Etymology The name Paull probably derives from the
Old English pagol meaning 'stake', possibly referring to one used as a
boundary marker or as a
landmark.
Village Both Paull (
Paghel) are listed in the
Domesday Book as places within the Manor of
Burstwick. The place is typical of a medieval settlement in Holderness, occupying higher, and better drained ground in an area prone to flooding. Thomas Steemson owned the shipyard in the early 19th century; ships of up to
74 guns were built, including of 1812. By the 1830s it was no longer active. Historically Paull was known for shrimp fisheries, in around 1900 the lower part of Hedon Haven (or Paull Creek), and the Humber and Paull roads were access for a numerous fleet of small and medium-sized boats known as 'Paull Shrimpers'; the shrimps were caught in the Humber by beam trawling. The population of the Township of Paull rose from 212 in 1801 to 473 in 1831, and to 600 by 1856. The Humber Tavern was built 1805, the Royal Oak was also built in the early 19th century, the Crown Inn opened 1856. A
Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built around 1810 in the village, In 2013 a new village hall was opened, having received £464,494 in
Big Lottery Fund funding.
Church of St Andrew The early history of churches at Paull is uncertain. states there has been a church at Paull from 1115 AD. Incumbents of the parish of Paull (and Thorngumbald) are recorded as far back as 1295, and burials are recorded to 1347. The present church was built , replacing a church on the banks of the Humber which was in a ruinous state, and subject to floods. In the prelude to the
First Siege of Hull (July 1642) a fort with cannon was erected at Paull (also at Hessle Cliff) by the Royalist faction in order to control shipping on the Humber, though in mid July around 2,000 soldiers, plus supplies were able to pass the fort without great inconvenience. In September the fort was repaired and another erected near the
Trent Falls, again attempting to control the Humber, but were destroyed by Parliamentary ships. In 1807, an earthen battery,
Paull Cliff Battery, was erected in consequence of the
Napoleonic Wars to house six 24 pounder cannons, with the land summarily purchased. In 1819 after the end of the wars the land of including barracks and buildings was sold by the
Board of Ordnance. In the late 1880s a
naval mine facility was built, adjacent west of the fort with access to the foreshore for the
Humber Division Submarine Miners. The facilities included a pier, and a light railway to carry the mines to the piers. The
Paull Point battery was also upgraded during the latter part of the 19th century, receiving two and four breech loading guns, as well as four muzzle loaders – the breech loaders which were placed in new concrete emplacements (1894). Electric defence searchlights were installed in 1907. The family of Holme held the place from the post Conquest period onwards, up to the 18th century when the estate passed to the Torre family through marriage to the female line of Holme. In 1377 the population was around 100. There was once a manor house at Paull Holme. From remains of the foundations it is inferred to have been H-shaped; by 1840 only the north tower was still standing. A number of heraldic elements were present in the fabric, showing the connection to the Holme family, and, from rose emblems in the stone work, suggesting a date after
Henry VII. (see
Tudor rose.) The remaining tower is of brick, approximately high, in three storeys, with internal space of approximately each. The first floor was supported on a brick vault. It is thought the remainder of the structure would have included brick and timber-framed construction. The building was restored in 1871 for use as a
gazebo with stone window surrounds added, replacing brick. As of 2010 the tower was roofless and in a ruinous condition. The building is located on a formerly moated area. There was also a chapel in Paull Holme. Documentary evidence points to the chapel being in use at the beginning of the 16th century. By the end of the 16th century Paull Holme had become abandoned. The chapel was described as dilapidated by the time of
Queen Anne (early 18th century). A house at Boreas Hill (archaic
Boar House,
Bower House Hill) dates to at least 1670. The present house is thought to date from the around the first half of the 1700s, with additions in 1936. in 1260 the ferry recorded a profit of 45s 3d; Paul Fleet was also a haven for boats in the same era. A pier was noted at Paull in the 1840s. There was a wooden swing bridge across the Hedon Haven near to Pollard Clough on the far bank in the 1850s; this was no longer extant by the 20th century. By the 1920s a footbridge close to the outfall of the Hedon stream had been built, crossing to
Salt End; by the second half of the century the footbridge was no long extant, but a road had been built (
Paull Road) running roughly north-west, with a bridge crossing over the haven, and joining the main Hull to Hedon road north of Salt End. The bridge over the Hedon Haven was a lifting bridge, Image replaced by a concrete deck fixed bridge in the late 20th century. In 1967, an airfield was opened near to Oxgoddes farm, spearheaded by Neville Medforth of the
East Yorkshire Aero Company. The airfield had a runway, and was used by the Hull Aero Club.
Bristow Helicopters also used the site from 1969 to service
North Sea oil rigs, and short haul operator Humber Airways from 1970 to its cessation of business in 1975. In around 1982 the airfield closed.
Lighthouses and beacons In 1836
Hull Trinity House built a lighthouse at Paull, then between the shipyard and town. The three-storey, stuccoed brick tower was designed by Francis Dales (who also designed
Killingholme South Low Lighthouse for Hull Trinity House the same year). Lit by oil lamps, initially it displayed a fixed white light; in 1852 a red
sector was added to help guide vessels around the nearby Skitter
sandbank. In 1870 Paull lighthouse was replaced by two sets of
leading lights, also established by Hull's Trinity House: one at Thorngumbald Clough and the other at Salt End. The new lights were first lit on 25 July 1870, and on the same date Paull Lighthouse was decommissioned. Thorngumbald Clough Low Light is constructed of a wrought iron frame approximately high on a high brick and flagstone base, the Thorngumbald Clough High light is of a similar design. The high light is painted red, the low light white Both are
Grade II listed structures,
Land reclamation, drainage and flooding The earliest record of a sea wall in the area was at Paull Holme in 1201. The position of the Humber coastline has been relatively fluid over several centuries due to flooding, storms, silting, human intervention, and the condition of
Spurn Point. In the 17th century the bank of the Humber east of Paull was much further north;
Cherry Cobb was a
sand bank separated from the
Holderness mainland by a navigable channel "North Channel" of the Humber. From the end of the 17th century to the beginning of the 19th century Cherry Cobb Sands (and
Sunk Island to the east) silted up, reducing the north channel. The increased silting was exploited by humans; Cherry Cobb Sands was embanked in 1869/70, closing the north channel to the west. The silting caused drainage problems in the land to the north and Keyingham fleet (or clow) was resited several times in 1730, and again , when it became the jurisdiction of the Keyingham Drainage Authority; silting in the remnant of the north channel reduced the fleet's effectiveness and a new cut of the drain was made, based on one of two designs of
Joseph Hodskinson, endorsed by
William Chapman in 1797, and enabled by and act of Parliament in 1802. The new cut ran roughly south-east to Stone Creek Clow (the present location of the outlet The
North Sea tidal surge 2013 caused damage to the defences near Paull; 12 properties were flooded. In 2016, the sea wall through the village was topped with high glass panelling at a cost of £835,000. Creating the longest glass barrier of its kind in Britain at long and designed to protect 14,000 homes. ==See also==