Abstract
As one of the most important ports on the east coast of England, Hull had a major strategic role as a supply base for English armies, particularly in their campaigns against Scotland. Consequently, its defence was a major consideration for the English Crown. The medieval and later town defences of Hull were amongst the strongest in Yorkshire. From 1321-4 until 1776 the town was surrounded on three sides by a substantial Town Ditch and bank, later fronted by a circuit of brick walls incorporating numerous gates and towers; the fourth side, opening onto the River Hull and the town’s waterfronts, was protected by a boom chain slung across the entrance to the river. This paper summarizes the historical and archaeological evidence not only for the defences on the west bank of the River Hull, surrounding the Old Town, but also the better-known Henrician and Stuart military defences on the east bank of the river.
Highlights
Its strategic importance as a deepwater port on the Humber – one of England’s major east coast river systems – was one of the principal reasons behind the foundation and development of Kingston upon Hull
This paper summarizes the historical and archaeological evidence for the defences on the west bank of the River Hull, surrounding the Old Town, and the better-known Henrician and Stuart military defences on the east bank of the river
The area around the mouth of the Hull was marshy land which was possibly liable to seasonal flooding, and before the drainage of the river was improved in the early or middle years of the thirteenth century, the River Hull may have joined the Humber via a number of dendritic creeks; the original main course of the Hull appears to have lain at about 1km to the west of its modern extent (Evans 2016, fig. 1), but, in the 1250s the river appears to have changed its course dramatically, to enter the Humber by a more direct route through Sayer’s Creek
Summary
Its strategic importance as a deepwater port on the Humber – one of England’s major east coast river systems – was one of the principal reasons behind the foundation and development of Kingston upon Hull. Small-scale research excavations took place in Humber Street in 1964, and at North Walls in May 1969, and in both cases exposed substantial parts of interval towers attached to the town walls (Illus 20-21; see Bartlett 1971.).
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