Historical Map of Hull

Project Description

We request a grant to cover funding for a printed and digital historical map of Hull. This first historical map of this key British port-city will demonstrate Hull’s historic form, scale, development and significance over the centuries. It will be a core resource for historical research and education, and it will be publicised and employed as part of the UK City of Culture events for 2017.

The map will be produced with partner organisation the Historic Towns Trust (HTT, http://www.historictownsatlas.org.uk/ (registered charity 313437)) who have produced a series of award-winning maps of historic British towns and cities in collaboration with local academics – their latest publication is ‘Historical Map of York around 1850’, and other recent maps include Oxford, Winchester and Edinburgh. Our map will feature Hull in the early-twentieth century (based on the 1928 Ordnance Survey edition), but with the addition of earlier features (such as the former city walls, gates and Tudor citadel) and later interventions (such as Blitz damage, post-war roads and regeneration, and The Deep landmark) indicated. These features will make the map an accessible cartographic document of Hull’s past. The map’s reverse-side and sleeve will also include a history / historical geography of the city and a gazetteer which will aid its key research and educational rolls.

The map will be ‘born digital’, but sold as a collectable, affordable, and widely available free-standing hard copy throughout the city and region. This will be 88 x 62cm, and enfolded into an A5-scale sleeve containing the attached Gazetteer and short history / historical geography of the city. The target price is £10, which follows the established and successful Historic Towns Trust model.

The project is significant because no historic map of Hull, nor any historical geography of the city, exist. The project will thus make a clear contribution to knowledge and to understanding of this key city in British history. It will also contribute to broader debates in history, historical geography, archaeology and maritime and urban history.

Finally, the map will be embedded within a wider project for community engagement during Hull’s City of Culture, 2017. The map will sit alongside a parallel book: ‘Hull: City of Culture’ (Liverpool University Press, City Histories series). The book outlines Hull’s histories and historical geographies via words and images; the map complements these with cartographic presentation. Some of the book’s new research will also be articulated by the map. The map and the book are central to our University’s contribution to Hull’s 2017 City of Culture events. Both will be launched at a public a symposium (funded by grants from the HTT and the University of Hull) and will be featured on the University website and in a small exhibition (the Hull History Centre and University Library have indicated their willingness to host these events). As such, the map will make this research accessible to a wide public audience, and develop Hullensians’ sense of heritage, place and civic pride.