Royal Connections – A Free Exhibition
A free exhibition exploring Grimsby’s rich royal connections will take place at Grimsby Town Hall on Wednesday, March 11, 2026.
Staged in the Bremerhaven Room, the exhibition has been organised to mark Great Grimsby Charter Day and the 825th anniversary of King John granting the town its first charter in 1201.
The display will showcase a wide range of local archive material highlighting centuries of royal links with the area. Items on show will include photographs, documents and artefacts relating to Wellow Abbey, founded by King Henry I, and Thornton Abbey, which was visited by King Henry VIII during his royal progress in October 1541.
Visitors will also be able to view documents connected with the statue of Prince Albert on Cleethorpe Road, unveiled in 1879 by the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII.
The exhibition will feature material relating to visits by King George V and Queen Mary, who attended the official opening of Immingham Dock in 1912 and returned to the area in 1918 to inspect the National Shell Factory in Grimsby during the First World War.
Also on display will be items connected with the royal visit of 1928 when the Prince of Wales toured Dixon’s Paper Mill and the Fish Docks, laid the foundation stone of Armstrong Street School, and met ex-servicemen in People’s Park.
The exhibition will conclude with a display of documents relating to buildings and structures across the area that commemorate royal events, including Coronation Cottages on Coronation Road, Cleethorpes; Coronation Homes on Mill Road, Cleethorpes; and the Diamond Jubilee Provident Homes on Doughty Road, Grimsby.
Adrian Wilkinson, Archivist at Lincs Inspire, said:
The granting of Grimsby’s first charter was a key event in the development of the town. North East Lincolnshire is sometimes regarded as being a little off the beaten track, but as this exhibition will show, the region was visited by royalty on many occasions and was far from being a backwater in the nation’s history.”
