The Use of Power in the Early Industrial Development of Hull

Abstract

Although never a major industrial town, Hull has a long history as one of the country's leading ports, having particular links with the Low Countries and the Baltic. During the eighteenth century the merchants had a need for power to process imported raw materials but due to the nature of the terrain, the town had no head of water to power wheels. Consequently some of the first ventures into rotary steam power occurred in the town, but this occurred, paradoxically, at the same time as the windmill was being transformed from the traditional wooden post mill into the sophisticated tower mill, using the latest technology and materials, and producing some of the country's finest windmills of the period. For most of the nineteenth century wind and steam power existed side by side, with wind power being used for a variety of industrial purposes in addition to flour production.