Date set for Henry VIII castle attraction

The visitor attraction will be built on the site of a Tudor fortress on the east bank of the River Hull

A visitor attraction showcasing Hull's Tudor history is expected to be ready in March 2025.

The South Blockhouse will feature a reconstruction of parts of a castle built for Henry VIII near the mouth of the River Hull.

Wire and mesh structures will give visitors a sense of the scale of the 16th Century fortress without damaging the surviving ruins.

The attraction, near The Deep, will tell the stories of people who lived, worked and were imprisoned at the castle.

It is being funded with £1m from National Highways, as part of improvement works to the A63, and a £250,000 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The South Blockhouse protected Hull's harbour and featured a stone tower and gun platforms for cannon.

It was part of a series of fortifications ordered by Henry VIII after he visited the port in 1541.

The South Blockhouse was built almost 500 years ago to defend the port of Hull

These defences were torn down in 1864, but the remains of the blockhouse, including walls, earthworks and a cannon, were uncovered by archaeologists in 2022.

Work on the visitor attraction is expected to begin this summer after Hull City Council set a proposed end date for the project of 31 March 2025.

Councillor Paul Drake-Davis, the portfolio holder for regeneration, said the decision would allow the project to "move forward", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The council has also commissioned artworks to help visitors learn about the site.

The attraction will form part of the wider Hull Maritime project, which includes the refurbishment of the Maritime Museum, the construction of a new berth for the Arctic Corsair trawler, and an extensive makeover for Queens Gardens.

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