Chartered Surveyors Hull Humberside

Approximate Population: 257,000

Kingston upon Hull, Humberside, is situated on the north bank of the Humber estuary at the mouth of its tributary, the River Hull. The valley of the River Hull has been inhabited since the early Neolithic period but there is little evidence for a substantial settlement in the area where the town of Kingston upon Hull was sited.

The situation was attractive to its early developers because of its ability to give access to a prosperous hinterland and navigable rivers, but the actual site was not as good as it was remote and low lying with no fresh water. It was originally an outlying part of the hamlet of Myton when, in the late 12th century, it was chosen by the monks of Meaux Abbey to develop as a new town which they named Wyke upon Hull after John Wyke, Archbishop of York. The locals flatly refused to call their town Wyke, and used Hull, the name of the river, instead.

The River Hull was a good haven for shipping whose main trade was in the export of wool from the abbey. In 1293 the town was acquired from the abbey by King Edward I, who later granted a royal charter, dated 1 April, 1299, that renamed the settlement King’s town upon Hull, or Kingston upon Hull. The charter remains preserved in the archives of the city’s Guildhall.In 1440, a further charter incorporated the town and instituted local government consisting of a mayor, a sheriff, and twelve aldermen.

In his Guide to Hull (1817), J.C. Craggs provides a colourful background to Edward’s acquisition and naming of the town. He writes that the King and a hunting party started a hare which “led them along the delightful banks of the River Hull to the hamlet of Wyke … [Edward], charmed with the scene before him, viewed with delight the advantageous situation of this hitherto neglected and obscure corner. He foresaw it might become subservient both to render the kingdom more secure against foreign invasion, and at the same time greatly to enforce its commerce”. Pursuant to these thoughts, Craggs continues, Edward purchased the land from the Abbot of Meaux, had built for himself a manor hall, issued proclamations encouraging development within the town, and bestowed upon it the royal appellation, King’s Town.