Everything about The Wash totally explained
» For the 2001 film, see The Wash (film).
The Wash is the square-mouthed
estuary on the northwest margin of
East Anglia on the east coast of
England, where
Norfolk meets
Lincolnshire. It is among the largest estuaries in the
United Kingdom. It is fed by the Rivers
Witham,
Welland,
Nene and
Great Ouse.
Geography
The Wash shows as a large indentation in the coastline of the map of eastern England, separating the curved coast of
East Anglia from
Lincolnshire. It is formed by a large bay with three roughly straight sides meeting at right angles, each about 25 kilometres (15 miles) in length. The eastern coast of the Wash is entirely within
Norfolk, and extends from
Hunstanton in the north to the mouth of the
River Great Ouse at
King's Lynn in the south. The opposing coast, which is roughly parallel to the east coast, runs from
Gibraltar Point to the mouth of the
River Welland, all within Lincolnshire. The southern coast runs roughly northwest-southeast, connects these two river mouths, and is punctuated by the mouth of a third river, the
River Nene.
Inland from the Wash the land is flat, low-lying, and often marshy: these are
the Fens of
Lincolnshire,
Cambridgeshire and
Norfolk.
Owing to deposits of sediment and
land reclamation, the coastline of the Wash has altered markedly within historical times; several towns once on the coast of the Wash (notably King's Lynn) are now some distance inland. Much of the Wash itself is very shallow, with several large sandbanks—such as Breast Sand, Bulldog Sand, Roger Sand, and Old South Sand—exposed at low tide, especially along its south coast. For this reason, navigation in the Wash can be hazardous for boats. A
lightship marks the entrance to the Lynn Channel, the one safe channel from the
North Sea to the Wash's south coast.
Water temperature
The Wash varies enormously in water temperature throughout the year. Winter temperatures are brought near to freezing from the cold North Sea flows. Summer water temperatures can reach into the low 20s degrees C after prolonged high ambient air temperature and hot sunshine. This effect, which typically happens in the shallow areas around beaches, and often only in pockets of water, is exaggerated by the large, sheltered tidal reach.
Wash River
At the end of the
latest glaciation, and while the sea level remained lower than it's today, the rivers
Witham,
Welland,
Glen,
Nene, and
Great Ouse joined into a large river.
The deep valley off the Wash was formed, not by the interglacial river but by ice of the
Wolstonian and
Devensian glacials flowing southwards up the slope represented by the modern coast and forming
tunnel valleys of which the
Silver Pit
is one of many. It was this process which gave the Silver Pit its depth (the chart soundings are in metres) and narrowness. When the tunnel valley was free of ice and seawater, it was occupied by the river. This kept it free of sediment, unlike most of the tunnel valleys. Since the sea flooded it, the valley seems to have been kept open by tidal action. During the
Ipswichian interglacial, though the Wash river probably flowed by way of the site of the Silver Pit, the tunnel valley won't have been formed at this stage as its alignment seems inconsistent.
Wildlife
The Wash is a
Special Protection Area (SPA) under
European Union legislation. It is made up of very extensive
salt marshes, major intertidal banks of sand and mud, shallow waters and deep channels. The seawall at
Freiston has been breached in three places to increase the saltmarsh area, to provide an extra
habitat for
birds, particularly
waders, and also as a natural flood prevention measure. The extensive creeks in the salt marsh, and the vegetation that grows there, helps dissipate wave energy thus improving the protection afforded to land behind the saltmarsh. This last aspect is an example of the recently developing exploration of the possibilities of
sustainable coastal management by adopting
soft engineering techniques. The same scheme includes new
brackish lagoon habitat.
On the eastern side of the Wash, one finds low
chalk cliffs with their famous stratum of red chalk, at Hunstanton, and
gravel pits (lagoons) at
RSPB Snettisham, which are an important roost for waders at high tide. This SPA borders onto the North Norfolk Coast Special Protection Area.
To the northwest, the Wash extends to Gibraltar Point, another Special Protection Area.
The partially confined nature of the Wash habitats, combined with the ample tidal flows, allows
shellfish to breed, especially
shrimp,
cockles and
mussels. Some water birds, for example
Oystercatchers, feed on shellfish. It is also an important breeding area for
Common Terns, and a feeding area for
Marsh Harriers. Migrating birds, such as
geese,
ducks and wading birds, come to the Wash in huge numbers to spend the winter, with an average total of around 400,000 birds present at any one time. It has been estimated that around two million birds will use the Wash for feeding and roosting during their annual migrations.
The Wash is recognised as being Internationally Important for 17 species of bird. This includes
pink-footed goose, dark-bellied
brent goose,
shelduck,
pintail,
oystercatcher,
ringed plover,
grey plover,
golden plover,
lapwing,
knot,
sanderling,
dunlin,
black-tailed godwit,
bar-tailed godwit,
curlew,
redshank and
turnstone.
It was featured on the television programme
Seven Natural Wonders as one of the wonders of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
Historical incident
The most famous incident associated with the Wash is the loss of
King John's
royal treasure. According to contemporary reports, John travelled from
Spalding in Lincolnshire to
Bishop's Lynn, in Norfolk, was taken ill and decided to return. While he took the longer route by way of
Wisbech, he sent his baggage train, including his crown jewels, along the causeway and ford across the mouth of the Wellstream. This route was usable only on the lower part of the tide. The horse-drawn wagons moved too slowly for the incoming tide, and many were lost.
The present-day location of the accident is normally supposed to be somewhere near Sutton Bridge, on the
River Nene. The name of the river changed as a result of redirection of the
Great Ouse during the
seventeenth century, and Bishop's Lynn became King's Lynn as a result of
Henry VIII's rearrangement of the
English Church.
Astronomical study, however, permits a reconstruction of the tide tables of the relevant day and it seems most likely, given travel in the usual daylight hours, that the loss was incurred in crossing the
Welland estuary at
Fosdyke.
There is also a suspicion that John left his jewels in Lynn as security for a loan and arranged their "loss". This looks likely to be apocryphal. However that may be, he passed the following night, that of 12 to
13 October 1216, at
Swineshead Abbey, moved on to
Newark-on-Trent and died of his illness on
19 October.
Local traditions
Sailing from out of the South Lincolnshire Fens into The Wash (especially with respect to shell-fishing) is traditionally known locally as "Going Down Below".
Although still used today, the origin of the phrase is unknown, and is generally an oral tradition without documentary evidence.
Landmark
The
Boston Stump, a Lincolnshire landmark, can be clearly seen from the Norfolk side of the Wash.
Further Information
Get more info on 'The Wash'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://the_wash.totallyexplained.com">The Wash Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
