England's Historic Seascapes: Withernsea to Skegness
Museum of London Archaeology, 2010. https://doi.org/10.5284/1000104. How to cite using this DOI
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This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
Primary contact
David
Bowsher
Director of Research
Museum of London Archaeology
Mortimer Wheeler House
46 Eagle Wharf Road
London
N1 7ED
UK
Tel: 020 7410 2285
Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 935
- ALSF Project Number: 4730
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000104
- How to cite using this DOI
Ouse Nene character Area
Present Day Form
The Ouse Nene offshore character area is situated in the western section of the study area. The geology of the area comprises Chalk bedrock overlain by glacial till (clay, sand and gravel debris deposited from ice sheets) know as the Boulders Bank Formation. The seabed is rough gravel and rocks probably derived from the glacial till. The water depth across the area varies between 15m and 32m and the maximum tidal range is 2-3m.
Sea Use: Present
The Ouse Nene palaeochannel is a deep area of sea and previously formed part of an ancient river course, which ran out of the Wash. The area is currently used as a navigation route and fishing area and, because of the gravel terraces associated with the old river course, also has active licensed aggregate dredging areas. The area is seasonally fished for cod, plaice, soles and dabs.
Sea Use: Past
The Ouse Nene character area has been shaped by thousands of years of dynamic sea level changes and erosion and deposition. The channel is an eroded relic palaeochannel that once formed the channel of an ancient river course running out of The Wash in the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods before inundation took place. The channel is also connected to the Silver Pit palaeochannel, situated further to the north.
Once the area was inundated, marine traffic would have crossed this area on a regular basis and from the Roman period onwards, traffic would have utilised the North Sea route from the Humber ports.
Fishing activity would have been carried out in the area from at least the medieval period onwards. The Close's Fisherman's Chart (UKHO 1953) taken from surveys and reports from 1904 to 1925 describes the area as mostly foul and very foul off the Humber (Close 1953).
Archaeological Potential
The Ouse Nene character area has potential for the presence of drowned land surfaces resulting from the fact that sea level has fluctuated between -120 metres and +10 metres over the past 500,000 years. From the period 500,000 BP to 22,000 BP (before present), human population levels were low, and little more than stray finds may be expected, although these may still be of considerable archaeological importance. From 22,000 BP to 2100 BP parts of the North Sea were dry land and human population levels were higher, especially in the Mesolithic age. Finds dating to the Mesolithic have been found to a depth of 40m so any area of sea bed above that has potential for habitation.
Inundation of the North Sea landscapes occurred between 10,000 and 6,000 BP and the most likely evidence for human occupation would be, therefore, Mesolithic in date. Earlier Palaeolithic occupation is less likely to be found and later Neolithic occupation is likely to have been limited to the inshore and very highest of the banks and shoals such as the Dogger Bank. The areas position adjacent to the Silver Pit channel makes it a prime Mesolithic habitation area. Consequently, there is some potential for surviving evidence of human activity within the area along the margins of this channel with less likely survival beyond this.
Over the last 6000 years (if not more), humans have used sea faring vessels and this area and wrecks and related material that may lie on the sea floor or be buried beneath the sea floor. The area contains approximately 19 wrecks the majority of which were vessels torpedoed by German submarines during WWII. Others are fishing vessels that suffered various mishaps and sank.
Character Perceptions
The area is perceived as an important navigation route and fishing area.
References
Close's Fisherman's Chart (UKHO 1953)
Fisheries Sensitivity Maps in British Waters (MAFF 1989)
