The Deep

Nowhere is the spirit of Hull’s new optimism and confidence exhibited more than at The Deep, one of the UK’s most successful Millennium Projects with nearly half a million visitors annually. 

The Deep stands on a tip of land where the River Hull runs into the River Humber, providing spectacular vistas up river to the famous Humber Bridge and down river to the city’s modern commercial docks.

Until the reign of King Henry VIII the land around The Deep had no specific use. However, when Hull capitulated to the Lincolnshire based rebels during the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536, Henry set about fortifying the town by building a thick defensive wall and small artillery forts along the eastern bank of the River Hull.

Charles II extended these fortifications in 1681, transforming them into the Citadel, an enormous and architecturally important fortified castle, designed to protect the strategic port of Hull. Nearby streets such as Garrison Road and Tower Street are modern reminders of this imposing edifice which stretched for nearly 500 metres from the Deep to Drypool Bridge. 

By the mid nineteenth century, the expansion of the town and the reduced military threat saw the Citadel being knocked down and transformed into a storage yard for timber - the principal commodity shipped through nearby Victoria Dock. The exact point of land where The Deep now stands was established around this time with the infilling of land from the Humber. By 1857, Martin Samuelson had set up a ship building site on the reclaimed point of land, and to this day, the area The Deep stands on is affectionately known as ‘Sammy’s Point’.

The Deep is one of Hull’s most ambitious regeneration projects in recent years and is a must visit for anyone coming to the city. The striking building was designed by one of the world’s foremost architects, Sir Terry Farrell and has attracted as much attention as its contents. It is now widely regarded as a symbol of Hull’s renaissance and future aspirations.

Inside there are attractions to match the bold exterior, with over three and a half thousand fishes as well as other marine creatures such as manta rays, jellyfishes and seahorses. One of the main attractions for children are the different types of sharks swimming freely in the tanks. Visitors can get up close to all these creatures through the viewing areas, but in particular through the lift ride through the 10 metre deep tank. In 2005 The Twilight Zone was added, physically extending the whole building. This features the world’s largest exhibition of deep-sea creatures, including a giant squid and luminescent fish.

Finally, don’t forget to pay a visit to the glass atrium at the top of the building. Here you can get wonderful views up to the Humber Bridge and over the Humber estuary.