About Hull Maritime
As Yorkshire’s maritime city, Hull is now developing an extensive redevelopment of its significant historic maritime assets, building upon the legacy of UK City of Culture in support of its aspiration to create a world class visitor destination. A substantial grant of £15m from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and £10m from Hull City Council means this £27m project will come to fruition. The Hull Maritime project explores Hull’s remarkable maritime history and puts that heritage at the heart of a project that will preserve several significant maritime treasures and move Hull forward as a world class visitor destination.
Spurn Lightship (LV No. 12)
The Humber is said to be one of the world's most treacherous rivers to navigate and Spurn was built in 1927 for the Humber Conservancy Board as a dedicated lightship by the Goole Shipbuilding & Repairing Company. Its purpose was to be a mobile lighthouse anchored at the mouth of the Humber Estuary and was commissioned as the Spurn light vessel, the first on that station, when it was positioned on 17 November 1927 around 4.5 (7.2km) east of Spurn Point. It marked shoals as required and used its lantern and foghorns to alert shipping to the dangers of running aground. Equipped to transmit three types of fog signal for use when required, operating in conjunction with each other, the ship could simultaneously send out a 50-mile radius fog signal and a 20-mile radius submarine signal to warn approaching vessels using Morse code.
During the Second World War, the lightship continued to serve in her vital role and was moved to the middle of the Humber Estuary. Then, after the war, the vessel was returned to her pre-war station until 1959 when she was removed for refitting. After that, she was transferred to the Bull Shallows station and was known as the Bull Light vessel until its withdrawal from service in November 1975. In 1983 Hull City Council bought the vessel for £4025 and began restoring it to its original condition. Since 1987 she has been on display to the public.
In March 2023, Spurn returned to Hull Marina following a 14-month restoration programme. Local ship repair company, Dunston Ship Repairs completed the work to give the the Lightship a new lease of life and become a floating museum for visitors far and wide to enjoy. Work to construct a permanent berth will get underway in the coming weeks and the Spurn Lightship is expected to reopen to visitors in summer 2023.
In November 2023, Spurn (and Hull City Council) was announced as Winner of the 2023 Martyn Heighton Award for Excellence in Maritime Conservation at the National Historic Ships UK Awards.
Working with local organisations
As part of the the Hull Maritime project , the Spurn will play a part in a programme of activities and events in Hull marina that will allow visitors to gain a greater understanding of the vessel’s role in the history of Humber shipping and of the wider story of one of the UK’s busiest international ports. Hull Marina is also home to several other historic vessels including those owned and managed by the Humber Keel and Sloop Preservation Society. Their two vessels Comrade and Daybreak are of a type that was once a familiar sight in the docks of Hull and on the rivers Humber, Trent and Ouse. Produce and raw materials were transported throughout the region from the 12th century on these types of sailing barge.
Arctic Corsair
Arctic Corsair was built in 1960 as a 'sidewinder' trailer for the Boyd Line in nearby Beverley Shipyard by Cook, Gemmell & Welton. It was the second diesel-engine trawler built at the yard for the Boyd Line to operate far from its home port for demersal fishing in Icelandic fishing grounds and those further afield including Bear Island and Newfoundland Grand Banks, where it had to fish as a result of over-fishing in near and middle waters.
Arctic Corsair represents the technological peak of sidewinder trawlers and almost a century of refinement of the three key developments that turned fishing into an industry - efficient mechanical propulsion allowing ships to travel greater distances for longer periods; artificial ice production, and the invention of the Otter trawl. Trawler technology was developed to meet the challenge of covering great distances in extreme conditions then locating and catching a diminishing natural resource in a way that was commercially viable. The Arctic Corsair is a key heritage asset for the interpretation of this important history and is the UK's only distant water sidewinder trawler that can be accessed by the public.
Arctic Corsair was bought by Hull City Council (HCC) in 1993 and in 1996 the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) awarded £159,700 for the creation of an exhibition berth for the ship. After being restored by trainees and volunteers from the St Andrews Fish Dock Heritage Group (STAND), the floating museum opened to the public in 1999.
Working with local organisations
The Arctic Corsair is operated in partnership with local fishing heritage organisation STAND which provides all year round voluntary maintenance and seasonal (April - Nov) tour guide personnel, allowing the public to experience how life was onboard a deep sea trawler. As part of the Hull, Yorkshire's Maritime City Project, the Arctic Corsair is the focus of a wide range of exciting projects including working with schools, colleges, maritime training organisations, theatre groups, musicians and many more.
North End Shipyard
In November 2022, work began to create a new energy efficient visitor centre for the new North End Shipyard attraction. The two-storey visitor centre at the former North End Shipyard and the new home to the Arctic Corsair will be built to 'Passivhaus' standards, meaning the building will require very little energy to run. It is projected to be one of the most energy efficient buildings in the UK’s cultural sector.
The new visitor attraction will enable visitors to get up close to the trawler, to learn more about her career, the record-breaking catch and what it was like to work on the trawler with first-hand experiences from former trawlermen. It will also highlight the historical significance of the shipyard, which will have its story told for the very first time.
Hull Maritime Museum
Hull Maritime Museum is undergoing a major transformation, creating a world-class museum for the city with new and engaging exhibitions telling the many untold stories of Hull’s maritime heritage stretching back 800 years. Opened in 1871 as Hull’s Dock Offices, this Grade II* listed building regularly saw ships sail past its windows in the town centre’s docks. Later, the building became the city’s Maritime Museum in 1975. Hull Maritime Museum’s collections are officially recognised as being of national significance and the scrimshaw collection is regarded as one of the best in the world. The museum’s collection will undergo extensive conservation that will allow them to shine for a bigger and wider audience and preserve them for generations to come.
Extensive improvements will mean the museum and its collections will be in better condition, better interpreted and explained:
- the building will be conserved to reveal the quality of its original architecture
- conservation will secure the future of the museum
- collections on and off display will benefit from improved environmental and storage conditions
- the second floor will open to the public
- new and improved education and learning programme on offer
- improved access and visitor facilities including more toilets, a café and lifts
- there will be access to one of the building’s domes offering for the first time superb panoramic rooftop views across the city
- new exhibitions and displays using previously unseen material will tell over 800 years of Hull’s maritime story
- increased digitisation of the collections
- Hull’s role as a modern maritime city will be highlighted, drawing attention to the many thriving industries and inspiring future generations
The Dock Office Chambers
Adjacent to Hull Maritime Museum is the Dock Office Chambers building (DOC), which dates from the 1890s and was previously used as office space. As part of the project, Dock Office Chambers has been reconfigured to become the main focus to house the remaining collections and artefacts in order to undertake vital research and conservation. This renovation will enable the collections to be conserved, catalogued and appropriately managed, with improved accessibility for staff and visiting researchers. This new store facility will enable a whole new floor of the museum to open, previously unseen to visitors. Heritage contractors, Simpsons of York is undertaking the work to Dock Office Chambers and transform the museum.
Other Hull Maritime Projects
Hull Maritime has teamed up with East Coast Maritime Training to deliver maritime skills training to 100 young people from the region. ECMT is a Seafish Approved Training Provider and equips young people with the skills and accredited learning to build a career in the fishing and offshore industries. As part of their Hull Maritime-supported programme, young people will get the opportunity to gain skills and knowledge from former Hull fishermen now working as volunteer guides and maintenance crew on board the Arctic Corsair.
Working with Hull College BA Computer Games Design students, the New Media project will allow students at the college to bring the story of the Corsair to life using new technologies and processes to allow future generations to continue to be inspired by the stories of the people who served in Hull’s distant water fishing fleet. The first pilot has already taken place with the students producing a virtual 3D reconstruction of the Corsair’s wheelhouse.
Since 2021, Hull Maritime's Community Grant Scheme has funded 21 brilliant, varied projects that all explored, celebrated, or protected Hull’s maritime story in different ways. From community litter picks that led to the creation of new sculptural works, to training volunteers to work on historic vessels, to funding transport for a Merchant Navy reunion, to supporting ‘see shanty’ performances, the scheme is open to projects and activities that take a broad view on what ‘maritime’ means to Hull today. Read more
LATEST NEWS:
November 2023 Spurn Lightship awarded Winner of the Excellence in Maritime Conservation Award at the National Historic Ships UK Awards. Full story
March 2023 Spurn Lightship has returned to Hull Marina following a 14-month restoration Full story
January 2023 Hull Maritime has been awarded a £250,000 grant towards their new visitor and education centre at North End Shipyard Full story
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