Adlingfleet is a drained, fertile, former marshland village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Twin Rivers, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is east-southeast of Goole town centre. Its sea wall along the far north-east is set back from the Ouse estuary leaving the largest single reedbed in England. In 1961 the parish had a population of 137.
Geography
Adlingfleet is on a minor road set back from the final, southern bank of the Ouse estuary. From Goole the road passes Swinefleet, Reedness, Whitgift and Ousefleet before turning to the south by Blacktoft Sands RSPB reserve to reach the village. The road continues southwards, to Fockerby and Garthorpe, all in similar multiple-drains fields.
The boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire comes to a point south of the village centre. It weaves such as along the eastern edge of the housing, then runs east to reach the Trent estuary. At its north-eastern tip are mud banks, short of Trent Falls, where Trent and the Ouse meet – forming the Humber.
All of the surrounding land is low-lying and flat. It is protected from flooding by sea walls along the banks of: the Trent to the east; and the Ouse to the north. To north and north east the sea wall is set back, leaving to nature the largest tidal reedbed in England. This is managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. It is a haven for wildlife. Before the drainage schemes of the 18th century, much more of the area was saltmarsh, leaving soils with varying pH and high concentrations of metals, including ochre.
History
The village was written as "Adelingesfluet" in the Domesday Book. From this we know that the lord of the manor was Siward Barn before the Norman Conquest; later, in 1086, it was Geoffrey de la Guerche.
It was part of the Goole Rural District in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1894 to 1974, and was then in the Boothferry district of Humberside until 1996. On 1 April 1983 the parish was abolished to form Twin Rivers, part also went to Eastoft.
The parish church of All Saints is a Grade I listed building. The building has a cruciform plan, with a nave, a chancel, a south aisle, north and south transepts, and a square tower at the west end. Much of it is 13th century, with some re-used 12th-century doors. The aisle and tower were built in the 15th century, and various amendments were made in 1792–94, in 1828 and in 1955–57. Internally, the building contains monuments including a very fine knight effigy, to a Haldenby, who died in 1596.
At south is a raised platform for the remains of a rectory, dating from the mid-13th century. It is grade II* listed, and was constructed of ashlar and coursed rubble by John le Franceys, who was Adlingfleet's rector and also a king's counsellor. The remains, which have not had a roof since the 1970s, and the platform on which they stand, are a scheduled ancient monument, as there are thought to be the remains of other structures below the surface. West is the old vicarage, built by Tyson in 1796. Red-brick modifications were made in 1835–37 by Erskine Neal. The original structure is in yellow-brown brick.
Adlingfleet Drainage
Adlingfleet Level is of principally former marshland south west of the Trent-Ouse-Humber confluence. In 1764, landowners contacted the civil engineer John Smeaton, who drew up proposals for a drainage scheme. This formed the basis for an Act of Parliament, which the landowners obtained in March 1767. The Act authorised Drainage Commissioners to be appointed, and they asked Smeaton's colleague, John Grundy, Jr., to act as engineer for the project. David Buffery was the resident engineer and Charles Tate the land surveyor. Grundy made few changes to Smeaton's plans. By July, he had drawn the plans and specifications for the sluice which would connect the main drain to the Trent, and work began on it in August. A contract for the excavation of the main drain was awarded to James Pinkerton and John Dyson in October. This was the first known civil engineering contract for both men, but they went on to work together on a number of schemes, including the Driffield Navigation and the Laneham Drainage project, and seem to have acted as management contractors, organising and supplying labour to these schemes. By April 1769, all the major elements of the project had been completed, and the project had cost around £7,000 (). The Commissioners retained Buffery, to ensure that some remaining minor works were completed to a satisfactory standard.