RIVER HUMBER

Tributaries include

River Hull

The River Hull flows over the great boulder clay lowlands that mask any hard rocks along the eastern seaboard of England. On this poorly draining material the river Hull forms from a number of tributaries, the main one of which begins near Driffield. The river then flows south past Beverley and hence to its confluence with the Humber on the eastern side of the old center of Hull.

River Humber

The River Humber is actually the combined estuary made mainly by the Rivers Aire, Ouse, Don and Trent. It is short, being about 60 kilometres (40 miles) in length. It is usually taken as being between the town of Goole and the North Sea.

The Humber widens rapidly and is about 13 kilometres (8 miles) wide where it meets the North Sea. The northern shore of the estuary terminates at the spectacular sea spit called Spurn Head. The spit is formed where the currents of water driven southward by the currents along the coast, meet the strong current of water in the Humber.

At this point there is a very large amount of sediment in the river mouth, leading to widespread shoals and sandbanks. The estuary has to be continuously dredged to make a passage for ships.

The main cities on the Humber are Hull (on the north shore) and Grimsby (on the south shore). The muds of the south shore of the Humber in particular, have been excavated to make docks suited to deep water vessels. The major harbour so formed is at Immingham. The land flanking Immingham has been developed as a major petrochemicals complex.

The Humber has always been an important estuary providing shelter from the violent North Sea storms in a coast where shelter is hard to find. Its disadvantage for many centuries was that it faced into the North Sea, rather than across to the Atlantic where most of Britain's colonial and then Commonwealth trade developed. Nevertheless, as Britain has reduced its transatlantic connections and developed those with the European mainland, the Humber has seen a steady increase in trade and port traffic.

Historically, the Humber is noted as the place from which the first group of Pilgrim Fathers began their journey to the New World. They set out in 1609 from South Killinghome Haven, to the west of Grimsby and made their way to Plymouth. However, it was to be a further 11 years before they finally started their great transatlantic voyage.

The navigable estuary and the plentiful supply of cooling waters have also made the estuary the site for power plants.

The Humber is so wide that it has only been recently that the technology existed to build a bridge over it. When it was finished, it was the longest suspension bridge in Europe. The Humber Bridge crosses the Humber between Barton upon Humber and the western outskirts of Hull.

Places on the Humber

Kingston upon Hull

Hull lies on the western bank of the River Hull, where the River Hull flows into the River Humber.

After the Norman Conquest, Hull became part of the lands owned by the abbots of Meaux (a city just east of Paris). In 1293 the lands were ceded to King Edward I who had plans for an important seaport in the Humber. He renamed it Kingston upon Hull (that is the King's town beside the Hull River). Most people still refer to the city simply as Hull.

Hull gradually grew to be a city of importance and its first docks were constructed in 1778 from the soft muds of the Humber shore.

Because of its importance as a port, and its accessibility from the mainland of Europe, Hull was extensively damaged by bombing in World War 2, and so most of the city center is modern.

Grimsby

Grimsby, whose name is a reminder of its foundation by Vikings in the 8th century, is closer to the North Sea than Hull. It is supposedly the first place in England where the Vikings landed. It is a major fishing port, the main docks for container and other traffic being at nearby Immingham.

The main landmark of Grimsby is the 100 m (300 feet) Dock Tower, modelled on the tower of Siena's Palazzo Publico in Italy.

Hedon

This was once a prosperous port on the Humber closer to the sea than Hull. However, due to silting in the estuary during the Middle Ages it gradually became unusable and Hull took over the trade. Hedon is now 3 kilometres (2 miles) inland.