Quick History

The word Goole is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning 'open sewer', or 'outlet to a river'. Goole did not exist until the early 1800's. Until then there were small farming villages nearby at Hook, Airmyn, Howden and a few houses where Old Goole is now situated. The rural past is reflected in some of the street names such as Westfield and Marshfield.

In 633 AD the area was the site of the Battle of Hatfield in which the powerful Northumbrian King called Edwin was defeated by Penda, King of the Mercians (the midlands). The king's head was laid in a small chapel in York which was later to become the site of York Minster. In later centuries Hatfield became the site of a manor and a famous Bishop of Durham called Thomas Hatfield was born here. His tomb lies below the bishops' throne in Durham Cathedral. For most of its history the land surrounding Hatfield known as Hatfield Chase. the chase was a swampy, fenland area and stretched far into Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.

The history of Goole begins when a Dutch Engineer Vermuyden diverted the river Don by 10 miles to make it flow into the River Ouse rather than the River Aire. This was done at the request of the King who liked to go hunting on Hatfield Chase near Doncaster and was fed up with the land always flooding. This allowed the land around Goole to become more habitable. Vermuyden's name lives on in Goole when the old Grammar School was renamed as Vermuyden School.

In 1826, the Aire & Calder navigation company built a canal from Leeds to Goole. This was the start of Goole as we know it and a large town built up exporting coal from the West Riding of Yorkshire to the Continent.

Various shipping lines set up in the town, each one having their own fleet of ships, ensigns and offices in the town. The railway came a few decades later with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway using the port as its outlet to the North Sea and boom time came.

Other Goole engineers such as Stanhope, Aldham and Bartholomew invented radical ways to improve the efficiency of the docks. The most famous of these were the coal hoists. These allowed small barges (Tom Puddings) carrying coal from the Yorkshire coalfields to be lifted from the water and their contents loaded directly into waiting ships. These were in use until the mid 1970's and now only one of the original five remains. This is now a listed building.

At its peak Goole was a rival to Hull. A mural at the L&YR's Victoria Station shows the prominence of the town. There were passenger ferry services to Europe and the world and local steam packet services to Hull and York. For a town of 10,000 people there were three cinemas, two theatres and a ridiculous amount of pubs serving both the locals and visiting sailors. Various municipal parks were built and the town expanded to the surrounding countryside. Goole benefited greatly from the manufacturing power of Yorkshire and rail links were built to Selby, Hull and Doncaster. A shipyard was built across the river in Old Goole.

The Victoria Pleasure Grounds! were built and Goole Town FC was successful in the local leagues. Famous Goole landmarks such as the 'Salt and Pepperpot' watertowers, the cranes, windmills, the Grammar School and chimneys were built.

Despite its prosperity, Goole was still quite isolated and surrounded by beautiful flat countryside. It became known as 'the Port in Green Fields'.

The town was bombed during the Zepplin raids of World War I, (a mass grave for the victims when a theatre was hit still exists in the cemetery), but was only bombed once in Second World war by a lost plane trying to find Leeds. Goole's merchant sailors played a great role in keeping supply lines to Scandinavia open (Norway still provide the town's Christmas tree every year), and sections of the Mulberry Harbour used in the D-Day landings were constructed in Goole and floated down to France.