Kingston upon Hull

Hull or Kingston upon Hull is a British city situated on the north bank of the Humber estuary. It is surrounded by the East Riding of Yorkshire, but is a unitary authority. The council is today called Hull City Council, and refers to the city as Hull.

History

The original settlement of Wyke, or Wyke-Upon-Hull, was probably established by the Cistercian monastery of Meaux. A few miles upstream of the modern city, the port was used by the abbey for distribution of its wool. The location became strategically important to the English in conflict with the Scottish in the late 13th century. Edward I selected the site for its ideal proximity to his kingdom's adversary. Kingston-Upon-Hull was an advantageous port from which to launch his campaigns, sufficiently deep within the boundaries of England to afford security. The associated royal charter, dated April 1, 1299 remains preserved in Hull's Guildhall Archives.

Related Topics:
Cistercian - Meaux - Conflict - Scottish - 13th century - Edward I - Royal charter - April 1 - 1299 - Guildhall Archives

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The charter of 1440, constituted Kingston upon Hull a corporate town and granted that instead of a Mayor and Baliffs there should be a Mayor, Sheriff and twelve Aldermen who should be Justices of the Peace within the town and county.

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Hull was a major port during the Later Middle Ages and its merchants traded widely to ports in Northern Germany, the Baltics and the Low Countries. Wool, cloth and hides were exported, and timber, wine, furs and dyestuffs imported. Leading merchant, Sir William de la Pole, helped establish a family prominent in government. Bishop John Alcock, founder of Jesus College and patron of the grammar school in Hull, hailed from another Hull mercantile family. Hull grew in prosperity and importance during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. This is reflected in the construction of a number of fine, distinctively decorated brick buildings of which Wilberforce House (now a museum dedicated to the life of William Wilberforce) is a rare survival.

Related Topics:
Middle Ages - Germany - The Baltics - Low Countries - William de la Pole - John Alcock - Jesus College - William Wilberforce

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In 1642 Hull's governor Sir John Hotham declared for the Parliamentarian cause and later refused Charles I entry into the City and access to its large arsenal. He was declared a traitor and despite a parliamentarian pardon was later executed. (He was actually executed by the parliamentarians, not the royalists, when he tried to change sides.) This series of events was to precipitate the English Civil War since Charles I felt obliged to respond to the 'insult' by besieging the City; an event that played a critical role in triggering open conflict between the Parliamentarian and Royalist causes.

Related Topics:
1642 - John Hotham - Parliamentarian - Charles I - English Civil War - Royalist

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Hull developed as a British trade port with mainland Europe, Whaling until the mid 19th Century and deep sea fishing until the Anglo-Icelandic Cod War 1975-1976, which resolution led to a major decline in Hull's economic fortune. It remains a major port dealing mostly with bulk commodities and commercial road traffic by RORO ferry to Rotterdam and Zeebrugge on mainland Europe. The city remains a UK centre of food processing.

Related Topics:
Europe - Whaling - Anglo-Icelandic Cod War - 1975 - 1976 - RORO ferry - Rotterdam - Zeebrugge

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Because of its docks and proximity to continental Europe the city sustained particularly significant damage in bombing raids during the Second World War and much of the city centre was devastated. Most of the centre was rebuilt in the years following the war, but it is only recently that the last of the "temporary" car parks that occupied the spaces of destroyed buildings have been redeveloped.

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Hull's administrative status has changed several times. It had been a county borough within the East Riding for many decades, but from 1974 to 1996 it was part of Humberside, and upon the abolition of that county, it was made a unitary authority.

Related Topics:
County borough - 1974 - 1996 - Humberside

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In 2003 Hull came top of the Crap Towns survey in the book edited by Sam Jordison and Dan Kieran. Two years later it was also named as the worst town in the UK in a Channel 4 television programme.

Related Topics:
Crap Towns - Sam Jordison

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