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
Outer Dogs Head Character Area
Present Day Form
The Outer Dogs Head character area is located in an inter-tidal area in the south-west corner of the study area. It is located at the bottom end of the Lincolnshire coastal plain and Lincolnshire coastal grazing marsh, in the southern part of the county just before The Wash. The geology of the area is the wave cut platform of Cretaceous Chalk overlain by glacial till (clay, sand and gravel debris deposited from ice sheets). The area consists of sand and gravel terraces overlain by thick layers of alluvium.
Sea Use: Present
This area's dominant character is connected with navigation as its sand and gravel banks pose a hazard to navigation. Various drying areas become exposed at low tide and there is an active channel leading to the historic haven at Wainfleet. Local fishing vessels still operate out of the port and there are sole spawning areas and cod, plaice and lemon sole nurseries close to the shore.
A modern shipping channel called the Wainfleet road crosses the character area and this area also falls with a military practice area zone.
Sea Use: Past
The Outer Dogs Head Character area has been shaped by thousands of years of dynamic sea level changes and erosion and deposition. The relatively shallow nature of the sea bed means that the area was dry land almost certainly in the Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and probably in the Neolithic periods. Marine traffic would have crossed this area on a regular basis from the Roman period onwards but especially in the medieval period when Wainfleet St Mary was a busy port. The village's access to the sea disappeared when the coastline began to change and so Wainfleet Haven was established nearer the coast to carry after this time. Continued silting and dune formation resulted in the last commercial vessels using the port in the 1920's (Oldfield 1829).
Fishing activity would have been carried out in the area from the medieval period onwards.
Archaeological Potential
The 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. The areas position in close proximity to the Ouse/Nene palaeochannel makes it prime habitation site.
Consequently, there is some potential for surviving evidence of human activity within the area.
Over the last 6000 years (if not more), humans have used sea faring vessels and so wrecks and related material may lie on or be buried beneath the sea floor.
The area has potential for survival of Roman remains relating to the salt industry (McAvoy 1994)
Character Perceptions
The area is perceived as possessing important navigation features and being an inshore fishing ground.
References
McAvoy, F, 1994 Marine Salt Extraction, the salterns of Wainfleet St. Mary, Lincolnshire, in Medieval Archeology, 1994, vol 38, 134-163.
Oldfield, E, 1829 History of Wainfleet
