The Humber Gap is a term for the geographic gap between the roughly north–south running line of hills formed by the
Yorkshire Wolds
The Yorkshire Wolds are low hills in the counties of the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire in north-eastern England. The name also applies to the district in which the hills lie.
On the western edge, the Wolds rise to an escarpment wh ...
and the
Lincolnshire Wolds
The Lincolnshire Wolds are a range of low hills in the county of Lincolnshire, England which run roughly parallel with the North Sea coast, from the Humber Estuary in the north-west to the edge of the Lincolnshire Fens in the south-east. They a ...
, formed by the west–east running
Humber Estuary
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the ...
.
In the geological past the gap has formed part of an ice barrier due to glaciers during the
ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
resulting in damming and formation of a 'Humber Lake', and also forms a geological division.
In modern times the gap has formed a natural choice for transport routes, such as the railways.
The
Humber Bridge also crosses the Humber close to the gap.
See also
*
Humberhead Levels
The Humberhead Levels is a national character area covering a large expanse of flat, low-lying land towards the western end of the Humber estuary in northern England. The levels occupy the former Glacial Lake Humber, an area bounded to the east ...
: very heavily silted area formed west of the gap as a result of the damming of the gap, and subsequent lake formation
*
North Ferriby
North Ferriby is a village and civil parish in the Haltemprice area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
History
Humber Estuary
"The archaeology of the intertidal wetlands of the Humber Estuary is of international importance, and include ...
and
South Ferriby
South Ferriby is a village in North Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the south bank of the Humber Estuary and west from the Humber Bridge. North Ferriby is directly opposite on the Estuary's north bank. Village population was 651 in ...
, villages on the two sides of the Humber named after the ferries across the gap.
References
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Geography of the East Riding of Yorkshire
Geography of Lincolnshire
Humber
Geology of England