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The site
of Cowlam, a tiny hamlet set high on the Yorkshire Wolds can be
found along the B1253. There is little to see other than eight
houses and a farm!.
About half a mile down the road is a
chalk field which now covers the remains of a Bronze Age
encampment which is the original site of Cowlam village. An
archaeological dig was undertaken in 1978 after 10,000 Roman coins
were discovered in a field some years earlier. Some items were
unearthed which are now in storage at the East Riding Museum in
Hull which holds lots of information about Medieval living in and
around the Yorkshire Wolds.
The village of Cowlam, which
means the top of a hill, can be found 700 feet above sea level,
and was anciently known as Colume and Coleham. It was left
deserted after the Black Death swept across Britain. Houses were
left empty and crops withered, all that remains is a chalk field
which covers all evidence of the buildings and the strip farming
which once was Cowlam.
Still to be found not far away
from the village site is the beautiful but tiny bellcot church
dedicated to St Mary. The church now finds itself in standing
amongst barns and bales in Manor Farm stackyard. The building is
of stone in Gothic style and stands on the site of the original
building. There is a chancel, a nave, and south facing porch and a
turret on the western gable which houses one bell. There is a
magnificent Norman Font with the most wonderful carvings in the
stone. The Vicarage stands nearby and is a beautiful brick
building which dates back to the late 1880’s.
The
two farms that surround the church are Manor Farm and Church Farm,
which are worked by the Connor and Hood families respectively.
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