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This area was once a working dock, busy with ships and traders from around the world.

Princes Dock opened in 1829 and was originally known as Junction Dock. 

The dock was a key part of Hull’s maritime landscape for 139 years, until it closed in the 1960s. It was linked with both Queen’s Dock to the north (now Queen’s Gardens) and Humber Dock to the south (now Hull Marina), forming a ring around Hull’s medieval Old Town through which ships – and the goods they carried – were brought in and out of the city.

Princes Dock Street, which runs alongside the former dock, was filled with local businesses serving Hull’s maritime trade. This included fruit and fish merchants, mast makers, compass makers, hairdressers, tailors and shipping offices.

Local company C D Holmes ‘fitted out’ ships including the Arctic Corsair. This photograph from the collections of Hull Museums shows employees on board a ship at Princes Dock.
This photograph is taken from the collections of Hull Museums. The domes of the Dock Offices (now the Maritime Museum) are visible in the distance.

The edge of Princes Dock ran along the lines of Hull’s medieval city walls. You can still see this marked out in the pavement today.

This photograph shows trawlers in Princes Dock. Monument Buildings, on the right of the image, still stands next to Ferens Art Gallery today. Credit Hull Daily Mail