Hollym has been spelt in several ways over the centuries, starting with Holderness Lake in the Doomsday Book, and then Holam, Holoyme, Holeym and Halym, but all these Anglian names mean 'homestead near the hollow' .
Nineteenth-century directories give its location as three miles north-east of Patrington, 13 miles cast of Hedon and two miles from Withernsea. It lies on very fertile boulder clay with red clay subsoil, 7m above sea level but reaching 15m at one point in the south of the village; near the Winestead Drain it is 7m below sea level.
Hollym, like many places in Holderness, is a long, scattered village with parallel streets, Northside Road and Southside Road (now South Carr Dales Road) extending on either side of fields enclosed in the last century. The old farmsteads all had their garths extending north and south towards these roads which have Vicar Lane, Church Lane, Gilliescliffe Lane (now the main road) and Manor Lane as linked cross streets.
The pinfold is a leftover from the
past. Situated in Northside Road, near to the cross roads, its circular walls
are constructed of cobbles. It is the only Pinfold left in this area and dates
pre 1797, when stray animals in the village would be rounded up and kept in the
fold until their owners could pay the 6d. for re-acquiring their animals.
George Hunter, the village cobbler, was the last known ‘pinder'.
For many years it had been left
derelict. The occupants of the School House had rented the Pinfold for a
nominal sum each year, but in 1980 the council agreed with the tenants to re-acquire
and restore it. The Probation and After Care service helped with the restoration
and in September 1981 they started to tackle the four foot high nettles and
repair the cobbled wall. A seat was made from old church pews and put into
position on a concrete base, with a path leading to it. Dave Townsley provided
the grass seed, Hollym Women's Institute donated rose trees and the Village Hall
committee allowed the workers use of the Hall.
Christopher (Tip) Pexton, who grew up in Hollym and is now retired, now cuts the grass for a small fee paid by the parish council.