44 HULL SCIENTIFIC AND FIELD NATURALISTS CLUB. 



He was a drainer of marshes, and it seems probable that he 

 caused the cutting of Summergangs Dyke, which forms the 

 boundary between Sutton and modern Drypool-with-South- 

 coates. These last originally lay wholly in the parish of Swine. 

 There was a berewic in ancient Dripole, and another in 

 Sotcote — he and his successors held the latter under the 

 Archbishop's College of St. John of Beverley. But they held 

 a very large portion of ancient Dripole as a manor dependent 

 on their Manor of Sutton. This may have been the Dripole 

 berewic, or the result of some arrangement with the Arch- 

 bishop. In dealing with the districts of East Hull I shall 

 begin with this portion. 



Dripole in the Parish of Sutton. 



Ancient Dripole included the Groves. When, in 1302, 

 the road from Hull into Holderness was made a public high- 

 way, it was said to pass first "through the middle of the 

 town of Dripole to Suttcoats Som'gang. " This accurately 

 describes the course of the thoroughfare, which divided the 

 northern part of Dripole from the rest. While the fortifica- 

 tions of Henry VIII,, along the east side of the Old Harbour 

 still remained, the North Block House stood right in front 

 of the North Bridge, so that the traffic had to go partly 

 round it, and along the short piece of road formerly called 

 Bridge-Foot. Beyond this, in the seventeenth century, and 

 later, was Block House Lane, now called Witham, a country 

 road between grass fields, with only such agricultural 

 buildings as usually went with such land. At the further 

 end of this wide thoroughfare the great open Common of 

 Summergangs stretched out right and left, Block House Mill 

 standing near the corner of it, opposite the centre of the 

 wide road. 



Summergangs Dike, which defined the west side of 

 Dansom Lane and part of Naylor's Row, curved round to 

 its outlet at Drypole-gote, near the entrance to Drypool 

 Basin. Between this spot and the North Bridge would be 

 the site bought from Sir Thomas de Sutton on which to 

 build a tower to defend the town. The fortifications of 

 Henry VIII. took land out of Sutton and Swine, they also 

 cut off the end of Summergangs Dike, which got a new 

 outlet beyond Dripole Field, half a mile further north. Of 

 this there is evidence. Excavations would probably show 

 that the lower course of the dike had been subject to the 

 tide, much of the land being waste. As the history of 



