Hull Castle - City Walls

City Walls

The early Hull is thought to have been surrounded by a ditch, in the 14th century, construction of walled defences began. During the reign of Edward I, in 1322 the town gained the right of murage for five years; in 1327 permission to crenallate was granted – including the construction of a fortified wall and houses. Additional grants of murage were given in 1341, and in 1348. The circuit of walls is thought to have been completed by sometime around 1356, built primarily of brick. The plan of the fortified town has been said (Parker, 1853; Viollet-le-Duc, 1856) to be similar to that of the contemporary Bastides of France, in particular Libourne, also founded under Edward I.

When built the walls stretched from the west bank of the Hull to the bank of the Humber estuary. By 1640 there were with barbicaned gates constructed across a moat at either end; Northgates near the River Hull, and Hesslegates near the Humber. There were intermediate gates at Beverley Gate and Myton Gate. The was also a wall against the Humber, from Hessle Gate to the confluence of River Hull and Humber estuary at South End; on this part of the wall a gate (Water Gate, or Mamhole gate.) gave access to the Humber, by a small piece of land known as the Mamhole, used as the town dump amongst other purposes. Except at the mamhole the south walls were built up to the banks of the Humber. There were no walls on the bank of the River Hull, and soft ground at Northgates near the river bank prevented the walls being contiguous up to the river bank, in 1585 the fortifications at this gap were improved; a mud wall was constructed, and in 1630 a earthern wall with brick facing and a palisade was built.

In addition to the five main gates a number of posterns in the wall existed, only wide enough for a person, each surmounted by a manned tower. Known examples are Low Gate in the north wall, and at the end of the streets Posterngate, and Blackfriargate (Blanket Row) on the western walls. In the 16th century John Leland stated that there were over twenty towers in the circuit of the walls; the exact number is unknown, early maps show up to 30 towers in total. After Henry VIII's visit in 1541 all entrances except the main gates, as well a North and Hessle gate were ordered to be walled up.

During the English Civil War the fortifications were added to, with "hornworks" ('half moon' artillery batteries) built outside the main gates, additional defences connected the batteries, possibly as high as the original walls (14 ft), and a wide ditch outside the walls (later known as "Bush Dike") was added. The earthern ramparts behind the town walls were also built up at this time; in November 1646 a 50 yard section of wall to the north of Myton gate collapsed during the sieges, due causes that may have included rain, excess weight of the earth bank and weight of the guns on the wall.

During the late 17th and 18th centuries, the walls continued to be maintained; Beckman's report (1680) recommended the repair or reconstruction of 235 yards of the walls. In 1735 a tower over Beverley Gate was removed due to its poor condition, and Hessle Gate unblocked in 1761; the walls were reported to be in very poor condition in 1752. In 1774 the walls from North Gate to Harry Ogle's Tower, on the Humber bank were granted to the Hull Dock Company for the construction of a new town dock.