Howden Totally Explained

Everything about Howden totally explained

ť For other uses, see Howden (disambiguation) The wapentake of Howdenshire was named after the town, the Bishops of Durham also owning the wapentake.

Early history

One of the earliest recorded parts of Howden's history is King Edgar of England giving his first wife, Ethelfleda, Howden Manor in 959 AD, the beginnings of a long connection with the royal court of England.
   In 1080, William the Conqueror gave the town, including its church, which later became the minster, to the Bishop of Durham, who promptly conferred the church upon the monks of Durham. However, he kept Howden Manor for himself. Records show that the church was at first a rectory, but conflicting records also show that Hugh, Prior of Durham, was given a bull from Pope Gregory IX for appropriating the church towards the maintenance of 16 monks.
   Howden's royal connections continued when, in 1191, Prince John spent Christmas in Howden. Nine years later, John, now King of England, granted Howden the right to hold an annual fair.
   The most prolific of these tales was that John of Howden, at his funeral in 1275, raised his arms from his open coffin during his requiem mass to greet his host. As such, he's become regarded as a saint, though the Catholic Church has never made this official. Through the pilgrims, Howden received the money that it needed to complete the minster, fulfilling John of Howden's prophecy that he'd continue aiding the minster from beyond the grave.

Ruin of Howden's minster

In 1548, Henry VIII dissolved the Collegiate churches, including Howden. During her reign, Elizabeth I gave the revenues of the Manor of Howden to local landowners. But these landowners refused to repair the choir of the church,
The fair, at its height, attracted all the principal horse dealers from every part of the United Kingdom. It is estimated that up to 4,000 horses were displayed for sale every day of the fair and that the total worth of this kind of sale was £200,000. Howden railway station opened in 1840.
The town was the scene of an early rail disaster which killed five passengers when a large iron casting fell from a wagon, and derailed the train. It was one of the first accidents to be investigated by the new Railway Inspectorate.

20th century

In 1915, during the First World War, the British Admiralty needed a suitable site in north-east England for a new airship station, to protect the ports and ships from the threat of attack by German U-boats.
   The Royal Naval Airship Station at Howden opened in 1916 with its airship hangars. It provided not only protection for shipping along the east coast, but also jobs for hundreds of civilians. This helped to turn round the town's fortunes, which had been suffering since the building of the port at nearby Goole, and the passing of the horse fairs.
   Between the wars, and then during the Second World War, the author Nevil Shute worked in Howden for the Airship Guarantee Co, as part of the team that created the R100. While here, Shute worked alongside Barnes Wallis, the scientist and inventor of the bouncing bomb. Shute lived at number 78 Hailgate, and a plaque is now fixed to the house to commemorate this.
   Shute isn't always popular in Howden, because of what he wrote in his autobiography:

The lads were what one would expect, straight from the plough, but the girls were an eye-opener. They were brutish and uncouth, filthy in appearance and in habits. Things may have changed since then — I hope they have. Perhaps the girls in very isolated districts such as that had less opportunity than their brothers for getting in to the market and making contact with civilization; I can only record the fact that these girls straight off the farms were the lowest types that I've ever seen in England, and incredibly foul-mouthed.

- Slide Rule: Autobiography of an Engineer, Nevil Shute, 1954.
   In 1932, Howden Minster's renovations were completed, and its bells chimed every 15 minutes, a tradition that continues to this day.
   It is popularly believed that on the night of 24 June 1954 the historian A.J.P. Taylor spent the night at the Wellington Hotel, and that he broke a water jug and a shaving mirror while staying there. However, this is untrue, as Taylor spent the night at the Bowman’s Hotel, next door to the Wellington. It is also untrue that he broke the jug and mirror. Instead, he broke his wrist falling from the unusually high bed.
   In the latter part of the mid-20th century, two banks and a Co-op, the town's largest grocery store, opened, giving the people of Howden a more convenient infrastructure.

21st century modernisation

In late 2003 The Press Association (PA) completed building work on what it calls its 'Operations Centre', despite notable opposition from the residents of Howden, and it stands on the site of the old Georgian Police Station. This left Howden without a police presence in the town until late 2005. The building was officially opened by the Prince of Wales, continuing Howden's relations with the Royal Family.
   PA has several hundred employees, most of whom have been brought into the town from Leeds and London, at this building and others in the town. The local public transport facilities have proved inadequate for many staff who commute, as much of the work is done round the clock. This has led to considerable strain being put on Howden's parking facilities, leading to the creation of a Controlled Parking Zone embracing most of the central area of the town.
   Online retailer Ebuyer.com also recently relocated their headquarters from Sheffield to Howden. Their vast warehouse and office building is on Ferry Road, close to Howdendyke.
   Plans for the further development of Howden include a permanent set of traffic lights, more housing, an industrial estate and a larger grocery store to be built on the disused United Carriers site.
   Howden Minster is currently undergoing another renovation, with the aid of English Heritage. The Minster hopes to raise £300,000 in the next two years.

Politics

The parliamentary seat of Howden and Haltemprice is held by David Davis, who is (as of 2008) the Shadow Home Secretary. The civil parish of Howden had a population of 3,810, according to the 2001 UK census. The civil parish also includes North Howden and part of Boothferry.
The current Howden town councillor is Mark Preston, of the Conservative Party.

Further Information

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