All Saints, Bishop Burton

Bishop Burton is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies on the approximately 3 miles to the west of the market town of Beverley. It is also home to Bishop Burton College, a further education and higher education college specialising in agriculture and equine studies.

There has been human activity in Bishop Burton for at least 10,000 years, with traces left from the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Romano-British eras.

The village (whose name may derive from Burtone, meaning fortified farmstead) is mentioned in the Domesday Book as belonging to the Archbishop of York and the site of Archbishop’s Manor House continued to be the site of Manor Houses up to the demolition of High Hall in 1952.

All Saints Church is a large and imposing building on side of a hill to the south side of the main road through the village. It is among the oldest buildings in the village, and looks down from its prominent position on the hill.

Tradition says that it was founded by Earl Puch in the 8th century AD and was consecrated by St. John of Beverley. John Wesley is reputed to have preached beneath an elm tree on the village green. This tree was struck by lightning in 1836 and the Squire, Richard Watt, had a bust of Wesley carved from its remains.

The congregation is small and committed to developing the life of the church within the village community. A ‘Friends of Bishop Burton’ group has been formed to enable interested parties to support the fabric and activities of the church, and can be contacted at foabb@gmail.com.

Village activities include Country Friends which meets monthly, a Bowls Club, a Darby & Joan Club and we have a Pantomime every Christmas in the Village Hall. Guy Fawkes is remembered each year on the green, when a bonfire and fireworks are followed by pea and ham soup, toffee apples for the children at our local pub, the- Altisidora.

The village school (which was C of E) unfortunately closed in 1986, and children of primary school age now attend the school at Walkington, giving close links between the two villages.

More information can be found on the Bishop Burton website at www.bishopburton.org.uk.