2. History Origins The location of Newbald is at the Spring Line where the Chalk sits on top of impervious clay ensuring a plentiful supply of fresh water and energy to drive mills; this must have been a determining factor in the eventual settlement at the site. The Wolds have traces of occupation from the Palaeolithic era 200,000 years ago through Mesolithic 7,000 years BC to the Neolithic era 4,000 years BC when agriculture started to be developed. There are a dozen bronze age (2000-600BC) and iron age(600bc-) barrows inside the parish boundary on the high Wolds, the Celtic tribe that occupied the area were called the Parisi. The Roman invasion crossed the Humber after AD 70 and established a settlement at present day Brough called Petuaria. Petuaria was linked by road to York (Eboracum) and Malton (Dervetio), the road branched half a kilometre south of present day South Newbald, the Malton route continuing North past the Newbalds. There is a missing Roman settlement called Delgovitia which was linked with the fortress at Malton (Dervetio), from the archaeological evidence one possible site for it is Market Weighton. Next to the Hotham Road South West of Newbald, there are the remains of a Roman villa, which was occupied from the 2nd to the 4th century. Newbald is Anglian for the new building this was first documented in 963 when King Edgar granted land at Newbald to ealdorman Gunner who bestowed it to St Peters Church York. This started a long association with York Minster, which held the land in six prebends until the middle of the 19th Century when they were sold. Evolution The settlement developed through the complexity of tenure in the prebends of North Newbald, Husthwaite in North Newbald, Warthill in North Newbald, Osbaldwick, Riccall and South Newbald. A Church was recorded in 1086 and the present St.Nicholas Church has its interior dated from around 1140(Pevsner).
The Prebends were run from manors and halls none of which survive. Agriculture was the prime function of the settlement, with grazing rights allocated to the population including the establishment of a rabbit warren (The Coney Clappers) on High Wold ground in the early 18 th century. The Green at the North East end of the village is thought to have originally extended across to the Mires, which would have provided shelter for the livestock. The limestone hills were quarried from the 11 th century to the mid 20 th century, which supplied the local area with rock and lime. Many of the buildings in Newbald including St. Nicholas Church were built of this local Oolitic limestone. From the 11 th century there had been water mills in Newbald; in the mid 19 th century there were 2 watermills on Ings/Mill Beck and 2 windmills West of the Market Weighton Road, all have been demolished. The excavation of the Market Weighton Canal in the 1770s revealed good brick making clay. This established a brick industry at Newport, which supplied the area and cities in the Region with cheap and readily available brick and pantiles, marking a decline in the use of stone. Originally thatch was the common roofing material, in 1697 Celia Fiennes en route to Burton Agnes passed through nearby Market Weighton, describing it as a little neate thatch d town, however by 1851 the census recorded 1 thatcher in the East Riding. Flammable thatch had been banished from the dense towns and cities and was superceded by pantiles, which in turn pervaded out through the countryside. There was another advantage with pantiles as they required a less steep roof pitch and hence shorter roof timbers, which was an asset in the treeless East Riding. Slate was used on some large country houses initially but the advent of the railways introduced cheap Welsh slate in the mid 19 th century and it became the common roofing material. However Pantiles enjoyed a revival in the late 20 th century as a conservation material and as a lighter alternative to concrete tiles, also slate was falling out of use, becoming scarce and expensive. View East from church tower late 19 th century The changes in population are hard to trace as they are recorded as poll tax payers (214) in 1377, households (76) in 1672 and families (83) in 1743. In 1801 the combined
population was 661 and on census day in 1841 there were 596 in North Newbald, and on census day 1851 there were 243 in South Newbald. Ordnance Survey 6 to the mile 1851 edition(nts) The Modern Village Enclosure of the land by 1783 established the field boundaries packaging the land into plots that would be incrementally developed into the current village layout. In 1848 the tenure started to change, the prebends began to be sold off and by 1853 they were all in private ownership. This led to the estates being split up or added to over the ensuing years through the process of inheritance and business. The settlement had lost the large manorial halls of North Newbald and South Newbald by the 1870s and with them the resident landlords, to be superseded by large Farms such as Manor House and Hall Farm. The 1871 census gave a profile of a busy Victorian agricultural community with a population of 827 living in 203 houses. 360 people were in work, 200 of them in farming, 5 blacksmiths, 5 millers, 11 joiners/wheelwrights, 5 bricklayers, 2 carriers, 70 in domestic service, 14 dressmakers, 5 shoemakers, with 10 grocers and drapers, a butcher, a tea vendor and a coal merchant.
In 1846 the Clough family of Newbald Hall built a new school at The Green, which had 88 pupils in 1871. A new school was built on Beverley road in 1914 because attendance had risen to 100-120. The old school became a parish hall. Apart from the St. Nicholas Church there was also non conformist worship; a Temperance Hall on Eastgate, a Wesleyan Chapel on Burgate, a Zion Chapel in South Newbald, The Primitive Methodist Ebeneezer Chapel on Galegate transferred to a new Chapel on Ratten Row in 1878, a Baptist chapel was built on Eastgate in 1867. The villages continued in this vein but like everywhere else suffered in the depression years. In the 1930s agricultural engineering and haulage industries began to establish themselves and family businesses proliferated in the post war years. By the 1970s increased car ownership and residential development introduced a commuter community into the village. By the early millennium there was some decline in agricultural packaging and engineering leaving some large peripheral sites vacant. The village is on a threshold of development pressure that could further change the fine balance in the community altering its character and undermining the integrity of its agricultural heritage. The built heritage and historic layout of the settlements could be swamped and distorted through inappropriate redevelopment turning the community into a detached rural suburb. Ordnance Survey Explorer map nts 2000AD
Newbald Figure Ground Plans The figure ground plans show the distribution of buildings through the settlement in 1909 and 2003. The grain of the settlement has noticeably altered from buildings that fronted the streets and roads, to a looser suburban grain that sprawls into the back areas and increases the mass of the settlement and its impact on the landscape. figure ground plan 1909 figure ground plan 2003 The scale of development has noticeably changed from an organic incremental dense pattern to relatively large, loose, low-density suburban developments. Some infill development on the original street frontages, is set back, and not to back of pavement eroding the traditional street frontage that screens the newer developments. The original settlement is being swamped but survives and dominates the character of the village. Future infill or development does need to redress the balance and acknowledge the original character of the village to start a consolidation process. The Conservation Area status should ensure this but some simple design guidelines specifying the materials, height and scale of development would help. There is a trend now to higher density development and a need for affordable housing, which will affect future development.
The experiments in Poundbury in Dorset have resulted in a more sympathetic approach to development, which could be applied in any local context. There is a possibility that the large industrial units now vacant could end up as housing. This reduces the diversity of the settlement and reduces the scope for businesses to develop. Poundbury, Dorset