Martin Limon visits the village of Nafferton, two miles north-east of Driffield. Situated at the southern edge of the Yorkshire Wolds, archaeological evidence suggests that there was human activity in the area around 4,000BC (during the Stone Age) although the settlement of Nafferton itself probably dates from the 9th or 10th century AD . . .

Nafferton Mere was created or enlarged to provide a plentiful supply for village water mills. A water mill was first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. The last mill and the maltings were demolished in 1985 to make way for housing

For centuries, farming was the major economic activity of the villages of East Yorkshire and Nafferton was no different to scores of other communities in the county in this respect.

In fact, the name of the village is partly derived from “ton”, a word used by Angles (a Germanic tribe who settled in the East Riding from the fifth century) to mean “a farm”. The first part of the name is thought to have come from another group of invaders (the Scandinavians) and probably refers to an individual called “Nafftar” (the night traveller) of whom we know nothing.

However, the presence of an Anglo-Saxon community in the Nafferton area has been confirmed by the discovery of a number of their cemeteries, the first of which was found in 1845.

The Norman Conquest of 1066 would probably have made little difference to the lives of the ordinary folk of the village, even though ownership of the land changed hands. At the time of the Domesday Book (1086), the largest of these landowners was William de Percy, who controlled about 3,360 acres. However, for ordinary villagers, their daily routine would have altered little in the centuries that followed and their work would have been ruled by the changing seasons: The need to sow seed, to look after and harvest their crops as well as to take care of their animals.

The Church of All Saints, standing on a high bank and dominating the village at a place where four roads join, would have met their spiritual needs.

Close by was the village lock-up, the stocks and the pinfold. A pinfold was an enclosed area where stray animals were rounded up and kept if their owners failed to supervise them. In order to secure their release, a fine had to be paid but sometimes this led to friction between the owner and the pinder (the official who supervised the strays).

A document held by the East Riding Archive in Beverley tells of one such incident in July 1791 when Robert Wilson of Nafferton violently assaulted the pinder (Thomas Coates) in order to “rescue” his two asses from the pound. A local magistrate issued a warrant for the arrest of Wilson and at his trial in October 1791, he was sentenced to a month in prison.

Another feature of the village scene still very much a focal point of Nafferton today is the large pond or mere. Fed by springs, Nafferton Mere was created to be a millpond to turn water wheels at mills close by.

A new corn mill and maltings (built in 1840) were once important local industries and used to turn locally-grown barley into malt for the brewing industry. The massive six-storey buildings once dominated the village but were demolished in 1985 to make way for new housing.

For a farming community like Nafferton, one of the most important changes for property owners came in 1772 with the enclosure of the open fields and commons and their replacement by compact holdings of land and field patterns resembling those of today.

Of the lives of the ordinary village folk of the time, we know a little from a rare survival in the East Riding Archive. A letter of March 1777 from the vicar of Nafferton (Thomas Bowness) to the East Riding landowner and JP, John Grimston, tells of the marital discord of two of his parishioners, Roger Walker and his wife Lydia. The two were being supported financially by the parish but were living apart with Lydia (referred to by the vicar as the Queen of Scolds) refusing to “live quietly and peaceably with her husband” unless one of his women friends was removed from out of the neighbourhood!

All Saints’ Church, Nafferton. Parts of it date back to Norman times

The vicar described Roger Walker as an “old shifty rascal” and his estranged wife as a “nuisance” but promised to “keep them as quiet as we can”.

By the beginning of the 19th century, the population of Nafferton parish stood at around 900 people and a trade directory of 1823 listed 16 people described as farmers / yeomen along with a host of other trades (like blacksmiths, bricklayers, carpenters, shoemakers and tailors) typical of any self-contained rural community of the time.

In common with many other East Riding villages of the 19th century, there was a growing interest in providing an education for its children and in 1845 a National School (supported by the Church of England) was built on High Street.

In the 1870s and the 1880s, the village was to become the setting for both tragedy and scandal, with the suicide of one schoolmaster in 1874 and the arrest of another in 1883 on a charge of plotting the murders of two of his former pupils.

On 24th November 1874, a local newspaper reported that the head of the school for the previous 15 years, Robert Southwick, had hung himself. Two local men, alerted by his daughter after he failed to return home, broke into the school and found his body suspended from a beam behind the blackboard and easel.

A newspaper report of the tragedy suggested that Mr Southwick had been suffering from depression after his son had been committed to an asylum suffering mental health problems.

In September 1883, it was the turn of another Nafferton schoolmaster, Francis Randall, to make the headlines in a bizarre case reported by a local newspaper of the time. It was at first alleged that Randall had tried to persuade John Smith (a Hull fisherman visiting Nafferton in search of work) to murder, on his behalf, Sarah Jane Bell and John Kilvington. The two intended victims were probably sweethearts and both of them had been former pupils of Nafferton National School.

From the start, Smith had pretended to go along with plan but had secretly made contact with the Driffield police who then kept watch and gathered evidence.

Below the church, four important roads meet – Middle Street, Westgate, Station Road and Nethergate. Nafferton is a well-kept village and has been a prize-winner in the Yorkshire In Bloom competition in recent years

By the time the case was heard fully in October 1883, the more serious charge of “incitement to murder” had been dropped and instead Randall was charged with “unlawfully inciting John Smith to inflict grievous bodily harm on Sarah Jane Bell”.

From the evidence presented at his trial, it seems that the 48-year-old schoolmaster had become seriously infatuated with his 15-year old former pupil and, despite having a wife and two grown-up daughters, had tried to persuade the parents of the girl to let him take their daughter “to a foreign country.”

At the trial, it was suggested that having failed to persuade Sarah’s parents to go along with his “elopement plan”, he had decided to seize the girl by force with the aid of Smith.

The evidence of the parents and that of Nafferton policeman PC Sharp, who said he had seen Randall give John Smith a payment of 2s 0d (10p) together with a stout walking stick to carry out the assault, helped to seal the schoolmaster’s fate. The jury returned a verdict of guilty but their request for mercy may have helped in reducing Randall’s sentence to one of 12 months’ imprisonment. For his actions in alerting the police to the planned crime, John Smith received a reward of 10s 0d (50p).

By the time Bulmer’s Directory of Nafferton was published in 1892, William Preston was the master of the National School and this same directory lists a miscellany of other trades including drapers, dressmakers, saddlers and blacksmiths needed to serve a population that had grown to 1,295 people.

While many of these businesses have disappeared, others have evolved to provide more up-to-date services for the local community.

One of these is H Kitchen and Sons, a motor engineering business that developed on the site of a former blacksmith’s shop. Ian Kitchen now owns the business but when his grandfather bought it in the 1920s, shoeing horses and repairing agricultural implements was still an important activity.

It was in the 1940s and 1950s that Ian’s father and grandfather turned increasingly to the motor trade.

Ian has lived in Nafferton for 60 years, is a member of the parish council and has a keen interest in badminton and shooting. He told me: “Nafferton is still a quiet and friendly place to live even though, in the last few years, large numbers of new houses have been built. There is still a great community spirit here with facilities like a village hall and a thriving recreation club representing sports like football, tennis, cricket and bowls.”

In fact, Nafferton is a village with plenty going on and activities like line dancing, badminton, aerobics, gardening, art classes, music and drama are well supported. For the younger folk in the village, there are the Guides, Brownies, Cubs, Nafferton Rainbows and a Scout group all with regular meetings.

A major focus of fundraising in the village in the past 12 years has been the Nafferton Millennium Committee. In 1997, the local parish council suggested that representatives of local organisations should meet together to discuss ideas to commemorate the new millennium.

One of these organisations was the Darby and Joan Club and they asked for a minibus to take its elderly members to their weekly meeting. This idea was adopted by the Millennium Committee and, supported by funding from the National Lottery, the Countryside Agency and other sources, a minibus was purchased. Secretary of the Millennium Committee is Sheila Cook.

She told me: “ The original minibus was replaced in 2006 and the new one can seat up to 14 passengers. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, our MiBus door-to-door service helps those without convenient public transport in Nafferton and surrounding villages to get to Driffield. The Millennium Committee also acts as general fundraiser in Nafferton and provides grants to village organisations throughout the year.”

With a population today of more than 2,000 people, Nafferton is one of the larger communities in the East Riding and it saw much new house building both before and after the Second World War.

In the 1960s, for example, a new estate was built in the former grounds of Nafferton Hall, attracting those from Driffield and further afield. One of those who moved here 20 years ago is Jane Foster, who has lived in two different houses in the village.

Jane commented on the growth of the village and the increasing problem of traffic, but said: “Nafferton is a pretty village with lots of lovely walks. It is a friendly place to live with plenty of amenities like a village shop, a train service, a bus service, a post office, a fish and chip shop, and some nice pubs. You have got everything you need here.”

Jane also paid tribute to the work of the Millennium Committee in helping to make Nafferton such an active, supportive and friendly place to live.

The village website at www.nafferton.net indicates just what a busy place it has become and how those who have moved here in recent years have quickly been welcomed as valuable members of a thriving community.