URPoint Details
Hedon is not mentioned in the Domesday Book which leads to the belief that it was a new town created by the Normans as a port. Hedon was at its most prosperous in the 12th and 13th centuries and at one time was the 11th largest port in England. The decline of the port came with the development of the port of Hull and the building of larger ships which were unable to get up the small river to Hedon.
Hedon was given its first charter by Henry II in 1158 and was granted improved ones by King John in 1200 and Henry III in 1248 and 1272. Edward III granted the most important charter which gave the town the right to elect a mayor.
The Ravenspurne Cross, brought here from Kilnsea, recalls Bolingbroke (Henry IV), who landed in 1399 at the long since vanished village of Ravenspur in the Humber Valley.
- Type:
- Landmark