Although the first written mention of Keyingham is found in the Doomsday Book there is evidence, from fragments of Romano-British pottery and a coin found to the south of Berrygate Hill, that a settlement existed close to the present village site before this time. In Anglo Saxon times a community was established on the slightly higher land, which was surrounded by a low-lying marshy terrain. Much of the farm land to the south of Keyingham is reclaimed silt land which has yielded very valuable pasture and arable land. In the early years the arable fields provided the people with the necessities of life - wheat for bread and barley for beer. The sheep and cattle provided the raw materials for the provision of clothing. Throughout the ages, up until the 20th century, Keyingham has always been self-sufficient as far as the provision of daily needs is concerned. The occupation of villagers was allied to farming or to the provision of services which would support daily life e.g blacksmiths, joiners, millers, saddlers etc. Keyingham. Being on relatively high ground the village was ideally suited for the location of windmills and there is today evidence that this activity took place in the village.
Now-a-days Keyingham is seen as a linear village stretching from West to East but the original pattern was a North/ South layout stretching from North End Farm along what is now known as Station Road and down to Ings Lane to the South, this enabled easier access to the River via Keyingham Fleet. At this time rough tracks existed from West to East which served as a means of communication to take good to the markets at Hedon and Patrington. To the present day we can see the pattern of the village dating from these early times. At the turn of the 20th century roads were merely rough tracks and pavements were non existent our cobbled. Most of the houses were centred around the main street and on the North to South route across the village. Most dwellings were cottages with some rows of terraced houses. The village cross, now in the Memorial Garden was originally situated on the main street outside of the present Post Office. It was always a meeting place for all age groups. In 1853 the coming of the railway brought a boost to Keyingham as it was now possible to move goods, stock and people in and out of the village. Despite this life in Keyingham was still predominantly centred around agriculture. The farmers in Keyingham were some time before they adopted machines and much of the work was carried out with a horse and plough so it was still very labour intensive. With an improvement in road transport and the introduction of a bus service in 1922 the railway faced competition but it was not until many years later when, due to lack of economic viability the railway was closed to passenger traffic in 1964 and to goods traffic a year late
Prior to 1904 although there was a Post Office people had to go to Ottringham to send a telegram, in 1908 telephone poles became part of the Keyingham landscape. At this time this was run by the National Telephone Company and up until 1999 remained so until Kingston Communications laid underground lines to the village. Keyingham waited a long time for services to be installed. Electricity was brought to the village via overhead lines in 1930 although it was many years before some houses were connected, some as late as 1967. In 1932 mains water was piped in from Hull until this time most houses had a well in the garden with water being hand pumped for use. In 1987 a gas line was laid to the village and residents opted to be connected if they so wished.
On a visit to St Nicholas Church evidence can be seen of the many different phases of its development over the years, the last major change being the removal of the tower which was used as a navigational aid until the time of its removal in 1969. There was evidence of the presence of the Methodist movement in the village well before the Chapel was built on the present site in 1846. Again, in the present building we can see evidence of the alterations that have taken place in 1910, and 1973 when the new vestibule and hall were added.
Education for the children came in the early C19th firstly in the vestry at the Church closely followed by the opening of a school in the Church Room in 1835.The Board School, still standing today, was opened in 1875, taking pupils from 5 to fourteen years old.. Over the years this expanded, in several phases, to cope with the increase in numbers. In 1977 the numbers were such that the primary school was split and a new Infant School was opened in Russell Drive. We have now gone full circle and in 2005 the infant school was demolished and in 2007 a new primary school was opened on the site of the former Infant School.
The rapid increase in population during the 1960's and 70's, meant not only an increase in the social groups formed but those that were well established flourished for a time. Unfortunately, due a change in lifestyle that sees both men and women at work all day, many of these have closed through lack of support. Two very longstanding groups Bright Hour and the British Legion still exist. The Ancient Order of Foresters, established in 1839 in Keyingham to support the workers on the land still has a Court running in the village. With the decreasing lack of work opportunity within the village, the main employment being in the greenhouses or in the service sector, many of the residents work out of the village so it is no longer the close community of years ago. There is still the nucleus of the old village community but this is gradually being eroded by the coming of people from Hull and further afield who want to enjoy the benefits of a more rural way of life.