Howden, East Riding of Yorkshire

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Howden is a small town in the East Riding of Yorkshire, lying next to the M62 approximately five miles north of Goole. The parliamentary seat of Howden and Haltemprice is held by David Davis (2005), a member of the Conservative Party Shadow Cabinet. The civil parish of Howden had a population of 3,810 according to the 2001 census.

It is a historic market town, with Georgian architecture. It has a large minster, with bells that chime every 15 minutes but no clock face. Other amenities include a park, two banks and a Co-Op, the town's largest grocery store, an antique shop and other specialist shops.

The wapentake of Howdenshire was named after the town.

In late 2003 The Press Association (PA) completed building work on what it calls its 'Operations Centre' on the site of the old Georgian Police Station. It was officially opened by the Prince of Wales.

PA employs several hundred employees at this building and others in the town. The local public transport facilities have proved inadequate for many staff who commute, as much of the work is done round the clock. This has led to considerable strain being put on Howden's parking facilities, leading to the creation of a Controlled Parking Zone embracing most of the central area of the town.

Plans for the further development of Howden include a permanent set of traffic lights, more housing, an industrial estate and a larger grocery store to be built on the disused 'United Carriers' site.

It is popularly believed that on the night of June 24th 1954 the historian A.J.P. Taylor spent the night at the Wellington Hotel. This is an urban myth. He spent the night at the Bowman’s Hotel next door. It is also untrue that Taylor broke a water jug and a shaving mirror whilst staying at the hotel. Instead, he broke his wrist falling from the unusually high bed.

Howden was featured in The Times newspaper's top 20 list of places with the best standard of living in the UK [link]. Howden is currently working on it's own town website that will contain everything you need to know about Howden.

[Howden Business Directory]

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