The parish of Huggate is situated in what was once the wapentake of Harthill (Wilton Beacon division), part of the historical East Riding of Yorkshire (see maps in Introduction). It is a rural parish made up of undulating wolds given over mostly to arable farming with only one centre of population, the village of Huggate. Human settlement within the parish dates back to ancient times and its boundaries have remained unchanged to the present day. Lying between the village of Huggate and the Roman road, which forms part of the parish’s northern boundary, there are entrenchments said to date from the Bronze Age, known as the Huggate Dikes, and Ancient British tumuli are scattered about the same area.

Before the Conquest there were two manors in the parish of Huggate. The first, the manor of Huggate, was in the hands of two men: Barth and Ernuin the Priest, the latter being Edward the Confessor’s thegn. There was no recorded population at the time of Domesday, which suggests that it had fallen victim to the Conqueror’s Harrowing of the North, supported by the fact that William I was both tenant-in-chief and lord in 1086. By the 12th century the king’s holding had been granted to Robert Fossard and Eruin’s to Forne, son of Sigulf, ancestor of the Greystokes. The greater part of the Fossard holding was granted to the monks and nuns of Watton Abbey, and in 1316 its lord was the abbey’s prior. After the Dissolution Huggate manor passed into the hands of a succession of absentee landlords. The second manor was based on Haywold Farm, situated in the south-east corner of the parish. Before the Conquest it was held by Grim and Ingrith, thereafter the larger part was held by the king and the smaller by the Archbishop of York. By 1154 William Fossard had a holding in Haywold manor which he also granted to Watton Priory before embarking on a journey to Jerusalem. Like Huggate manor it passed through various hands until the early 20th century.

Huggate church, formerly known as All Saints, is now dedicated to St. Mary. It was built shortly after the Conquest, as it was given in 1150 to St. Mary’s Abbey, York, which held it until the Dissolution. From the outside the church resembles a jumble of add-ons, though its interior is surprisingly harmonious, with a 12th century nave and aisles, a 13th century chancel and a 14th century tower and spire. The south porch and south vestry are much later additions, built during the 19th century restorations. There are two Norman windows at the eastern end of the nave, and the 15th century octagonal font stands in a prominent position at the western end, at the entrance to the tower.

Five generations of the Pickerings of Kilnwick, an offshoot of the Pickerings of Holderness, celebrated several of their life events in Huggate, from the burial of John, a shepherd of the 22nd generation, to the birth of Harriet Ann, David and Albert Henry, three siblings of the 27th generation. The Puckerings of Sledmere, an offshoot of the Puckerings of Kirby Underdale, also left their mark in Huggate, when there were four baptisms at St. Mary’s in the 14th generation.

Sources:
https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/ERY/Huggate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huggate
https://opendomesday.org/place/SE8855/huggate
http://www.stone-circles.org.uk/stone/huggatedykes.htm
Huggate Parish Council – History: https://www.huggatevillage.org/parish-history
History and Topography of Yorkshire, vol. 2, York, Ainsty, East Riding, p.561: https://books.google.fr/books?redir_esc=y&id=unEKAQAAMAAJ
Church of St. Mary: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1084147?section=official-list-entry