Oriel Chambers is a Grade II listed building which, since 2006, has housed the Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation. [1] It is located in the city of Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
Oriel Chambers is a Grade II listed building which, since 2006, has housed the Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation. [1] It is located in the city of Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
Built in 1879 to the designs of William Botterill and Son. It is a brick building with tile and terracotta detail, with dormers and shaped gables. It takes its name from the oriel window on the first floor, the window that stands proud of the facade. [2]
The site of Oriel Chambers lies within a much older tenement on the east side of the High Street, in the heart of the historic core of the Old Town of Hull. This particular plot of land was held by Robert de Dripole in 1293. In 1339 the property was split into two, and a deed of that year records a Basement in which a widow lived, with a 9 feet wide passageway or "free entry" to the west of the said Basement. In the 1347 rental, a tenement was held by John Lambert for 7s per year. A messuage is recorded here in 1374. By 1448 this holding had become one messuage and three tenements, whilst at the Lowgate (Marketgate) end of the property, a chamber and a hospice were erected to serve as a hospital. [2]
In 1455 two new houses were erected on the site, bringing the total to six. Repairs in that year mention a kitchen and a brewhouse. The 1465 Town Rental lists, in addition to the capital messuage and five tenements mentioned earlier, a garden at the end of the tenements which is now assigned to the tenement in Chapel Lane: this almost certainly refers to the east side of High Street. The descent of the property on the east side of High Street is not well documented in the medieval period. The sinuous line of the street suggests that it developed originally as a river frontage for the properties to the west, and that subsequent development of the river bank gradually created a strip of land between the road and the river. Certainly by 1622, no.27 High Street had emerged as a recognisable property in the Elder Chamberlain's Rental. In that year it was held by Robert Williamson, and ‘the house wherein he dwells’ was specifically mentioned. A single house here continues to be mentioned in the rental returns up to 1711 – thereafter the rents for the property are regularly recorded, but no details of the dwelling are mentioned. In 1719 a deed refers to two messuages, with staiths, chambers and Basements on the east side of High Street. [2]
In 1673 Robert Nettleton was assessed for five hearths here in the Hearth tax – showing that the house was a substantial property. In 1774 Marmaduke Clarke was assessed for 16 windows in the Window Tax – once again confirming the size and status of the house. In 1814 Frost and Moxon, rope-makers, are recorded as having premises at 27 High Street, whilst an 1817 document records a Levitt Quarton, merchant here. In 1837 and 1838 Sarah Cole, shop-keeper, had a house and shop on the site. The 1855 Poor Rate records both a house and offices. The 1853 OS map shows a large building on the site prior to the construction of Oriel Chambers. When this building was constructed has not been ascertained. The 1851 directory entry for 27 High Street, lists the occupants as Messrs Hewitt and Ablett, though the entry does not give their trades. By 1858, however, the property was occupied by Henry Fearnley, a shopkeeper and river broker. In 1861, Thomas Thompson, printer and stationer, is given as occupant, though by 1867, another firm of printers, Ash & Co., were in the building, and they are still listed as such in 1876. [2]
In 2000 an excavation was carried out by Humber Field Archaeology, to the south-east of Oriel Chambers and immediately to the north of Chapel Lane Staith. The excavation and a subsequent watching brief revealed a number of timber waterfront revetments dating from the late 15th or early 16th century, one of which was largely constructed from reused ship's timbers, the ship having been constructed from trees felled between 1394 and 1404. A chalk wharf surface was also recorded; however, no associated buildings were discovered. During the 17th century the waterfront was replaced, possibly with an open-work jetty. The remains of a number of phases of warehouse showed that the new wharf was in use until that warehouse collapsed in 1861. Extensive remains of the later 19th-century warehouse that replaced it were also present. [2]
Since 2006, Oriel Chambers has been home to the Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation, which acts as a research centre for academics in conjunction with the University of Hull. The patron of the institute is anti-apartheid figure Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the institute was opened by former President of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor. [3] Funding was drawn through the European Regional Development Fund, Yorkshire Forward, and the Heritage Lottery Fund. The institute was opened in advance of celebrations marking the bicentenary of the Slave Trade Act 1807 which, through former Member of Parliament and major abolitionist movement figure William Wilberforce, the city of Hull has strong links to. [4] The institute is one of the leading centres specialising in researching the history of slavery, whilst also serving as a research hub concerning contemporary slavery and human rights abuses in the present age. It also aims to foster links with other universities worldwide, including prestigious American institutions such as Yale, Harvard and Stanford. Its exhibitions profile the city's links with Africa, and especially to the city of Freetown, Sierra Leone. [3] As part of the University of Hull, the institute often holds public lectures on the subject of both historical and contemporary slavery, including the annual Alderman Sydney Smith lecture, [5] so named after the former Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull South West, Sydney Smith.
In 2014, the institute was a part of 'the Long Walk to Freedom', a series of artworks within the historic Old Town area of Hull, as part of the annual Freedom Festival. [6] In 2015 it was announced that the institute had been awarded the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Further and Higher Education for its 'research applied in combating modern forms of slavery'. [7]
Described as 'a unique tribute to many of the famous names throughout history which are synonymous with the fight for emancipation and freedom', the Wall displays the names of: [8]
The wall faces Mandela Gardens that were opened in May 1983 by Sir Shridath Ramphal. The gardens were named after the anti-Apartheid prisoner Nelson Mandela who later served as President of South Africa.
The US Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Matthew Barzun, was photographed paying his respects at the wall during a tour of Hull in early 2015, also commenting that "Wilberforce is a name known around the world and I am sure it is something Hull can use in promoting the city during 2017". [9]
William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, and became an independent Member of Parliament (MP) for Yorkshire (1784–1812). In 1785, he underwent a conversion experience and became an Evangelical Anglican, which resulted in major changes to his lifestyle and a lifelong concern for reform.
Oriel College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford. In recognition of this royal connection, the college has also been historically known as King's College and King's Hall. The reigning monarch of the United Kingdom is the official visitor of the college.
An apartment, flat, or unit is a self-contained housing unit that occupies part of a building, generally on a single storey. There are many names for these overall buildings. The housing tenure of apartments also varies considerably, from large-scale public housing, to owner occupancy within what is legally a condominium, to tenants renting from a private landlord.
Thomas Clarkson was an English abolitionist, and a leading campaigner against the slave trade in the British Empire. He helped found the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade and helped achieve passage of the Slave Trade Act 1807, which ended British trade in slaves.
The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hull York Medical School, a joint initiative with the University of York. Students are served by Hull University Union.
A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, in Edinburgh, tenements were developed with each apartment treated as a separate house, built on top of each other. Over hundreds of years, custom grew to become law concerning maintenance and repairs, as first formally discussed in Stair's 1681 writings on Scots property law. In Scotland, these are now governed by the Tenements Act, which replaced the old Law of the Tenement and created a new system of common ownership and procedures concerning repairs and maintenance of tenements. Tenements with one or two room flats provided popular rented accommodation for workers, but in some inner-city areas, overcrowding and maintenance problems led to shanty towns, which have been cleared and redeveloped. In more affluent areas, tenement flats form spacious privately owned houses, some with up to six bedrooms, which continue to be desirable properties.
Oriel may refer to:
Wilberforce House is a British historic house museum, part of the Museums Quarter of Kingston-upon-Hull. It is the birthplace of social reformer William Wilberforce (1759–1833), who used his time as a member of Parliament to work for the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire. Like the nearby Blaydes House and Maister House, also on the High Street, the Grade I listed building was formerly a merchant's house with access to quayside on the River Hull.
Richard Orme Wilberforce, Baron Wilberforce, was a British judge. He was a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1964 to 1982.
The William Lloyd Garrison House, also known as Rockledge, is a National Historic Landmark house, located at 125 Highland Street in the Roxbury Highlands section of Boston, Massachusetts. Probably built in the 1840s or 1850s, it is significant as the longtime home of William Lloyd Garrison (1805–1879), one of the most high-profile abolitionist activists of the mid-19th century United States. Garrison published The Liberator, the principal organ of the abolitionist movement, and spoke for the immediate emancipation of slaves. Despite significant later alterations to accommodate institutional uses, the building has retained much of its 19th-century fabric. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965 and is a pending Boston Landmark.
Seven Stars is an historic pub on Thomas Lane, Bristol, England; it was built in the 17th century and is a grade II listed building.
Crypt Chambers is at 28–34 Eastgate Street and 34–40 Eastgate Row, Chester, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building and incorporates a section of the Chester Rows.
The Freedom Festival is an annual music and performance arts festival held in the city of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is named in honour of the slave trade abolitionist, MP and son of Hull, William Wilberforce. The festival was established in 2007 to mark the 200th anniversary of Wilberforce's law, the Slave Trade Act 1807, to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire.
The Wilberforce Monument is a monument honoring English politician and abolitionist William Wilberforce in Kingston Upon Hull, England. The ashlar structure consists of a Doric column topped by a statue of Wilberforce. Construction on the monument began in 1834 and was completed the following year. In 1952, it was designated a Grade II listed structure.
Altson's Corner is a heritage listed Edwardian building located on the corner of Elizabeth Street and Collins St in CBD of Melbourne, Australia, built for tobacconist Richard Altson in 1904, and extended in 1914.
William Botterill and Son was a prominent Kingston upon Hull architectural practice.
The Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation is a research institute at the University of Hull, in Kingston upon Hull, England. Housed in Oriel Chambers in Hull City Centre, since 2005, its aim is to research slavery in the past and the present.
Kordeckiego street is located in downtown district of Bydgoszcz, Poland. It has been laid in the 1850s. Many frontages on this street offer architectural interests: some of the buildings are registered on the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Heritage List.
Rutherglen Town Hall is a municipal facility on the north side of Main Street in Rutherglen, Scotland. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Rutherglen Burgh Council, is a Category A listed building.
Whitefriargate is a pedestrianised street in the Old Town area of Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. During the 20th century, it was one of the main shopping streets in the city centre, but some of the major stores have closed down, which has been attributed to out of town shopping centres. However, the Street still provides a useful link to and from the old town of Hull.
