Hop, Skipsea and Jump

The road running west from the East Yorkshire village of Skipsea takes a few sharp turns, dips down to pass an often flooded low lying meadow and then climbs gently to enter Skipsea Brough, a tiny cluster of houses and a large man-made earthwork mound. 

This is what remains of the ancient Skipsea Castle. 

In the far distant era of Britons and Saxons the 70 foot high upturned pudding bowl of ground was known as Albemarle Hill and was marked by a succession of Motte and Bailey wooden defences and structures.  

In the years following the Norman Invasion of England the site was gifted by William the Conqueror to one of his loyal followers and one who had fought alongside him at the Battle of Hastings- Drogo de la Beuvriere.. 

He was a Flemish soldier of fortune and with the royal endorsement as Lord of Holderness he built a castle out of beach gathered sea cobbles, a material that still features today in some of the traditional cottages in this part of Yorkshire. 

Such a building and on an elevated site will have dominated the landscape and served as a very strong symbol to the locals of the power of the invaders. 

As well as the grant of the title of Tenant in Chief in 1086 and lands which encompassed dozens of Manors in 156 locations in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and as far south as Suffolk and Leicestershire the opportunist Drogo was given the hand in marriage of the Lady Eleanor reputed to be young and beautiful and a niece of William the Conqueror himself. 

It is likely that there was quite a difference in ages between the two newly weds as well as a huge contrast between an uncouth warrior nobleman and an educated and genteel lady of the Norman Court. 

Whatever transpired in that cobbled walled fortress led to the tragedy of Eleanor dying before her time. The death was at first unexplained, possibly an accidental poisoning, but the consensus was that she had been murdered by her husband. 

At the news of this heinous crime William the Conqueror made a swift dash from York to Skipsea intent on exacting revenge on his former ally and supporter. However, Drogo had made his escape down the nearby Cleeton Lane to a North Sea Port at Hyde which was lost to the incessant coastal erosion of Holderness some time in the Middle Ages. From there he caught a boat to seek refuge from the wrath of the King in his Flemish ancestral home. There remains some mystery over his fate as he seems to have disappeared from the records in that year, 1087.

There is not a lot to see from the road through Skipsea Brough but many reports have been forthcoming about ghostly goings on in that vicinity and in particular the White Lady of Skipsea Castle. 

This is indeed thought to be the tormented spirit of the murdered Eleanor who,at certain seasons of the year and more frequently over the Christmas period, emerges with a stealthy abruptness from a hedge or bush. 

In the past she has been known to walk alongside cyclists or horse drawn vehicles no matter how fast they might be travelling. 

In some circumstances of the haunting Eleanor is seen to be headless causing horses to become disturbed and agitated.