OS grid reference SE819242 Sovereign state United Kingdom Postcode district DN14 Civil parish Blacktoft | Country England Local time Sunday 7:16 AM Dialling code 01430 | |
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Unitary authority Ceremonial county East Riding of Yorkshire Region Yorkshire and the Humber Weather 7°C, Wind SE at 8 km/h, 84% Humidity | ||
Yokefleet (also known as Yorkfleet) is a hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the civil parish of Blacktoft, and is situated on the north bank of the River Ouse, 2.5 miles (4 km) from where it joins the River Trent and becomes the Humber.
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Map of Yokefleet, Goole, UK
Yokefleet is approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) south-east from Howden and 21 miles (34 km) south-east from the county town of York. Yokefleet lies within the Parliamentary constituency of Haltemprice and Howden an area that mainly consists of middle class suburbs, towns and villages. The area is affluent, placed as the 10th most affluent in the country in a Barclays Private Clients survey, and has one of the highest proportions of owner-occupiers in the country.
Yokefleet Hall is a Grade II listed mansion house of Victorian design by architect Cuthbert Brodrick. The hall is on the eastern edge of the hamlet.
History
In 1823 Yokefleet had a population of 199, which included a yeoman farmer, a corn miller, and a cattle dealer. It contained a windmill which served "as a mark for sailors to navigate the river." By 1831 Yokefleet population had dropped to 190, within a parish area of 950 acres (4 km2) which included ecclesiastical land and Walling Fen. The land mainly belonged to the Empson family who were impropriators—lay persons as patrons of incumbent clergy. There was a Wesleyan chapel. Occupations by this time included seven farmers, a school teacher for the local school, a corn miller, tailor, and two shoemakers, one of whom was a shopkeeper. A descendant of the Empson family, born at Yokefleet Hall, was literary critic and poet Sir William Empson (1906 – 1984).
In early December 2013 Yokefleet, among other regional settlements including Reedness, Saltmarshe, Blacktoft, North Ferriby, Hessle, Kingston upon Hull, was subject to flooding due to a tidal surge on the Humber, the largest in 60 years. According to the Environment Agency, damage caused would have been worse had it not been for the Hull Tidal Surge Barrier. A 2014 Flood Investigation Report from East Riding of Yorkshire Council recommended that affected property owners should "develop a personal flood plan". However, improved flood defences are likely to be introduced across the Humber Estuary including the significant raising of the river bank in order to ensure such flooding does not reoccur. The Environment Agency expressed confidence in such flood defences being improved by the government in order to prevent further flooding in the Haltemprice and Howden constituency and across the East Riding of Yorkshire.