Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea, with a population of 260,700 . Hull is 154 miles north of London, 50 miles east of Leeds and 67 miles northeast of Sheffield. The town of Wyke on Hull was founded late in the 12th century. The monks of Meaux Abbey needed a port where the wool from their estates could be exported. They chose a place at the confluence of the rivers Hull and Humber to build a quay. The exact year the town was founded is not known but it was first mentioned in 1193. Renamed Kings-town upon Hull by King Edward I in 1299, Hull has been a market town, military supply port, trading hub, fishing and whaling centre and industrial metropolis.Hull was an early theatre of battle in the English Civil Wars. Its 18th-century Member of Parliament, William Wilberforce, took a prominent part in the abolition of the slave trade in Britain.The city is unique in the UK in having had a municipally owned telephone system from 1902, sporting cream, not red, telephone boxes. After suffering heavy damage in the Second World War , Hull weathered a period of post-industrial decline, gaining unfavourable results on measures of social deprivation, education and policing. In the early 21st century spending boom before the late 2000s recession the city saw large amounts of new retail, commercial, housing and public service construction spending. Tourist attractions include The Hull People's Memorial, the historic Old Town and Museum Quarter, Hull Marina and The Deep, a city landmark. The redevelopment of one of Hull's main thoroughfares – Ferensway – featured the opening of St Stephen's Hull and the new Hull Truck Theatre. Spectator sports include Championship League football and Super League Rugby. The KCOM Stadium houses Hull City football club and Hull F.C. rugby league club and KCOM Craven Park Stadium rugby league club Hull Kingston Rovers. Hull is also home to the English Premier Ice Hockey League Hull Pirates. The University of Hull was founded in 1927 and now enrols more than 16,000 students. It is ranked among the best in the Yorkshire and the Humber region and located in the leafy Newland suburb, in the north-west of the city. Hull was the 2017 UK City of Culture and in the same year the city's Ferens Art Gallery hosted the prestigious annual Turner Prize which is held outside London every other year.
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