That black disused windmill was originally used to grind chalk, from the nearby quarry slightly to the north of the foreshore (the area then known as 'Little Switzerland' but now part of the 'Humber Bridge Country Park'. The chalk milled there was originally shipped down the Humber to the docks in Hull, but with the explosive properties of powdered chalk, (like many other powders, such as flour,) there were restrictions on taking it into the Hull docks. Unfortunately, back in the day, there was no road route going west directly from Hessle, and no stretches on the Humber shoreline suitable for loading such large quantites, so another route was required to get the milled chalk to Anlaby Road, and thence west out of Hull. The solution was to ship the chalk downriver to a natural bay (later to become part of St Andrews dock) and then overland to Anlaby Road. The problem here was that in those days, the river was separated from Anlaby Road by fields of Hawthorn bushes. The solution was of course, to build a road through the fields, and since milled chalk made an ideal surface material for such a road, that method was chosen. Today, that road is called Hawthorn Avenue, and the path going down to where the milled chalk was stored, for surfacing the road, and later awaiting transport, though now gone, is still evident in place names in that area containing 'Chalk Lane'.
That black disused windmill was originally used to grind chalk, from the nearby quarry slightly to the north of the foreshore (the area then known as 'Little Switzerland' but now part of the 'Humber Bridge Country Park'. The chalk milled there was originally shipped down the Humber to the docks in Hull, but with the explosive properties of powdered chalk, (like many other powders, such as flour,) there were restrictions on taking it into the Hull docks.
Unfortunately, back in the day, there was no road route going west directly from Hessle, and no stretches on the Humber shoreline suitable for loading such large quantites, so another route was required to get the milled chalk to Anlaby Road, and thence west out of Hull.
The solution was to ship the chalk downriver to a natural bay (later to become part of St Andrews dock) and then overland to Anlaby Road. The problem here was that in those days, the river was separated from Anlaby Road by fields of Hawthorn bushes.
The solution was of course, to build a road through the fields, and since milled chalk made an ideal surface material for such a road, that method was chosen. Today, that road is called Hawthorn Avenue, and the path going down to where the milled chalk was stored, for surfacing the road, and later awaiting transport, though now gone, is still evident in place names in that area containing 'Chalk Lane'.