Why visit Hedon
Townapedia lists 1 museum or landmark, 1 park or trail, 17 places to eat and 3 attractions in and around town.
Highlights include Paull Lighthouse, Thorngumbald Clough High Lighthouse and Hedon Museum.
Weather in Hedon
Forecast from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0). Full forecast
About Hedon
Hedon is a town and civil parish in Holderness in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately 5 miles (8 km) east of Hull city centre. It lies to the north of the A1033 road at the crossroads of the B1240 and B1362 roads.
From the Wikipedia article Hedon (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Things to do3
Paull Lighthouse
Lighthouse · 2.1 mi
Lighthouse in Paull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK
Thorngumbald Clough High Lighthouse
Lighthouse · 2.5 mi
Lighthouse in Paull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK
Thorngumbald Clough Low Lighthouse
Lighthouse · 2.5 mi
Lighthouse in Paull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK
Museums and landmarks1
Parks, trails and playgrounds1
Restaurants and cafes17
Nags Head
Bar and pub · 1.4 mi
1 Sproatley Road, Hull
Mo-Fr 12:00-15:00,17:00-23:00; Sa 12:00-15:00,17:00-00:00; Su 12:00-00:00
5 more on the map.
History
The name Hedon is derived from the Old English hǣðdūn meaning 'heather hill'.
Hedon is not mentioned in the Domesday Book which leads to the belief that it was a new town created by the Normans as a port. Hedon was at its most prosperous in the 12th and 13th centuries and at one time was the 11th largest port in England. The decline of the port came with the development of the port of Hull and the building of larger ships which were unable to get up the small river to Hedon.
Hedon was given its first charter by Henry II in 1158 and was granted improved ones by King John in 1200 and Henry III in 1248 and 1272. Edward III granted the most important charter which gave the town the right to elect a mayor.
In 1415 Hedon was granted an important charter, which let the town have burgesses and other ministers and also gave the town a mace. This mace, held in Hedon Town Hall, is now the oldest surviving mace in the country, and is clearly a weapon of war.
The town was a parliamentary borough until it was disenfranchised under the Reform Act 1832. It still enjoyed its borough status granted by its charters until 1974 when it was removed in a reorganisation of local government.
Read more of the history
To the west of the town, on the Twyers Estate, was a racecourse. The course staged its first meeting on 24 August 1888, with Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale in attendance on the second day, and racing continued until 1895. The racecourse was re-opened in 1906 but closed permanently after racing on 11 September 1909. After closing it was developed into an aerodrome officially opened in 1929 by Prince George, Duke of Kent. It was the arrival point of Hull-born aviator Amy Johnson on her record-breaking solo flight to Australia in 1930, where she began a triumphant homecoming. After ten years of operation, the aerodrome closed during Second World War, 1939–1945. Afterward, the site was briefly used as a motorcycle speedway track. Attempts were made in the late-1950s to reopen it for flying, which failed, and the land has been used as grazing for cattle. A plaque commemorating the memory of the airfield was installed at the nearby Kingstown Hotel in July 2017.
The Hull and Holderness Railway opened in 1854 which ran from Victoria Dock in Hull to Withernsea, through Hedon. The station was built to the north of the town and it proved a vital part of Hedon's transport system for a century. In 1965 Hedon lost its passenger service when British Railways appointed Lord Beeching to stop losses, and closed branch lines not making a profit. The line from Hull as far as Hedon remained open for goods until 1968.
Hedon became the subject of national media attention in August 2000 when a freak mini-tornado in the Humber Estuary caused flash floods and hailstones to drop on parts of the town.
Hedon was also affected by the widespread floods that occurred in the UK in the summer of 2007; areas affected included the Inmans / Westlands Estates and most areas near the Burstwick drain. A nearby village, Burstwick, saw the most homes flooded in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
There have been plans to create a country park around the Hedon Haven, south of the town. There is an open-air concrete skate park in the south of the town between Draper's Lane and the Burstwick Drain.
From the History section of Hedon on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Notable people from Hedon
- Alexander CampbellCanadian politician (1822-1892)
- Collinson SawyerAustralian bishop
Born in Hedon, according to Wikidata (CC0). Each name links to its Wikipedia article.
Churches and places of worship9
Shopping3
Gas and EV charging1
Schools, colleges and libraries5
Healthcare3
Map of Hedon
43 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.
Getting there and nearby towns
Humberside Airport (HUY) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 13 miles away.
- Kingston upon Hull 6 mi west, about 9 min by car
- Immingham 9 mi south, about 14 min by car
- Louth 27 mi south, about 43 min by car
- Thorne 33 mi west, about 52 min by car
- Mablethorpe 33 mi southeast, about 54 min by car
- Selby 36 mi west, about 57 min by car
- Lincoln 38 mi south, about 1 h by car
- Kirk Sandall 38 mi west, about 1 h by car
- York 39 mi northwest, about 1 h by car
- Doncaster 41 mi west, about 1 h by car
Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.
Towns near Hedon
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Sources and licences
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, coordinates, regions and time zone
- Mapillary (see each image): photos
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0): places, airports, map data
- Wikidata (CC0 1.0): elevation, founding date, time zone, website, landmarks and historic places
- Wikimedia Commons (see each image): photos
- Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): overview and history text
Photo credits
- St Mary and St Joseph Roman Catholic Church Hedon, Betty Longbottom, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Fletchergate Hedon, Andy Beecroft, CC BY-SA 2.0
- All Saints Church, Burstwick, Paul Glazzard, CC BY-SA 2.0
- St Peters Bilton, Keith D at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Hedon Church from Market Hill, Andy Beecroft, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Paull Lighthouse, on the side of the River Humber, near Hull, UK 03, Ridiculopathy, CC0
- Street-level photo, albertdougie15, CC BY-SA 4.0
Page built November 10, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us or suggest a place.