Head of Swindale, on the Wolds Way - geograph

The Wolds is a term used in England to describe a range of hills which consists of open country overlying a base of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...

Geography

The Wolds comprise a series of low hills and steep valleys that are in the main underlain by calcareous (

and

) and

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

rock, laid down in the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

and

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

periods. One exception to this is the North Leicestershire /South Nottinghamshire Wolds, which are underlain by sometimes chalky glacial till ('Oadby Till'). The characteristic open valleys of the Wolds were created during the last

glacial period A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...

through the action of

glaciation A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...

and meltwater. The chalk that underlies the Chalk Wolds Landscape Character Type extends from the Yorkshire Wolds to the south coast of England, in East Sussex and in Dorset. Geologically, 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 ...

is a continuation of 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 ...

which runs through 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 ...

; the point at which the ranges of hill crosses the Humber is known as the

Humber Gap The Humber Gap is a term for the geographic gap between the roughly north–south running line of hills formed by the Yorkshire Wolds and the Lincolnshire Wolds, formed by the west–east running Humber Estuary. In the geological past the gap ...

Etymology

The name ''Wold'' is derived from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

' meaning "forest", (cognate of German ''Wald'', but unrelated to English "wood", which has a different origin).Gelling. pp. 222–227 ''Wold'' is an Anglian form of the word, as in other parts of England, different variations can be found.''Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology'', edited by C.T. Onions, Oxford, 1966. p. 1011 Over the years the meaning changed from "forest" to "high forest land". When the forests were cleared, the name was retained and applied to upland areas in general. This was particularly true in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

, the Lincolnshire Wolds and also the Yorkshire Wolds.

Example of Wolds in literature

Citations

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolds Mountains and hills of England Natural regions of England

Geography

Etymology

Example of Wolds in literature

See also

Citations

References