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.

Wetwang
St Nicholas Church
Wetwang Location within the East Riding of Yorkshire
Population	761 (2011 census)[1]
OS grid reference	SE932590
Civil parish	Wetwang
Unitary authority	East Riding of Yorkshire
Ceremonial county	East Riding of Yorkshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	DRIFFIELD
Postcode district	YO25
Dialling code	01377
Police	Humberside
Fire	Humberside
Ambulance	Yorkshire
UK Parliament	East Yorkshire
List of places UK England Yorkshire 54.019372°N 0.578926°W / 54.019372; -0.578926

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

Buildings of note

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.[3] It is on the Sykes Churches Trail devised by the East Yorkshire Churches Group.[4] 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.[5]

The village is known for its Iron Age chariot burial cemetery at Wetwang Slack,[6] and was previously known for its black swans after which the village pub, the Black Swan, is named.[7]

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.[8] Earlier in Domsday 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 carcurate 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 carcurate 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).[9]

There are two interpretations of the name, one from the Old Norse vaett-vangr, '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.[10] It has been noted on lists of unusual place names.[11][12]

It has been hypothesised that the unlocated Romano-British town of Delgovicia is located at Wetwang.[13]

Public transport

Until 1950, the village was served by Wetwang railway station, on the Malton to Driffield Line, but this line has closed.[14] The village is now served by an infrequent East Yorkshire Motor Services bus.[15]

Honorary mayor

Its name (defined in The Meaning of Liff as meaning "a moist penis"[16]) 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.[17] On 25 June 2006, local weather forecaster Paul Hudson from BBC Look North was invested as Whiteley's successor.[18]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wetwang.

• Wetwang in the Domesday Book