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Photo: Richard Locket, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
(1621-1678), poet and MP for Hull. Born at Winestead-in-Holderness just outside Hull he moved to the town when his father took up the position of Lecturer at Holy Trinity church. He was brought up at the Charter House where his father was Master and the garden in which he played is still there. Behind his statue is the Old Grammar School which he attended.
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Old Grammar School
This is one of the oldest grammar schools in England dating back to the 16th century and open until 1873. From 1884 to 1915 it was the Choir School for Holy Trinity church. Among its many famous past scholars were Andrew Marvell and William Wilberforce. In 1988 it became Hands on History Museum which focuses on the history of Hull and its people, recreates Victorian Childhood in the classroom and contains a genuine Egyptian Mummy. Child friendly.
With its cartouche above the door of a lamb being weighed, it stands to the east side of the Old Grammar School. This building was once the home of Hull’s Wool Exchange and stands testimony to Hull’s early importance in this trade. The export of wool was initiated in the Middle Ages by the Monks in the area and the various deserted medieval villages of the Wolds (the rolling chalk lands to the north of Hull) are thought to be the result of the early wool trade expansion.
The arch leading to Prince Street is on the west side of the square. This curving Georgian street leads to Dagger Lane. The prince after which it was named was the future King George IV.
On the corner of King Street and Robson Row which lies on the south west corner of the square. Once the offices of various merchants it is now flats. This large brick building is a reminder that Hull has no natural building stone nearby so many of the early buildings were of brick.
A large cream building - occupies the area on the corner of Trinity House Lane and Postern Gate. In the 14th century a Carmelite Friary stood here. Trinity House took over the site in the 16th century. Starting as a guild to care for mariners and their families, Trinity House expanded to control the movement of shipping in the Humber. The present façade dates from 1753, and of particular note is the decorated pediment on the east side incorporating a lion, unicorn, Britannia and Neptune.
It is the largest parish church in England, but as a piece of imposing medieval ecclesiastical architecture, it is more like a cathedral. The oldest parts date back to c. 1300 and the 150-ft-high tower contains a ring of 15 bells.