South Cave: The beautiful Yorkshire village which has suffered from an identity crisis

In addition, it has retained its position as a settlement of some significance since ancient times, and is believed to have been selected as a site for Roman homes due to its proximity to the fort.

The Domesday Book features numerous references to South Cave and in 1291 a charter was granted by King Edward I "to the Master and Brethren of the Knight's Templars in England, and their successors, for a market on Monday in every week at their Manor of Suth Kave ; and one fair there every year for four days..."

Fast forward 730 years and the most recent census recorded its population as 4,818, more than large enough to be classed as a town, and yet its parish council describes it as a village twice in the first two sentences on its website.

The parish website adds how South Cave’s amenities include a GP and dental practice, a mobile optician, a pharmacist, a post office, banking facilities and a library.

Such are the facilities in South Cave that its 11-member parish council is responsible for running allotments, a cemetery, footpaths and open spaces, such as a play park and the King George V playing field.

Whether a town or a village, at its heart is an impressive late 18th century Town Hall, featuring a street-facing arched entrance and open arcade as well as a clock tower added a century later through public subscription to mark Queen Victoria's golden jubilee.

At a time when South Cave was a centre for corn trading, labourers gathered on its steps in the hope of being hired at a spot where civic proclamations were also issued. Part of the building also served as a boys' school.

Beside it stands another listed heritage asset, Holderness House, and several other nearby smart Georgian residences that wouldn't be out of place in York, and a host of commercial premises, such as salons and a dog grooming business, giving the Market Place an urban feel.

However, contradicting that conclusion, as if to emphasise South Cave is first and foremost an agricultural settlement, on the opposite side of the Beverley Road stands another property from the era, fashioned from limestone rubble and bearing the name Market Place Farm.

Among the listed buildings stands the Fox and Coney pub, which dates from the 1730s. Its first owner, a furrier, named it while its current owners describe as "a modern day version of a country tavern".

Victorian historian John Hall recorded how South Cave was the birthplace of Charles Barft, who for about half-a-century "spent an active and useful life in the South Pacific, as a missionary in connection with the London Missionary Society".

It is understood while South Cave once boasted nine pubs, the other remaining one, The Bear Inn, named after the crest of the lords of the manor, the Barnard family, is also close to the Town Hall.

Heading out of the Market Place on Church Street, buildings include a Primitive Methodist Chapel and a Victorian girls' school, a leisure centre, bowling club, tennis courts and South Cave Primary School.

Although it is believed South Cave residents would have heard John Wesley preach in 1761 and the first Methodist Meeting Place was in held in a house 21 years later.

Primitive Methodists, followers of renowned East Riding evangelist William Clowes, who was disowned by the main Weslyan body partly over “enthusiasm” and “love feasts”, built the chapel in 1877 on the site of the two cottages where they had met.

Further along Church Street it's impossible not to notice the West Lodge and screen walls to Cave Castle, featuring a carriage gateway, towers and turrets.

Behind the grand entrance in a swathe of parkland lies the 71-room Cave Castle Hotel, which was built in the late 18th century before being restored in the 1870s, although it is believed a manor house stood on the site for centuries before then.

'The manor of South Cave alias East Hall’ was purchased by Sir Thomas Danby in 1582, Cave Castle was the home of the Barnard family into the 20th century.

In 1860, the York Herald reported how a great storm left 300 trees "torn up", one which was the pride of the Barnard family. Some 18 years later various trees ‘fallen in or near the Park, on the Cave Castle estate’, were being offered for sale, including 129 elm, 81 beech, 38 oak, 14 birch and 16 alder.

The castle's interior sets as much of an impression of its former owners as its exterior. The stairs feature scrolled tread-ends and an ornate wrought-iron balustrade carrying moulded handrail and a sculpture of Neptune in his chariot.

Its website reads: "Step inside Cave Castle and feel the echoes of history alongside modern comfort. Enjoy cosy suites, indulgent dining, bespoke spa therapies, and the peaceful rhythm of the golf course. Here, every moment is crafted to create a lasting impression, just as the castle has done for centuries."

Under the castle escape tunnels reportedly run to dark cellars and the nearby grade II* listed All Saints' Church, a site for worship for at least 800 years which still features a 15th century tower despite a major fire in 1600.

Among the points of interest recorded in the church includes a memorial to Captain Charles Leuyns Barnard, who fell at the Battle of Waterloo, aged 25 years.

It records how he survived a campaign in Germany, and nearly the whole of the Spanish War, in which he was severely wounded, before leading a squadron of his regiment against Napoleon's forces.