Grimsby: A brief history Grimsby has tons of history we have yet to share! Let's start at the beginning...
The middle ages Going way back to the ninth century AD, a village was discovered by the Danes, the old Danish word for village would have been 'by', the area may have been labelled Grim's by or Grimmr's by or village. By the time the Domesday Book arrived (1086) the population in Grimsby was peaking over 200 - during the middle ages, this was considered a sizeable village. That village then grew into a port as a result of it standing a nearby a river named the Haven, flowing in to the Humber. The Haven aptly named as it was a haven for shipping during an approaching storm, essentially being a natural place to build a port. It made sense for Grimsby to become a fishing port. During the twelfth century, Grimsby has transformed into a small, busy port. Goods such as timber from Norway and wine were brought over from Spain and France, along with coal from the Newcastle coast. The thirteenth century saw the arrival of friars, similar to monks, rather than withdrawing from the world, they would actively go out and preach. Come fifteenth century and the Haven began to split up, leading Grimsby down a slow path of decline. Fifteen and eighteen hundreds Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth century Grimsby continued to decline, along with the population. The year of 1556 saw the wooden bridge be replaced by a stronger stone one. Grimsby, like every other Tudor town, suffered from the plague that swept the nation, reaching severity in 1590/91. During the late eighteenth century, Grimsby town revived somewhat with the resurrection of a Town Hall in 1780. Nineteenth century In 1801, the small town's population had 1,524 and thus began is rapid growth in population: by 1831, just over 4,000 and by the end of that year it doubled. The end of the nineteenth century saw the population of Grimsby grow to 75,000! Twentieth century 1931 saw another surge in growth to 92,000, then levelling off with not much increase through the twentieth century. The first public library to be opened in the town was in 1900. New shopping centres came about in during