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MARKET PLACE There is little in the way of firm evidence to either provide a history for this hostelry or indeed to actually locate it on the ground. Several documents survive however which may help resolve the latter. The first sources to be consulted are the works of Hadley and Tickell. George Hadley wrote in his “A New and Complete History of the Town and County of Kingston upon Hull” (1798), page 697:
[A bushel was a unit of volume containing eight gallons. It is therefore no coincidence that the archaeological excavation of the 1990’s discovered in excess of a further 150 inhumations. RGH]
Tickell writing ten years later in his “The History of the Town and County of Kingston upon Hull From its Foundation in the Reign of Edward the First..” (1798) says:
Hadley was describing what to him was an existing building, whilst in Tickell’s case it was a very recently demolished building. It is necessary here to consider the demolition of the Tyger somewhat out on chronology. A document in Hull City Archives at Ref. BRA/24/3 dated 26 th February 1772, made between Thomas Robinson the owner of the property and Thomas Topping the Lessee, states that the latter person was an inn holder, and the lease pertained to “ALL that Messuage and Tenement or dwelling house, commonly called or known by the name of the Tyger.” The length of the lease was for 21 years, which meant it would expire in the year 1793. evidence for this inn surviving into the early 1790’s comes from the Trade Directory of 1791, which states:
This service was to North Cave, and is on page 71 for any wanting to check. It might be significant that there are no subsequent entries in the Trade Directories for the Tyger. One explanation for this might be found in the Bench Books, of which number 10 contains the following entry dated 28 th June 1796:
It seems probable therefore that the Tyger was demolished either during or very shortly after 1793; the ground it stood upon being then required by the Corporation as part of their grand scheme for redeveloping the site of the meat and fish shambles. As such it seems the acquisition of the Tyger land was but the first phase, and several other inns and taverns were swallowed up by the same scheme. So far all we have is some idea of when the inn was demolished and some rather vague suggestions to its location. It is this latter problem we must explore next, and with this in mind it is necessary to begin with a representation of part of document Ref: BRS/23 as reproduced in Wildridge’s Old and New Hull (1889); and a later version contained in the Changing Plan of Hull by Rosemary Horrox. They are here combined, though not to scale. A deed from file BRA/58/1, dated 28 th August 1829, states the:
This document clearly defines the boundaries of the plot catalogued at BRA/58, and says that the Tyger Inn land occupied both part of it and the property adjoining to the west, i.e. BRA/24. The archaeological excavation of the site conducted in 1994, showed quite clearly that the line of Fetter Lane, at least the western end of it, was previously occupied by buildings, which means that the laying of Fetter lane was probably part of the same scheme of redevelopment which saw the construction of the later Shambles of c1806
The above picture taken in mid-May 1994, shows the alignment of Fetter Lane looking east with the building boundaries defined by the lines of brickwork. The foundations of a more substantial structure can be seen running almost midway along the street. The following picture taken a month later shows what must be the lay-out of the House of Correction at the top left corner, its rectangular form being easy to detect. The line of walls to the right of the well might indicate the boundary line of the Robinson property. The very size of the older foundations running under this location when seen as a whole, show that this was all part of the southern range of the Augustinian friary complex which was aligned east-west. But, as Tickell insists, the Tyger Inn was aligned north-south. The western range of the friary however did lie in a north-south alignment and did almost front onto Market Place, and, the southern end of the range coincides with the plot numbered BRA/24. Could therefore the plan of the Tyger have looked like this?
Illustrations of urban Augustinian architecture are4 very scarce, but archaeological evidence from the site indicated that the buildings forming the friary complex were of a similar construction to that of Holy Trinity Church, across the road. That is to say, the framework of the building was limestone blocks, as was the trim and decoration, but the walls were of brick, and as the two structures were being built in concert virtually, then their appearances would not have been dissimilar. The archaeology also points to the friary buildings having pitched plain tile roofs. Using the above information and the somewhat vague descriptions of Hadley and Tickell, added together with different illustrations of the general area executed just after the destruction of the Tyger, it is just possible to attempt a stylised impression of what the Tyger Inn might have looked like.
Having established the probable location and the possible appearance of the Tyger Inn, there is now a chance to provide some of the references to its inception and existence as an inn. In 1627, Lawrence Scales transferred to Nicholas Denman, merchant, and James Taylor, an inn-holder, the property located at BRA/42, which was described as being formerly the priory of the Black friars and the garden, which was 49 yards long and 23 yards wide. Whilst this might be connected with the Tyger, BRA/42 is the plot immediately south of that specified as such at plot BRA/24. James Taylor could be an inn-holder of a so far undiscovered hostelry. It might be thought that both plots were at an earlier date combined, and the inn was indeed the Tyger or its predecessor. Horrox says that “after this date [1670] the property was rapidly divided and developed”, which lends weight to the idea that the inn was not included in the Peat property of later years. The earliest date for an inn on this site is found in the Abstract of Deeds for the Peat property BRA/42, which starts with an entry dated 26 th September 1724, which includes the following “and upon the lands then or late of Mr. William Robinson’s heirs and occupied by John Davenport inn-holder towards the north..” one of the few references in the newspapers is contained in the Hull Courant dated 20 th March 1757:
Document BRA/24/3 dated 26 th February 1772, made between Thomas Robinson and Thomas Topping is described earlier herewithin, and another reference is again from an Abstract of Deeds dated 16-17 th October 1775, which says: “and on premises belonging to Mr. Robinson in the occupation of Thomas Topping on or towards the north..” this does not mention the existence of the Tyger per-say , but Thomas Topping was without doubt the inn-keeper there as has already been shown. It is BRA/24/3 which returns us to the aforementioned term of 21 years, the conclusion of which as previously stated resulted in the closure and subsequent demolition of the Tyger, its land needed for the construction of the new Shambles. There is as far as current research permits no further references to this hostelry. If there are more, or more come to light over the years, then www.yorkshirehistory.com would be very pleased to hear of them. It is an interesting comparison I think to compare the amount of information concerning the Cross Keys for example, and the Tyger. Both of roughly the same period and yet there survives so much more for the one than there does for the other. The time of the demise of the Tyger, is perhaps the most telling element in this dichotomy. It is the 100 years from 1790 to 1890, the time when the people of Britain were starting to travel from place to place by public coach, and then by steam trains. As a consequence, there is a plethora of advertising material that can be consulted for the latter which is sadly missing for the former! Consulted Sources: Richard Hayton © 2007
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Designed by Richard Hayton 2006 |
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