Pocklington - All Saints

Around 650 a settlement named "Poclintun" existed here. It is assumed that the Christian missionary Paulinus of York had a first church built here, today's All Saints Church.

In 866, the Great Pagan Army of the Vikings occupied the area. From 876, the occupying forces from Denmark began to settle permanently in what is now Yorkshire and established the Kingdom of Jórvík, which lasted for almost a century.

In 1066, two important battles took place, both of which led to a change of power in the country. The Battle of Stamford Bridge took place just four miles from Pocklington and sealed the end of Viking rule in England. The subsequent Battle of Hastings led to a period of Norman rule.

By the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, Poclington was the second largest settlement in Yorkshire after York itself.

Pocklington developed through the Middle Ages. The town owed much of its prosperity in the Middle Ages to the fact that it was a local centre for the trading of wool and lay on the main road to York, an important national centre for the export of wool to the continent.

St. Paulinus may have established the first Christian church in Pocklington. The building's foundations go back to the Saxon era, and some fragments remain of the Norman church. However most of the building dates from the late 12th to early 15th centuries.

Extensive repairs and alterations were made to the church in the late 19th century.

In 1733, the "Flying Man of Pocklington", Thomas Pelling, attempted to travel along a rope between the church and the Star Inn in the Market Square. He crashed to his death. He is buried where he fell. He is remembered since 2010, when the yearly Flying Man Festival was launched the first time.

Wrestling men