Even on the brightest days, the narrow winding streets of
medieval Hull offered plentiful shadows.
Pedestrians had to dodge tethered horses, stray pigs, and open sewers. Anyone wandering down to the banks of that majestic river the Humber would struggle to appreciate the view with the rotting
mess of the town’s rubbish dump at their feet.
It was all far from modern standards of cleanliness but the inhabitants
of Hull were certainly not merrily wallowing in filth.
In 1388 Parliament ordered local governments to keep streets
in their area well maintained and free of rubbish and Hull’s ruling aldermen
took this duty very seriously. Each
Saturday residents were expected to clean the section of road in front of their
property and a rubbish cart was organised to go around town up to three times a
week. Although anything collected was
then dumped by the Humber, at least there it was away from people’s homes and could be washed away by the tide.
The open sewers running down the middle of each street were
not stagnant pools of muck but filled with running water flowing out into the
Humber and were regularly cleaned to prevent blockages. These sewers certainly didn’t add positively
to the town’s ambience, but the alderman knew that for the lack of an
alternative it was better then nothing. Care was taken that builders didn’t cut
corners by not linking properties to the system.
In 1413 Richard Hanse was granted permission to build a courtyard of
houses only if he connected them to the sewer network at his own expense.
Hull’s aldermen also concerned themselves with ensuring a supply
of fresh, clean water. By 1401 the two
existing wells in Bishops Lane and Fleshmarket were insufficient for the town’s
needs and shipping in additional water was too expensive. The solution was a dyke 12ft wide and 5ft
deep running all the way from Anlaby to Beverley Gate. From here though the water still had to be
physically carried across town to where most people lived down by the High
Street.
By the 1440s however the aldermen had seemingly solved this problem
by laying a system of lead conduits and pipes within the town walls. Feeling justifiably proud of this
achievement, a grand opening ceremony was held during which wine was sent
through the pipes doubtless ensuring the party passed off in a suitably merry
manner. Sadly this visionary system was
not without its teething problems so when in 1461 the town needed some ready cash,
the decision was taken to dig up the pipes and sell off the valuable lead.
Picture: Close up from map by John Speede, circa 1610, showing the
location of Hull’s freshwater dyke.
