Howden is a large market-town, situated on the north side of the Ouse, and is famous for its horse- fairs in July and October.

Here was formerly a collegiate church, of five prebendaries. The church is an ancient building, supposed to have been erected about the year 1100. Mr. Pennant says, "Howden, a small town, is distinguished by the ruin of its fine church, in form of a cross, length 251 feet, transept 100 feet, east part quite a ruin; its windows quite superb and elegant, arches pointed, columns adorned with fluting between. Tracery of side windows various. The entrance to the east part of the centre three doors well ornamented, two niches each side the chief. A great altar-tomb against a pillar, with several arms, benefactors, &c. A pain-stone, Hic jacet Gwillelmus Maddi. A coffin lid, a cross on it, sides inscribed— Hic requiescunt visecra Walteri Skirlaw, &c. He is said to have built the steeple, at least the upper part of it, 1390. The Chapter-house is a beautiful octagon, the tracery of the windows light and fine; the inside has 30 stalls, each under a Gothic arch; both those and the back of the stalls enriched with beautiful sculpture; over the door two rows of six niches each. The roof fell in, through neglect, twenty years ago. Between the windows, on the outside, are several shields of arms. In the side chapel, called Metham’s Altar, is a tomb beneath an enriched Gothic arch. On the cross is a coat of arms; on the floor is a fine tomb of a knight cross-legged, a shield, a mantle, his neck and head bare, short hair; mourners and religious in niches round the tomb, and one person with a falcon. A lady in a loose gown, cross-legged; another crosslegged knight, his head, cheeks, and neck, guarded with chain armour sticking quite close, a fillet round his head, his breast set with roses. The mansion-house of the Bishops of Durham, who are lords of the manor, is near the east-end of the church, once a large pile, some part demolished; several arms here. A great vault, perhaps a cloister, is still standing; behind the house is a large square piece of land, moated round; in it is a canal and several trees, possibly once the garden and orchard."

Roger of Hovedon, or Howden, the historian, was a native of this town.

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HOWDEN, formerly denominated Hovendene, is a small market and union town, head of a county court district, township and parish, with a station on the Hull and Barnsley railway and another, 1 mile north of the town, on the Hull and Selby section of the North Eastern railway, about 12 miles south-west from Market Weighton, 15 south from Pocklington, 10 east-by-south from Selby, 19 south-east from York and 25 west from Hull, in the Howdenshire division of the Riding, wapentake, petty sessional division and liberty of Howdenshire, of which it is the capital, and in the rural deanery of Howden, archdeaconry of the East Riding and diocese of York. The town is lighted with gas from works erected in 1832, and the property of a company formed in 1848, and enlarged in 1864. Howden, as a parish, comprised fourteen townships, viz.-Asselby, Balkholme, Barmby-on-the-Marsh (chapelry), Belby, Cotness, Howden, Kilpin, Knedlington (which includes Booth hamlet), Laxton (chapelry), Metham, Saltmarshe, Skelton, Thorpe, and Yokefleet.

Laxton, Cotness, Metham, Saltmarshe and Yokefleet form an ecclesiastical parish.

The church of St. Peter, made collegiate March 6, 1267, is a magnificent but now fragmentary cruciform structure in the Decorated and Perpendicular styles, consisting of choir of six bays, with aisles, and on the south side an octagonal chapter house, all now in ruins; transepts with eastern chantries; nave of six bays, with aisles; vaulted south porch, with parvise; a school house of two bays, extending from the porch to the west end; and a lofty central tower 135 feet in height and containing 8 bells and a clock with Cambridge chimes, erected in 1871, as a memorial to Miss Hannah Scholfield by her sisters.

Of the splendid choir, erected in place of an earlier choir, about 1300, only the aisle walls and the eastern front are now standing, the arcades and clerestory having entirely disappeared: the vaulting, it is said, fell in 1696; such of the aisle windows as remain exhibit Decorated tracery, with indications of Geometrical work; the eastern elevation, still nearly perfect, with the exception of the window tracery, is similar in design to the west front, but the hexagonal turrets which flank the centre gable, and the eastern angles of the aisles, are set rather differently, and from the apex of the gable rises a richly crocketed pinnacle of two stages; some of the aisle buttresses also retain their pinnacles: the beautiful chapter-house, which fell into decay about 1750, was erected by Walter Skirlaw, Bishop of Durham (1388-1406), and is an extremely graceful example of very Early Perpendicular, octagonal in plan, with boldly projecting buttresses, much enriched, and surmounted with pinnacles; each face is pierced by a lofty window with ogee crocketed canopy and somewhat intricate Perpendicular tracery; the interior is arcaded so as to give 30 seats for the members of the chapter, each being canopied and enriched at the back with quatrefoiled tracery; the chapter-house opened to the choir by a vestibule, the entrance to which, from the choir, is through an elaborately wrought ogee arch, with lofty canopied niches on either side, still retaining their pedestals; over the vestibule was an apartment called “the Bishop’s Chamber”; the chapter-house has for some time been used as the burial place of the Scholfield family, of Sand Hall.

The Test of the church, which had remained in a desolate condition since the dissolution of the collegiate establishment in 1550, was partially repaired in 1843, and more extensively in 1854, when the nave was new roofed, the interior reseated, the whole of the stone work renovated and the galleries removed; the space below the tower now forms a quasi-chancel, the ancient stone rood-screen, through which the choir was formerly entered, serving as a reredos, its doorway having been built up; it includes on either side, in canopied niches, figures of SS. Peter and Paul, S. John and an allegorical figure of the Mosaic law: on a corbel in the south transept is a seated figure, said to represent St. Gregory: the east window, which fills the space above the screen, is stained. The transepts, which are the earliest portions of the church, exhibit work of a decidedly Early English character, the windows having Geometrical tracery; the north transept contains a carved doorway, with figures on either side, and numerous wall tablets to the Spofforth family; adjoining this transept on the east is a chantry, with an opening into the choir, and a projection eastward of one bay; in the south transept, close to the doorway, is an altar tomb of the 16th century, adorned with shields of arms, including those of Saltmarshe; and an ancient figure of a priest in the act of benediction; here also is a monument with medallion portrait to Robert Jefferson, 1811: the stained west window of the transept is a memorial to Thomas and Elizabeth Clough: on the east side of this transept, and opening to it by two arches, is a large chantry which belongs to the Saltmarshe family, and still contains an arcaded altar tomb with the cross-legged effigy of an armed knight of the latter part of the 13th century with long surcoat and bearing a shield with the arms of Saltmarshe, and within an ogee-arched recess, crocketed and furnished with brackets, is an altar tomb with two other effigies of a knight and lady, the shield of the former displaying the coat of Metham; these represent Sir John Metham and Sybil (Hamilton), his wife, temp. Hen. III.: there are also various mural tablets to the Saltmarshes, and on the floor near the entrance is a slab with the incised figure of a knight in plate armour: lofty and massive clustered piers, with moulded arches, support the central tower: the lower stage, which is quite plain, together with a great part of its superstructure, was formed into an open lantern about 1868; the next stage is a very fine example of Early Perpendicular (c. 1369), each face having two lofty transomed windows, divided and flanked by crocketed buttresses; the upper stage, of very Late Perpendicular date, has also two windows in each face and an embattled parapet, and at the north-west angle is an embattled stair turret, rising to the whole height of the tower: the nave (c. 1350) has fine arcades, with clustered piers; the aisle windows have Decorated tracery, and several are stained, some being adorned with heraldic shields, and others are memorials to members of the family of T. S. Whitaker esq. of Everthorpe Hall; in the south aisle is a palimpsest brass with inscription to Peter Dolman esq. counsellor at law, ob. 1621, the reverse side exhibiting the lower part of a civilian effigy, c. 1520; there is another brass with the figure of a man in armour, c. 1480, with a portion of a canopy: the south porch is beautifully vaulted, and the exterior angles are strengthened by buttresses, rising into tall pinnacles: the school house adjoining it, now the Grammar school, is very Late Perpendicular, and has large traceried windows; the western front, of somewhat earlier date than the chapter-house, is an extremely beautiful and almost unique composition: the central gable, which is crocketed and surmounted by an ornamental cross, contains a lofty Decorated window, filled with stained glass in 1863 to members of the Scholfield family; and is flanked by massive gabled buttresses at right angles, supporting hexagonal open arched turrets, with conical capping, crocketed; the lateral screens covering the aisles are also flanked by buttresses carrying similar turrets, but set rather differently: the west doorway is recessed, and has a traceried arch on either side: the total length, including the ruined choir, is 255 feet; the nave being 107 feet 9 inches long and about 58 feet wide, and the transepts 112 feet 6 inches in length by 30 feet wide. A spacious churchyard surrounds the church: there are 600 sittings, of which 200 are free. The register dates from the year 1541. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £250, including 45 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Archbishop of York, and held since 1913 by the Rev. Arthur Waring. There is an endowment of £130 yearly for a curate. The tithe, amounting to £572, is impropriated.

The Catholic church, erected in 1852, and dedicated to the Sacred Heart, is a spacious building of stone in the Norman style, consisting of sanctuary, nave and aisles; there are six stained windows in the church, which has 300 sittings. The Wesleyan chapel, built in 1832, has 550 sittings, and schools attached; there is also a Primitive Methodist chapel and a Congregational chapel, founded in 1662, with 350 sittings.

There are charities of about £40 yearly value.

The Town Hall is a building of stone facing the church: the business of a Savings Bank is conducted in one of the lower rooms: the spacious upper room being used for public business, lectures and concerts, and holding 200 persons.

The Masonic Hall was erected in 1889 by Miss Jane Medcalf, as a memorial to her brother, the late D. Henry Calvert Medcalf.

The Police Station, built in 1900, at a cost of £3,150, is of brick, with stone facings.

The Market Hall, on the east side of the Market place, was erected by a limited company, with a capital of £2,500, in 500 shares of £5 each, and is a structure of brick with stone dressings, from designs by Messrs. Hadfield and Son, of Sheffield: the ground floor consists of a covered area for market purposes, approached through a double arcade; a broad stone staircase leads from this entrance to the upper floor, which contains a hall 74 by 34 feet, seating 500 persons, which is used for entertainments, and attached are committee rooms and offices; the building is terminated on each side by shops, and has a gable and a brick turret, with timber spire containing a clock, the gift of the late Miss Lucy Buckle, of Howden.

The market is held on Saturdays. There are two great or annual fairs: the first commences on the first three days of the second whole week in April, and lasts three days; the second and chief fair, established under a charter granted by King John, commences about the 18th of September, and lasts five days: this used to be one of the largest horse fairs in England, and was frequented by buyers and visitors from foreign countries.

Near the church is an ancient building, once forming part of the Manor House belonging to the Bishops of Durham; the gateway leading to the quadrangle of the Manor House, constructed by Cardinal Langley, whose arms remain in the upper part, is still standing in the Vicarage grounds.

Here was born in the 12th century, Roger de Hoveden, lawyer and historian, who wrote “Annals” of this country, extending from A.D. 731 to A.D. 1202; he was employed on many important diplomatic affairs by Henry II. and died subsequent to 1204. Here also was born in 1810, Thomas Ward, sometime a stable boy in Howden, and afterwards in London, where by good fortune he attracted the notice of the Duke of Lucca, afterwards. Duke of Parma, then on a visit to this country, who took him into his service, and speedily rising into a higher position, he eventually became the confidential friend and trusted minister of the Duke, by whom he was created a baron of the duchy of Lucca, 21 June, 1847.

The Ecclesiastical Commissioners are the lords of the manor. The principal landowners are Marmaduke Athorpe esq. of Dinnington Hall, near Rotherham; W. Freeman esq. of Bilton Court, Knaresborough, and W. Brunney esq. Groves, Howden.

The area of the township is 2,924 acres of land, 4 of water, 79 of tidal water and 104 of foreshore; rateable value, £12,455; the population in 1911 was 2,007, including 5 officers and 66 inmates in the workhouse; the population of the ecclesiastical parish in 1911 was 3,187.

The Petty Sessions are held at the Court House on the last Saturday in each month at 10.30 a.m. The following places are included in the petty sessional division:-Asselby, Balkholme, Barmby-on-the-Marsh, Belby, Bellasize, Blacktoft, Brackenholme, Breighton, Bubwith, Cotness, Eastrington, Gilberdyke, Gribthorpe, Hemingbrough, Howden, Kilpin, Knedlington, Laxton, Metham, Newport, Portington, Saltmarshe, Scalby, Skelton, Spaldington, Thorpe, Willitoft, Wressell & Yokefleet.

HOWDEN UNION

The following townships are in the union:-Asselby, Aughton, Balkholme, Barmby-on-the-Marsh, Belby, Bellasize, Bishopsoil, Blacktoft, Brackenholme, Breighton, Broomfleet, Bubwith, Cotness, Eastrington, Ellerton, Faxfleet, Foggathorpe, Gilberdyke, Gribthorpe, Harlthorpe, Hemingbrough, Holme-upon-Spalding-Moor, Hotham, Howden, Kilpin, Knedlington, Latham, Laxton, Menthorpe, Metham, North Cave, Portington, Saltmarshe, Scalby, Skelton, Spaldington, Thorpe, Wallingfen, Willitoft, Wressell & Yokefleet.

The area of the union is 75,067 acres; rateable value, £125,705; the population in 1911 was 12,636.

Board day, Saturday, at the Union, at 12.30 p.m.

The Workhouse is a structure of brick & will hold 200 inmates.

TERRITORIAL FORCE.

5th Battalion (Cyclist) East Yorkshire Regiment (E Co.), Shire hall. Market place; Capt. W. Green; instructor attends from Hull.

PLACES OF WORSHIP, with times of Services

St. Peter's Church, Rev. Arthur Waring, vicar; 8 & 10.30 a.m. & 3, & 6.30 p.m.; week days, 10 a.m. & 6 p.m.

Sacred Heart, Roman Catholic, Rev. Peter Kennedy; mass, 10.30 a.m.; vespers, 6.30 p.m.; daily, 8 a.m.

Congregational, Rev. Thomas Charters; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Thur. 7.30 p.m.

Primitive Methodist, Rev. Frederick Thomas Smith; 2 & 6 p.m.

Wesleyan Methodist, Rev. Philip Callier (supt.) & Rev. John W. Houghton; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Mission Room, Hailgate, bought by subscription, as a Jubilee memorial, at a cost of £200, half of which was subscribed by the late Miss Buckle; Wed. 8 p.m.

SCHOOLS

Grammar, founded early in the 15th century, conducted in a building attached to the church. Robert Jefferson esq. gave, in 1803, 20 guineas yearly, to be paid to the master for instructing 12 poor boys of Howden, & in 1772 Thomas Cutts left £2 8s. yearly, out of certain property, for the benefit of the school; £8 annually is also derived from Nelson’s charity; attached are 8 free scholarships. There are now (1913) about 20 boys: the school is controlled by three governors, the vicar of Howden being chairman.

Public Elementary Schools

Under East Riding Education Authority.

Clerk, John Bickersteth, County hall, Beverley.

Attendance Officer, John N. Davis, Hailgate.

Council (mixed), erected in 1913, for 234 children; average attendance, 180.

Church of England (mixed), erected in 1908, for 194 children; average attendance, 121.

Infants, erected in 1885, for 122 children; average attendance, 63.

Asselby, erected in 1883, for 58 children; average attendance, 21.

Skelton, erected in 1851 & enlarged in 1891, for 67 children; average attendance, 59.

Catholic School, erected in 1893, for 86 children; average attendance, 40.