[citation needed] To sustain two ferries suggests that a prosperous trading community must have been flourishing at the time.

The village has a general store with post office, garage, primary school and two public houses: the Nelthorpe Arms, which has recently been brought back to life in a £370,000 refit in 2018, named after the family who at the beginning of the 19th century owned over half the village (and still have major holdings today), and, down by the Sluice, the Hope and Anchor which looks out over the Humber with Read's Island and its wildlife.

[citation needed] The Church of St Nicholas dates to the 13th century;[4] it is a structure consisting of nave, south transept, north porch and an embattled tower with pinnacles at the south-east corner containing 3 bells.

This was the chancel prior to the 1870s, the nave of the church having been rebuilt almost square following a landslip caused by water springs in the late 16th century.

[7] South Ferriby lies on the route of the Viking Way, the 147 miles (237 km) long-distance footpath from the Humber Bridge to Oakham, and is on the side of an escarpment overlooking the Ancholme valley.

South Ferriby is close to the A15 that crosses the Humber estuary to connect to the A63 to Hull and the M62 motorway.

[8] There is an overhead conveyor belt that passes to the south of the village from the Middlegate Lane quarry to the cement processing works to the south-west over the River Ancholme.