Drovers Arms, which is now a

gastropub A gastropub or gastro pub is a pub that serves gourmet comfort food. The term was coined in the 1990s, though similar brewpubs existed during the 1980s. Etymology The term ''gastropub'' (derived from gastronomy) was coined in 1991, when Dav ...

References

Sources and further reading

* *

External links

Skipwith Parish CouncilFriends of Skipwith Common
{{Authority control Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Selby District Villages in North Yorkshire