Холдернесс: География и особенности региона Восточного Йоркшира

Region of England
the region of England

Holderness is an area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, on the north east coast of England. An area of rich agricultural land, Holderness was marshland until it was drained in the Middle Ages. Topographically, Holderness has more in common with the Netherlands than with other parts of Yorkshire. To the north and west are the Yorkshire Wolds. Holderness generally refers to the area between the River Hull and the North Sea. The Prime Meridian passes through Holderness just to the east of Patrington and through Tunstall to the north. Between 1974 and 1996, Holderness lay within the Borough of Holderness in Humberside. It gave its name to a wapentake until the 19th century, when its functions were replaced by other local government bodies, particularly after the Local Government Act 1888. The city of Kingston upon Hull lies in the south west corner of Holderness and Bridlington borders the north east but both are usually considered separately. The main towns include Withernsea, Hornsea and Hedon. The Holderness coast stretches from Flamborough Head to Spurn Head. The ancient market town of Beverley lies just to the west of the Holderness area, on the eastern slopes of the Yorkshire Wolds. Because of its soft soil, the coastline is vulnerable to erosion, on average losing 6 feet (2 m) a year. The coast and surrounding communities have had to implement managed retreat.

The area has boundaries which are clearly defined by the rising land of the Yorkshire Wolds to the north and west, the North Sea to the east and the Humber Estuary to the south. There are no motorways in the area, however there is access to the national motorway network via the A63 from Hull. Links to the continent are also via Hull, from where daily ferry services to Rotterdam and Zeebrugge depart. A class roads centre upon Hull and the coastal resort of Bridlington. Otherwise the A1033 road which connects Withernsea on the south east coast to inland areas is the only main route in the area. The only remaining rail link is the Yorkshire Coast Line that runs between Hull in the south and Bridlington and it tends to skirt the area towards the west. Until the 1960s there were lines from Hull to both Hornsea and Withernsea, but these were closed by the Beeching cuts. Furthermore, in 1901 there was a proposal to construct the North Holderness Light Railway from Beverley to North Frodingham railway station, but this came to nothing.

As part of the United Kingdom, the Holderness area generally has cool summers and relatively mild winters. Weather conditions vary from day to day as well as from season to season. The latitude of the area means that it is influenced by predominantly westerly winds with depressions and their associated fronts, bringing with them unsettled and windy weather, particularly in winter. The wind sometimes causes depositions to happen. Between depressions there are often small mobile anticyclones that bring periods of fair weather. In winter anticyclones bring cold dry weather. In summer the anticyclones tend to bring dry settled conditions which can lead to drought. For its latitude this area is mild in winter and cooler in summer due to the influence of the Gulf Stream in the northern Atlantic Ocean. Air temperature varies on a daily and seasonal basis. The temperature is usually lower at night and January is the coldest time of the year. The two dominant influences on the climate of the Holderness are the shelter against the worst of the moist westerly winds provided firstly by the Pennines and then the Yorkshire Wolds and the proximity of the North Sea. Generally, rainfall is 600 to 700 mm per year which is low compared with the national average rainfall of 1125 mm.

Geologically, Holderness is underlain by Cretaceous chalk but in most places it is so deeply buried beneath glacial deposits that it has no influence on the landscape. The landscape is dominated by deposits of till, boulder clays and glacial lake clays. These were deposited during the Devensian glaciation. The glacial deposits form a more or less continuous lowland plain which has some peat filled depressions (known locally as meres) which mark the presence of former lake beds. There are other glacial landscape features such as drumlin mounds, ridges and kettle holes scattered throughout the area. The well drained glacial deposits provide fertile soils that can support intensive arable cultivation. Fields are generally large and bounded by drainage ditches. There is very little woodland in the area and this leads to a landscape that is essentially rural but very flat and exposed. The coast is subject to rapid marine erosion.

The Holderness coastline suffers the highest rate of coastal erosion in Europe: 5 feet (2 m) a year on average or 2 million tonnes of material a year. Some of this is transported by longshore drift with about three percent of material being deposited at Spurn Point spit, to the south. The growth of Spurn Point is demonstrated by a series of lighthouses that have been built on the point. It is thought that approximately 3 mile (5 km) of land has been lost since the Roman era, including at least 23 towns/villages, including Ravenspurn. The Holderness coastline is susceptible to erosion due to the long north easterly fetch, allowing for powerful waves, and the softness of the geology that make up the cliffs. Holderness is also a former bay that was filled in during the ice age and is now made up of chalk/glacial compounds that are easily eroded such as boulder clay. All the villages affected by the erosion are located on the north side of the Humber estuary. The area stretches from Flamborough Head (high chalk cliffs, just north of Bridlington) down to Spurn Point (sand spit, on above map). Villages such as Ravenser, which sent representatives to the parliament of Edward I, have totally disappeared. The local authorities are endeavouring to prevent the effects of erosion. Hard defences in the form of a concrete seawall and timber groynes have given some protection. It has been suggested that a large underwater reef made of tyres could be built off the Holderness coast to mitigate this erosion, but it would be costly to build. Other defences include sea walls, groynes, and gabions but business people say that if the erosion is not stopped then there will be millions of pounds of damage. However, one or more such groynes has had a detrimental effect further along the coast, in some areas resulting in erosion of up to per year initially, though over the long term erosion rates have been seen to revert to their original yearly average of closer to a year.

The Holderness area is drained by the River Hull and its tributaries and a number of coastal streams. The valley of the River Hull is broad and shallow and in its lower reaches the river is contained within flood banks. The River Hull Tidal Surge Barrier at the mouth of the river can be used to prevent surge tides overwhelming the flood defences. Large areas of Holderness are too flat and low to drain naturally so in these areas a low level drainage system operates to collect the water. In the middle and lower reaches of the River Hull water is pumped from the low level drains into a high level system. This system consists of elevated water courses bounded by embankments. It drains by gravity into the sea. The main drain is the Holderness Drain, begun in 1764 by the engineer John Grundy Jr. In the east and south east of Holderness there is a complex network of drains and streams that flow south into the Humber or east into the North Sea. To mitigate the effects of high tides stopping the water flow from these outlets, several have had pumping stations constructed at their outfalls.

The Domesday survey reveals that in the reign of Edward the Confessor there were 45 different freeholders having land in Holderness. The name of Holderness may be derived from the Danish "hold" which was the name given in that language to a nobleman with considerable territorial possessions. The "ness" part generally refers to a promontory, or nose shape, either in a river or jutting from a coastline.

The Aumale lordship had also passed to the crown and was obtained along with some former monastic lands by the Constable family of Burton Constable in the 16th century. Other large estates created from former monastic holdings were sold by the crown to private landowners in the 17th and 18th centuries. Piecemeal attempts were made to improve the poor drainage of the area and with the formation of drainage boards in the later 18th century flooding began to be controlled. The remaining wastes were added to farm land and the meres, fluctuating lakes, disappeared.

The opening of railways from Hull accelerated the growth of first Withernsea in 1854 and Hornsea in 1864 as coastal resorts and commuter towns of Hull. Many of the other settlements grew and changed their character from agricultural villages to become dormitory settlements of Hull, Beverley, Bridlington and Driffield. Sales of large landed estates have reduced many of the large agricultural holdings that were in private ownership but some still remain and some have been used to create large farming agri businesses which manage considerable areas with few farms. The rail links to both Withernsea and Hornsea closed to passengers in 1964 and closed completely in 1965.

Administratively and politically the Holderness area now lies within a number of different divisions. The Beverley and Holderness parliamentary constituency statistics have been used to provide a representative picture of the area. In 2004 there were 95,077 people living in the area in 41,224 households. Of these people 4.7% were aged below 25 years, 52.6% were aged between 25 and 55 years and 42.8% were 55 years old or more. The population density was in 2001 was 1.25 persons per hectare and 78% of households were privately owned compared with a national average of 68%. There was a relatively low unemployment rate of 1.7% compared with a national average of 2.3%.

In Holderness the average household income in 2004 was £27,958 compared with a national average of £30,081. Industrial activity ranges from small workshop units in Hornsea and Withernsea to the Easington and Dimlington gas terminals on the east coast. These terminals process gas from the North Sea gas fields. The British Petroleum chemical works at Saltend uses condensates from the gas refining process and is a major employer in the area. Tourism makes a significant contribution to the economy of Hornsea and Withernsea with Hornsea Pottery and Freeport attracting around a million visitors each year.

"The Adventure of the Priory School", a Sherlock Holmes mystery by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, takes place mostly in Holderness. Also one of the main characters is the Duke of Holderness, who resides in the area at the fictional Holderness Hall. Other works of fiction based in, or around, Holderness include The Summoner's Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer and South Riding by Winifred Holtby. In "Spurn Head," part three of Will Self's Walking to Hollywood, the rapid erosion of the Holderness Coast is used as a metaphor for the effects of Alzheimer's disease.