A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Kingston upon Hull
Hull | |
|---|---|
| City of Kingston upon Hull | |
The city's views and landmarks: the City Hall, Wilberforce Monument, Hull Marina, Queen's Gardens, The Deep (aquarium) and The Minster | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Shown within the East Riding of Yorkshire | |
  Kingston upon Hull Location within England  Kingston upon Hull Location within the United Kingdom  Kingston upon Hull Location in Europe | |
| Coordinates: 53°44′40″N 00°19′57″W / 53.74444°N 0.33250°W | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | England |
| Region | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| Ceremonial county | East Riding of Yorkshire |
| Founded | 12th century |
| City status | 1897 |
| Administrative headquarters | Guildhall |
| Government | |
| • Type | Unitary authority |
| • Body | Hull City Council |
| • Leadership | Leader and cabinet |
| • Council control | Liberal Democrat |
| • Members of Parliament | Emma Hardy (L) Diana Johnson (L) Karl Turner (L) |
| Area | |
| • Land | 27.59 sq mi (71.5 km2) |
| Population (2022) | |
| • City | 268,852 (Ranked 63rd) |
| • Rank | (Ranked 63rd) |
| • Density | 9,410/sq mi (3,633/km2) |
| • Urban | 314,018 |
| • Metro | 573,300 (LUZ) |
| • Ethnicity (2011 Census)[1] |
|
| Demonym | Hullensian |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (British Summer Time) |
| Postcode Area | |
| Dialling codes | 01482 |
| ISO 3166-2 | GB-KHL |
| ONS code | 00FA (ONS) E06000010 (GSS) |
| NUTS 3 | UKE11 |
| Police | Humberside |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| Fire | Humberside |
| Website | hull |
Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.[2] It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, 25 miles (40 km) inland from the North Sea and 37 miles (60 km) south-east of York, the historic county town.[2] With a population of 268,852 (2022), it is the fourth-largest city in the Yorkshire and the Humber region after Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford.
The town of Wyke on Hull was founded late in the 12th century by the monks of Meaux Abbey as a port from which to export their wool. Renamed Kings-town upon Hull in 1299, Hull had been a market town,[3] military supply port,[4] trading centre,[5] fishing and whaling centre and industrial metropolis.[4] Hull was an early theatre of battle in the English Civil Wars.[5] Its 18th-century Member of Parliament, William Wilberforce, took a prominent part in the abolition of the slave trade in Britain.[6]
More than 95% of the city was damaged or destroyed in the blitz and suffered a period of post-industrial decline (social deprivation, education and policing).[7] The destroyed areas of the city were rebuilt in the post–Second World War period.[8] In the early 21st century spending boom before the late 2000s recession the city saw large amounts of new retail, commercial, housing and public service construction spending.
In 2017, it was the UK City of Culture and hosted the Turner Prize at the city's Ferens Art Gallery.[9] Other notable landmarks in the city are the Minster, the tidal surge barrier, the Paragon Interchange and The Deep aquarium. Areas of the town centre include the old town (including its museum quarter) and the marina. Hull University was founded in 1927 and had over 16,000 students in 2022.[10] Rugby league football teams include clubs Hull F.C. and Hull Kingston Rovers. The city's association football club is Hull City (EFL Championship). Hull RUFC and Hull Ionians both play in the National League 2 North of rugby union.
History
Wyke and wool trade
Kingston upon Hull stands on the north bank of the Humber Estuary at the mouth of its tributary, the River Hull. The valley of the River Hull has been inhabited since the early Neolithic period but there is little evidence of a substantial settlement in the area of the present city.[11] The area was attractive to people because it gave access to a prosperous hinterland and navigable rivers but the site was poor, being remote, low-lying and with no fresh water. It was originally an outlying part of the hamlet of Myton, named Wyke. The name is thought to originate either from a Scandinavian word Vik meaning inlet or from the Saxon Wic meaning dwelling place or refuge.[12][13]
The River Hull was a good haven for shipping, whose trade included the export of wool from Meaux Abbey, which owned Myton. In 1293, the town of Wyke was acquired from the abbey by King Edward I, who, on 1 April 1299, granted it a royal charter that renamed the settlement King's town upon Hull or Kingston upon Hull. The charter is preserved in the archives of the Guildhall.[5]
In 1440, a further charter incorporated the town and instituted local government consisting of a mayor, a sheriff and twelve aldermen.[5]
In his Guide to Hull (1817), J. C. Craggs provides a colourful background to Edward's acquisition and naming of the town. He writes that the King and a hunting party started a hare which "led them along the delightful banks of the River Hull to the hamlet of Wyke … , charmed with the scene before him, viewed with delight the advantageous situation of this hitherto neglected and obscure corner. He foresaw it might become subservient both to render the kingdom more secure against foreign invasion, and at the same time greatly to enforce its commerce". Pursuant to these thoughts, Craggs continues, Edward purchased the land from the Abbot of Meaux, had a manor hall built for himself, issued proclamations encouraging development within the town, and bestowed upon it the royal appellation, King's Town.[15]
Prospering port
The port served as a base for Edward I during the First War of Scottish Independence and later developed into the foremost port on the east coast of England. It prospered by exporting wool and woollen cloth, and importing wine and timber. Hull also established a flourishing commerce with the Baltic ports of the Hanseatic League.[16]
From its medieval beginnings, Hull's main trading links were with Scotland and northern Europe. Scandinavia, the Baltic and the Low Countries were all key trading areas for Hull's merchants. In addition, there was trade with France, Spain and Portugal.[citation needed]
Sir William de la Pole was the town's first mayor.[17] A prosperous merchant, de la Pole founded a family that became prominent in government.[5] Another successful son of a Hull trading family was bishop John Alcock, who founded Jesus College, Cambridge and was a patron of the grammar school in Hull.[5] The increase in trade after the discovery of the Americas and the town's maritime connections are thought to have played a part in the introduction of a virulent strain of syphilis through Hull and on into Europe from the New World.[18]
The town prospered during the 16th and early 17th centuries,[5] and Hull's affluence at this time is preserved in the form of several well-maintained buildings from the period, including Wilberforce House, now a museum documenting the life of William Wilberforce.[5]
During the English Civil War, Hull became strategically important because of the large arsenal located there. Very early in the war, on 11 January 1642, the king named the Earl of Newcastle governor of Hull while Parliament nominated Sir John Hotham and asked his son, Captain John Hotham, to secure the town at once.[5] Sir John Hotham and Hull corporation declared support for Parliament and denied Charles I entry into the town.[5] Charles I responded to these events by besieging the town.[5] This siege helped precipitate open conflict between the forces of Parliament and those of the Royalists.[5]
After the Civil War, docks were built along the route of the town walls, which were demolished. The first dock (1778, renamed Queen's Dock in 1854) was built in the area occupied by Beverley and North gates, and the intermediate walls, which were demolished, a second dock (Humber Dock, 1809) was built on the land between Hessle and Myton gates, and a third dock between the two was opened 1829 as Junction Dock (later Prince's Dock).[19]
Whaling played a major role in the town's fortunes until the mid-19th century.[5] As sail power gave way to steam, Hull's trading links extended throughout the world. Docks were opened to serve the frozen meat trade of Australia, New Zealand and South America. Hull was also the centre of a thriving inland and coastal trading network, serving the whole of the United Kingdom.[20]
City status
Throughout the second half of the 19th century and leading up to the First World War, the Port of Hull played a major role in the emigration of Northern European settlers to the New World, with thousands of emigrants sailing to Hull and stopping for administrative purposes before travelling on to Liverpool and then North America.[21]
Parallel to this growth in passenger shipping was the emergence of the Wilson Line of Hull (which had been founded in 1825 by Thomas Wilson). By the early 20th century, the company had grown – largely through its monopolisation of North Sea passenger routes and later mergers and acquisitions – to be the largest privately owned shipping company in the world, with over 100 ships sailing to different parts of the globe. The Wilson Line was sold to the Ellerman Lines – which itself was owned by Hull-born magnate (and the richest man in Britain at the time) Sir John Ellerman.[22]
Hull's prosperity peaked in the decades just before the First World War; it was during this time, in 1897, that city status was granted.[4] Many of the suburban areas on the western side of Hull were built in the 1930s, particularly Willerby Road and Anlaby Park, as well as most of Willerby itself. This was part of the biggest British housing boom of the 20th century (possibly ever).[citation needed]
Bombed and battered
The city's port and industrial facilities, coupled with its proximity to mainland Europe and ease of location being on a major estuary, led to extremely widespread damage by bombing raids during the Second World War; much of the city centre was destroyed.[5] Hull had 95% of its houses damaged or destroyed, making it the most severely bombed British city or town in terms of number of damaged or destroyed buildings, apart from London, during the Second World War.[23] More than 1,200 people died in air raids on the city and some 3,000 others were injured.[24]
The worst of the bombing occurred in 1941. Little was known about this destruction by the rest of the country at the time, since most of the radio and newspaper reports did not reveal Hull by name but referred to it as "a North-East town" or "a northern coastal town".[25] Most of the city centre was rebuilt in the years following the war. As recently as 2006 researchers found documents in the local archives that suggested a non-exploded wartime bomb might be buried beneath a major new redevelopment, the Boom, in Hull.[26][27]
After the decline of the whaling industry post the Second World War, emphasis shifted to deep-sea trawling until the Anglo-Icelandic Cod War of 1975–1976. The conditions set at the end of this dispute started Hull's economic decline.[5]
City of Culture
In 2017 Hull was awarded the title of 'City of Culture'[28] by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Within the city there was a series of festivals in public spaces to promote the city and its newly given title. At the start of the year there was a huge firework display attracting a crowd of 25,000.
Governance
Municipal
| County | Borough/ district | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Type | Type | Dependent on county | From | Until | |
| Yorkshire | Ancient | Borough | 
|
1299 | 1440 | Town status from 1299 |
| County-at-large | County Corporate | 
|
1440 | 1835 | ||
| Historic | Municipal borough |
|
1835 | 1889 | ||
| East Riding of Yorkshire | Geographic | County borough |
|
1889 | 1974 | City status from 1897 |
| Humberside | Non-metropolitan | Shire district |
|
1974 | 1996 | |
| East Riding of Yorkshire | Ceremonial | Unitary authority |
|
1996 | Current | |
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Following the Local Government Act 1888, Hull became a county borough, a local government district independent of the East Riding of Yorkshire. This district was dissolved under the Local Government Act 1972, on 1 April 1974 when it became a non-metropolitan district of the newly created shire county of Humberside. Humberside (and its county council) was abolished on 1 April 1996 and Hull was made a unitary authority area.[5][29]
The single-tier local authority of the city is now Hull City Council (officially Kingston upon Hull City Council), headquartered in the Guildhall in the city centre.[30] The council was designated as the UK's worst performing authority in both 2004 and 2005, but in 2006 was rated as a two star 'improving adequate' council and in 2007 it retained its two stars with an 'improving well' status.[31][32][33][34] In the 2008 corporate performance assessment the city retained its "improving well" status but was upgraded to a three star rating.[35]
The Liberal Democrats won overall control of the City Council in the 2007 local elections, ending several years in which no single party had a majority.[36] They retained control in the 2008 local elections by an increased majority[37] and in the 2010 local elections.[38] Following the UK's local elections of 2011, the Labour Party gained control of the council,[39] increasing their majority in the 2012[40] and retained this following the 2014 local elections.[41] They increased their majority by one in the 2015 local elections,[42] but lost it in the 2016 local elections.[43] In the 2018 local elections all of the council was up for election following boundary changes that reduced the number of seats by 2.[44] Labour retained control of the council but with a much reduced majority, while in the 2019 local elections there was no change to the make-up of the council.[45] In the 2021 local elections the Liberal Democrats gained a couple of seats but Labour retained control by just three seats.[46] On 3 March 2022, Labour councillor Julia Conner defected to the Liberal Democrats, reducing the Labour majority to one.[47] The Liberal Democrats won overall control of the City Council in the 2022 local elections to end ten years of Labour rule,[48] increasing their majority in the 2023 local elections.[49]
Parliament
The city returned three members of parliament to the House of Commons and at the last general election, in 2019, elected three Labour MPs: Emma Hardy,[50] Diana Johnson[51] and Karl Turner.[52]
William Wilberforce is the most celebrated of Hull's former MPs. He was a native of the city and the member for Hull from 1780 to 1784 when he was elected as an Independent member for Yorkshire.[53][54]