![Henry of Lancaster's cross, C](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Henry_of_Lancaster%27s_cross%2C_C.W._Mason.jpg)
Ravenspurn was a town in the
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...
, England, which was lost due to
coastal erosion
Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landwa ...
, one of more than 30 along the
Holderness
Holderness is an area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, on the north-east coast of England. An area of rich agricultural land, Holderness was marshland until it was drained in the Middle Ages. Topographically, Holderness has more in common wit ...
Coast which have been lost to the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
since the 19th century. The town was located close to the end of a peninsula near
Ravenser Odd
Ravenser Odd, also spelled Ravensrodd, was a port in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, during the medieval period, built on the sandbanks at the mouth of the Humber estuary.
The name Ravenser comes from the Old Norse or 'Raven's tongue' ...
, which has also been flooded. The peninsula still survives and is known as
Spurn Head
Spurn is a narrow sand tidal island located off the tip of the coast of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England that reaches into the North Sea and forms the north bank of the mouth of the Humber Estuary. It was a spit with a semi-permanent con ...
. The North Sea lies to the east of the peninsula, the river
Humber
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 t ...
to the west.
The nearest major city was
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-ea ...
.
The region of coastline is known as the Holderness Coast; geologically the land is formed of
glacial till
image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...
s (
boulder clay
Boulder clay is an unsorted agglomeration of clastic sediment that is unstratified and structureless and contains gravel of various sizes, shapes, and compositions distributed at random in a fine-grained matrix. The fine-grained matrix consists o ...
), which are subject to coastal erosion. Now at sea, areas around the site are being drilled for
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
.
Ravenspurn appears in
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's plays ''
Richard II'', ''
Henry IV, Part 1'', and ''
Henry VI, Part 3
''Henry VI, Part 3'' (often written as ''3 Henry VI'') is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1591 and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England. Whereas '' 1 Henry VI'' deals with the loss of Eng ...
'', under the spelling "Ravenspurgh".
Two medieval English kings landed at Ravenspurn:
Henry IV in 1399, on his way to dethrone
Richard II, and
Edward IV in 1471, on his way back from exile in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, where he was resisted by the local lord, Sir
Martin de la See
Sir Martin de la See of Barmston, East Riding of Yorkshire (1420 – 15 December 1494), was an English nobleman.
Biography
Martin de la See was son of Brian de la See and wife Maud Monceaux, daughter and heiress of John Monceaux.
When Edward IV ...
.
See also
*
Ravenser Odd
Ravenser Odd, also spelled Ravensrodd, was a port in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, during the medieval period, built on the sandbanks at the mouth of the Humber estuary.
The name Ravenser comes from the Old Norse or 'Raven's tongue' ...
*
Ravenspurn gas fields
The Ravenspurn gas fields are two adjacent natural gas fields (Ravenspurn South and Ravenspurn North) located in the UK sector of the southern North Sea about 65 km east of Flambrough Head, Yorkshire.
The fields
Ravenspurn South is principall ...
References
External links
*
*
Coastal erosion in the United Kingdom
Holderness
Lost villages and towns of the East Riding of Yorkshire
Underwater ruins
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