Wetwang

Wetwang is a Yorkshire Wolds village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, 6 miles (10 kilometres) west of Driffield on the A166 road.

This article is about the East Yorkshire village. For the location in The Lord of the Rings, see Wetwang (Middle-earth).

Wetwang

St Nicholas Church
Wetwang
Location within the East Riding of Yorkshire
Population761 (2011 census)[1]
OS grid referenceSE932590
Civil parish
  • Wetwang
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townDRIFFIELD
Postcode districtYO25
Dialling code01377
PoliceHumberside
FireHumberside
AmbulanceYorkshire
UK Parliament

At the 2011 census, it had a population of 761,[1] an increase on the 2001 census figure of 672.[2]

Toponymy

There are two interpretations of the name. One is from the Old Norse vaett-vangr, or 'field for the trial of a legal action'. Another theory is that it was the "Wet Field" compared to the nearby dry field at Driffield.[3] It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names;[4][5] in some varieties of English wang is a slang term for penis,[6][7] although this sense of the word is not recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary.[8]

History

St Nicholas' Church is of Norman origin and was restored between 1845 and 1902. In 1966, the church was designated a Grade II* listed building and is now recorded in the National Heritage List for England, maintained by Historic England.[9] It is on the Sykes Churches Trail devised by the East Yorkshire Churches Group.[10] The church has a ring of three bells (tenor 7 long cwt 0 qr 12 lb; 796 lb or 361 kg in A), the oldest of which (the tenor) dates from c. 1450.[11]

Wetwang Community Hall
The Victoria Inn

The village is known for its Iron Age chariot burial cemetery at Wetwang Slack,[12] and was previously known for its black swans after which the village pub, the Black Swan, is named.[13]

The village is mentioned twice in the Domesday Book as Wetuuangha. The lesser mention simply records its existence: "In Wetwang the archbishop 13+1⁄2 carucates". The mention is under "Warter Hundred" on original folio 381V: East Riding.[14] Earlier in the Domesday Book, there is a fuller description (Folio 302V: Yorkshire) within the listing of the land of the Archbishop of York:

In Wetwang there are 13+1⁄2 carucates to the geld, and there could be 7 ploughs. Archbishop Ealdraed held this as 1 manor. Now Archbishop Thomas has it and it is waste. TRE worth £4. This manor is 2 leagues long and 1+1⁄2 broad

— Folio 302V: Yorkshire) within the listing of the land of the Archbishop of York

A carucate is the area of land a man with 8 oxen can plough in a season, sometimes cited as around 120 acres (49 ha). In Wetwang there were 13+1⁄2 of them available for the tax take ("geld"). A "plough" was a carucate which was being ploughed, rather than grazed or fallow. Before the Norman Conquest (TRE) Ealdraed held it, and it was worth £4 per year in rent, but after the conquest it was waste land held by Archbishop Thomas. A league is around 3 miles (4.8 km).[15]

It has been hypothesised that the unlocated Romano-British town of Delgovicia is located at Wetwang.[16]

Public transport

Until 1950, the village was served by Wetwang railway station, on the Malton to Driffield Line, but this line has closed.[17] The village is now served by an infrequent East Yorkshire Motor Services bus.[18]

Honorary mayor

Its name (defined in The Meaning of Liff as meaning "a moist penis"[19]) often attracts mirth, even from Richard Whiteley of the Channel 4 quiz show Countdown; he held the honorary title Mayor of Wetwang from 1998 until his death in 2005.[20] On 25 June 2006, local weather forecaster Paul Hudson from BBC Look North was invested as Whiteley's successor.[21]

Year Mayor
1998–2005Richard Whiteley
2006–Paul Hudson

References
  1. UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Wetwang Parish (1170211287)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  2. UK Census (2001). "Local Area Report – Wetwang Parish (00FB158)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  3. Parker, Quentin (2010). Welcome to Horneytown, North Carolina, Population: 15: An insider's guide to 201 of the world's weirdest and wildest places. Adams Media. p. 191.
  4. Lyall, Sarah (22 January 2009). "No Snickering: That Road Sign Means Something Else". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  5. "13 Town Names We Can't Stop Laughing Over". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  6. "Wang". Cambridge Dictionary. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  7. "wang (n.)". www.etymonline.com. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  8. "Wang". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  9. Historic England. "The Church of St Nicolas (1083774)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  10. "Sykes Churches Trail Southern Route". Beverley, East Yorkshire: East Yorkshire Historic Churches Group.
  11. Central Council of Church Bell Ringers. "Wetwang, S Nicholas". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Central Council Publications. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  12. Loades, Mike (25 January 2005). "Wetwang: A Chariot Fit for a Queen?". History Trails Archaeology. BBC. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
  13. Thompson, Karen. "The Villages of the Yorkshire Wolds – Wetwang". Driffield Online. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
  14. Williams, Ann, ed. (2003). Domesday book: a complete translation. Penguin classics. London: Penguin Books. p. 877. ISBN 978-0-14-143994-5.
  15. Williams 2003, p. 797.
  16. Rivet, A. L. F.; Smith, Colin (1979). The Place-Names of Roman Britain. London. pp. 331–332.
  17. Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
  18. "Service 135". East Yorkshire Motor Services. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  19. Adams, D.; Lloyd, J. (1983). "Wetwang". The Meaning of Liff. Pan Books. ISBN 0-330-28121-6.
  20. "From Wilberforce to Mayor Whiteley". Yorkshire Post. 26 September 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
  21. "Paul Hudson – Weatherman". BBC Look North. BBC. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
  • Gazetteer — A–Z of Towns Villages and Hamlets. East Riding of Yorkshire Council. 2006. p. 11.
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