By the late 18th century Wallingfen was becoming a well known area for the cultivation of hemp, this especially so around its edge where post-enclosure drainage was beginning to have an effect. As seen from the picture above hemp is a tall crop with spiky, serated palmate leaves, it needs a plentiful supply of ground water but not being flooded. Commercial hemp has a minimal ammount of drug-producing components, the variety grown to produce ‘weed’ is smaller. Again, as can be seen above, hemp seeds are sown very thickly which reduces the potential for wind or rain damage to the stem. Back then hemp would have been cut by hand (scythe). The cut hemp was first ‘retted’ in water to soften the hardness of the stem’s outer husk and the dried either on wooden frames or on the ground, weather permitting, at this point the fibres could be unravelled. The plant was perennial and would grow from the roots the following year.
In terms of historical context hemp was still a very important crop in the 18th and 19th centuries because, once dried, its fibres in the center of the stem were woven to produce rope, mostly marine rope for hoisting sails on sailing ships, tieing-up in harbour etc. Incidentally, there is a display about ropemaking and its history in the Ropewalk building in Barton on Humber, this because the long ropewalk building was originally owned by the Halls Barton Ropery who also had premises in Hull.
The area of Leven parish in the Hull valley called Hempholme, first recorded in the 12th century, is not a corruption but evidence of medieval hemp cultivation in this similar geophysical area to Wallingfen.
I am going to end this run of 40 blogs at this point. I am going to take a week to update my inventory of blogs before reviewing the article on castles in Holderness, as promised.