January 2025

Zoological Gardens in towns like Kingston upon Hull were historically a stepping stone between private menageries and public ones in municipal parks where viewing the wildlife was free to all who came to the park. Two steps back were private menageries which might be outdoor cages and enclosures or where the ‘exhibits’ were housed in […]

This will be the penultimate post of this short run. What would a walk around Hull’s Zoological Gardens have been like c.1850? Entering the main gate off Spring Bank (bottom centre) we would pass the Superintendent’s Lodge, having paid our entrance fee somehow, ahead was the circular Refreshment Room but any lingering here would be

The site that was the Zoological Gardens, 1840s to 1860s, can easily be located today in the southern parts of Hutt and Peel Street on the north side of Spring Bank. Further up Hutt Street the street plan has changed. The book ‘Streets of Hull, A History of their Names’ (John Markham, Highgate Press, 1987)

In researching the history of the once ‘ruins’ at Pearson Park Folly Flaneuse found out thinks about Hull’s Zoological Gardens including the map shown above. Incidentally, Hull History Centre staff Verity and Claire have researched and written-up an article about the Zoological Gardens which can be accessed on the Centre’s website. Verity kindly emailed me

Folly Flaneuse considers that some stone artifacts may have come from at least two other churches – Withernsea and Holy Trinity, Hull. Withernsea because the late-medieval church had fallen into disrepair and was being restored and Holy Trinity again as a result of aa Victorian restoration. Poulson’s History of Holderness was published in 1840 and

The story is that in 1862 the various attractions at the now closed Hull Zoological Gardens just north of Spring Bank were being sold off. We already know that at this time a fountain and rockery were transferred from the Gardens to the recently created Pearson Park but Folly Flaneuse tells us that also bought