Holderness

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This article refers to the region in England. For the town in the United States, see Holderness, New Hampshire.

Holderness is an area of England on the coast of Yorkshire. An area of rich agricultural land, Holderness was marshland until it was drained in the Middle Ages. Topographically, Holderness has more in common with Holland than other parts of Yorkshire. To the north and west are the Yorkshire Wolds.

Holderness falls within the administrative area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, having from 1974 to 1996 been the borough of Holderness in Humberside. Holderness was a separate county or wapentake until 1780, when it was incorporated into the traditional county of Yorkshire. ^{[citation needed]} The city of Kingston upon Hull lies in the south west corner of Holderness but is usually considered separately. The main towns include Beverley, Withernsea, Hornsea and Hedon.

[edit] Erosion

The Holderness coastline suffers the highest rate of coastal erosion in Europe: 5 feet (1.5 metres) a year on average or 2 million tonnes of material a year. Some of this is transported by longshore drift with about 3% of material being deposited at Spurn Head spit, to the south. The growth of Spurn Head is demonstrated by a series of lighthouses that have been built on the point. It is thought that approximately 3 miles (5 km) of land has been lost since the Roman era, including at least 23 towns/villages, including for example Ravenspurn.

All the villages affected by the erosion are located on the north side of the estuary of the River Humber. The area stretches from Flambourgh Head (high chalk cliffs, just north of Bridlington) down to Spurnhead (sand spit, on above map). Villages such as Ravenser, which sent representatives to the parliament of Edward I, have totally disappeared.

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 last ice age and is now made up of chalk/glacial compounds that are easily eroded such as boulder clay.

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 wil be millions of pounds of damage.