Kingston upon Hull

Hull

The Deep aquarium, Kingston upon HullThe Princes Quay shopping centre is built on stilts over the 1829 Junction Dock, renamed Princes Dock in 1854Queens Gardens, a former dock, Kingston upon HullThe site of Beverley Gate, where King Charles I was denied access to the city of Kingston upon HullSt Mary's Church, Lowgate, Kingston upon HullMurdoch's Connection links Hull Marina to the cityKingston upon Hull, often abbreviated to Hull, is a city on the River Hull where it joins the estuary of the River Humber.

The city through its port offers a major gateway between Yorkshire and Europe and was the UK City of Culture in 2017.

Hull is a university city and is well-known among sports fans for its two Rugby League teams, the 2016 and 2017 Challenge Cup winners Hull FC and Hull Kingston Rovers. Hull FC and soccer club Hull City play at the MKM Stadium (previously the KCOM Stadium), which opened in December 2002.

Kingston upon Hull is traced back in history to 1299 when King Edward I, having bought settlements from the Abbey of Meaux, gave a new name to a town being established as Wyke together with a charter making it a self-governing community.

King Edward I is commemorated in one of the city's fine royal statues, his being situated inside the city's Guildhall. There are also statues to the memory of King William III in the Market Place and one to the memory of Queen Victoria in Queen Victoria Square.

Other monarchs are also recorded in the history of Kingston upon Hull, which was once a walled city. It was at the Beverley Gate in 1642 that the Parlimentarian govenor Sir John Hotham denied access to King Charles I, one of the first public hostilities of the English Civil War. The site of the gate is revealed within some of the modern streetscape of the city.

The city's highest pedestal is that of the Wilberforce Monument, commemorating the Hull-born MP William Wilberforce who led a campaign in Parliament through several decades for the abolition of the slave trade. The Slavery Abolition Act came just before his death in 1833. His birthplace is now the Wilberforce House Museum, telling the story of the slave trade and its abolition (see below).

Spurn Lightship, Humber Dock PromenadeKing George DockRiver HullHull has had an important role as a trading port throughout its history and other industries, such as corn milling, grew up around the processing of raw materials shipped through the port.

In the late 18th century there was massive growth in the whaling industry and a century later the fishing industry became the attraction with Hull's trawlermen travelling to the North Sea and as far afield as Arctic waters off Greenland, Iceland and Russia for their catches.

Despite the severe bombardment of Hull in the Second World War, which destroyed half the city centre and killed 1,200 people, it still has an Old Town in which parts of Hull's history can still be seen and which are today enhanced by a group of free museums.

Hull Marina and Hull MinsterNot far from the city centre, the old Humber Dock and Railway Dock have been revitalised since the 1980s for use by pleasure boats as the Hull Marina. The dock is reached by boat by a lock from the River Humber near to where the River Hull joins the estuary.

An unusual feature of Hull is that it was the only place in Britain to have cream-coloured rather than red telephone boxes. While the rest of Britain had the red boxes of the post office and later BT, the phones in Hull were run by the city corporation and council until 2007 and later by the company Kingston Communications, now KCOM.

City features

The navigable River Hull flows into the River Humber estuary at Kingston upon Hull.

Many top high street names can be found in the St Stephen's Shopping Centre in Ferensway, Princes Quay Shopping Centre at Princes Dock Street and the Prospect Shopping Centre in Brook Street. Hull also has a range of independent shops among its streets and old arcades, while some of those hard to find items can still be found at the city's historic Trinity Market, which has operated for more than 100 years.

There are Post Offices at Lowgate and at The Prospect Centre in the centre of Hull and many branches around the city.

The city has bank and building society branches.

There is a large range of pharmacies in the city centre and its districts.

King William III statue, Market Place, KIngston upon Hull

From city centre wine bars to local pubs, Hull has plenty to choose from.

A large number of restaurants ensure Hull offers a dining scene catering for foodies of all tastes.

The city has a large choice of cafes and coffee shops.

Hull Central Library is in Albion Street. There are also several branch libraries in districts of the city.

Museum details appear below.

Details of Hull's theatres are below.

Places of worship: Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, United Reformed, Islamic, Sikh, Hindu, Judaist, Buddhist, other

Renamed Hull Minster in 2017, Holy Trinity Church is the Anglican parish church of the city of Hull and is said to be the largest parish church in England. It dates back to around 1300, having being founded by King Edward I and is the only surviving building from the original 'King's Town' upon the River Hull. It was extended later in the 14th century before it was finally consecrated in 1425.

Further details at the Hull Minster website.

University

University of Hull

The University's Hull campus is situated in the residential district of Newland, two miles north of the city centre. University College Hull was founded in 1927. After many years as an outpost of the University of London it was granted its own royal charter as the University of Hull in 1954. The university expanded in 2003 when it acquired the University of Lincoln's Hull campus next to its own.

University of Hull website.

Sport

MKM Stadium, West Park, Kingston upon Hull.

Hull City Tigers

'The Tigers' play at the MKM Stadium, West Park, Hull.

Official website: Hull City Tigers

Hull FC

Hull FC winners of the Challenge Cup in 2016 and 2017, play Rugby League at the MKM Stadium, West Park, Hull.

Official website: Hull FC

Hull Kingston Rovers

Hull Kingston Rovers play Rugby League at Craven Park, Preston Road.

Official website: Hull Kingston Rovers

Theatre

Hull Truck Theatre

Ferensway

Offers a diverse programme of imaginative home-grown productions and inspirational work from visiting UK artists.

Hull New Theatre

Kingston Square

One of the leading touring theatres in the UK, Hull New Theatre recently had a major revamp aimed at staging even bigger shows, including musicals, theatre, comedy and music artists.

Museums

Maritime Museum

Queen Victoria Square, Hull
Hull's maritime heritage from the 18th century to the present is revealed in this museum housed in Victorian dock offices. Exhibits, including a full-sized whale skeleton and models of ships, tell the story of whaling, fishing and the merchant fleet.
More details at the

Maritime Museum Hull Culture & Leisure web page.

Streetlife Museum of Transport

High Street

Features 200 years of transport history including a horse-drawn carriages, veteran cars, a tram, a recreation of a 1930s street scene and a railway goods shed. The museum also has a section about Hull's industrial revolution in flour milling.

Places to visit

The Deep, Kingston upon Hull

The Deep

Tower Street
This spectacular aquarium is a short walk from Hull Marina via the Millennium Bridge. The landmark building overlooking the Humber estuary is the home to 3,500 fish, including sharks and rays.

Spurn Lightship, Hull Marina

The Spurn Lightship

Hull Marina
Moored at Hull Marina and normally open to the public to step aboard, The Spurn Lightship shows how it was once used to help guide ships past the treacherous headland at the end of the Humber estuary. The ship was temporarily closed and moved in September 2018 while improvements take place to the nearby road, but is due to return with improved accessibilty.
Further details can be found at the

Hull Culture Leisure - Spurn Lightship web page

Wilberforce House Museum

High Street
The birthplace of William Wilberforce (1759-1833), who spent most of a Parliamentary career of 45 years as MP for Yorkshire. He was a leading campaigner for the abolition of slavery. Wilberforce House now contains an exhibition of his journals and campaigns and other items related to the slave trade and its abolition.

Arctic Corsair

CLOSED since August 2019 for relocation & restoration.
Reopening at North End Shipyard now expected early 2025.
The Arctic Corsair, a sidewinder trawler, was built at Beverley Shipyard in 1960 and spent its days going to sea from Hull, where it now remains as a museum exhibit. Tours can be booked at the Museums Quarter reception at High Street in Hull on certain days. The trawler was involved in the 'Cod Wars' with Iceland in the 1970s and retired from fishing in 1987.

Find out more at this Hull City Council - Arctic Corsair webpage.

Burton Constable

Burton Constable, Skirlaugh
Burton ConstableBurton Constable is an Elizabethan mansion situated about 9 miles by road south of Hornsea and a similar distance north-east of Hull. Most of the house dates from 1560, although it includes part of a 12th century tower and remains of an earlier brick manor house from the late 15th century. Tours of the house explore up to 30 rooms fitted with original collections and interiors surviving from days as a much-loved family home. The house also has an 18th century orangery, gift shop, play area, gardens and parkland landscaped between 1772 and 1782 by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. The stable block has been restored and its Great Barn exhibits the remains of a whale skeleton brought to Burton Constable after being washed up on the shore at Tunstall on the Holderness coast in 1825. A variety of feature events are held at the hall including musical events, sculpture, a classic car show and demonstrations of country house brewing and crafts. The house, the home of the Constable family for more than 700 years and still partly occupied, is now a museum owned by the Burton Constable Foundation.

For more information see the Burton Constable website.

Locate on map: Burton Constable

Travel

Hull Paragon Interchange station

Paragon Square, Ferensway
Rail services from Hull include inter-city services to London and regional express services to Selby, Leeds, Huddersfield and across the Pennines to Manchester Piccadilly. Local stopping services operate via Selby to York, via Selby or Goole to Doncaster and Sheffield and on the Yorkshire coastal route via Beverley, Bridlington and Filey to Scarborough.

Managed by: TransPennine Express.
Operators: Hull Trains - TransPennine Express - Northern -

Northern - Hull Station and departure information at Northern website.

Paragon Interchange

All buses operating into Hull use the Paragon Interchange between the station and the St Stephen's shopping centre.
Bus operators in Hull are East Yorkshire Motor Services and Stagecoach

Road travel

The A63 carries traffic for about 15 miles westward from the city centre before it becomes the M62 which continues past Leeds and Huddersfield and across the Pennines, linking to Manchester and Liverpool. Five miles west of Hull, at Hessle, the A15 crosses the Humber Bridge (toll) providing a link to North Lincolnshire. Hull also has roads towards the Yorkshire Wolds and is at the end of the A165 coastal route to Bridlington and Scarborough.

Ferries

King George Dock, off Hedon Road
Overnight daily cruise ferry services are operated into and out of Hull by P&O Ferries. The ferries operate between Hull and Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The ferries operate from King George Dock, off Hedon Road, about 3.5 miles along the A63 east of the city centre. The Rotterdam ferry operates from Terminal 1. A bus connection to the ferry operates from bus stand D near the St Stephen's shopping centre and Hull Paragon Interchange rail station in the city centre. The previous P&O Ferries service between Hull and Zeebrugge in Belgium ended on January 1, 2021.

Humberside Airport

Humberside airport is at the other side of the Humber estuary at Kirmington, North Lincolnshire. It can be reached by car via the Humber Bridge (toll) in about 30 minutes or by the Humber Flyer bus from Paragon Interchange in 53 minutes. For more details see our air travel page.

Emergency services

Humberside Police

Humberside Police website.

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service website.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust website.

Local government

Unitary district council

Hull City Council
The unitary authority area stretches little more than 5 miles from the city centre, covering principally the districts and villages that have been absorbed into the city and also the docks. Villages and rural areas beyond are in the East Riding of Yorkshire unitary authority area.

The 23 wards of the City of Hull are represented by 59 councillors. In wards represented by three councillors, one councillor is elected for a four-year term in elections in three out of four years. In wards with two councillors there is an election in two out of four years.

Link to Hull City Council website.

Political composition after the May 2024 election is:

3126
57 members

Police and Crime Commissioner

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Humberside
Oversees Humberside Police covering an area made up of the unitary authority councils of East Riding of Yorkshire, City of Hull and, south of The Humber, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire.
Elected P&CC: ❚ Jonathan Evison Conservative

Police and Crime Commissioner for Humberside website.

Fire Authority

Humberside Fire Authority
The fire authority is made up of elected members of each of the four unitary authorities served by the Humberside Fire and Rescue Service - East Riding of Yorkshire, Hull, North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire.

Humberside Fire Authority website.

Parliamentary constituencies

Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice
Elected MP: ❚ Emma Hardy Labour

Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham
Elected MP: ❚ Diana Johnson Labour

Kingston upon Hull East
Elected MP: ❚ Karl Turner Labour

National government region

Yorkshire and the Humber

Ceremonial county

East Riding of Yorkshire

Historic

County Borough in the East Riding of Yorkshire

Also in Yorkshire.guide

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