​Dissected by the busy A615 road, the village of Skirlaugh, eight miles from Beverley, has seen a rapid growth in the last 40 years.  Martin Limon drops by to see what’s changed . . .

Paul Stuart with two of the remote-control operated locomotives in his garden railway

Anyone unfamiliar with the pronunciation of East Riding place names might be forgiven for thinking that with “laugh” as part of its name, Skirlaugh was some kind of comic creation.

However the true origins of this unusual name remain controversial.

In the Domesday Book of 1086, the village was called “Schireslai”, said to be derived from “divide” or “cut” and thought to refer to the Lambwath Stream which separated North Skirlaugh from South Skirlaugh.  Another authority on the village suggests that the name Skirlaugh came from “bright clearing” and originated with the Angles (Germanic settlers of the fifth century) and later Scandinavian invaders.

During the Middle Ages this ancient community was called Skirlaw and the name became famous because of its associations with one of the area’s most celebrated sons: Walter Skirlaw.

He was born in Skirlaugh (then part of the parish of Swine) around 1330, but very little is known of his family circumstances.

It is claimed that Walter Skirlaw must have been born into a fairly prosperous family since his sister Joan became prioress of Swine, an important East Riding religious house in the Middle Ages.

Whatever the truth of this, it is clear that Walter Skirlaw was a very talented individual who chose the church as his career at a time when the influence of churchmen in affairs of state was often considerable.

The late 14th century was a period when the Black Death was decimating the population of Europe and with declining numbers of clergy, Skirlaw’s abilities seem to have marked him out for rapid advancement. With his training in the law, he was chosen, about 1356, to be the registrar of John Thoresby, the Archbishop of York, who three years later began sending him on diplomatic missions to the Pope’s court in Avignon.

Skirlaw’s abilities as an international negotiator were recognised by his appointment to the court of King Edward III (1376) and soon after he was involved in negotiations with both the French and the Scots.

At a turbulent and dangerous time in English history, Skirlaw was above all a survivor (he lived into his seventies).

His survival skills and his abilities were such that he served both Richard II and the man who overthrew him, Henry Bolingbroke (King Henry IV). In 1388, he became Bishop of Durham and effectively the ruler of the surrounding area (known as the County Palatine of Durham).

In this role, Skirlaw wielded both great power and great patronage and in many ways he was independent of royal control. His huge personal wealth was also put to good use in supporting a number of good causes, like building bridges and contributing to the cost of work on York Minster, Durham Cathedral and Howden Minster. 

Skirlaw was also generous to his home village, for before his death in 1406, he had paid for a new church (dedicated to St Augustine). This church has long been regarded as the best example of early perpendicular architecture in England. 

Salon Design is owned and run by Susan Manley, who was brought up in the village

Succeeding generations left the church largely intact and this together with restoration work in the 19th and 20th centuries (including the re-pointing of the stonework by local volunteer Edward Brown in the 1980s and 1990s) means the residents of Skirlaugh have an historic gem at the heart of their village.

A visit to see this masterpiece of late medieval church architecture is to be recommended.

Another of Skirlaugh’s oldest buildings stands alongside the main road at the northern edge of the village and these days houses library and educational departments of East Riding County Council. However, when it was built in 1838-1839, its purpose was very different.

Designed by John and William Atkinson of York, the building was originally a workhouse built to house the various classes of paupers of the 42 parishes in the Skirlaugh Poor Law Union.

Under the New Poor Law of 1834 accommodation in a well-regulated workhouse became the preferred way of dealing with poor people who sought help from the parish. To deter only the most desperate from applying, and to keep down the cost of poor relief, life under the workhouse regime was made deliberately hard and unpleasant with strict regulations, a meagre diet and hard monotonous work the order of the day.

The layout of the workhouse was designed to segregate the sexes, for at Skirlaugh a central courtyard was divided by a partition to separate males and females.

The operations of the Skirlaugh Poor Law Union were overseen by 42 guardians elected to represent the interests of the constituent parishes (like Long Riston, Hornsea and Brandesburton). The East Riding Archive in Beverley now holds the surviving records of the Union and a directory of 1892 tells us that the Guardians met every alternate Friday in the boardroom of the workhouse.

Since poor relief was paid for by a tax (the poor rate) on local property owners it is not surprising that they were well represented on the Board of Guardians and, for example, in 1892 the chairman was William Bethell of Rise-Park, a substantial landowner in this area of Holderness.

An almost miserly concern of the guardians to save money was shown by a letter (dated 3rd March 1888) from the Skirlaugh clerk to his counterpart at the Scarborough workhouse. The letter concerned a destitute and pregnant 26-year-old woman from Scarborough who had turned up at the Skirlaugh workhouse on the 5th February and had been admitted “as she was evidently near her confinement.”

St Augustine’s Church dates from the late 14th century

The letter asked for reimbursement of the cost of looking after the woman and her child since Skirlaugh was “not her place of settlement and the burden of the woman’s maintenance has been improperly and illegally thrown on this Union”

Census returns for the late 19th century are particularly useful in showing us who was living at the workhouse, their former occupation and where they came from.

The 1881 census reveals the workhouse was being run by Robert Catlin and his wife Mary and in their charge were 76 residents, ranging from a one-year-old boy (Alfred Johnson) to an 87-year-old widower (Isaiah Armstrong).

Of these residents, only nine had been actually born in Skirlaugh itself.

It is also possible to deduce something of the circumstances that had brought these unfortunate people to the workhouse. One of the categories of inmates were orphans too young to take care of themselves and from the 1881 census we learn of the presence of Fanny Dearing (12), born at nearby Ellerby, her sister Mary (nine), together with her two brothers Alfred (11) and Herbert (six).

In the blunt language of the 19th century, some inmates of the workhouse were described as “imbeciles” while others, considered to be “lunatics”, were sometimes transferred to the East Riding Lunatic Asylum near Walkington. One of these was Thomas Roger (67), described in the asylum records as “a restless demented old man.” He was transferred from the Skirlaugh workhouse to the Walkington asylum on 13th February, 1875 but was dead of “senile debility” only six weeks later.

Another of Skirlaugh’s workhouse inmates who made the journey to the Walkington asylum was Sarah Dunn (28) who was said to suffer from delusions and was described in a report as “a small girl rather reduced in bodily health and condition and incapable of using her legs because of paralysis”.

Comments on her condition span the period from her arrival at the asylum in January 1873 to her death in February 1887 when it was reported, “her condition is almost skin and bone”.

The Skirlaugh institution had a relatively short life with the children being transferred to the Beverley Workhouse in 1915 and the other inmates a year later. It was then used as a military hospital and for housing before the redundant buildings became the headquarters of the Holderness Borough Council.

Another old building that has been adapted to a new purpose is the National School on Beningholme Lane, built in 1860 at a cost of £919, including the land. In 1968, a new school was provided nearby and so the original one became the village hall.

Thanks to the hard work of the Village Hall Committee, the building has recently undergone a major refurbishment and reopened in July 2009 as part of the Skirlaugh Gala celebrations.

Judy Stott, who lives on Rise Road and has been resident in Skirlaugh for 40 years, told me: “The Village Hall Committee led by Nick and Helen Walker has been very energetic in raising funds to provide new toilets and a new kitchen for the hall.

“One new event for the 2009 Skirlaugh Gala was a Scarecrow Trail and 100 scarecrows were made by local residents and children and this generated a lot of community spirit.”

Judy and her husband Cliff are also active members of the local community and are keen to support St Augustine’s Church by organising fundraising social activities (like the popular “Music for a Summer Evening” event held in July 2009). They are also keen supporters of the Skirlaugh and District Young Farmers’ Club  and in October 2009, this organisation celebrated its 60th anniversary.

Judy told me: “Skirlaugh has grown tremendously in the last 40 years with, for example, the Cawood Estate being built and bringing an influx of new families, many of who are now enthusiastic supporters of community activities.”

One couple who moved to Skirlaugh 23 years ago are Paul and Linda Stuart, who have lived in two houses in the village.

Asked about the appeal of Skirlaugh, Paul told me: “The village was a very safe environment to bring up our two children and we were very pleased with the local primary school.

“The village also has two pubs, a supermarket, a newsagent, a post office and a hairdresser’s shop. For those who like sport, the village has a football team, a cricket team and a highly successful rugby league team.”

Paul and Linda are just two examples of the many residents who saw the advantages of commuting to work in Hull or Beverley.

For 40 years, Paul worked for the Public Health Laboratory at Hull Royal Infirmary and Linda still works part-time there.

Paul has a keen interest in model railways and since his retirement in 2007, his major project has been to build a garden railway at the family home.

Like many East Riding villages in the years since the Second World War, Skirlaugh has seen both growth and change and the popularity of the village as a commuter settlement is undiminished.

Despite a growing population, the village retains a tremendous spirit of community and an impressive monthly newsletter produced by a dedicated team of enthusiasts keeps everyone informed about forthcoming events.

Hairdresser Susan Manley, who runs Salon Design in the village, said: “Skirlaugh is a very friendly place that has a terrific sense of identity, where everyone knows everyone and where people communicate with each other easily and naturally”.