Stephen Rogers

that it became Kingston (The King's town) Upon Hull. In 1203 - 5 King John taxed ports on the east and south coasts according to the size of their trade. and Wyke upon Hull was ranked sixth out of thirty five ports taxed. It seems that the layout of the town shows that its original function was that of a port and it was never an agricultural community. The trade of Hull was dominated by foreign merchants, who made about nine shipments to every one made by an English merchant. Even among English merchants none was described as from Wyke but from Beverley, Hedon, York etc. The Archbishops of York imported their wine through Hull, and royal wine was passing into the port at least by 1204. Recent archaeological digs have revealed massive quantities of continental medieval pottery, including many wine containers, to verify the documents. Hull Trinity House was founded in 1369 for charitable work among seamen and their families, but it later became extremely powerful in maritime affairs, so that at one time non-members were prohibited from taking charge of a vessel between Flamborough Head in the north and Winterton-ness in the south. Hull played a major role in the English Civil War between 1639 and 1643. Parallel to Hull's growth as a port was the growth of the whale "fishery" in the 18th century and the fishing industry "proper" in the 19th century. Hull was not just a port for the towns of the Industrial Revolution, it became a part of the Industrial Revolution itself. Some of the merchants, such as the Blaydes, had diversified into industries such as shipbuilding, which prospered until the shipyards closed in the early twentieth century.Greater misfortune was to strike Hull in the wars of the 20th century- In the 1st World War the City was bombed several times by Zeppelins and large numbers of men fell at the Somme and elsewhere. In that war over 7,000 Hull people were killed and 14,000 of those wounded were disabled. In the 2nd World War 92% of houses in Hull were damaged by bombs. Herbert Morrison said he thought it was the most heavily bombed City in Britain, though generally this is seldom given sufficient acknowledgement, and other cities are almost always used to illustrate "Britain in the Blitz". However, the port has survived and is now back in profit. the fishing fleet has just survived and there are signs of a revival. most of the city's industries have also survived. In 1981 the Humber Bridge, a dream for over a hundred years, was opened by the Oueen. Before and after that work was going on to give Hull better connections to the motorway network of the country. Now there is a dual carriageway / motor way from within a mile of King George Dock to practically every town and city in Britain. In the late 1980's the City Centre was drastically altered and improved by large scale pedestrianisation and associated works. Thus the main shopping streets, Old Town area and Marina area are now very pleasant places to stroll and make visual observation of this historic City.

• Virtual Hull • Hull and East Riding Museum • Ferens Art Gallery • Arctic Corsair • Humber Archaeology Partnership •

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