Drive into Hull today and the city creeps up on you, the
number of buildings slowly increasing from an isolated few to a constant line
of houses, storage units and factories.
It’s easy to miss the precise point when you enter Hull itself,
unless you specifically scan the roadside for a welcome sign. Arriving at Hull 600 years ago was a rather
different experience; then entering the town was a very definite step.
Travelling into Hull back then, the first sight of the town
was a high brick wall visible on the horizon.
As you got closer you could make out the watchtowers dotted along its
length. Finally as you came beneath the
wall’s shadowy gloom, you saw the moat running in front of it and across the
road itself an imposing fortified gateway.
Hopefully you arrived during daylight, as if not you would have a long
wait as the gates would not open again until dawn.
There were four such gateways guarding the entrances into Hull. Beverley Gate was the most imposing, a grand structure
with a fortified entrance way, called a barbican, plus an inner gate for extra
security. There was also North Gate near
the ferry over the river Hull; Hessle Gate by the bank of the Humber; and Myton
Gate, the site now marked by a roundabout. If the
country was at peace and the security threat low, there was also the option to
use one of several postern gates.
Designed for those on foot, these were just wide enough to allow one or
two people to squeeze through and could easily be blocked up in times of danger.
Building such defences did not come cheap. When in 1423 a new postern gate was added,
ten thousand bricks were used during its construction. Then there was the regular maintenance. Particularly in the middle of the 15th Century, it would have been most unwise to skimp on this for Henry VI was not making
a good job of being king. In 1449
Parliament impeached his chief minister William de la Pole for financial
mismanagement and, fearing that the resulting quarrel would turn violent, towns
across the country put security measures in place.
Hull had cause to be particularly fearful given the link that
the de la Pole family had with the town.
Although William had his main home elsewhere, he remained a major local landowner. Consequently Hull’s aldermen decided
that eighteen guards should be placed on watch every night. Each town ward was ordered to provide a
constable plus two men to remain on duty on between 9pm and 4am. In the end these precautions were not tested
as once William was off the scene things settled down for Henry but the
incident was a sign of unrest to come.
Photos: Top, bricks showing the former location of a postern gate in Hull; Bottom, surviving postern gate in York.
