England, Picturesque and Descriptive: A Reminiscence of Foreign TravelCook, Joel
History
England, Picturesque and Descriptive: A Reminiscence of Foreign Travel
Cook, Joel
England -- Description and travel
Following the Trent down to the Humber, and turning towards the sea, we
come to the noted seaport of Hull, or, as it is best known in those
parts, Kingston-upon-Hull. While not possessing great attractions for
the ordinary tourist, yet Hull ranks as the third seaport of England,
being second only to London and Liverpool. It is the great
packet-station for the north of Europe, with steam lines leading to
Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Russia, and the Baltic, most of the
English trade with those countries being centred at Hull. It is a town
of extreme activity, its docks being all the time crowded with shipping,
and its location, practically upon an island, with the river Humber on
the south, the river Hull upon the east, and docks upon the northern and
western sides, giving it every maritime convenience. The docks, though
inferior to those of Liverpool, are the chief feature of the town. The
Hull River itself forms a natural dock about a mile and a half long, and
from this a chain of other docks leads through the warehouses and the
town to the Humber. Hull possesses the Trinity House, one of the three
ancient establishments in England--the others being at London and
Newcastle--which were founded first as a religious fraternity in the
fourteenth century, and became afterwards establishments for the relief
of distressed and decayed seamen and their families. The present Trinity
House building was erected in the last century. The chief ornament of
Hull is the Wilberforce Monument, a pillar of sandstone seventy-two
feet high, erected about a half century ago, and surmounted by a statue
of the celebrated philanthropist. He was born on High Street August 24,
1759, this being the most important thoroughfare in ancient Hull, but
now a narrow and inconvenient lane following the right bank of the Hull
River. Here were in former days the houses of the great Hull merchants,
and the Wilberforce House is about halfway down the street. It is a
curious specimen of brickwork, of a style said to have been imported
from Flanders in the reign of William and Mary. It is a low, broad house
with a surmounting tower over the doorway. Hull has little else of
interest in the way of buildings. Its Holy Trinity Church, in the
market-place, is the largest parish church in England, having recently
been thoroughly restored, and the Town Hall, built in the Italian style,
with a clock-tower, is its finest edifice of modern construction.
[Illustration: HOUSE WHERE WILBERFORCE WAS BORN.]
[Illustration: ENTRANCE-GATE, BEVERLEY.]
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