Hull as a Timber Port
Hull's status as a regional centre for furniture making in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was founded on the city's role as a timber port. Imports of wood from northern Europe and the Baltic have been part of Hull's commerce for centuries. As early as 1304, 25,000 boards of timber arrived in Hull, to be used mainly in the building and shipbuilding industries. By the 1600s, Hull was second only to London as a timber port. England's rising population and the beginnings of industrialisation during the 1700s led to a greater demand for wood, which was met partly by the opening up of the forests of Russia in the mid-1700s. #SUBHEADING#Hull's first Dock#SUBHEADINGEND# Hull's first constructed dock opened in 1778, covering 9 ¾ acres. Before this, the only place for timber ships to dock was in the 'Old Harbour' in the River Hull. The establishment of new timber yards around the dock tempted furniture makers to set up business in the surrounding streets, such as Savile Street and Bond Street. The extra cost of transporting wood to Beverley and York, both established centres of furniture production, put their craftsmen at a disadvantage. The more enterprising Hull makers had the further benefit of easy access to the export trade, which they exploited as Free Trade advanced in scope during the 1800s. As the nineteenth century progressed more docks were built to cater for the increasing number of ships using Hull's port. By 1843, timber imports accounted for about a fifth of Hull's trade tonnage. The requirements of the timber trade led to the opening of the Victoria Dock in 1850. Between 1861 and 1876 alone, the number of timber merchants in Hull more than doubled, from 20 to 44. Hull's excellent trade links meant that long before 1800 it had become the regional centre for furniture making, overtaking Beverley and York. The rise of Hull and corresponding decline of Beverley and York as centres for supplying furniture to Yorkshire's great houses can be traced from as early as the 1750s. Hull's furniture makers still had to compete with craftsmen from London and from Wakefield, another important centre for furniture production. However, by 1794 Hull's cabinet makers had gained such a good reputation in the capital that a Mr Crust of London advertised in the Hull Packet for local journeymen to seek employment there. The Hull furniture industry continued to prosper, and by 1846 there were 33 craftsmen advertising themselves as cabinet makers in local trade directories. It is difficult to build a consistent picture of how much furniture was made in Hull and whether there were distinctive Hull styles and designs, due to the lack of marked Hull pieces. Furniture was rarely marked with the maker's name in the 1700s, and few marked pieces survive even from the 1800s. #SUBHEADING#The decline of the timber industry#SUBHEADINGEND# The decline of Hull's furniture industry during the First World War also heralded the end of the port's role as an importer of hardwood for furniture making. However Hull's port remains UK's leading importer of softwood, supplying timber trade all over Britain. In 2005 it handled more than 1.5 million cubic metres of timber, much of it from Russia and the Baltic states. Hull's furniture industry may be no more, but the timber port that allowed it to flourish in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is still thriving.
