Highgate.

Notes by Colin Bradshaw from his talk to Beverley U3A Local History Group 25/04/2018

Helen took some pictures in Highgate to illustrate some of the points and these are added at the end.

Highgate presentation notes.

1. Aerial view – point out Minster, Wed Mkt, Flemingate and Highgate. Area of original mkt. Amount of open

space even today. Blue Coat School, new flats.

2. Minster forms southern end of the area we will look at. St John of Beverley 7C. Established a church near

present site of Minster – perhaps Hall Garth, perhaps under current building. John retired in 718 to his own

monastery at Inderauuda (i.e. “in the woods of the men of Deira”). Monastery probably founded in 705, but

nothing is known about it after his death. Frith stool might date from this period. Much smaller – destroyed

by fire in 1188. The first settlement in the Beverley area was likely to be near the Minster, as it was the

pilgrimage centre, after John of Beverley, became St John. Much of earliest knowledge about the Highgate

area is from Pottery dating from the 11 and 12C. At No 10 Highgate, excavations in the back garden in 1977,

showed evidence of medieval reclamation of this area and 12 and 13C pottery. Some of this pottery is

“orangeware”, which was made locally.

3. Wednesday Mkt – tiny fragment of original area of medieval mkt. Pre-dates Saturday Mkt. Had mkt cross

until 19C. Cockpit for 600 people. Cattle and sheep driven through market for slaughter at abattoirs behind

old TIC.

4. Wood’s map – 1828 – point out Minster, Highgate (huge empty spaces around street), Hall Garth with some

building still on it.

5. Age of buildings map – note variety of ages. Oldest pre-1690 – Monk’s Walk (2 original cottages), building at

top of Highgate, Minster. 19C strongly represented. The Alta Via formed the main road through Beverley

from the North Bar to the Minster. Highgate was part of that route way. The name “Heygate” does not

appear until 1417. “Hyegate” in 1500’s and 1600’s. It was also known, unofficially, as “Londoner’s Street” as

so many London merchants based themselves here during the Cross Fair. It continued to be known, by many

people, as Londoner’s Street, into the 16C.

6. From the 14C onwards the street levels were raised as improvements such as paving and draining took

place. This area was very low lying and therefore subject to flooding. Water drained off the surrounding

higher land and via the many streams that criss-crossed Beverley, as they made their way to the River Hull.

For example Walkergate Beck badly affected Eastgate and Highgate. In 1990 W. Stephenson observed the

results of a trench dug across Highgate for drainage. The average depth, of the trench, was 2.1m. The sub-

stratum was a black peaty material, with hazel branches on top, and then the trunks of young trees, above

this were large irregular blocks of chalk and other stones. Finally, the street had been raised to its modern

level, by a thick layer of soil, clay and smaller stones.

7. Although there are no complete medieval buildings in the street today, the Monks Walk has many features

of that period. Some of the timbers supporting the Monks Walk date from at least the 14C and some are

likely to be 13C. The original buildings consisted of 2 timber cottages divided by a passageway. The

passageway is thought to have been a medieval street and still exists. These buildings were likely to have

been shops and storage areas for merchants. A cobbled yard, to the rear of the building, contained a well.

Currently dendochronology work on the timbers of the pub is being carried out. This is because some of the

existing timbers may be even older and date from the 10C. Within the Monks Walk a medieval hall has been

identified and also two private chambers or “solars” as they would have been termed.

The Monks Walk has had several names over the centuries. It has been called the Old George, George and

Dragon and the Monks Walk. Confusingly there was another pub, in Highgate, called the George and Dragon.

It was later known as the Black Swan and is today a private house.

8. Monk’s Walk outside – Georgian frontage on mediaeval building.

9. Monk’s Walk – exposed Great Hall

10. Monk’s Walk – lath and plaster of solar walls

11. The plague reached Beverley on several occasions, the last being in 1665. As part of the precautions the

town gates were closed between 9-00pm and 6-00am each day. The townspeople also killed all of the cats

and dogs in the Eastgate/Highgate area as they were thought to carry the disease. To us this may seem

strange knowing as we do that rats were a carrier and that cats kill rats.

Monk’s Walk supposedly linked to plague pits. Recent archaeological work associated with Crossrail in

London suggests that the burial of plague victims was not haphazard. They have found hundreds of bodies

which were buried in neat rows and often in coffins, so perhaps our plague pits were not pits! Monk’s Walk

passage and plague route to Inner Trinities – pits

12. Sanctuary –The porch built on the north side of the Minster, and which faces up Highgate, has an upper

room. This room is supposed to have been used by a member of the clergy to watch out for people running

towards the church for Sanctuary. In the middle ages you could go to the church to seek sanctuary, if you

were accused of committing a crime. Once you reached the church you were safe for 30 days. During the 30

days the church would feed you and find somewhere for you to live. Sanctuary was important as mobs often

took the law into their own hands, without giving people a chance to show that they were innocent. Anyone

trying to arrest you in a sanctuary area would be fined. The fines were enormous. In the 15C the fine at the

edge of Beverley’s sanctuary was £8; at the Church door it was £96. Sanctuary existed between 938AD and

1540AD. Granted by Athelstan and continued until1536-ish with Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry

VIII. Unusual area involved – Walkington, Skidby Road, York Road still have crosses. Once inside there you

were safe, unlike Durham cathedral and many others where you had to grasp the knocker on the church

door.

13. Half-timbered house existed into the mid 1950’s. Unusual for medieval as two storeys. Probably rescue work

would have been undertaken if semi-derelict today. Until about 1958, there was a medieval house, on the

west side of Highgate. It was numbered 4-6. It was unusual for a medieval house as it was more highly

decorated than most buildings of that time. It had carved tracery window heads, a carved moulded

bressumer (Bressumer is the main beam in a timber construction or cornice between the ground floor and

the jettied first floor). It had an infill of brick, not wattle and daub as was more common in other parts of

England. As a two storey building that would also have made it stand out in medieval times, when most

buildings were only single storey.

14. Excited crowd for Cross Fair. Cross Fair would have looked something like this sketch – biggest fair in

Beverley – lasting 11 days – using large Wed Mkt. The Cross Fair, a mediaeval Fair was held in Highgate. It

was the most important of the 3 fairs held in the town. It lasted 11 days beginning on Ascension Day and

finishing at Whitsuntide. Beverley folk and those from roundabout would come to the church to pray and

then visit the fair. Cloths, silks, ribbons, salt, pots, pans, boots, shoes, wine and butter would all have been

for sale. Jugglers and pedlars also attended. Many merchants came from London and NE England. A lot of

their wares arrived by boat and had to be transported to Highgate from the Beck. A procession of carts

brought their wares from the Beck to Highgate. The Cross Fair declined in importance towards the end of the

17C and moved to Norwood in 1751.

15. Mystery plays - put on by craft guilds at southern end of Highgate. Highgate was the scene of the Mystery

Plays first performed in the town in 1377. “Mystery” comes from the word “mastery” meaning those who

were masters of their craft. The plays were performed on specially built carts which travelled to 6 different

parts of Beverley during the day. One of these places was at the bottom of Highgate. There were 38 guilds in

Beverley, including Tilers, Shipmen and Glovers. The plays were all religious in tone and there was great

competition between the guilds to produce the best play. Didn’t always go to plan – drunk, did not learn

lines or build carts!!

16. Hugh Goes the printer. Highgate was at the cutting edge of technology in the early 16C. In 1509 Hugh Goes

was given a licence to establish a printing press. William Caxton had only invented the printing press in 1476,

33 years earlier. He printed at least one book in Highgate between 1510 and 1516. Later he moved to York,

where he printed the first book ever printed in York. Later moved to London. The design on the pavement is

a fragment of the earliest known English wallpaper from Christ’s College, Cambridge. Design attributed to

Hugh Goes using an “H” and a goose for his name.

17. House with shutters, oldest on west side of Highgate.

18. De Lancey - an American who fought for the British in the American War of Independence or as they term it

the “Revolutionary War”. Beverley has links with the American War of Independence through No 25

Highgate, which was the home of General De Lancey. He was a native American, living in New York state and

owning large estates. He stayed loyal to the Crown throughout the War of American Independence and so

lost his estates after the war. During the war he raised a brigade and 3 regiments, which he commanded.

When the war ended he had to seek refuge in Britain and settled in Beverley. There is a memorial recording

his death, at the age of 69 in 1785 in the Minster. Delancey Street in Manhattan also commemorates his

family.

William De Lancey was a cousin who served as the Duke of Wellington’s Quarter Master General at

Waterloo. He was seriously injured in the battle and died of his wounds 8 days later. His wife accompanied

him to Belgium and after the battle went to find him and look after him until he died. She later wrote an

account of her tragic romance, they had only been married 3 months, as “A week at Waterloo in 1815”

19. 1980’s photo where medieval house was located.

20. EW and G Osgerby – coach builder established in 1863. Premises in Highgate. The coach building yards

included: blacksmith, wheelwright, coach painting. As coaches were built they were moved around on a

platform, which was moved by a winch.

1900- employed 12 men, of whom 5 were Osgerby’s.

1911 – the company renamed “EY and Crosskills Cart and Wagon Co”.

3 generations of the family managed the business, before it closed in the early 20C. Sold new and second

hand coaches etc. Sold on a “3 year purchase system”. “Best rubber tyres fitted and wheels re-rubbered the

same day”.

21 designs offered in their catalogue in late 19C:

- 4-in-hand – closed coach

- Single Brougham – smaller enclosed coach

- Game wagon

- Omnibus – enclosed

- Body Brake – open wagon

- Carts e.g. Beaufort and Covert

- Governess Cart – open, basic passenger vehicle.

21. Osgerby’s Carriage works – outside of building – now the 1960’s flats

22. Osgerby’s Carriage works - after demolition- can see the edge of what is now the Minster car park.

23. Osgerby’s Carriage works – exhibition in Hull Street Life Museum – excellent.

24. Fred Elwell painting – copy in Coronation Gardens – “The Last Cab” – built by Osgerby’s

25. No 2 Highgate - Fire precautions – house and fire sign, fire engine.

No 2 Highgate (built c 1760), which is still the same building today was the home of Mary Wolstonecraft. Life

dates:1759 to 1797). An early feminist writer. Wollstonecraft is best known for “A Vindication of the Rights

of Woman (1792)”, in which she argued that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear to be only

because they lack education. She suggests that both men and women should be treated as rational beings

and imagines a social order founded on reason.

26. Blue Coat school – area always associated with education – clergy taught, earliest BGS in grounds of Minster,

Blue Coat School from 1808 and in Parish Rooms (today) an early National school. In the early 19C (1808)

Highgate gained its most famous school, which was known as the Blue Coat School, because of its uniform

and was always supported by charitable donations. The school had actually been founded in 1710, but it was

only in 1808 that it moved to Highgate. It was never a large school, for example in 1829 there were 10 boys

between 10 and 14 yrs of age. Boarders lived with the schoolmaster and his wife. Facilities seem to have

been very limited as we know that at one stage there were 5 iron bedsteads for 10 boys.

27. 1851 census – some thoughts. Throughout the 19C Highgate had a vibrant economic life. Over 30 different

trades and crafts were practiced by people living in the street. These changed with time, but must have

always made it a bustling centre of activity. Some, such as shopkeepers and publicans would be expected,

but more unusual trades included: cattle dealer, castrator, ivory carver, malster and staymaker!

During the 19C Highgate probably had 3 pubs: the Black Swan, the Monks Walk and possibly another pub

called the New Found Out. There was also a beer house which retailed beer. Beer houses were very

common at the time and often were no more than someone using a room in their house to make and sell

beer. Miss Mary Riggnall owned a beer shop here in 1872, but it is unclear exactly where it was located.

Ivory carver – carve figure of Christ on the cross, billiard balls, ornaments, keyboard instrument keys, cutlery

handles.

28. Synopsis slide

29. 2017 aerial view.

Photos of Highgate relating to Colin’s notes (photos by HK)

The

Monk’s

Walk (see

notes 7-11)

North

porch of

the

Minster

(see note

12)

Site of demolished medieval house (see note 13)

The De

Lancey

plaque at

25

Highgate

(see note

13)

The site of

Osgerby’s

carriage

Works (see

notes 20-

23)

Fred

Elwell’s

The Last

Cab (see

note 24)

Number 2

Highgate

(see note

25)

Blue Coat

School

building

(see note

26)