Humber Wetlands Survey

Following the pioneering work of the Somerset Levels Project and the investigations of the Fenland Project, and North West Wetlands Survey, the Humber Wetlands Project was commissioned in 1992 with the aim of assessing the archaeological and palaeoenvironmental potential of the lowland wetlands centred around the Humber estuary and the lower reaches of its tributaries. The initial phase of the project, based at Hull University, involved the compilation of a computerised database of published and unpublished archaeological and palaeoenvironmental records, along with an assessment of the threats to the preservation of organic remains as a result of both natural processes and human activity. The publication of the findings of this phase recommended that, in view of the severity of the threats to the preservation of the rich wetland archaeological resource and in some cases to the preservation of the wetlands themselves, a large-scale field investigation of the Humber wetlands be commenced without delay in order to assess this resource and to make recommendations for its future conservation and management.

In 1994, field survey was initiated to investigate the sub-regions of the Humber wetlands, Holderness, Hull Valley, Vale of York, Humberhead Levels, lower Trent valley, Ancholme valley, and Lincolnshire Marsh. This area totals over 350,000 ha and contains a variety of extant and former wetland types, areas of coastal and estuarine accretion, small lakes or 'meres', major river valley floodplains, minor stream floodplains, and lowland mires. The first region to be examined was Holderness, and the findings and recommendations for this area have now been published in full (Wetland Heritage of Holderness: an archaeological survey, The Humber Wetlands Project Van de Noort, R and Ellis, S, 1995, University of Hull) and in a brief annual report. The project has identified 6 wetland landscape areas within Holderness which it recommends should be designated as Areas of Special Wetland Archaeological Interest, and recognised as such in Structure, Local, and Development Plans and taken into consideration within the framework of PPG-16. Seven identified sites are considered to be of national archaeological importance and which would benefit from enhanced protection and/or improved management.

Survey of the second sub-region, the Humberhead Levels, is nearing completion, and publication is due in 1997. The settlement pattern here comprises a concentration of Mesolithic/Neolithic settlement around the river systems, with populations moving away in the Bronze and Iron Ages, and returning in the Romano-British period. Over much of the area, archaeological visibility is obscured by the extensive deposits of 'warp' (estuarine sediment accumulated artificially during the last 3 centuries in order to raise the level of the land and improve drainage), although this material has also formed a protective cover over deeper archaeological and palaeoenvironmental material. Sites whose preservation is particularly threatened include the Scaftworth Roman Road, Rossington Roman Bridge, and those which make up the Mesolithic landscape at Misterton. Survey of the Ancholme and lower Trent valleys will commence in September 1996.

Further Information is available on the Project WWW pages: Humber Wetlands Survey