For anyone regularly heading east out of Hull to the coast, the village of Patrington will be a familiar sight since it lies on the A1033 road to Withernsea, four miles away. Although these days classed as a village, Patrington of the early 19th century was described as a market town and, thanks to its links to the Humber via Patrington Haven, had a thriving trade in corn and coal with the West Riding. Martin Limon takes up the story . . .

Bleak House on High Street, Patrington, was the home of Dr William Coates, medical officer to the Poor Law Union, who bought it in 1894 and re-modelled it in Tudor style

As the name suggests, Patrington probably had its origins in Anglo-Saxon times for “ton” is an Old English word meaning farm or hamlet while “Pat” is derived from the Church of St Patrick.

The church (dating back to the 14th century and long known as the Queen of Holderness because of its size and splendour) remains the most distinguishing feature of this important Holderness community and dominates the surrounding flat countryside.

Back in 1823, the journalist Edward Baines said of the church spire soaring 190ft into the sky: “This has long been a landmark for seamen on entering the Humber.”

Although throughout much of its history Patrington was, like any other East Riding community, dominated by the needs of farming, the importance of the sea in its growth should not be underestimated.

A creek called Patrington Haven lay about a mile from this busy Holderness community and Baines said “the inhabitants used to boast of the former excellence of their harbour”.

While he conceded that Patrington Haven was now silting up, he also revealed that “several vessels trade to Hull and London with corn and many vessels are employed in the coal and lime trade with the West Riding”.

A directory of 1834 recorded the names of nine individuals resident at Patrington Haven and described as “coal and lime merchants” and a further three people who were “corn merchants”.

By the mid-19th century, the fishing industry also had a base there although by 1892, it was reported that “there is not now a sufficient depth of water to permit the landing of the fishing smacks” and that the smack owners, although still resident in the town, had to make use of facilities further away at Stone Creek.

In fact, the haven was no longer used by shipping after 1869 but long before then the build-up of silt had made it obvious that it did not have a long-term future.

The coal and corn trade of Patrington Haven thus became a target of a new proposal in 1852 for a railway to link the village with Hull.

The Hull and Holderness Railway was the brainchild of Alderman Anthony Bannister, a Hull businessman and politician, and aimed to capitalise on the need to provide Patrington with a more efficient mode of transport than by water or road as well as to develop Withernsea as a seaside resort.

As a thriving community with a weekly market and three fairs each year, Patrington attracted a wide range of occupations like blacksmiths, shoemakers, milliners, tin-plate workers and saddlers and it has been estimated that by the early 19th century, 60 per cent of its population (1,244 people in 1823) were engaged in trade or manufacture.

An important boost to the local economy came in 1846 when William Marshall became Lord of the Manor, for he leased some of his land to his two brothers from Leeds to build a flax mill at Patrington (1848). This continued in business until 1883 employing, at the height of its success, 150 people, many of them Irish immigrants.

It is an indication of the prosperity of Patrington that it soon had its own gas works, built by the Provincial Gaslight and Coke Company (manufacturing gas from coal) and supplying the Flax Company, the public houses and the residents alike and enabling the town to have its street lamps lit by gas.

The Queen of Holderness (the Church of St Patrick) dates from the 14th century and remains an important local visitor attraction

Another of the gas company’s customers was the local Poor Law Union and a document in the East Riding Archive dated 12th February, 1877, records a payment of £13-3s-8d (£13.19) by its clerk (Abraham Dunn) for gas.

In the early 19th century, Patrington had its own poor house and a list of the rules of this institution (from 1807) survives in the East Riding Archive. Like all parishes of that time, Patrington’s ratepayers were responsible for the maintenance of their own paupers who, because of factors like unemployment, ill health or old age, could not support themselves. The social stigma of being a pauper was perhaps made worse by a rule that stated “every person receiving parochial relief shall wear on his or her clothing the badge or letters of Patrington Poor – PP”.

After the passing of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, Patrington became the centre of 26 parishes in Holderness that had joined together in a Poor Law Union to build a new workhouse. This rather forbidding building was completed in 1838 and was designed to house up to 175 paupers, including orphans, the mentally-deficient, the sick, the able-bodied poor and the elderly.

The original aim of the workhouse system was to deter all but the most desperate from applying to the parish for assistance. Typically life in the workhouse was made deliberately unpleasant, with a meagre diet (like oatmeal porridge), monotonous work (like stone-breaking) and harsh regulations to keep order and remind inmates of their lowly status.

A punishment book from the days of the workhouse survives in the East Riding Archive in Beverley and records both the misdemeanours of the inmates and the penalties they suffered.

The first entry in the book (23rd January, 1847) concerned Mary Andrew who was accused of “ill-treating her own infant” and was sent to Beverley Gaol for 21 days as a punishment.

A year later she was in trouble again for her general bad behaviour and it was ordered that she be kept in solitary confinement for 48 hours.

For troublesome pauper children, physical punishment could sometimes be used and an entry of 4th December, 1879 records that Susanah Boys was “flogged by the matron of the workhouse for her dirty habits”. In 1895, two young brothers (Arthur and Robert Dunn) who quarrelled in the dining hall at suppertime, were caned by the workhouse master.

Given the harsh nature of the workhouse regime it is not surprising some inmates tried to abscond and from the punishment book we learn about Jane Richardson, who in February 1852, “got over the yard wall” and was absent for some hours.

She repeated this offence on three further occasions between March and May before being sentenced to a month in Beverley Gaol in June 1852 for absconding with two other female inmates.

The Market Place at Patrington

The range of punishments inflicted by the Board of Guardians for infringements of the workhouse rules ranged from a simple “admonishment” to a day’s diet of “bread and water”.

Census records are particularly revealing about the people who lived at the Patrington workhouse and the 1851 census shows that of the 75 inmates, 16 were orphans aged five to 11 and nine, were unmarried mothers with their 17 children.

At the time of the 1881 census, there were 59 residents in the workhouse, ranging from Annie Hardcastle from Patrington (aged two) to 83-year-old Elizabeth Marritt, from Ottringham.

The Board Of Guardians, who supervised the system of poor relief, was an unpaid body of men who met fortnightly to consider requests for assistance, but they were helped in their work by a number of paid officials, including a relieving officer, several assistant overseers and a number of medical practitioners.

One of these was William Coates, a GP who arrived in Patrington in 1891, who took up residence at “Bleak House” and eventually became the medical officer at the workhouse itself.

Here he would treat sick inmates and provide them with the medication they required. As an improvement to the institution, a new infirmary with 18 beds was opened in 1903.

Coates became a well-known figure around Patrington, took a keen interest in local affairs, became a county councillor and was one of the first people in the village to own a motorcar.

After the introduction of the Welfare State, institutional care for the poor was no longer needed and this local workhouse closed in 1948 and was later used as a potato crisp factory, before being demolished in 1981.

Other changes to the village also become apparent in the years after the Second World War and, in common with other Holderness communities, Patrington lost its train service in 1964 with the closure of the Hull to Withernsea railway line.

However, around Patrington’s ancient market place, the village still retains an impressive range of shops and services including a bank, a post office, a butcher’s shop, a fish and chip shop, a bakery, and a convenience store.

One of the other notable businesses located in the Market Place is Frank Hill and Son (auctioneers and valuers) who moved here in 1972. The business was originally founded at Easington in the 1920s and it is still involved in the animal auction business at the East Riding’s sole remaining cattle market at Dunswell.

Since moving to Patrington, Frank Hill and Son has also branched out into estate agency and building services work. The managing director is Ralph Ward, who has more than 30 years’ experience in the business. He told me: “We give an important service to the local community by providing them with professional design and valuation services.

“We also provide local employment opportunities and all of our 11 members of staff are resident in the Holderness area, mainly in Patrington itself.”

Ralph Ward also pointed to the advantages of living in the village. “The mix of old and new houses gives Patrington much more character than typical dormitory-type villages while our ‘community spirit’ is demonstrated by the way our famous Church of St Patrick is supported by local businesses through various social and fundraising events.”

Another of Patrington’s present-day population of about 2,000 people is Anthony Heaton, who works part-time at a shop in the village and has lived in the village for 20 years.

“Patrington is a quiet and friendly community with a good range of shops but without the bustle of the city,” he said. “However, neither Hull nor Withernsea are far away if you need to travel to them for any reason.”

Another advantage of living in the village (in the summer months at least) is the opportunity to watch Patrington Cricket Club in action at their Southside ground. The club’s history dates back to the mid-19th century and today it has three adult teams that play in the East Yorkshire Cricket Alliance Leagues and an under-15s team that plays in the Junior League.

The club secretary is Andy Guy and he told me something of the other highlights of the season: “We host a six-a-side cricket fun day on the August Bank Holiday Sunday each year. This knockout competition is then followed by live music into the evening.”

The club also has an eye to the future of cricket in the village, for Andy told me: “Patrington Cricket Club has grown in the last five years by adding a junior section that gives younger players the chance to be taught by English Cricket Board accredited coaches. We have now achieved Clubmark status and hope to add an under-13s side in time for the 2010 cricket season.”

For day-trippers heading out to the Holderness coast (and places like Spurn Point and Withernsea), Patrington is definitely a place to halt their journey in order to explore this ancient settlement on foot. With a magnificent church, a historic manor house, old cottages and farmhouses there are many clues (like date stones) to help today’s visitor to explore the heritage of this fascinating Holderness settlement.