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For more than 20 years, it has been home to one of Hull’s most popular pubs.
But many centuries ago, the grand building that occupies the corner of Lowgate and Alfred Gelder Street in Hull city centre was far more important than it is today. It was called Suffolk Palace and at one time it belonged to King Henry VIII. The palace is long gone, but the site later became the city’s great central post office, from where letters were sent all over the world. Today, it houses the Three John Scotts pub and luxury apartments.
So what do we know about the great palace that once stood on the site?
READ MORE: The secret stories behind some of Hull’s most famous pubs
Home of Hull’s first mayor
Some 700 years ago, the first mayor of Hull was William de la Pole, a wool merchant who became so rich he lent huge sums of money to the Crown to pay for wars against Scotland and France. Today, his statue can be seen at the Pier.
William’s descendants became the earls (and later dukes) of Suffolk. His son Michael was an important adviser to the king of the time, Richard II, and began turning his father’s manor house into Suffolk Palace.
What did the palace look like?
According to historian John Markham: “Here stood a brick and stone hall 60ft in length, with a beautiful range of buildings, tower and chapel. One yard alone contained an acre of land said to be ornamented with fish ponds and a beautiful dovecote.
“Another two-acre plot was pastureland, surrounded by a 9ft-high brick wall. On the south side of the hall was a court containing houses for baking, brewing and washing.”
The house and the magnificent grounds around it encompassed a huge area now bounded by Lowgate, Queen’s Gardens, Bowlalley Lane and Quay Street. The main two-storey building contained at least 20 rooms.
Enter King Henry VIII
The fortunes of the De La Pole family waxed and waned over the next two centuries. The 3rd Earl of Suffolk died fighting the French at the famous Battle of Agincourt, but his descendants ended up on the wrong side in the Wars of the Roses, the fierce conflict between the houses of York and Lancaster, and lost their power.
Having twice stayed at Suffolk Palace during visits to Hull, Henry became the owner of Suffolk Palace in 1541, after the last descendant, the suspected traitor Sir William, died in the Tower of London. The palace then became known as Manor Hall, or the King’s Manor.
King Henry had a soft spot for Hull and ordered the construction of a huge castle on the east bank of the River Hull. To reach the castle, the first bridge over the river – North Bridge – was built. Today, the ruins of Henry’s castle are being uncovered and the site is due to become Hull’s latest visitor attraction.
What happened next?
Later, the man hand-picked by Henry to act as lieutenant of Hull to oversee the upgrading of the town’s defences at the Citadel chose not to live in the manor house, saying the rooms were so large that he was unable to furnish even one of them. Under Charles I’s reign, the house and its outbuildings were converted into an arms store.
Records from 1639 show it held 50 pieces of large ordnance, 200,000 muskets, carbines, pistols and swords, 14,000 spades, wheelbarrows, shovels, powder, shot and matches. A further 1,200 muskets, 300 pikes, six brass canon, seven petards, 400 cannon balls, 30 barrels of powder and 24 barrels of musket shot later arrived the same year from Holland.
Ironically of course, when Charles tried to enter Hull to secure his weapons, he was turned away at Beverley Gate. The event helped lead to the outbreak of the Civil War.
King Charles II sold the site to the town of Hull. The manor house was gradually demolished in the 1660s, although its tower-flanked gateway survived until 1771.
What remains of the palace?
(Image: Keith Parker)
Today, only a few old street names bear witness to the former palace. They include Manor Street and Bowlalley Lane (on the former bowling green of the palace).
The grand building seen today was built at the beginning of the last century to house Hull’s Central Post Office. When it was officially opened in July 1909, the ceremony was interrupted by suffragettes shouting, “Votes for women”.
“On entering, the public find themselves in a lofty hall of rich, dark marble, the roof supported two massive marble pillars. Facing is the counter of teak, running parallel with wall for distance and then finishing in modified horse shoe curves,” the Hull Daily Mail reported at the time. “Leaded lights give a subdued but good light. The artificial illuminant will supplied by artistic electroliers suspended from the ceiling.”
Today, visitors to Three John Scotts pub can still enjoy a sense of the magnificence of the former post office building, despite the loss of many of its fixtures and fittings. And, were they to close their eyes and imagine the world of 500 years ago, they might just get a sense of the place where Henry VIII wined and dined all those years ago.
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