Henry VIII’s hidden Hull castle and how it could be transformed

A specialist design company has been appointed to help work up plans for a new £1.25m visitor attraction in Hull.

The council-backed South Blockhouse Project aims to bring the history of Hull’s Tudor-era fortress known as The Citadel back to life. Originally commissioned by King Henry VIII in 1541 to support his military campaigns and protect Hull from attack, it is now a scheduled ancient monument.

However, nothing of the old fortress remains above ground. Instead, the surviving foundations of part of it – The South Blockhouse – lie under land close to The Deep.

Now the city council has appointed The Manser Practice following a tender process to design a new visitor attraction at the site. The £63,610 contract is expected to include permanent landscaping designs as well as physical and digital heritage interpretation for the site.

The company, which has offices in London and York, specialises in both architecture and interior design. Among its most recent striking projects has been designing a new cruise terminal in Southampton for some of the world’s biggest ships.

Councillor Paul Drake-Davis, portfolio holder for regeneration said: “It’s fantastic to have such an experienced agency as The Manser Practice on board to help push this exciting project forward. The South Blockhouse is an important historical site and this scheme will be a place of education as archaeological opportunities are uncovered, as well as an eventual visitor attraction.”

The development has been made possible through a £1m award from National Highways’ Designated Funds programme, a spin-off from the ongoing road improvement scheme on nearby Castle Street. Project manager on the A63 scheme Fran Oliver said: “National Highways always aims to go above and beyond building, operating, maintaining and improving roads and we are thrilled to have been able to fund work on this project.

“The South Blockhouse is a fascinating and important part of Hull’s history. We are greatly looking forward to working with The Manser Practice and all our other partners in creating this unique visitor space, supporting communities to become involved in its development and discover more about this incredible Tudor monument..”

While the design team gets to grips with the project in the studio, a community archaeology programme starts next month at the site. It will give people a hands-on experience of digging into the South Blockhouse’s history.

Run by the council’s in-house archaeologists at Humber Field Archaeology, members of the public will be given the opportunity to work with professionals during excavations of the site. They will also be able to take part in the analysis of the finds once complete.

Keith Emerick, Historic England Inspector of Ancient Monuments, said: “The South Blockhouse is a nationally important site, part of the much bigger Citadel. It’s exciting that this important project is starting, helping to raise the profile of heritage in Hull and giving local people the chance to get involved in the community dig in the summer.”

A public consultation on the design options for the new visitor attraction will take place this summer with construction work expected to start later this year. The current schedule envisages it being completed in late 2024.