New Hessle History Trail launched

Click the links below to download the Hessle Local History Trail booklet:

HLHT_Outside_Spread_A3_WEB.pdf

Download PDF • 3.77MB

HLHT_Inside_Spread_A3_WEB.pdf

Download PDF • 5.82MB

This guide has been created to provide the local community and visitors with an introduction to Hessle’s fascinating history.

A number of key historic sites have been plotted on a local map of the town, with short descriptions of each, and recommended walks of varying length between them. This should provide a snapshot of the primary, most interesting and more quirky historic locations as well as some of the notable characters to have graced Hessle over the centuries. Some of the locations and buildings remain in their original form, whilst others have been adapted or sadly removed over time, but the historic knowledge should be retained, studied and celebrated.

Inevitably, the nature of a small booklet means that not every historic site can be included, and only limited information can be provided. But there is plenty more to see as you explore the town!

If you are left wanting to find out more, please visit the Hessle Local History Society website or attend its monthly meetings at Hessle Town Hall.

The Hessle Local History Society exists to study, promote and encourage the history and traditions of the town of Hessle. It hosts informative and topical events with a range of guest speakers at Hessle Town Hall on the third Thursday of the month, where everybody is welcome. For more information please visit our website or facebook page.

A brief history of Hessle

Hessle probably dates back to at least Anglo-Saxon times, with the first potential settlement being in the 6^th or 7th century. Situated between the wooded slopes of the Wolds, known as Hessle Wood, and the low-lying marshes along the Humber, it was a convenient landing place for the vessels of Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings to use as a base to foray further inland.

The Domesday Book (1086) refers to the settlement as ‘Hase’, from the Old Norse for ‘Hazel Grove’, and records it as having a church and a ferry to Barton. This made it part of an important economic and religious route running from London, through Lincoln and Beverley, to York and Durham.

In medieval times the parish of Hessle was mainly agricultural, stretching to the river Hull and including part of the city of Hull, with All Saints’ Church the mother church of Hull’s Holy Trinity until 1661.

After the industrial revolution it expanded as a commuter town primarily for wealthy professionals working in Hull who sought a more rural setting for family life. Large houses on treelined streets flourished around the train station to accommodate them.

From the 19^th century, the ongoing development of the railway, chalk quarrying and ship building furthered Hessle's economic development.

The Humber Bridge, opened in 1981, now dominates the skyline and foreshore, replacing the historic ferry as a vital link between East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.