Grimsby

Sister cities

• Tromsø Municipality
• Banjul
• Bremerhaven
• Dieppe

History

There is archaeological evidence of a small town of Roman workers in the area in the 2nd century AD during Roman occupation. Located on The Haven, which flowed into the Humber, the site long provided a location for ships to shelter from approaching storms. It was well placed to exploit the rich fishing grounds in the North Sea. Sometime in the 9th century AD, Grimsby was settled by Danes. Local folklore claims that the name Grimsby derives from Grim, a Danish (as an old term closer to "Viking") fisherman. The common toponymic suffix -by is derived from the Old Norse word for village (compare with , and ). The legendary founding of Grimsby features in a medieval romance, the Lay of Havelock the Dane, but historians see this account as a myth. In Norse mythology, Grim (Mask) and Grimnir (Masked One) are names adopted by the deity Oðin (Anglo-Saxon Woðen) when travelling incognito amongst mortals, as in the short poem known as "Grimnir's Sayings" (Grimnismal) in the Poetic Edda. The intended audience of the Havelock tale, recorded much later as the Lay of Havelock the Dane, may have taken the fisherman Grim to be Odin in disguise. The Oðinic name "Grimr/Grim" occurs in many English place names in the historical Danelaw and elsewhere in Britain. Examples are numerous earthworks named Grimsdyke. Other British place names with the element Grim are explained as referring to Woðen/Oðin (e.g. Grimsbury, Grimspound, Grime's Graves, Grimsditch, Grimsworne), and Grimsby is likely to have the same derivation. Grimsby is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as having a population of around 200, a priest, a mill, and a ferry. In the 12th century, Grimsby grew into a fishing and trading port, at one time ranking twelfth in importance to the Crown for tax revenue. The town gained…

Geography

The town was named "Great Grimsby" to distinguish it from Little Grimsby, a village about to the south, near Louth. It had a population of 88,243 in the 2011 census and an estimated population of 88,323 in 2019. It forms a conurbation with Cleethorpes and the villages of Humberston, Scartho, Brigsley and Waltham. The 2011 population of the conurbation was 134,160, making it the largest built-up area in Lincolnshire.

Most-observed species

• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  9,882
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  8,210
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  8,077
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  7,590
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  7,294
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,200
• European Goldfinch

  Carduelis carduelis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,943
• Herring Gull

  Larus argentatus Pontoppidan, 1763 · Aves
  6,891

Most recent

• M 4.1 — 2018-06-09
  7 km NNE of Withernsea, United Kingdom
• M 2.6 — 2014-10-28
  2 km NNE of Hucknall, United Kingdom
• M 3 — 2009-04-11
  5 km ENE of Goxhill, United Kingdom
• M 3.1 — 2008-04-05
  3 km SSE of Middle Rasen, United Kingdom
• M 4.8 — 2008-02-27
  1 km NNE of Market Rasen, United Kingdom
• M 3.6 — 2006-12-30
  58 km E of Easington, United Kingdom