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Hessle

Coordinates: 53°43′26″N 0°25′55″W / 53.7239°N 0.4319°W / 53.7239; -0.4319
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the parish in West Yorkshire, see Hessle and Hill Top. For the Hessle (Sweden) meteorite of 1869, see meteorite falls.

Hessle
Town and civil parish
All Saints Church
Humber Bridge from Hessle Viewpoint
Church Hall
The Square
Hessle is located in East Riding of Yorkshire
Hessle
Hessle
Location within the East Riding of Yorkshire
Population15,000 (2011 census)[1]
OS grid referenceTA034264
Civil parish
  • Hessle
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townHESSLE
Postcode districtHU13
Dialling code01482
PoliceHumberside
FireHumberside
AmbulanceYorkshire
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire
53°43′26″N 0°25′55″W / 53.7239°N 0.4319°W / 53.7239; -0.4319

Hessle (/ˈhɛzəl/) is a town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, 5 miles (8 kilometres) west of Kingston upon Hull. Geographically it is part of a larger urban area consisting of the city of Kingston upon Hull, the town of Hessle and a number of other villages but is not part of the city. It is on the north bank of the Humber Estuary where the Humber Bridge crosses.

According to the 2011 UK census, Hessle parish had a population of 15,000,[1] an increase on the 2001 UK census figure of 14,767.[2]

Amenities

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The Square in January 2007
Hessle Town Hall

The centre of Hessle is the Square. There are many shops and a small bus station, which was refitted in 2007. Hessle All Saints' Church is located just off the Square and was designated a Grade I listed building in 1967 and is now recorded in the National Heritage List for England, maintained by Historic England.[3] Hessle Town Hall was built in 1897 and is situated at the top of South Lane.[4] Hessle Police Station, which closed in 2014, is next door to the town hall at the top of South Lane and the corner of Ferriby Road.[5]

Hessle is home to the world-famous Humber Bridge, which was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1981. At the time of its opening, the Humber Bridge was the world's longest single-span suspension bridge. It links Hessle to the town of Barton-upon-Humber on the opposite side of the Humber estuary. In July 2017 the bridge was granted Grade I listed status.[6]

History

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Workers shipbuilding in Hessle for the Royal Navy during the Second World War.

The place-name 'Hessle' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Hase. It appears as Hesla in a Danelaw Charter from the reign of Henry II between 1154 and 1189, and as Hesel in a Yorkshire Charter of 1157, and in 1242 in the Book of Fees. The name is the Old Scandinavian hesli meaning 'hazel grove'.[7]

In more modern times, Hessle has been a centre for shipbuilding. Before 1897, there was a shipyard building wooden boats, but it was then bought by Henry Scarr who moved there from Beverley, where he had previously been in partnership with his brother Joseph. Scarr produced iron and steel ships[8] until 1932, when the yard was taken over by Richard Dunston.[9] It was the largest shipyard in Hessle, building vessels such as Loch Riddon, a roll-on/roll-off ferry launched in 1986, and one of four built for Caledonian MacBrayne for use in the Hebrides.[10] The company went into liquidation in 1987 and was bought by Damen Shipyards Group in the same year. Dunston's was closed down in 1994. The location is now used as offices, car sales buildings and a dock for scrap metal and other materials for dispatch to other areas, or to be recycled. Richard Dunston's ship repairs still exists further east along the Humber Estuary, with activity remaining high.

Geography

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Hessle is surrounded by the neighbouring villages of Willerby, Anlaby, Kirk Ella, West Ella, North Ferriby and Swanland.

Humber Bridge Country Park in December 2006

Chalk-quarrying was a major industry at Hessle into the 20th century and quarries can still be seen in the west of the town, the largest being the Humber Bridge Country Park, which is a popular tourist attraction. Part of it is known as Little Switzerland (Little Switz or Switzy for short).

The Humber Bridge Country Park Local Nature Reserve was formerly a chalk quarry and was developed as a country park following the construction of the Humber Bridge. It consists of mixed species of woodland, wild flowers, a spring-fed pond and herb-rich grassland. The park can be explored on several well-signed walking routes.[11]

Hessle is twinned with the French town of Bourg-de-Thizy.[citation needed]

Transport to and from Hessle is convenient, with good access to main roads such as the A15, A63 and M62 (via the A63).[citation needed] It also has a railway station with hourly services to and from Hull and to destinations such as Doncaster and York.[citation needed] Regular bus services provided by East Yorkshire link the town with the surrounding villages, Hull City Centre, Longhill Estate in east Hull as well as further afield places including Brough, Beverley and the seaside resort of Hornsea.[citation needed]

Hessle is at the start of the Yorkshire Wolds Way, a long-distance footpath and designated National Trail, which crosses the Yorkshire Wolds and ends at Filey on the North Sea Coast.[citation needed]

Education

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The site of the town's secondary school, Hessle High School & Sixth Form College, on Heads Lane, is centred on a building donated to the Education Authority by Algernon Henry Barkworth, a survivor of the RMS Titanic sinking. Hessle Sixth Form College is part of a consortium with secondary schools Wolfreton School (in Willerby) and Cottingham High School (in Cottingham), offering sixth form pupils a chance to attend classes at any of the three schools within the consortium. The entire school was reopened in January 2016, as part of Priority Schools Building Programme. Since January 2017, Penshurst Primary School and Hessle High School & Sixth Form College have been a through-school.

Penshurst Primary School, for children aged 3–11, located on Winthorpe Road. Hessle is also home to All Saints' CE Federation of Academies Infant and Junior School, a Church of England school for children aged 3–11, located on Northolme Road.

Media

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Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and ITV Yorkshire. Television signals are received from the Belmont TV transmitter.[12]

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Humberside, Capital Yorkshire, Greatest Hits Radio East Yorkshire & Northern Lincolnshire, Hits Radio East Yorkshire & North Lincolnshire and Nation Radio East Yorkshire.

The town is served by the local newspaper, Hull Daily Mail. [13]

Notable people

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  • Lucy Beaumont (born 1983), comedian, lived in Hessle[14]
  • Stephen C. West (born 1952) biochemist and molecular biologist, expert on DNA recombination and repair. Born in Hessle.

Bibliography

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  • Gazetteer – A–Z of Towns Villages and Hamlets. East Riding of Yorkshire Council. 2006. p. 6.
  • Taylor, Mike (2009). Richard Dunston Limited of Thorne & Hessle. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-84563-094-2.

References

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  1. ^ a b UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Hessle Parish (1170211197)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  2. ^ UK Census (2001). "Local Area Report – Hessle Parish (00FB068)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  3. ^ Historic England. "Church of All Saints (1161766)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  4. ^ "Town Hall". Hessle Town Council. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Police stations closed since 2010". What do they know?. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  6. ^ Historic England. "The Humber Bridge (1447321)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
  7. ^ Eilert Ekwall, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, p.237.
  8. ^ Taylor 2009, p. 126.
  9. ^ Taylor 2009, p. 27.
  10. ^ Taylor 2009, p. 119.
  11. ^ Humber Bridge Country Park Local Nature Reserve (Leaflet). East Riding of Yorkshire Council. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  12. ^ "Belmont (Lincolnshire, England) Full Freeview transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  13. ^ "Hessle Stories - Hull Daily Mail". Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  14. ^ Baxter, Lisa (24 April 2021). "Meet the millionaire Richardsons - how Lucy Beaumont swapped Hull for Hebden Bridge". Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
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