When we see the old prints of the city surrounded by its wall defended
with towers, and realize the numbers of curious buildings that filled
the winding streets--the windmills, the churches and monasteries--we
understand that the old Hull has gone almost as completely as
Ravenserodd. It was in Hull that Michael, a son of Sir William de la
Pole of Ravenserodd, its first Mayor, founded a monastery for thirteen
Carthusian monks, and also built himself, in 1379, a stately house in
Lowgate opposite St. Mary’s Church. Nothing remains of this great brick
mansion, which was described as a palace, and lodged Henry VIII. during
his visit in 1540. Even St. Mary’s Church has been so largely rebuilt
and restored that its interest is much diminished.
The great Perpendicular Church of Holy Trinity in the market-place is,
therefore, the one real link between the modern city and the little town
founded in the thirteenth century. It is a cruciform building and has a
fine central tower, and is remarkable in having transepts and chancel
built externally of brick as long ago as the Decorated Period. The De la
Pole mansion, of similar date, was also constructed with brick--no doubt
from the brickyard outside the North Gate owned by the founder of the
family fortunes. The pillars and capitals of the arcades of both the
nave and chancel are thin and unsatisfying to the eye, and the interior
as a whole, although spacious, does not convey any pleasing sensations.
The slenderness of the columns was necessary, it appears, owing to the
soft and insecure ground, which necessitated a pile foundation and as
light a weight above as could be devised.
William Wilberforce, the liberator of slaves, was born in 1759 in a
large house still standing in High Street, and a tall Doric column
surmounted by a statue perpetuates his memory, in the busiest corner of
the city. The old red-brick Grammar School bears the date 1583, and is
a pleasant relief from the dun-coloured monotony of the greater part of
the city. Of the walls, besieged in a half-hearted fashion during the
‘Pilgrimage of Grace’ trouble, and in a most determined fashion during
the Civil War, nothing remains, and, our interest slackening, we
suddenly realize that we have been long enough in this shipping city. It
is not altogether easy to leave Hull behind, for Hessle, four miles
further on, is in the suburban area. Sutton-in-Holderness, to the north,
is a pretty hamlet threatened by the skirmishers of the city. In the
church is a fine tomb of one of the Lords of Sutton, who owned the place
almost from Domesday times until the days when Kingston-upon-Hull began
to appear. A most instructive volume devoted to this one village has
been written by the late Mr. Thomas Blashill.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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