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
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Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 935
- ALSF Project Number: 4730
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000104
- How to cite using this DOI
Skegness to Wainfleet Coast Character Area
Present Day Form
The Skegness to Wainfleet coast character area is in the south-west corner of the study area and located entirely on dry land. It is located at the bottom end of the Lincolnshire coastal plain and Lincolnshire coastal grazing marsh, situated in the southern part of the county. 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) called the Upper Marsh Till along with some early Holocene deposits of peat known as the Huttoft Beds. The Huttoft Beds formed in the hollows of the Mesolithic land surface which developed on the Upper Marsh Till. The early land surface was inundated by a marine transgression leaving a clay deposit known as the Ingoldmells Beds. The Beds have been dated to periods between the Bronze Age and the Roman period and represent localised marine flooding over the area as the sea level rose.
The action of the sea in this area causes accretion rather than the erosion seen on beaches further to the north between Mablethorpe and Skegness. As a result the coast is characterised by wide sandy beaches, muddy areas, dunes and salt marsh where mariculture activities take place along with recreational activities. By contrast the beaches further to the north are regularly replenished and used almost solely for recreation purposes. These different sea actions have strongly influenced patterns of historic land/sea use in the area.
Sea Use: Present
This area is strongly associated with flood defence and reclamation activities. The land/sea line has been continually in flux over recent centuries and the present landscape, although now mainly rural in character, has strong maritime links due to historic salt making activities, fishing and land reclamation.
The town of Skegness has strong links with tourism and recreation (described in the Mablethorpe to Skegness coast character area) and the town of Wainfleet All Saints (and Wainfleet St Mary) is an ancient port and market town. The haven on the seafront is still in use. There are also two smaller villages in the area, Croft and Friskney.
The area has some military character due to the presence of RAF Wainfleet, a Royal Air Force weapons range on The Wash. The range opened in 1938 but usage of the site as a range dates back to 1890 when it was used by the 1st Lincolnshire Artillery.
Sea Use: Past
This area of coast has been influenced by sea level change and land reclamation activities associated with natural accretion and salt making industries, which probably date back to the Prehistoric period.
Similar to the adjacent coastal areas, the effects of medieval episodes of coastal change and industrial processes such as salt making is still visible in the landscape. It is possible to trace the ancient medieval shoreline, now situated a considerable distance in land, by looking at the location of the ancient villages with maritime connections, such as Croft, Wainfleet St Mary, Wainfleet All Saints and Friskney. These villages would originally have been located on the medieval shoreline (University of Hull 1994). Ancient saltern mounds are visible in the landscape and these are situated in areas where reclamation took place in the medieval period, indicating that deposition of soil in mounds during the salt extraction process probably aided the reclamation process. There is also an area of post-medieval reclaimed land along the seafront near Skegness. The different phases of post-medieval sea banks are visible in the landscape around this area.
Many of the towns and villages in the character area originated as fishing villages and were founded in the Saxon or early medieval period.
Archaeological Potential
The area has potential for the presence of archaeological deposits from the prehistoric periods onwards. The entire area has potential for survival of deposits relating to the salt making industry, dating from the prehistoric to the post medieval periods.
Permanent occupation of the area appears to date from the sixth century, when Danish settlers arrived, with substantial communities only appearing in the 9th century. Close to the town of Wainfleet All saints, two possible burial mounds can be seen. A number of coins from the period have also been found in the vicinity.
Character Perceptions
The area is perceived as being a historic coastal area. It is mainly rural and there is a strong theme of sea defence in the area.
References
University of Hull, 1994, Humber Estuary and Coast, Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies, University of Hull, November 1994
