The Growth and Development Of Driffield
by Mike Wynn
Location
Driffield is located centrally within the East Riding of Yorkshire and at the junction of two contrasting topographic areas. The Yorkshire Wolds form an arc from Flamborough Head westwards then southwards to the River Humber attaining a maximum height of 246 metres (808 feet) on Garrowby Hill. The Wolds are crossed by numerous steep sided dry valleys which widen out eastwards as the hills decline in height. Holderness is a low lying undulating area of glacially deposited boulder clay traversed by the River Hull from north to south in a broad alluvial valley. The Wolds chalk is very porous so the landscape is dry whereas Holderness clay is very wet. Since the middle ages Holderness has gradually been drained. At the point where the lower slopes of the chalk wolds meet the clays of Holderness and a series of broad gravel floored valleys coalesce and many springs emerge to give rise to chalk streams that form the headwaters of the River Hull, Driffield is sited. The site described on the lower chalk slopes and gravel terraces with a pure, clean, reliable water supply would be very attractive for any group of people who wished to inhabit the country or for permanent settlement at some date.
Early occupation of the landscape
Although the town itself is Anglian in origin there is much evidence indicating the area was occupied from earlier times. There is limited evidence for Neolithic and early Bronze Age people from small finds of pottery and only their burial barrows remain on the Wolds. Later Bronze Age people created an agricultural landscape with long distance earthworks and enclosed settlements. From about 500 B.C. to A.D. 70 Iron Age people extended the network of land blocks and trackways creating a highly organised system of land use. Dikes enclosed the landscape, there were fields, roundhouses and living areas, cemeteries (including chariot burials) and trackways. There was significant rural settlement by the time of the Roman occupation and this continued until the early third century. Roman villa settlements became the focal point of large arable agricultural estates. At a few locations continuity of settlement from late Roman to Anglo Saxon can be proved but elsewhere the villa estates deteriorated and evidence for people and settlement disappears for centuries.
Development of the Townships Post Roman to 1086
It appears early Anglo Saxon villages were sited where they could take advantage of a variety of resources i.e. both wold land and wet land and Driffield could be one of these places. It may have been an estate used by the royal house of Northumbria and there are also many saxon burials to the west. ‘Mother’ churches recorded by the Domesday Book may indicate places such as Driffield had a role as a territorial centre, sited on the edge of the wolds but using the higher chalkland for extensive pasture. Later villages were found across the wolds and by the tenth century East Yorkshire was ruled over by Scandinavian kings based in York. Evidence indicates the mediaeval fields were laid out at this time.
Domesday Book and Early Middle Ages
The Domesday Book records that Great Driffield had four outlying settlements: Kilham, Little Driffield, Elmswell and Kelleythorpe and that the manor extended over 54 square miles. It had four water mills and two churches. All this indicated that Driffield had become an important place by the Norman conquest but rebellions in 1067 and 1069 led to the area being laid waste. A castle was built in the early eleventh century at the north end of town on Moot Hill and possibly a hall on the opposite side of the stream in North End Park.
From the mid twelfth century recovery takes place; markets and fairs are held and both churches have much rebuilding. All Saints, Great Driffield is twelfth century in origin (1170 to 1200) but there was probably a Norman church built previously in the early twelfth century. The church does have a few pieces of Anglo Saxon moulding in the tower ringing chamber. The 112 foot tower was built 1436 to 1450. In Little Driffield St. Mary’s church has an ancient origin with some Saxon stones surviving. It was once much larger, still has Norman stone work in the lower tower and underwent two Victorian restorations.
Later Middle Ages
However the later middle ages saw a significant decline in the occupation of the landscape, primarily because of the Black Death in 1349 which continued due to subsequent outbreaks until the 1360s; land was abandoned, villages became hamlets and some places were totally abandoned including Sunderlandwick, Pockthorpe, Battleburn and Eastburn. This depopulation of villages was a widespread phenomenon and the land became pastoral. There were also extensive rabbit warrens near Driffield in the seventeenth and eighteenth century, vanishing by 1850. The meat was sent to Hull and York and the skins to London and Manchester for use by hat manufacturers.
By about 1700 the landscape and social activity that had developed and been recorded by Domesday had been modified and in some cases substantially altered. The only features that survive in Driffield from before the eighteenth century are the town’s street plan (three parallel streets and a stream), the church of All Saints in Great Driffield and St. Mary’s in Little Driffield, the castle site (Hall Garth and Moot Hill) and Elmswell Old Hall.
Enclosure of the Landscape
In the eighteenth century significant agricultural changes took place that enabled Driffield to become an important agricultural market town. These changes not only altered the method of cultivation but altered the whole appearance of the countryside. At this time the Wolds were sparsely populated, people mostly living in nucleated villages. In Holderness the proportion of the population engaged in agricultural activities was everywhere high but they produced a wider range of crops, reared a greater variety of animals and their economy was also based on wet lands with fish, reeds, peat and wildfowl being produced. Both Holderness and the Wolds still depended on the mediaeval open field system. This was a sustainable system but only provided for the needs of the village people at a subsistence level. However rapid population growth during the eighteenth century and an increased demand for wheat and corn meant there was a need for change and some entrepreneurs seized the chance by enclosing the land. Driffield was an early enclosure in 1742. This was the first step in the exploitation of the wold land that was to be an essential element in the growth of Driffield. A number of ideas have been advanced to explain this early landscape change including the disadvantages of the open field system as well as the growing market of the port city of Hull. However Driffield had an adventurous group of people behind the enclosure act and there were already extensive flocks of sheep being reared on a commercial basis but there was also the influence of Henry Best. He had owned Elmswell estate in the mid seventeenth century and even though it was not enclosed he farmed all the land as virtually one block, commercially, for profit, thereby demonstrating the advantages of enclosure.
The open fields were redistributed to landowners as blocks of lands. This new legal landscape gave rise to large rectangular hedged fields, wide straight roads and eventually large new brick built farmsteads sheltered by windbreaks with lots of dewponds for watering animals. The value of the land rose, new crops were introduced, animals were carefully husbanded; indeed once established the new system lasted with little modification until the mid twentieth century. The essence of the new commercial farming was sheep and grain using the Norfolk four course rotation; corn crops alternating with roots and sown grasses with fertility from the Golden Hoof i.e. sheep trampling in their own droppings and leguminous clover. The system was sustainable and self sufficient but also ensured a surplus of animal and crop products to sell throughout the year.
At Sledmere, the Sykes family who inherited over 7000 acres transformed the bare wold country by enclosing, fencing, draining and planting 1000 acres of trees as well as designing the farmhouses. Sir Christopher Sykes (1749 – 1801), known as ‘the Reformer of the Wolds’ also extended and landscaped the park, resiting the village to the north of Sledmere house along the new curvilinear road. Sir Tatton Sykes I (1772 – 1863) made one of the most important discoveries in modern agriculture; bone manure when he noticed the bones left by his foxhounds produced rich grass in that area. He invented a machine to crush bones and applied them to the ground, many laughed at him but he was so successful others soon followed suit. He was a noted breeder of Leicestershire rams and was said to have established the character of the Wold sheep.
The early growth of Driffield
Wold farming changed considerably between 1750 and 1850, likewise but more slowly on the newly drained lands of Holderness. In between, offering services as a central market town and benefiting from these changes was Driffield and its inhabitants which rapidly became the main centre of a highly productive area with a food surplus to be marketed to and beyond the West Riding using the canal and later the railway. Industrial processing of agricultural products was in its embryonic state.
By 1742 Driffield was already described as a substantial and populous town. The population was increasing largely due to in migration, quickening economic activity, improvements in the standard of living and some improved transport along the turnpike (1766) to Beverley. By 1767 Driffield had drawn much corn trade away from Bridlington and Malton and by the 1780s was the main market for corn. In 1788 Driffield was described as “an improving place”.
The Driffield Canal
The River Hull was navigable to Wansford 2½ miles from Driffield but by 1760 the mills at Driffield were in business and needed a reliable form of transport so local merchants called in John Smeaton to plan a canal but he handed the work over to John Grundy who built the canal from Emmotland (near Frodingham) to Driffield, a distance of five miles with four sets of locks. The canal was to be an amenity for the town (not a profit making venture) so once the capital expenditure and improvements had been paid for tolls were reduced to a level that would be sufficient to maintain and repair the navigation. Keel boats plied the canal taking agricultural produce especially grain to Hull and up the Humber to the towns of the West Riding and bringing in coal (at half the previous cost), oilseeds for crushing into oil and cattle cake, bones for crushing for fertiliser and a wide range of daily requirements. As the canal was run by a body of commissioners as an amenity for the town the later railway company was unable to take it over, consequently the canal continued to operate until the late 1940s, after which it decayed. More recently, since …… a great deal of time effort and money has gone into restoring the canal and making it navigable again to Driffield. Work is ongoing but substantial work on bridges, locks and dredging has already been carried out.
The turnpiking of the road to Beverley, the enclosure, the building of the canal and drainage schemes in Holderness stimulated the town’s economy so that it was unrivalled in this northern part of East Yorkshire. Its central location, quality and range of local services would ensure its survival.
The early nineteenth century
In 1801 Driffield had a population of 1483. By 1823 Market Place, Middle Street and the surrounding streets became the centre of retailing and manufacturing trades, although a large number of craft industries, particularly producer retailers, also occupied the central areas. The marketing and processing of agricultural products continued to increase and after a hesitant start in 1807 the cattle market was established by 1846. There were also changes to town society. A group of professional workers began to emerge and the number of resident gentry increased. The 1851 census shows a balanced social structure with a slightly high proportion of unskilled occupations, more like an industrial town than a market town. Different occupational groups became segregated, home and workplace also segregated, a central business area developed and an industrial nucleus around River Head.
The villages were now being connected to Driffield. Carriers (horse, cart and driver) brought surplus agricultural products into town for sale and purchased the requirements of the villagers. From 1791 to 1840 the number of places served by carriers rose from three to forty five and just before the arrival of the railway in 1846 there were 68 carriers per week, most of them using the inns around Market Place. The carriers not only extended the urban market but enabled people to move from self sufficiency to exchange of goods and economic specialisation. Driffield traded with more places than any other East Riding town and was clearly a vital central place. It was a thriving market town, a centre for local trade and industry, a focal point for social and cultural activities. The geographical situation of Driffield, its early navigational advantages, increased market specialisation at the junction of two distinctly different agricultural areas made it a significant urban centre, well able to call itself ‘The Capital of the Wolds’.
Railways
The first line to be opened was the Hull to Bridlington route and this now remains the only line left serving the town. Driffield became a railway junction when a line to Malton was completed in 1853. This line may seem an anachronism but Malton merchants had been aggrieved at the high cost of tolls on the River Derwent so by using the Malton to Driffield line, then the Driffield canal they could access the port of Hull. The final line to be built connected Driffield to the West Riding and South Yorkshire via Market Weighton. With rail connection, Driffield rapidly acquired fresh advantages as a shopping centre since many new sources of food supply were readily opened to the town. Equally, local people could send goods out of the area, including sheep, to distant markets. The railway also boosted the urbanisation of the town. New industrial buildings were established and new housing developed. As the momentum of trading increased the number of carriers increased to over 100 especially from villages not connected with the railway. Together the railways and the carriers confirmed Driffield as ‘The Capital of the Wolds’.
The Victorian period (1837 to 1901)
Throughout the Victorian period Driffield was a genuine local little capital for the people of the Yorkshire Wolds. The foundations of the town had already been established but there were to be many innovations, changes and developments that were to give the town its character for the next hundred years. Although there had been previous agricultural shows the Driffield and East Riding Agricultural Society held its first show in 1854. Mechanisation was increasing with local manufacturers involved; the Thursday corn market and animal market were essential elements in town activity. From the 1830s to the 1880s farming had a period of remarkable prosperity, referred to as ‘The Golden Age of Farming’. Sledmere estate was described as being one of the most important agricultural estates in England and when Sir Tatton Sykes I died in 1863 a large gothic monument was erected to his memory on the summit of Garton Hill (138 metres) in 1866.
Each decade the population increased peaking in 1881 at 6323. There were corn mills and bone mills, two windmills, several good breweries, at least three foundries manufacturing agricultural implements, artificial manure production and seed crushing mills including the “Driffield and East Riding Pure Linseed Cake Company” alongside some of the other mills at River Head.
The first school opened in 1817 and was followed by others plus extensions. Town gas was supplied from 1835 and the Corn Exchange opened in 1841. There had been a small workhouse on Cross Hill since 1742 but this was replaced in 1838 on Middle Street North. The Cottage hospital started in 1867 but moved to Nafferton Road in 1873. Other government and social services in the town largely occurred in the second half of the nineteenth century. The drainage of the town and a sewage system was completed in 1880 and a piped water supply was opened in 1884. Driffield was governed by a Local Board from 1874 and as Driffield was the head of the Buckrose Division parliamentary election results were announced in the town. The annual Martinmas hirings brought thousands of people into Driffield throughout the nineteenth century. These were crowded, noisy and hectic weeks much disliked by some of the community. In 1872 it was reported that several commodious residences were being built, new streets were being laid out, pavements were being asphalted or flagged, and the new hospital and schools were being built. At All Saints church there was extensive restoration carried out by Gilbert Scott Junior between 1878 and 1880 and in Little Driffield the church which had a previous unsympathetic restoration in 1809 was restored into an elegant Gothic edifice in 1890. Throughout the nineteenth century non conformists built a number of chapels many of which were enlarged or reopened in new premises.
By the end of the nineteenth century Driffield had all the attributes of a town: not only shops and houses and industry, but street lights, piped water supply, sewage system, a range of churches and chapels, cattle market, schools and newspapers. Driffield had become a town, and one of regional significance.
Twentieth century
From 1801 to 1881 the population of Driffield multiplied five times then fluctuated for the next 60 years. It had increased occupational diversity and a wider range of economic activity including service and leisure facilities. Agriculture declined from about 1880 so fewer workers were needed and there was considerable out migration from the villages. This had a substantial impact on the local economy.
The town was governed by an Urban District Council who made many improvements to the town streets. There was a new post office and many villa residences were being built. Driffield received a shock on the morning of May 20th 1910 when a flash flood tore through the town from the north. Hundreds of houses were flooded to a depth of six or seven feet (approx. 2 metres) leaving two feet of mud (0.65 metres) and a small child died.
Driffield until 1892 had always returned a Conservative MP but subsequently Liberals were returned. From 1900 this was a respected local businessman, Luke White who became a hard working MP but his financial resources could not keep up with his circumstances (MPs were not paid) and he used his clients money. This only came to light when he was taken ill and he died in the workhouse.
The Great War impacted on the town as young men left leaving industry and agriculture short handed. Colonel Mark Sykes knew of the importance of trained horsemen when handling the type of wagon used by the army at that time. He formed a reserve regiment of 1000 young farmers and carters who became an elite group of horsemen. These were the Yorkshire Wold Wagoners and they were the first territorial unit to be formed and used overseas, maintaining a steady supply of materials and munitions to the front. The monument to these Yorkshire Wold Wagoners can be seen at the western end of Sledmere village.
The Royal Flying Corps opened an aerodrome south west of Driffield in 1917 but this closed in 1925 only to be reopened in 1936. For most of the time it was a bomber base and a number of famous RAF personnel were stationed at Driffield. In August 1940 it suffered the heaviest raid of the war on an RAF station with thirteen people killed.
The first half of the twentieth century punctuated by the two wars saw the decline of Victorian ways and institutions being replaced by ‘modern’ alternatives. The hirings disappeared in the 1930s; the carriers declined but survived until 1947 being replaced by the omnibus; local industry closed due to competition from larger producers; agricultural depression was relieved by the wars but fell back once peace was restored; the wharves at River Head decayed whilst road transport increased and mechanisation in agriculture forged ahead constantly reducing the number of workers needed.
Post war
Since 1961 there has been sustained population growth of about 1000 people per decade, reaching 11245 in 2001. There was a large expansion of housing in the 1950s ensuring Driffield continued to be a retailing and service centre. Some old established industries remained in business, others changed their function. New light industries provided more employment and widened the economic base. Each decade has seen new housing estates built. The town had a by pass built in 1982 thereby relieving much town centre congestion and making the environment more pleasant. A thirty acre industrial estate was opened in 1987 one mile south west of the town and this has developed gradually over the years becoming an important source of employment for many people. A more recent enterprise has been the monthly Farmers’ market which complements the town centre retailing.
Like many small market towns Driffield is under threat from larger organisations that would curtail its services and shops but the increasing population should ensure its continued viability. Indeed, Driffield attracts shoppers from surrounding towns because of the range of professional services, banks, dedicated Post Office and quality of small shops. There are also continuing redevelopment opportunities as significant spaces of land become available close to the town centre. Today Driffield is a thriving market town, the essence of which is the employment opportunities, the many small businesses selling both everyday and occasional goods, and the range of quality services available.
Further details can be found in:
Driffield. Capital of the Wolds. The growth and development of Driffield and the surrounding landscape.
By Mike Wynn.
ISBN 0-9544427-1-7
Find out more about our town:
Driffield Town Council & Driffield Times & Post