Hedon Haven

Hedon Haven is a waterway that connected the Humber Estuary with the port of Hedon, in Holderness, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The waterway allowed ships to unload at the port in Hedon, which was also known as Hedon Haven and had, at its peak, three canalised arms that stretched into the town. The port at Hedon was the main port for south Holderness between the 12th and 13th centuries, and was the busiest port in Holderness before the docks at Hull were built. The port suffered several downturns in business, first with the siltation of the waterways, then being eclipsed by the newer docks at Hull. Later with the building of the turnpike road through Hedon, and when the railway connecting Hull with Withernsea was opened, port traffic went into a decline. After the waterway kept silting up, the decision was taken in the 1970s to abandon the haven and fill parts of it in. Large swathes encircling the town are designated as a scheduled monument, including the previous areas of canalised waterways, whilst the main area of the haven to the south of the town, is designated as a conservation area. The western end of Hedon Haven still exists as an outfall into the Humber Estuary, and this watercourse is fed by the Burstwick Drain (Humbleton Beck) and other smaller becks and stream. Ordnance Survey (OS) mapping shows Hedon Haven starting just west of the town of Hedon, whereas the county council state that the term Hedon Haven only applies to the watercourse in its tidal reach. In antiquity, the river feeding the watercourse was known as the River Hedon and the Haven, was the canalised sections around the town of Hedon used as port facilities. A plan that was formulated in the 21st century, has proposed the revival of the haven as a pleasure waterway with a marina and a country park located at the southern end of Hedon.