Although Goole can trace the origins of its name back to the Anglo-Saxon word for ‘outlet to a river’, the earliest settlements in the area centred upon the nearby farming villages of Airmyn and Hook.
King Charles I had paved the way for the surrounding land to be used for arable farming when he granted a charter to the Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden, allowing the River Don to be diverted into the River Ouse, rather than the River Aire.
It was only after the Aire and Calder Navigation Company had extended its canal all the way from Leeds to Goole in the early 1820s that the town as we know it today was established. The canal was created for the purpose of exporting coal from the West Riding of Yorkshire to the continent and in 1826 Goole was granted a port charter. That same year, the town’s very first street – Adam Street – was built.
Some of the town’s best-known landmarks date back to this era, including The Lowther Hotel on Aire Street, which was built in 1824 by Sir Edward Banks. Originally known as The Banks Arms, in 1835 it was renamed after the first Chairman of the Aire and Calder Navigation Company, Sir John Lowther.
It’s no coincidence that so many of Goole’s most historic and recognisable buildings are located within a stone’s throw of the docks, highlighting just how central they were to the town’s early life. Among them are the water towers fondly referred to by locals as the salt and pepper pots’; the central clock tower, which was built to commemorate the town’s centenary in 1926; and the prominent spire of St. John’s Parish Church, a Grade II-listed building constructed in the mid-19th century.
Having started life as the ‘company town’ of the Aire and Calder Navigation Company, Goole grew wealthy on the back of the booming trade through its port. Engineers developed an innovative system of transporting coal using boats made up of a series of compartments, which were nicknamed Tom Puddings and linked together in long ‘trains’ were towed along the canal by a tug. At the docks, hydraulic compartment boat hoists lifted the Tom Puddings and tipped their contents into the holds of waiting ships.
For more than 150 years, Goole’s port was the primary route used to export coal from Yorkshire’s coalfields and, even after the town’s railway links were developed, the Aire and Calder Navigation still played a central role in this.
Although the demise of the coal industry means that the nature of the goods being transported has changed dramatically during the last 30 years, Goole’s port continues to handle around 1.5 million tonnes of cargo annually. A proportion of this traffic still reaches the town via the canal but, these days, the barges are more likely to carry oil, sand or gravel.
Above: Goole Docks today
Like many other northern towns, Goole suffered due to the decline of traditional industries. Thankfully, its excellent transport links have spear-headed a revival in its fortunes in recent years, earning it a reputation as an investment hot spot. These days, Goole’s impressive road and rail links are just as important as its port and canal.
Above: Goole Clock Tower
In recent years, the town has benefited from a series of innovative regeneration schemes aimed at stimulating investment and boosting the local economy, including the Goole Town Deal programme.
It seems fitting that delivery of this mammoth £25 million regeneration programme will be completed during 2026, a year when local communities will come together to reflect on Goole’s rich history and look forward to its increasingly bright future.
For more information on Goole’s history and heritage, visit the Goole Civic Society website.
