SWANLAND is a village, which stands on a hilltop seven miles west of Kingston upon Hull and two miles north of the river Humber. It is completely surrounded by open countryside on the south eastern corner of the East Yorkshire Wolds. Swanland can not be entered without climbing a hill. This delightful setting is around 260 ft. above sea level. One of its main features is an oval, man-made pond right in the village centre. On the eastern side of the pond stands an early Nonconformist church, now known as Christ Church. Next to this is the village Institute.

The Institute                   Christ Church

On the south side is the now disused school, it is hoped that this will become a community centre. The pond's western side has another disused building that once housed the 230ft. deep well and pumping engine. Although these buildings are at present disused, they in no way detract from the centre's attractive appearance. The Main Street runs along the north side of the pond. Overlooking the pond from the north side of the road is Mere House and The Swan and Cygnet public house.    

The road that runs down the village from west to east can be confusing to visitors as it has three sections with different names. Starting in the west there is Mill Road down as far as West Leys Road, it then changes to West End as far as the junction with Dale Road when it becomes Main Street. Most of the shops are situated in the area around the junction of the latter two streets.

         
            Some old cottages now Shops

Another attractive feature is the water tower built in 1931, this can be found on the extreme western edge of Swanland opposite where the mill once stood. Many people say it looks just like a wedding cake.

On the south side of the village on the road to Ferriby there is a stunning view of the River Humber and the Humber Bridge together with views of the North Lincolnshire Wolds.

In the spring many of the road verges are alive with colour, the daffodils and crocuses are a real pleasure. Thanks to a lot of work by some residents Swanland has won and been well placed in the Village in Bloom competition on several occasions.

Sporting activities are quite well catered for. There is a large sports field on West Leys road, with three football pitches, a cricket pitch, a netball pitch and a skateboarding ramp. This field also contains a well equipped children’s play area and the newly-built brick Scout hut.

In the Institute there is full size billiard table where snooker is played. The library is also situated in this building.

On Kemp road, West End corner, there is a well maintained bowling green, next to it is a tennis area with three all weather courts and two hard courts complete with a new pavillion.

There are now only two places of worship, since the Methodists amalgamated with The Congregationalists to become The United Reform Church. They are housed in Christ Church by the pond. The Church of England have moved to a newly built church named Saint Barnabas at the extreme east end of Main Street.

The Post Office at 5, West End Swanland is part of a fine Georgian building known as 'Boulder House'. On the pavement outside the door is large granite rock. The plaque placed above it by Sir James Reckitt records that it was brought down during the Ice Age. This large rock would no doubt have been used as a mounting stone; another mounting stone can be seen about 100 yards up the road.

Above the Post Office door is an inscribed stone block, it reads :-   I. L. 1721. Mr. Harold Kirby, one of Swanland's builders (now deceased), was keen to point out that the I.L. stood for Isaac Lupton one of his ancestors, 1721 being the building date. 

The school moved from behind the pond into what used to be Swanland’s pride and joy, a large village hall on Tranby Lane. The school’s size has trebled since 1940, when there were one hundred pupils ranging from five to fourteen years old. Now, even though the pupils leave for secondary education at eleven they have almost three hundred pupils.

The present village hall is a much smaller place behind the old school. It is hoped that a scheme to rebuild the hall and connect it to the old school will one day come to fruition.

Swanland was a small village with several large houses where the local gentry lived and several farms. These big houses and farms provided work for the local villagers. Some of  these large houses are unfortunately no longer here. Their passing has made room for the expanding population growth that started after World War Two. The number of residents then was around one thousand. It is now about four thousand.

Swanland is in a convenient location for travel to other parts. The Humber Bridge is almost in the parish, linking us to Lincolnshire on the south bank. The bridge also connects us to our regional airport at Kirmington. This up and coming airport is now offering flights to many popular holiday resorts. Clive Sullivan Way to the east, takes one right through the city of Hull to the overnight ferry terminal, where the ferries leave for the Continental ports of Zeebrugge and Rotterdam. When travelling west on Sullivan Way the road becomes the A63 and later the M62 to Manchester and points west. The M18 branches from the M62 travelling south, when it eventually joins the M1 southbound to London.  The nearest railway station is two miles to the south at North Ferriby.

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