Holderness Coastline

• 1. Flamborough Head:Hard chalk: Low population density. Area of Special Scientific Interest with lots of wildlife.
• 2. Hornsea: Soft boulder clay:Consists of a high density urban area. Is reliant on tourism.
• 3. Mappleton: Soft boulder clay: only about 50 houses but includes the B1242, a main road used by tourists and local people.
• 4. Spurn Head: Low population density. Is a sand and shingle spit 5.5km long, reaching across the mouth of the Humber.
• Coastal defences such as seawalls and groynes tend to be expensive, short-term options which have a high impact on the landscape or environment. For these reasons, it would be unsustainable and inappropriate to defend all of the Holderness coastline.
• Managed Retreat


  • Main strategy used at Flamborough Head
  • Due to the harder rock and low population density the area is allowed to erode slowly and naturally. The area is a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to its unique wildlife and plant life (e.g. puffins nest on the cliffs). The RSPB have a visitor centre here.
• Advantages to Managed Retreat

  ● Little damage or change to the natural environment ● Wildlife and plant life protected from human activity
• Disadvantages to Managed Retreat


  ● Some land is lost to rockfalls each year ● The tourists can damage some area (especially footpaths) ● This protected area cannot be built on so no space for new housing that is required across the country
• Management at Hornsea

  • Wooden Groynes
  • Sea wall
• Advantages of wooden groynes and sea walls 


  Advantages – Allows the beach to be used by tourists and protects the town from erosion.
• Disadvantages of wooden groynes and sea walls


  Disadvantages – Expensive £5.2million. Sea wall looks unattractive. Stops sediment from being supplied further south.
• Management at Mappleton

  Rock groyne and rock revetment: In 1991 two rock groynes and a rock revetment made from huge blocks of Scandinavian rock were built.
• Advantages of groynes and rock revetment


  Advantages – As a consequence a substantial beach accumulated between the groynes halting erosion
• Disadvantages of groynes and rock revetment 


  South of Mappleton the rate of erosion has increased significantly .This is because material which is being carried south is not being replaced (it is trapped within the groynes).
• Management at Spurn Point


  Managed retreat/dune stabilisation
• Managed retreat/dune stabilisation advantages 


  This is a cheap management strategy that provides wildlife with good habitat.
• Managed retreat/dune stabilisation disadvantages 


  The spit could be damaged in big storms. This could lead to the spit being cut off from the mainland. Currently full time lifeboat men live on Spurn Point with their families. They could not stay here if this happened and the Humber estuary is one of the most dangerous esturies in Europe.