Paull (archaic Paul, Pall, Pawle, Pawel, Paulle, Paghel, Paghill, Paghil, Pagula) is a village and civil parish in Holderness, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, lying on the north bank of the Humber Estuary, east of the watercourse known as Hedon Haven.
The village is situated approximately east of Kingston upon Hull.
Geography
The western part of the civil parish of Paull centred on the village of Paull on the banks of the Humber Estuary and is bounded by the Hedon Haven watercourse to the west and north, and the Humber Estuary to the south; the north-eastern boundary of the parish is coincident with the Newton Garth, Haylands, Green's, Riggs, and South Ends & Thorney drains; the parish extends approximately south-east along the bank on a strip approximately wide and from Paull bordered to the north by the Sands and Keyingham drains, and the 'Old Channel', with the Ottringham Drain at the eastern boundary. To the north and west are the town of Hedon and the Salt End refinery and chemical works in the parish of Hedon. The other bounding parishes from west to east are Thorngumbald, Keyingham, Ottringham and Sunk Island.Ordnance Survey 1:25000 2006
The land in the civil parish is in agricultural use, and is low lying, mostly below above sea level, and extensively drained by canals and ditches. There are minor rises north and east of Paull at Rose Hill, Boreas Hill, and Holme Hill were the altitude reaches approximately ; there is a similar rise at the Paull battery, adjacent south-east of Paull. Along the Humber banks are extensive tidal mud flats. According to the 2011 UK census, Paull parish had a population of 723, a decrease on the 2001 UK census figure of 765.
The banks of the Humber require flood defences, with all of the parish within the floodplain of the Humber Estuary. As of 2008 the flood defences are thought to be in good condition, with standard of protection is estimate to be to a 1 in 80 or 1 in 100 years flood event. At Paull Holme Strays the flood protection banks have been cut (2004) to form a tidal mud flat based nature reserve.
There are historic structures at Paull battery (now a museum Fort Paull) and Paull Holme Tower.
Paull village Paull village is the only habitation of significance in the parish, excluding farms. Paull village is accessed via a road off the A1033. Paull village includes a church, lighthouse, two pubs (The Royal Oak and Humber Tavern), a village hall and a school.
Paull also had a small Medium Wave transmitter site from which the signals for BBC Radio Humberside, Absolute Radio and Talksport were transmitted. This was switched off in January 2018, with radio being centred on FM and DAB broadcasts.
History 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.
In the medieval period there were three settlements: Paull Fleet (archaic Paul-flete, later Low Paull) near the outfall of the Hedon Haven onto Humber; Up Paull (or Over Paull, later High Paull); and Paull Holme. Paull Fleet and Up/Over Paull merged into a single village Paull in the 16th century.
There was a shipyard at Paull located between High Paul and Paul, took advantage of the sloping beach at that position as a good place for launching ships. The yard built some ships for the Royal Navy: between 1739 and 1774 three warships were built, 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.Also . Steemson also had a yard at Thorne, a list of ships built by Steemson for the Royal Navy at both yards is given in:
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, there was also a Primitive Methodist Chapel, built 1851, then demolished and replaced with another chapel in 1871.
A new shipyard, Hepworths Shipyard, opened .
In the second half of the 20th century, housing in Paull village expanded, initially along Back Lane/Road in the 1950/60s era; then south of Townend Road in the 1970s on a former Sports ground; and then south of Turpit on the new lane after Ferryman Park towards the end of the century.Ordnance Survey. 1:10560/1:10000 (1956–1993) 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. Initially dedicated to St Mary from the 15th century it was also dedicated to St Andrew.
The church was burnt during the English Civil War at the same time the fort at Paull was attacked (11 October 1642). It was repaired in 1663, and again .
In 1841, the church was described consisting of a tower, nave, chancel and north and south transepts, built of stone plus cobbles, with some brick repair work. The tower had a three staged battlemented tower, with pointed windows in the upper (belfry) stage; the nave had two curved and one square headed window on the south side, similar on the north side with three windows and a door; each transept had a large pointed window, Perpendicular in style; the chancel had two windows with a small central door divided by wall buttresses in the south side, and similar buttressing on the north side, but with a window blocked off and a vestry. The buttressing was a mixture of normal, diagonal, and corner buttressing, most of three stages (five at the transepts), with mostly angled buttresses at corners, excluding the west ends of the transepts (single corner), and east end of the chancel (doubled corner). The interior included three sets of octagonal piers in the nave, separating the aisles. The church was restored in 1879, and again .
Because the church was neither in Paul Fleet, High Paul, or Paul Home a saying arose:
Fortifications and military works
There are records of beacons along the Humber including one at Paull dating to the 16th century, used to give warning of enemy ships or invasion.
Paull has been host to coastal defences for centuries. In 1542, as part of a review of coastal defences carried out by Henry VIII to prepare against possible war with France and Spain, a battery for twelve gunners was built at Paull.
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 1860s new defences of the Humber were built, following the decommissioning of the Hull Citadel. A smaller fortification at Stallingborough, Lincolnshire of six guns and a new 19 gun fort at Paull, on the site of the civil war fort were built. The Paull fort held 19 guns, and was constructed as a polygonal fort, with its main face of facing the Humber, with two flanking faces of – the defences consisted, from inside out – a wall with loopholes, and casemated Caponiers giving flanking fire across a dry ditch; the fort was protected from artillery fire by an earth glacis; and beyond that the sea wall was stockaded. The entrance to the battery was from the landward side, also protected by a loop holed wall. The barracks, and other soldiers buildings were adjacent to the rear wall.See Ordnance Survey Sheet 241SW 1952 edition. The fort was omitted from earlier editions.
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. In the early part of the 20th century and First World War the role of the fort was reduced due to the construction of new emplacements nearer to the mouth of the Humber, at Sunk Island and Stallingborough, better able to protect the port of Immingham. During the First World War additional forts and gun emplacements were built at Spurn Point, Kilnsea, Bull Sand Fort and Haile Sand Fort, reducing Paull Point's military importance; however the site was retained as the headquarters for the defence of the Humber. During the Second World War the fort was the site of a ship Degaussing station, as well as being used as an ammunition store. Military use ended in 1956, and the site was sold in 1960/1.
Also in the near environs of the Paull Point installation were practice batteries south of the fort dating from the First World War, and 19th century, as well as a large warehouse, formerly a Second World War ammunition store.
During the Second World War decoys intended to represent features of the city of Hull with the intention to mislead Luftwaffe bombers were built around south-east of Hull at 1/3rd scale. The decoys included representations of the docks east of the River Hull (Victoria, Alexandra and King George V Docks), as well as the River Hull and Holderness Drain, with pole mounted lights shining on shallow concrete ponds to simulate reflections from the water of the docks and waterways. Other decoys included oil filled trenches that would be ignited to simulate an oil refinery (i.e. Salt End) under attack, and area were controlled fires were lit to simulate an area under aerial attack. There were further similar decoys in the Holderness and North Lincolnshire areas. There were also heavy anti-aircraft batteries located in the Paull area during the Second World War.
Post-Second World War military structures included a nuclear attack monitoring post on Holme Hill (Royal Observer Corps), used from 1962 to 1968.
Other places and features
Paull Holme
Paull Holme (Holm) was also listed in the Domesday report, also in the Manor of Burstwick. 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.