Cambridge Hotel, Great Thornton Street 

The Welborn family held a grocers shop in Great Thornton Street for several years during the 1860s, although the 1871 Census recorded John Welborn as a 44 years old waiter, and head of the household, at no.26 Cambridge Street. By 1872 he had a grocers at no.2 Cambridge Street and established the Cambridge Hotel later that year at no.114 Great Thornton Street – also no.2 Cambridge Street, as it was situated on the corner.

A Hull Brewery pub for the majority of its life, the Cambridge closed in February 1959. Its licence was surrendered on 5 February 1959 to enable the granting of a full licence to the Sheffield Arms, on the Hessle Road.

Carpenters Arms, Great Union Street 

The Carpenters Arms was first mentioned around 1806 when Thomas England the Constable of Sutton and a cordwainer by trade, was the first victualler. It was one of the first taverns to be built in Great Union Street, which was laid out in 1803, and stood on the east-side of the street between Coeleus Street and Hyperion Street.

The pub was also known as the Shipwright's Arms during the 1820s and 1830s – both names relating to the local trades and Friendly Societies that would have met at the pub.

The Carpenters Arms was a Hull Brewery house when it was made redundant in March 1937, and the building was heavily bombed in 1941. The licence was transferred to the Elephant & Castle, on the Holderness Road to make a seven-day licence and the site of the old pub has long been a second hand car lot.

Cartmans Arms, Canning Street

The Cartman's Arms was listed regularly in trade directories from around 1870, although it had probably been in existence for many years by then, and was situated on the corner of Canning Street and Booth Street. The first certain reference is in the 1871 Census, when John Lill was listed at the Cartmans Arms, no.25 Canning Street.

The same property may have been used as the North Myton Soup Kitchen in the early 1860s, and was also near to a brewer’s home. Another possible reason for its name may have been a previous tenant – Atkinson Miller, who was listed here as a Hackney Cartman in the 1861 Census. A beer house was also recorded at no.20 Canning Street in 1867.

A Hull Brewery pub for most of its latter years, it was extended from an initial single property, to include the three premises shown in this photograph of circa 1926. The pub closed in November 1931, having been another casualty of the wide scale redevelopment of the area.

Citadel Hotel, Citadel Street

The Citadel Hotel was under construction as the site of the medieval Citadel itself was being laid out with new streets during the 1860s.

Listed in directories from c.1867, it was a large pub - with four licensed rooms, situated on the corner of Citadel Street and South Bridge Road.

The large new pub would have been kept very busy with workers from the nearby cattle yards, timber yards and docks, and one of few pubs in this south end of Drypool. 

A Hull Brewery house from c.1926, the Citadel closed on 4 May 1960 and was soon demolished. 

Clarence, Charles Street

The Clarence was established in 1872, when joiner George Ward was listed as the first victualler in a local trade directory.

A long-standing Linsley & Co beer-house, the Clarence only received a full licence in 1957, when the licence of the Grosvenor Hotel, in Carr Lane, was transferred following demolition. The licence had been in suspension since 8 May 1941 when the Grosvenor was closed following Blitz damage.

The Clarence was demolished in 1987, and the name was later borrowed by the ‘new’ Clarence situated opposite, which sadly has none of the appeal or character of the original, which was a much-loved pub and cherished by locals who came from far away to play dominoes and drink in the tiny pub right up until closure.

Photograph courtesy of John Wyles.

Coach & Horses, Mytongate

One of the greatest losses to Hull’s historical pub architecture was this building, situated on the north side of Mytongate. The Coach & Horses was one of Hull’s principal coaching inns and stonework in the stables to the rear of the building was dated to 1660.

In its latter years it was a Bass pub, and a model of an old coach and four was kept behind the bar up until closure in 1970; it was demolished in 1973 amidst the huge folly of redevelopment in Hull’s Old Town, that continued throughout the 1970s. 

Commercial Hotel, Castle Street

The Commercial Hotel was constructed at no.1 Castle Street c.1829, at the south end of Prince’s Dock – just east of the famous Earl De Grey pub. Originally known as the Junction Dock Tavern, it acquired its new name c.1862.

The pub front was re-built with the ubiquitous green tiled Victorian frontage c.1895, and the pub later became another victim of the Mytongate demolition programme. This glorious Tetley’s pub was demolished in 1981.

Note how narrow Castle Street was in the photograph; the old street runs left to right, and now forms just part of one carriageway of the horrendous dual carriageway that still divides the Old Town.

Commercial Hotel, Great Union Street

The Commercial Hotel was built around 1800 and first opened as a ‘coffee house’, which was no more than a fancy name for an alehouse. The pub enjoyed excellent trade from the nearby timber and shipbuilding yards, as well as visitors to the Drypool Cattle Markets.

Sadly its position was to be its downfall, in 1941 German bombers following the line of the river Hull caused extensive damage to the nearby Ranks Mills and the Commercial Hotel was in the line of fire. Severely damaged, and then a Hewitt’s pub, the Commercial closed and its remains were cleared in 1952. The council acquired the site via compulsory purchase on 24 June 1952 for the widening of the Clarence Street and Great Union Street junction, and the rebuilding of Drypool Bridge in 1957. The site of the Commercial Hotel is now beneath a set of traffic lights at the busy junction.

Commercial Hotel, Cogan Street

A joiner named Peter Blenkin opened the Commercial Inn c.1840, and began brewing on the site in 1851, but had ceased brewing by c.1863.

Situated at the corner of Edwards Place and Cogan Street the small pub survived over a century before demolition in the late 1950s during the redevelopment of this area, which had suffered extremely heavy bomb damage during the Second World War.

Corporation Arms, Neptune Street

The Corporation Arms stood at the junction of Neptune Street and English Street and opened during the 1860s. The licence came from the former Cattle Market Tavern, Wellington Street, which closed in the 1860s for the works then associated with the new West Dock (Albert Dock). The first licensee (c.1867) was J. Everett, who had been the licensee of the nearby Cattle Market Tavern.

The pub was latterly known as ‘Chester's’, after the popular Chester family who were licencees of several public houses in West Hull, and ran the Corporation Arms several times during a 50 year period. The pub was demolished in preparation for the expansion of the Smith & Nephew factories during the late 1960s and early 1970s. 

Cromwell Hotel, Walmsley Street

The Cromwell Hotel, on the corner of Walmsley Street and Shakespeare Street, received its first licence in 1868, and initially belonged to brewers Kendall & Gruby, who bought the South Myton Brewery in Porter Street in 1876, renaming it the Exchange Brewery.

In 1892 Worthingtons bought the Exchange Brewery, and its estate of 24 pubs was broken up – including the Cromwell Hotel. The pub remained a Worthingtons pub into the 1970s, but was closed and demolished by the early 1980s. 

Cross Keys Hotel, Market Place

The Cross Keys may have taken its name from the Archbishops of York, who had a hostelry in this area in the 14th Century; their coat of arms consisted of two crossed keys, which was the sign of St Peter. It had been an important coaching Inn since the 18th Century, with 40 bedrooms and 15 sitting rooms, some of which were named after great national heroes such as Wellington, Nelson and Raleigh. Coach trade declined in the late 19th Century, probably due to the speed and comfort of Railway travel, and several of the old coaching inns were reduced in stature in the city.

Many photographs of the Market Place show this building with the words Varleys Cross Keys Hotel across the front. This was the Varley family, who were connected with this establishment for over 60 Years. Mrs Anne Varley being proprietor from 1859 to 1907.

The Cross Keys closed as a hotel in 1922 and an entry in the 1929 trade directory names this site as Trinity Chambers, with a Cross Keys Yard at the rear occupied by various trades. By 1937 the building had become almost derelict, parts of which were in a state of almost total collapse, and it was declared to be in such a dangerous condition that it was demolished.

A newspaper article of the time described the building; ‘It was a large and impressive four storied building with a double front and stabling for 40 Horses, to the rear was the great courtyard in which hung a bell dated 1596 along with great branches of decorated ironwork from which the oil lamps swung when the steaming horses clattered in on a winters night. In one of the courtyard buildings was a lovely Georgian bow window with a doorway next to it announcing a saving bank where the farmers left their money on market days’.

This side of the Market Place was redeveloped in the 1970s and the site of this hotel is under the King William house and the adjacent multi-storey car park.

Crown & Cushion,
Land of Green Ginger and Silver Street 

The history of the Crown & Cushion is one of two separate public houses. The Crown was built circa 1800 and was entered from a passage at the side of no.17 Silver Street and by 1823 it had been renamed the Crown & Cushion.

By 1830 it had amalgamated with the White Lion situated at no.3 Land of Green Ginger, which had been built at the same time and backed onto the Crown & Cushion presumably one could commute between the two via a back entrance. The two continued until 1876 when the Crown & Cushion Silver Street was demolished for the construction of the London and Yorkshire Bank (later the National and Provincial Union Bank and currently the Nat West buildings). At that point the White Lion also took the name of the former Crown & Cushion.

In 1891 the owner, Edward Gibson of Great Union Street, added a new front, and enlarged the bar. He reconstructed the pub into ‘four compartments’, each of which had an entrance leading from the passage at the rear. Once part of the Exchange Brewery empire, the Crown & Cushion was latterly a Worthingtons house, and this picture shows the front and its passage entrance from the Land of Green Ginger.

It closed on 3 September 1927 when its site was required for an extension to the very bank that had required the demolition of its former partner in Silver Street. At closure it was one of the few houses in the City with an official singing licence. The Eastern Morning News of 21 September 1927 carries a notice which says ‘The old sign, which was supposedly made of stone and plaster, has been cleaned and restored and is now in the Wilberforce Museum’. 

Crystal Hotel, Waterloo Street

Another stylish Gin Palace style pub was the Crystal Hotel, which stood at no.30 Waterloo Street. First licensed in 1868, the Crystal was demolished in the early 1970s as part of a compulsory purchase order which cleared this whole district, taking with it the Sculcoates Arms, Burns Head, Mechanics Arms, Pacific Hotel, etc.

The Crystal was latterly a Bass pub.

De La Pole Tavern, Wincolmlee

At the east end of Charterhouse Lane at its junction with Wincolmlee, stood the De La Pole Tavern. Buildings had stood at this corner since the middle of the 18th Century and possibly earlier, and by 1803 the site had become a beer-house known as the Jug. Following the widening of Wincolmlee circa 1840, the premises were rebuilt on a larger scale and re-named the De La Pole Tavern.

Along the north side of Charterhouse Lane can be seen an arched entrance which led to De La Pole Court and the old malt kiln of the brewer's Brodrick & Peters who rented the property from the Charterhouse.

The Hull Brewery Co. took over the business in 1924 and this photograph was made just a few years later. The tavern closed on the 24 December 1934 and was later demolished.

Dog & Duck, High Street

The Dog & Duck was a Worthingtons pub with a full alehouse licence – unusual for such small premises but many small pubs and taverns in the Old Town had licences dating back hundreds of years; it also had its own brewhouse. Although only recorded in the trade directories from 1803 it had probably been an inn for many years prior to this date.

Situated on the east side of High Street just south of the junction with Blackfriargate, it had not always stood on a corner. The pub stood fronting High Street at the junction with Humber Street, and the property to its right, which included another pub called the General Elliott, was taken down circa 1863-64 to provide access for the South Bridge (Halfpenny Bridge), which was constructed in 1865. This left the Dog & Duck on the corner of High Street and the new small road that led to the new bridge.

The name Dog & Duck came from the 18th Century ‘sport’ in which a duck's wings were tied before being thrown into the nearest pond or stream, at which point dogs were set upon it. The sport was banned but the name remained until the closure of the pub in 1908. 

Dover Castle, Norfolk Street

The original address of this beer-house at the corner of Russell Place, was no.1 Liddell Street, which originally began at this point and ran east to its junction with St Paul's Street.

James Barker Lording, a joiner, was the first licensee in 1851. By 1863 the beginning of Liddell Street had moved east and the Dover Castle's new address became No.39 Norfolk Street. In a breakdown of the Hull Brewery Cos assets in 1890 the pub was valued at £3,600 and was obviously a busy house.

A popular pub, and one that retained its original name throughout its life, it survived into the 1970s, and was demolished under a compulsory purchase order of circa 1972.

Dover Castle Hotel, Hedon Road

Ralph Smith, also a stone mason, opened a beer-house at the corner of Merrick Street and Hedon Road c.1870, and in 1877 a full licence was obtained, when the redundant Regatta Tavern in High Street closed down, and the Dover Castle was officially named. 

The pub was large by local standards and had ornate brown glazed tiles around the whole of its frontage. Internally, the serving counters of each room were decorated with multicoloured ceramic tiles. The Dover Castle originally had a six-day licence, and was not officially granted a seven-day licence until 2 March 1953 when the licence of the Shakespeare Hotel, Humber Street was surrendered – its licence having been in suspension since the pub was destroyed on 9 May 1941.

The Dover Castle ceased trading in the 1950s but the buildings were kept in use by various businesses in the following years. The building survived until until very recently, having been demolished c.2008.

Drum & Cymbals, Osborne Street

This pub building was not mentioned as a beer-house until the 1840s when John Walker was listed as a beer seller, at no.107 Osborne Street by 1848. Osborne Street was a popular venue for drinking establishments and it is interesting to note that no.107 was one of 10 pubs in the street in 1867.

In 1874 it is shown in trade directories for the first time with the name Drum & Cymbals, The Hull Brewery Co. later acquired the premises circa 1888. The pub shows a remarkable resemblance to the Lockwood Arms (now the Bull & Bush) on Green Lane, and is shown in this 1926 photograph with its re-built façade of c.1916.

The Drum & Cymbals stood at the junction of Upper Union Street and Osborne Street, and closed in 1956, when the licence was surrendered for the granting of a full licence to the Old English Gentleman in Worship Street. The building was demolished circa 1958-9.

Edinburgh Packet, High Street

The Edinburgh Packet was situated at no.163 High Street, on the north east corner of Chapel Lane and held a full alehouse licence. The earliest records of the pub are from the first years of the 19th Century but it is very likely that the property shown here was of a much earlier period.

The windows of the neighbouring property in Chapel Lane suggest a date of before 1705, when an ordinance required that windows be set back from the facing surface of walls. Although the windows of the Edinburgh Packet facing Chapel Lane are of a later design, the brickwork on the High Street frontage appears to be contemporary with its neighbour. 

The pub closed in 1929 following a purge on licensed premises in the old town and £3,000 was paid to the Hull Brewery Co. in compensation for their loss of business.