Townapedia
St Mary and St Joseph Roman Catholic Church Hedon
St Mary and St Joseph Roman Catholic Church Hedon · Betty Longbottom, CC BY-SA 2.0
Fletchergate Hedon
Fletchergate Hedon · Andy Beecroft, CC BY-SA 2.0
All Saints Church, Burstwick
All Saints Church, Burstwick · Paul Glazzard, CC BY-SA 2.0
St Peters Bilton
St Peters Bilton · Keith D at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
Hedon Church from Market Hill
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
Paull Lighthouse, on the side of the River Humber, near Hull, UK 03 · Ridiculopathy, CC0

Hedon, United Kingdom

Hedon is a town of 10,358 people in England, United Kingdom.

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Population10,358 GeoNames
RegionEngland
Elevation13 ft 4 m
Time zoneEurope/London
Nearest airportHumberside Airport (HUY) 13 mi
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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.

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

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Thorngumbald Clough High Lighthouse

Lighthouse · 2.5 mi

Lighthouse in Paull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK

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Thorngumbald Clough Low Lighthouse

Lighthouse · 2.5 mi

Lighthouse in Paull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK

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Museums and landmarks1

Hedon Museum

Museum

St. Augustine Gate, Hull

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Parks, trails and playgrounds1

Watson Park

Park

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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

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Kings Head

Bar and pub

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Kingstown Hotel

Bar and pub · 0.9 mi

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Chatty Couch

Cafe · Coffee Shop

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Hedon Spice

Restaurant · Indian

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The Shakespeare Inn

Bar and pub

9, Hull

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Cock and Bell

Bar and pub · 1.2 mi

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Cooplands

Bakery

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Haven Arms

Bar and pub · 0.4 mi

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Queens Head

Bar and pub

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The Rolling Pin

Bakery

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Grand Ruby

Fast food · Chinese · 1.2 mi

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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.

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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

Born in Hedon, according to Wikidata (CC0). Each name links to its Wikipedia article.

Churches and places of worship9

Shopping3

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Gas and EV charging1

Schools, colleges and libraries5

Healthcare3

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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.

Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.

Towns near Hedon

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Page built November 10, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us or suggest a place.