As lockdown starts to lift and we are allowed to travel more Mrs E and I took a short drive to the nearby village of Alkborough It sits atop of the river cliff looking down over the confluence (good word that eh?) of the rivers Trent, Ouse and the Humber. Its a tiny place but with a couple of interesting historical facts associated with it. There is a medieval turf maze known as Julian's Bower possibly of Roman age but more likely to be post conquest. There is a local legend that three of the four Knights who murdered Thomas a Becket hid in the village and helped renovate the church as part of their penance.
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| Julian’s Bower Plaque |
If that isn't sufficiently interesting in the ECW there was a Royalist garrison which built an artillery fort below the village on Alkborough Flats to control the entrance to the Trent and the river route to Newark. The garrisoned the village and when the Parliamentary garrison from Brigg and Barton upon Humber (which included Sir John Meldrum's dragoons) were despatched to dislodge them, they took cover behind the stone walls of the churchyard. Another local legend has it that when the Parliamentarian dragoons attempted to storm the gate into the churchyard they were held by a single Royalist who was a giant of a man, who fought on despite serious wounds and had to be brought down by musket fire. One of those village tales you might think, but when the church was being renovated before the second world war the flagstones inside the church were lifted and the skeleton of a man who was over 7 feet tall was allegedly found. How accurate this may be I don't know but there is evidence for musket damage to the church walls.
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| Panarama at Julian’s Bower looking over the Trent |
This was the first time I have gone outside Barton upon Humber, the town I live, in since the middle of March and only the third time out of the house in that time other than the short daily dog walk as exercise. We took a walk to the maze grabbed a couple of pictures and then drove home again. \Well there is only so much excitement a man can take you know!
The view from Alkborough looking out over the Flats
That’s an auspicious (and strategic) site being at the confluence of 3 rivers. Literally trivial but by no means trivial. Wonder if there’s been any pre-historic finds there. I think there were those Bronze Age boats nearer where you live.
ReplyDeleteThere are two early boats one found at Brigg and one on the Humber bank at North Ferriby or Hessle. The Brigg boat was Bronze Age and the North bank one (I think) was Iron age about 300 BC.
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