page_title: Bransholme
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Bransholme / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Aberdovey Close, North Bransholme The Bransholme estate was built between 1965 and 1983 by Hull city council as part of its programme of slum clearance and re-housing, with North Bransholme being developed from about 1975. The estate was built partly on land transferred to the city from the neighbouring parishes of Wawne and Sutton in 1968. Bransholme on completion had around 9,000 homes, 2,500 of which were here in North Bransholme. By the 1990s North Bransholme was classified as an area of social deprivation. There are always quite a few boarded-up houses on the estate these days. Some blocks get refurbished while others are knocked down leaving larger green spaces between the remaining ones. Wellies are not normally the footwear of choice on Hull's council estates but this is right on the rural/urban fringe: there are open fields beyond the trees to the left and the couple in the picture are heading for nearby Carlamhill Farm.
context_page_description: Bransholme is an area and a housing estate on the north side of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The name Bransholme comes from an old Scandinavian word meaning Brand's water meadow.
  The largely council owned estate is located in between Sutton-on-Hull to the east, Sutton Park to the south, and Kingswood to the west. It is surrounded by fields and 'A' Roads which largely isolate it from the rest of East Hull.
  There are two high, or secondary schools, Winifred Holtby Academy and Kingswood Academy, within the environs of Bransholme, these are fed by a number of primary schools.
  There are two major retail centres available within the area. These are North Point Shopping Centre, formerly and still locally known as Bransholme Centre, a location where a number of smaller shops can be found as well as a covered market, and Kingswood Retail Park, which is the site of a number of large major stores as well as an entertainment area including a multiscreen cinema, bowling alley and restaurants. At the 2011 census Bransholme was made up of the Bransholme East and West Wards and the combined population was 18,533.
context_section_description: Bransholme history goes at least as far back as the Domesday Book of 1086 where Bransholme is marked as a little hill surrounded by water. At this time the settlement known as Sudtone (now Sutton) occupied a strip of high ground forming a connecting link between Wagene (later Waghen then Wawne). An ancient highway ran through Wagene across Sudtone and through to Bilton.
  Some time in the last half of the second century a Romano-British farming settlement stood on the site of the former Gibraltar Farm near where the new bridge crosses the River Hull. Also a medieval stone dwelling house and two timber buildings existed where Foredyke Drain met the River Hull.
  A Roman camp was established to the north of Waghen. When the Angles and Saxons invaded they farmed land on the high ridge that ran from the village to Sutton. The ridge was surrounded by waters and marshland which at high tide separated Waghen from Sudtone. Later the monks and the Lords of the Manor drained the land with a series of drains and dikes.
  In June 1939, more than 80 acres (32 ha) of land were requisitioned to build a Barrage Balloon defence station. Originally designated as RAF 17 Balloon Centre it was opened on 28 June 1939 and was from where, during the Second World War, the Balloon Barrage in the defence of Kingston upon Hull with its vital docks and rail network, was controlled and maintained. By September 1942 over 2,000 Royal Air Force and Women's Auxiliary Air Force served there. On 15 October 1942, the station was renamed RAF Sutton on Hull. It became the home of the RAF School of Fire Fighting and Rescue from 1943–59. The RAF Station was finally disposed of on Monday 14 August 1961.
  After the Second World War, when large areas of Hull lay devastated due to enemy bombing, it was clearly necessary to rehouse on a massive scale. Urban renewal prompted the City Council to enforce the Acquisition of Land Act of 1946. The City Council already owned large areas in Bransholme. By January 1948, it had obtained four more farms. The intention of the Council at the time was to provide a new town at Bransholme rather than a large estate, but government approval was not forthcoming.
  The Bransholme Estate was originally planned to have a population of 26,000 but now has a population of over 30,000. It was built mainly in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Bransholme Housing Estate was originally known as 'north of Sutton Road' or 'The Wawne Estate' until the current name was chosen in 1966 from a list including Soffham, Meaux, Marvelton and Midmere Dales. The first houses were officially opened on 1 May 1967 by Lord Mayor Alderman RW Buckle. The very first Bransholme tenants were housed in Dulverton Close.
  In 1968, Noddle Hill Farm was demolished to make way for the building of Bransholme Estate. The houses in Midmere Avenue and Dorchester Road were built between 1971 and 1976. Kestrel Avenue was built in about 1981. Bransholme is widely believed to be largest council estate in Europe, but Susanna O'Neill says in her book, The Hull Book of Days, that The Becontree estate in Dagenham is larger, although she concedes that Bransholme is probably the largest estate in Yorkshire.
  The early years were not easy. Some newcomers loved living in Bransholme, but as early as 1971, condensation was causing severe problems in over 1,000 houses, and Securicor had to be employed to combat vandalism. Two years later, it was trouble with the maisonettes, and the growing realisation that there were too few schools.
  Now, schools and churches offer much in terms of education and social and spiritual welfare. Winifred Holtby high school (formerly Bransholme High), named after the novelist and journalist, had technology college status for ten years from 1999, and is now an academy. The very latest in technology, libraries, medical and community services are in existence, and numerous adult learning and leisure centres are available.
caption: Housing in North Bransholme
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