​One of the major changes to the flat countryside of Holderness in the last 200 years is the way meres and marshes have been drained to produce rich cultivable soils. The names of villages can sometimes give clues to how the landscape has been dramatically altered by improved drainage and the village of Burton Pidsea, four miles east of Hedon, is a case in point. Martin Limon reports . . .

The Nancy was named in honour of the horse that brought farmer Edward Baxter remarkable success in the mid-19th century

The study of place names can be a fascinating business and reveals much about the origins of the towns and villages of today. One of the North’s most popular examples of place names is that of Burton and in the East Riding alone there are eight such villages, ranging from Burton Fleming in the north to Bishop Burton and Burton Pidsea in the south.

The word Burh-tun comes to us from the Angles, a Germanic tribe who settled in eastern England from the fifth century AD, and means a fortified village or farmstead.

The need to distinguish between one fortified village and another meant the addition of other words and by the 12th century the settlement that today is called Burton Pidsea was known as Burton Gamel (after a local landowner).

The present-day village name appeared in the 13th century and comes from the mere or lake that once occupied part of the low-

lying and water-logged plain of Holderness close by. Improved land drainage meant Pidsea Mere had disappeared by the mid 17th century, although its name lives on through the village. A difficult terrain and a circuitous road system probably contributed to a sense of isolation that can still be felt by some visitors to Burton Pidsea today.

In the 18th century the route to Hull lay via Burstwick, Hedon, Preston, Bilton and Holderness Road, making journeys difficult and time-consuming. It is interesting to note an 1823 directory of the village listed Peter Drew and David Tavender as the village carriers and their horse-drawn wagon had to set off at 4am each Tuesday for the five-hour journey to Hull.

According to the 1823 directory, Burton Pidsea had a population of 378 people and had the usual trades of any tight-knit rural community of the time, including three shoemakers, two tailors, two blacksmiths and a cabinet-maker. Also listed was Isaac Raines, the village surgeon and apothecary and his medical services in dealing with accidental injuries on surrounding farms would have been vital in a place as isolated as this.

It is an indication of his prosperity that in 1818 he built a new residence, Graysgarth House, on a two-acre site to the west of the village centre. It was probably this house that was one of those referred to by the local historian George Poulson when he said in the 1840s: “The village is luxuriant and picturesque and there are some large and good houses. The timber that surrounds them may be ranked upon the giants of the forest. The soil is rich and fertile and the whole of the parish is in a state of cultivation.”

Another of these “good houses” was “The Paddocks”, owned by Edward Baxter, the largest farmer in the village in the mid-19th century. According to the 1851 census, Baxter had been born in Burstwick around 1788, farmed 1,500 acres and employed 42 labourers. Four of these labourers lodged with him at The Paddocks, together with a son, a daughter and three domestic servants.

Baxter was also an enterprising businessman who owned the village mill and was a brick and tile maker too. It was, however, as a racehorse breeder that he is perhaps best remembered, for Burton Pidsea’s village pub, The Nancy, in Church Street, was named in honour of the horse that brought him remarkable success in the mid-19th century.

Old cottages in the conservation area of the village

In 1851, Nancy won 11 races including the Chester Cup and the Ebor Handicap at York and many local fortunes in the East Riding were made on the strength of its success.

The horse was based at stables in Beverley and returned home to a hero’s welcome with large crowds and the town band paying tribute to its achievements. Baxter’s own good fortune and generosity was shown in Burton Pidsea when he provided five cottages for elderly people (named Nancy Row in honour of the famous racehorse).

The Nancy Inn also served as a village blacksmith’s shop and, according to a directory of 1857, William Rotsea was working at the forge and serving drinks to thirsty customers. A later licensee, Miles Medforth, who in 1892 was described as both a victualer and a shoemaker, continued this tradition of a dual-purpose business.

In fact Bulmer’s Directory of 1892 listed several other people in the village who combined different trades including Richard Robinson (tailor and shopkeeper), Samuel Cousens (joiner, wheelwright and painter) and William Ford (grocer, draper and postmaster).

Also listed was Mary Brown, who ran a private school, and the village schoolmistress Henrietta Taylor. The National School in Burton Pidsea had been built in 1860 and was supported by parental contributions, by parish funds and, after 1869, by an annual government grant. With an average attendance of around 60 pupils, responsibility for the school was transferred to the East Riding County Council in 1909 and they improved both the school buildings and the master’s house.

During the 1920s and 1930s, the school was visited on numerous occasions by the county inspector and his observations provide an interesting perspective on both the school and the village. In November 1922 the inspector wrote: “This is not yet one of the best East Riding County Schools. The children are still rather uncouth and their written work is untidy”.

In an age when villages in the East Riding relied on wells and pumps for their water, his reports also indicate how primitive conditions were for the children and staff. In July 1923, for example, the inspector reported: “The pump has just been repaired. It is found however that the water has been contaminated and has a bad smell.

“Seven dead moles were taken out of the well and there is a need to clean it out”

New houses at Foundry Garth, off Church Street

Perhaps influenced by the “grousing” of the headteacher (Miss Barnes) the inspector gave the astonishing view that “Burton Pidsea is an awful village to live in.”(1924).

Three years later the inspector was forced to investigate a parent’s complaint about the caning of his son by the headmistress and said: “Miss Barnes is probably inclined to lose her temper, but I cannot believe she administers excessive corporal punishment. The Mason family do not like Miss Barnes; visits by the School Attendance Officer and the School Nurse have ruffled them. I have however advised Miss Barnes to apply wisdom in her methods of punishment.”

Yet looking through the inspection reports for the school, this seems to have been an isolated incident and by 1930 the inspector was able to report that Burton Pidsea was “ a very satisfactory school”.

This is a tradition that has continued into modern times and a 2008 Ofsted report on the primary school said that its “teachers work tirelessly to provide a good standard of education to pupils of all abilities.”

The report also paid tribute to the efforts of the school and the wider community to minimise the effects on the school of the disastrous flooding that affected the village in 2007. On 25th June, 2007, Burton Pidsea, along with many other places in the East Riding, was visited by the greatest catastrophe to afflict the area in modern times: Flooding on a huge scale.

Following over 24 hours of torrential rain that had begun to fall on Sunday 24th June, the drains could no longer cope with the sheer volume and streets were turned into raging torrents. The scale of this disaster is indicated by the fact that some 134 houses out of 400 in Burton Pidsea were flooded, including more than 30 occupied by old age pensioners.

One of those affected was Brian Sole, a retired sawmill worker who relived the horror of what happened by saying: “ I was looking out of the window of our council bungalow and saw all this water rushing towards us not realising that it was going to hit us at the end of the road. Our home was devastated by two feet of flood water.”

It is an indication of Burton Pidsea’s indomitable community spirit that volunteers soon turned the village hall into a makeshift evacuation centre and began handing out tea and sandwiches to those evacuees seeking shelter from the devastation. In addition a relief fund was soon launched to help those without any insurance.

The responses of the Government and the local authority to the disaster of June 2007 (especially when there were more floods in January 2008) remain a controversial issue in Burton Pidsea. Another more recent subject to arouse local anger is that of wind farms, for in December 2008 East Riding County Council gave the go-ahead for three huge turbines to be built on a site off Green Lane.

One of those opposed to the scheme was local resident Alison Grant who said: “The visual impact of three 443ft high turbines in a rural landscape devoid of any prominent natural features will be devastating. This will scar the landscape beyond belief.”

The developers, Hull-based Aeolian Holderness Ltd, point to the environmental benefits of wind energy in counteracting the threat of global warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

Like many villages close to Hull (only 11 miles away) Burton Pidsea has undergone a rapid expansion in the years since the Second World War and in 2001 had a population of 888 people. Large numbers of new houses were built in the 1970s (like the mock-

Georgian houses of Barley Garth built in the former grounds of The Paddocks). The growth of the village in the last 30 years was something remarked upon by local resident John Makey who was born here and has lived in Burton Pidsea for 58 years.

John is an agricultural fitter and has seen Burton Pidsea develop “from nothing – just a few houses – to what it is today.”

Asked about the ups and downs of living there he said: “Burton Pidsea is quite a relaxing village. It is peaceful and quiet and fairly law-abiding. However, the public transport is awful and if you haven’t got a car you would be stumped.”

The issue of buses was also a concern of village shopkeeper Pat Rothwell who moved to the village from Hull four years ago. She said: “Everyone gets to an age when either they can’t drive or they are not allowed to. In these circumstances living in Burton Pidsea would be difficult.”

Like many villages in the East Riding, Burton Pidsea remained small until the mid-20th century and although with the growth of car ownership it has become a popular commuter settlement, it still has a recognisable and historic centre. It also has a thriving community spirit as the floods of 2007 demonstrated.

As Pat Rothwell commented: “Burton Pidsea is a lovely village with nice friendly people and a calm atmosphere.”