The history of Hull’s magical Whitefriargate and Old Town area is being celebrated with a new trail inspired by the White Rabbit from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Carroll’s family had a strong connection with Hull, with his mother being raised in the city. The trail will visit locations in the Old Town that are linked to the Carroll family and the work of Lewis Carroll.

The White Rabbit Trail, which will run from Saturday 22 May until Tuesday 8 June, will also highlight other stories from the historic Old Town. The White Rabbit Trail is a fantastic way for families to explore the area and find out how one of the world’s most famous children’s authors, and his most famous book, are connected to Hull.

Lewis Carroll’s grandfather worked in the Old Town in various positions and his grandmother was buried at Hull Minster (formerly Holy Trinity Church). The illustrator of Carroll’s first stories, John Tennial, a Victorian Artist, also worked on Whitefriargate as an illustrator for Hull News.

To celebrate the city’s connection with Carroll, local primary schools were asked to design a Hull-based interpretation of the White Rabbit character from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

The winning entries will be displayed on the trail along with some quirky facts about Carroll and his family.

The project has been funded by Historic England as part of Hull’s High Street Heritage Action Zone and delivered in partnership with Hull Schools’ Library Service.

The Whitefriargate regeneration project includes a number of grant schemes and funding projects.

Whitefriargate has benefitted from £1m from the Humber LEP’s Humber High Street Challenge Fund and secured £1.75m from Historic England’s High Streets Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ) programme.