Airmyn

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Airmyn
Yorkshire
East Riding
Airmyn Clock Tower.jpg
The clock tower, Airmyn
Location
Grid reference: SE726253
Location: 53°43’9"N, 0°54’2"W
Data
Population: 768  (2011)
Post town: Goole
Postcode: DN14
Dialling code: 01405
Local Government
Council: East Riding of Yorkshire
Parliamentary
constituency:
Brigg and Goole

Airmyn is a village in the East Riding of Yorkshire. It stands at the mouth of the River Aire as it joins the River Ouse, some two miles northwest of Goole.

More prosaically, Airmyn is to be found to the west of the M62 motorway and the A614 road.

According to the 2011, Airmyn parish had a population of 768.

Buildings

High Street, Airmyn
St David's Church

The village has its own primary school, Airmyn Park Primary School, which holds just over 100 pupils. The present building was opened in 1991, and has four classrooms. Before moving to the new building, the school was located on High Street, in a building which was erected in 1834 as a Sunday School by George Percy, the Earl of Beverley and 5th Duke of Northumberland.

Near the old school is a clock tower, designed by Henry Francis Lockwood of Bradford and built in 1865,[1][2] which was paid for by the village population, to honour the memory of the second Earl, who funded the building of the school.

There is a memorial hall located next to the village field, and "Woodland Park", named by an Airmyn Park Primary School pupil.[3] A Post Office at the Memorial Hall is open twice a week and staffed by volunteers.

The Airmyn paying Fields are a Queen Elizabeth II Field.

Parish church

The parish church is St David's. It is a Grade II listed building originally built in 1318 and extended in 1676. The roof was replaced with a new one of Westmorland slate in 1858, as part of refurbishments that also included a bellcote and a porch on the west end.[4]

Port of Airmyn

Although the River Aire joins the Ouse at Airmyn, the main port facilities for the Aire and Calder Navigation were originally further upstream at Rawcliffe. However, in 1736 they decided to buy land at Airmyn, as the water was deeper, and larger vessels could not always reach Rawcliffe, particularly on neap tides. The land was bought in 1744, and Airmyn gradually replaced Rawcliffe, as staithes, woolsheds, a crane and various other buildings were erected by those who leased the navigation. In 1750, the Aire and Calder Company repaid those who had built the facilities, and took ownership of them. By 1774, most of the Aire and Calder staff were also based at Airmyn.[5] It became possible to catch a ship from Airmyn to London, as a regular service began in 1758, charging the same fares as those from Hull to London.[6]

Success was short-lived. In 1774, the Aire and Calder decided to build the Selby Canal, which would bypass the lower Aire and join the Ouse further upstream. Until then, Airmyn had acted as a transshipment point, where cargo was transferred from seagoing ships to river vessels. A new woolshed was built in 1775, and there was a coal yard, where coal was sold. Six staff were employed to manage the facility, which was also the base for the company's river boats. In one week in July 1775, 19 boats were loaded, and nine vessels, one from London and eight from Hull, had arrived within a four-day period. Once the Selby Canal opened in 1776, decline was rapid. The coalyard and the offices closed in 1779, and two years later, all buildings on the north bank of the river were demolished, while those on the south bank were sold. The boat repair yard closed soon afterwards.[7]

Airmyn, along with nearby Rawcliffe, was the location of one of the first reliable reports of the practice of warping in agriculture in the 1730s.

Outside links

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("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Airmyn)

References

Books

  • Hadfield, Charles (1972). The Canals of Yorkshire and North East England (Vol 1). David and Charles. ISBN 0-7153-5719-0. 
  • Gazetteer — A–Z of Towns Villages and Hamlets. East Riding of Yorkshire Council. 2006. p. 3.