It was during the 1870s that Hessle Road really began to expand westwards from the original pottery area. The village of Dairycoates was also rapidly growing at this time. In the 1872 and 1873 trade directories, the town end of the road was clearly becoming a busy commercial centre with grocers, butchers, fishmongers and more public houses competing for trade. The Vauxhall Tavern, the Alexandra Inn (formerly the Hessle Road Inn), four unnamed beer-houses and several coffee houses are also listed. In the area between Coltman Street and Dairycoates the housing remained fairly sporadic and rural in nature. In Dairycoates, a Wesleyan Chapel had been erected, having been opened on 5th December 1865, and the Dairycoates Inn was now in popular use.

Congregational Chapel, Hessle Road, 1875 The expansion was rapidly increasing westward in 1876 and Dairycoates continued its easterly development towards Hull, all be it at a much more leisurely pace. On the north side, the buildings of Hessle Road had spread up to Glasgow Street, between the present day Boulevard and St Georges Road. The south side is even more built-up with Strickland Street, Havelock Street and Scarborough Street well developed. The commercial development of Dairycoates continues with a post office, grocer, cobbler and butcher listed this year. The Dairycoates Inn had also been joined by the Locomotive Hotel and a Temperance Hotel. The growth of the Hessle Road community saw several new churches being consecrated, including St Barnabus Church (1874) on the junction with South Boulevard and a Congregational Church (1877) near Coltman Street.

The growth in trade and improvements in the transport system are primarily responsible for this rapid growth and the opening of Albert Dock (formerly West Dock) added to this boom as the influx of workers led to more and more housing development around the Strickland Street area. The new importance of the railway system led to even more growth at Dairycoates, a major railway junction, as railway workers and their families moved in to be close to their place of work.

As Hessle Road ceased being a turnpike in 1875, the freedom from tolls encouraged the introduction of the horse-drawn tram system as part of the city-wide development between 1875 and 1877. The tram service meant that it was now possible for people to commute even greater distances to work, further encouraging the growth of the suburbs.

The development of Hull's Transport Network

The 1880s expansion

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A very special thanks to Hull Local Studies Library for their help with our research projects.