Cottingham (St. Mary the Virgin)
The parish comprises 9495a. 3r. 8p., of which 4562 acres are arable, 4536 meadow and pasture, 144 wood, and 251 garden land, a large portion of the last being appropriated to the cultivation of vegetables and other horticultural produce for the market at Hull, which place is also in a measure supplied with milk and butter from this neighbourhood. A great part of the parish is a plain, lying between the Wolds and the river Hull, which forms the eastern boundary, and separates Cottingham from the parishes of Sutton and Waghen; about 2000 acres are upon the declivity of the hills, lying immediately on limestone rock. There is much diversity of soil, from a light gravel to a strong tenacious clay. The village is large, very agreeably situated at the eastern foot of the Wolds, and contains several highly respectable houses: there are two breweries, and a carpet manufactory; and the Tweeddale Patent-Tile Company have lately erected extensive works for the manufacture of bricks and tiles by steam. The Hull and Bridlington railway has a station here, about midway between the stations of Hull and Beverley; and the river affords easy conveyance for agricultural produce, coal, lime, &c. The market and one of the fairs have been discontinued, but a fair is held on the festival of St. Martin.
The living is a vicarage, with the perpetual curacy of Skidby annexed, valued in the king's books at £106. 13. 4., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £124; appropriator, the Bishop of Chester. The great tithes of Cottingham have been commuted for £918, and the bishop's glebe consists of 442 acres. The church is a spacious and handsome edifice built in 1272, with a light and beautiful tower rising from the centre; and contains several elegant monuments, particularly of the family of Burton, and in the chancel an ancient tombstone to the memory of the founder, Nicholas de Stuteville. A small additional church was built by subscription, at Newland, in 1833. There are places of worship for Independents, Primitive Methodists, and Wesleyans. A free school is principally supported from a bequest of land, now producing about £45 per annum, by Mr. Mark Kirby, in 1712. Some remains exist of the ramparts and ditches of Baynard Castle. Adjoining the ancient road called Keldgate, are intermitting springs, which sometimes flow copiously after remaining quiescent for several years.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.