The Hull Maritime Museum is a museum in

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-ea ...

, England, that explores the seafaring heritage of the city and its environs. The museum's stated mission is "To preserve and make available the maritime history of Hull and east Yorkshire through artefacts and documents".

History and site

The museum, originally known as the ''Museum of Fisheries and Shipping'', opened in 1912 in Pickering Park. It moved to its current location, the Dock Offices building, in 1974. The Dock Offices building is so-named as it is the former headquarters of the Hull Dock Company, which operated all docks in Hull until 1893. Built in 1872, it is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

and a striking example of

Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian we ...

. The building stands in Queen Victoria Square, opposite the Queen's Gardens, in Hull's city centre. Hull City Council currently operates and maintains the museum. In January 2020, the museum temporarily closed for preparation for a £11 million programme of conservation and modernisation to begin, with Purcell, Beckett Rankine, Haley Sharpe Design, Tricolour, Simpson and Dunston Ship Repairs on the project team. Renovation work commenced in January 2022, following the removal of around 50,000 items from the museum into storage throughout 2020 and 2021. The museum is scheduled to re-open in 2025 as the centrepiece of Hull's "Maritime City Project", featuring an additional exhibition floor and a spiral staircase providing access to one of the building's domes, as well as a new glass roof in the building's atrium, following the relocation of storage, research and conservation centre in the adjacent Dock Office Chambers.

Exhibits and collections

The period of time covered by the exhibits extends back to the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

and through the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, but the museum primarily concerns itself with Hull's maritime history from the 19th century onward. The museum's exhibits are arranged along the following primary themes:

Arctic whaling heritage

The museum dedicates an entire gallery to Hull's whaling industry, which peaked in the early 19th century. Dozens of vessels ventured into the Arctic waters (particularly those around

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

) during this period. The gallery contains personal effects, shipboard items, models, and artwork (including the largest collection of

scrimshaw Scrimshaw is scrollwork, engravings, and carvings done in bone or ivory. Typically it refers to the artwork created by whalers, engraved on the byproducts of whales, such as bones or cartilage. It is most commonly made out of the bones and teeth ...

in Europe), and Inuit artifacts, including a kayak.

North Sea fishing industry

The city's fishing industry rose to prominence in the mid-19th century, and one gallery of the museum documents the history of the industry as it expanded from the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

into more northerly waters. This gallery makes use of models of the industry's various ocean-going vessels, from simple cobles to large

trawlers Trawler may refer to: Boats * Fishing trawler, used for commercial fishing * Naval trawler, a converted trawler, or a boat built in that style, used for naval purposes ** Trawlers of the Royal Navy * Recreational trawler, a pleasure boat built t ...

Maritime trade

Hull's tradition of ocean-going commerce dates from the

and has historically targeted the nations of

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

and the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

. The Court Room in the Hull Docks building, once for use by the Hull Dock Company's shareholders and now the venue for temporary exhibitions, also pays hommage to Hull's commercial past and present. The room houses a

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

containing the coats of arms of the cities with which Hull has historically had trade relations.

Online: Hull and the sea

As part of its online ''Hull Museums Collection,'' Hull City Council launched the ''Hull and the sea'' website in 2008. The website allows users to virtually browse the maritime museum's collection, from works of scrimshaw to descriptions and images of the seagoing vessels from the city's past.

Hull City of Culture 2017

During Hull's year as

UK City of Culture UK City of Culture is a designation given to a city (or a local area from 2025) in the United Kingdom for a period of one calendar year, during which the successful bidder hosts cultural festivities through culture-led regeneration for the ye ...

the Maritime Museum played a prominent role in the opening three-month season entitled '' Made in Hull''. At the opening event during the first week the building was one of three in Victoria Square which had multimedia projections displayed on them, attracting over 300,000 visitors. Throughout the three-month season the Museum hosted a multimedia installation called ''Bowhead'' depicting a bowhead whale.

References

External links

Hull Maritime Museum
– official website
Hull Maritime City Project
* {{Authority control Industrial buildings completed in 1872 Museums in Kingston upon Hull Grade II* listed buildings in the East Riding of Yorkshire Museums established in 1912 History museums in the East Riding of Yorkshire Maritime museums in England 1912 establishments in England 1872 establishments in England