Central Lincolnshire Research Articles

The Waithe Valley Through Time: 1. The Archaeology of the Valley and Excavation and Survey in the Hatcliffe Area (The Central Lincolnshire Wolds Research Project, vol. 2). By S. Willis and others. Pre-Construct Archaeology, London, 2019. Pp. 446, illus. Price £35. isbn 9781999615543.

The Waithe Valley Through Time: 1. The Archaeology of the Valley and Excavation and Survey in the Hatcliffe Area (The Central Lincolnshire Wolds Research Project, vol. 2). By S. Willis and others. Pre-Construct Archaeology, London, 2019. Pp. 446, illus. Price £35. isbn 9781999615543.

The Roman Roadside Settlement and Multi-Period Ritual Complex at Nettleton and Rothwell, Lincolnshire. The Central Lincolnshire Wolds Research Project Volume 1. By S. Willis. Steven Willis and Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd with the University of Kent, Kent, 2013. Pp. xx + 421, illus. 237. Price: £39.95. isbn9780956305497.

The Roman Roadside Settlement and Multi-Period Ritual Complex at Nettleton and Rothwell, Lincolnshire. The Central Lincolnshire Wolds Research Project Volume 1. By S. Willis. Steven Willis and Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd with the University of Kent, Kent, 2013. Pp. xx + 421, illus. 237. Price: £39.95. isbn9780956305497. - Volume 48

METAPOPULATION DYNAMICS IN CHANGING LANDSCAPES: A NEW SPATIALLY REALISTIC MODEL FOR FOREST PLANTS

In fragmented landscapes, habitat patches are often destroyed and created through time, though most metapopulation models treat patch networks as static. Here we present a generally applicable, modified version of Hanski's Incidence Function Model (IFM) that incorporates landscape dynamics (i.e., habitat patch turnover), and we parameterize the model with data on patch occupancy patterns for forest plants in central Lincolnshire, UK. The modified IFM provided a better, or equally good, fit to species' patch occupancy patterns than logistic regression. Estimated colonization and extinction rates, and the results of logistic regression analyses, varied significantly among species with different life history traits. For example, species with low seed production and predominantly short-distance seed dispersal showed lower rates of colonization and extinction and were more likely to show effects of patch age and connectivity on patch-level presence than species with the opposite set of traits. Model simulations demonstrate a profound negative influence of habitat turnover rate on metapopulation dynamics and persistence, particularly for slow-colonizing species. The incorporation of temporal habitat dynamics into the metapopulation paradigm will permit its application to organisms in a much wider range of real landscapes.

Open spaces as habitats for vascular ground flora species in the woods of central Lincolnshire, UK

The vascular flora of open space habitats was examined in 89 ancient woods and 273 recent secondary woods in Central Lincolnshire by means of whole-site species lists. 467 species were found in the ground vegetation of all 362 woods combined, of which the majority (60%) were strongly associated with open space habitats. Within individual woods, however, shade species generally constituted a majority of the total flora, and in several very small woods open space species were completely absent, but in large woods (>40 ha) open space species often outnumbered the shade species. Open space habitats within woods were not adequate substitutes for semi-natural grassland, heath and mire, for most of the rare and specialised species of these habitats were rarely or never found in woods. Nevertheless, woodland rides supported rich mixtures of grassland and edge species, many of which have been largely eliminated from the intensively farmed land around the woods. If new woods on farmland (i) are located close to existing woods and non-woodland semi-natural habitats, (ii) extend to at least 3ha and (iii) include some permanent open spaces, the individual woods may become diverse habitats, and they will make a significant contribution to regional biodiversity.

The subsurface correlation of the Lincolnshire Limestone Formation in Lincolnshire

The Lincolnshire Limestone Formation, although facies-complex, can be correlated throughout central Lincolnshire from outcrop, core and log information. The Lincolnshire Limestone Formation lithostratigraphic scheme, based originally on outcrop information only, can account for all the subsurface lithological variation seen in cores taken up to 30 km down-dip (east) from the outcrop. The correlation of two N-S (30 km) gamma-log strike sections and three N-S (30 km) lithological log strike sections is presented. Thickness variations of the Kirton Shale Member, a regional aquiclude, are also mapped. This lithostratigraphic scheme should be applicable to future core and log data from this important East Midlands aquifer.

The strontium isotopic composition and origin of burial cements in the Lincolnshire Limestone (Bajocian) of central Lincolnshire, England

ABSTRACTStrontium isotopic composition (87Sr/86Sr) of two petrographically, chemically and isotopically (δ18O and δ13C) distinct phases of burial calcites from the Lincolnshire Limestone are indistinguishable (0.70820± 26). The mean 87Sr/86Sr ratio of these phases is considerably more radiogenic than 87Sr/86Sr ratios of Bajocian marine waters (∼0.70725). Neither Bajocian marine waters nor meteoric waters buffered by host marine carbonate in the Limestone could have precipitated the burial spars. Radiogenic strontium may have been contributed from K‐feldspar dissolution and/or clay recrystallization, either within clastic portions of the Limestone itself, or from major clastic units adjacent to the Limestone. Alternatively, Palaeozoic marine waters or remobilized Palaeozoic marine carbonate and/or sulphate could have supplied the necessary radiogenic strontium.

Trace-element source and mobility during limestone burial diagenesis—an example from the Middle Jurassic of eastern England

Summary Two phases of burial calcite from the Lincolnshire Limestone (Bajocian) of central Lincolnshire have been analysed for their trace element (Fe, Mn, Mg, Sr) and strontium isotopic compositions. The earliest, non-ferroan, brightly luminescent phase has the following mean trace element concentrations: Fe- 919 ppm; Mn- 116 ppm: 3 1778 ppm; Sr- 327 ppm. The later, ferroan, dully luminescent phase has the following mean compositions: Fe- 3580 ppm; Mn- 225 ppm; Mg- 1400 ppm; Sr- 318 ppm. The strontium isotopic composition of the two phases is indistinguishable, with a mean 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratio of 0.70820. This value is considerably more radiogenic than host Bajocian marine carbonate ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr = 0.70725). The Fe and Mn of the burial calcites were sourced by iron and manganese oxyhydroxides associated with shales bounding (and internal to) the Lincolnshire Limestone. The relatively shallow maximum burial depths (550 m) and low temperatures (maximum of 42°C) attained by the formation in the area of study preclude major clay or sandstone diagenetic transformations as potential sources for Fe and Mn. These trace elements moved into the Limestone in solution via compaction driven cross-formational flow from bounding shale aquicludes. The Sr and Mg trace element components of the burial cements were derived from: (i) remobilized Bajocian marine carbonate, and (ii) remobilized Carboniferous marine carbonate. These sources satisfy the requirements of a linear Sr versus Mg relationship observed for the burial cements, that is, a constant Sr/Mg ratio with time, but highly variable absolute Sr and Mg contents. These sources also satisfy the near constant 87 Sr/ 86 Sr composition of the burial calcites. The burial hydrology required by the trace element budget above is a convective flow system with cross-formational elements as normal bleeder faults connecting the Carboniferous Limestone and the Lincolnshire Limestone. Additional compaction-driven flow occurred from bounding shale formations (chiefly the underlying Grantham Formation and to a lesser extent the Upper Estuarine ‘Series’) to the Lincolnshire Limestone. Up-dip flow within the fully confined Limestone provides an enformational limb to the convective system.

Historical Factors Affecting the Number and Distribution of Vascular Plant Species in the Woodlands of Central Lincolnshire

(1) The number of woodland vascular plant species in eighty-nine ancient woods and 273 recent woods in central Lincolnshire was recorded. Ancient woods were identified from historical and archaeological sources. (2) In both ancient and recent woods the number of species increased with area, probably because of a correlated increase in habitat diversity. (3) The number of species present in part of an ancient wood was not significantly different from the number present in whole ancient woods of equivalent area. (4) The number of species present in recently reduced ancient woods was not significantly different from the number present in ancient woods which were reduced to their present size long ago. This result was also obtained for 'ancient woodland species' and 'recent woodland species' (see (10) below) considered separately. (5) The number of species present in ancient woods was not related to the proportion of the area planted with conifers. (6) Ancient woods were significantly richer than isolated recent woods, i.e. those which have never had a physical contact with an ancient wood. This relationship is true for all but one part of the study area. (7) Recent woods which have had a physical contact with an ancient wood were significantly richer in species than isolated recent woods, and significantly poorer than ancient woods. (8) The number of species present in recent woods did not increase with age. This was tested in woods originating between 1600 and 1947. (9) In so far as it could be tested, the number of species present in recent woods was influenced by habitat diversity. Previous land use influenced which species were present, not how many. (10) Species varied in their bias to ancient or recent woods. Although ancient woods comprised only 25% of all sites (43% by area), sixty-two of the 174 species recorded had over 50% of their localities in ancient woods (= ancient woodland species) and forty-three species had less than 33% of their localities in ancient woods (= recent woodland species). (11) The bias of some species to ancient or recent woods varied from one part of the study area to another. (12) Recent woodland species tended to inhabit disturbed parts of ancient woods, whereas ancient woodland species tended to inhabit undisturbed parts. (13) The influence of isolation, habitat diversity and woodland history on the woodland flora is discussed. The implications of these findings for nature conservation are summarized.

Nature reserve selection strategies in the woodlands of Central Lincolnshire, England

Lists of woodland vascular plant species from 78 ancient woods in a study area situated in central Lincolnshire, England, were used to test the effectiveness of various strategies for selecting woodland nature reserves. Strategies in relation to a fixed area of reserves, fixed number of reserves, and response to opportunities were examined. No simple strategies were found which guaranteed the best results, but certain guidelines emerged which may improve the complex judgements which are unavoidable in practical conservation.

Pre-Devensian glaciation of Lincolnshire (eastern England) and adjacent areas

Recent work by several authors relating to older (pre-Devensian) glacial deposits in eastern England is evaluated. Different interpretations of till stratigraphy and lithology, pattern of ice flow, and age of the deposits render necessary an examination of the various methods and techniques employed. Perrin, Rose and Davies concentrated on till matrix analysis (Perrin et al., 1979), but their data and its spatial representation could be unduly influenced by sampling bias, and interpretation of their results weakened by failure both to acknowledge that North Sea ice followed several routes into eastern England and to appreciate the variety of materials that contributed to the tills. Field observations permit identification of several till facies and determination of distinctive assemblages of clasts of local rocks which in turn allow the inference of specific directions of ice flow. These, referable to the later phases of glaciation, are shown to be generally southward, in contrast to the massive movement of ice through the Wash gap and west and northwest over Lincolnshire claimed by Perrin et al. (1979). Such contrasting patterns might be reconciled if tills belong to different glaciations as claimed by some workers. However, an argument is presented for a Wolstonian age for the tills in Lincolnshire and around the Fenland, and is extended to consider the limit to which the Wolstonian ice sheet reached. Because general southerly flow of ice over Lincolnshire does not account for the transfer of north Lincolnshire rocks to the West Midlands, a dynamic model for the pattern of ice flow during the Wolstonian glaciation of eastern England is outlined. In this model the central mechanism comprises North Sea ice crossing the northern Lincolnshire Wolds, in force, to occupy central and northwest Lincolnshire and the lower Trent valley before being replaced and deflected southwest and south by the more powerful Vale of York ice, while coastal North Sea ice passed over the central Lincolnshire Wolds, the Wash gap and west Norfolk to reach the Brecklands and Cambridgeshire.

Historical Factors Affecting the Distribution of Mercurialis Perennis in Central Lincolnshire

(1) The distribution of Mercurialis perennis in central Lincolnshire is described and analysed mainly in terms of age and origin of the woods and hedges it inhabits. (2) The 154 separate populations are divided into: (a) 119 relict populations, in which Mercurialis could have survived on or near the present location throughout historical times; and (b) 35 colonizing populations, which have probably become established in recent centuries. (3) Survival of Mercurialis in individual ancient woods has not been affected by their area or isolation. Survival in wood-relict hedges may have been greater in those least isolated from ancient woods. (4) Colonization of secondary woods and planted hedges has been slow and mostly restricted to sites close to relict populations. Colonization of more isolated sites has been possible only in districts with freely-drained, alkaline soils. The rate of colonization into larger woods is not significantly faster than that into smaller woods. (5) The long-term history of Mercurialis in central Lincolnshire is reconstructed and the implications for nature conservation are discussed.

The Geomorphological Significance of the Wolstonian Glaciation of Eastern England

The Wolstonian Glaciation is a somewhat controversial event in the glacial history of eastern England, particularly in Norfolk. Facies changes in the older tills of Lincolnshire, consistent with the north-south outcrops of Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks on which they rest, betray ice movement from the north, a direction also to be inferred from the tills of central and west Norfolk. These tills are overlain by Ipswichian or later materials, and at two localities pre-Devensian tills are underlain by deposits incorporating fossils of supposed Hoxnian character. In East Anglia the Wolstonian limit is considered to lie broadly from Aylsham by Norwich toward Diss and Bury St Edmunds, east Norfolk and Suffolk remaining unglacierized. Wolstonian drifts collectively form a convenient datum by which landforms may be judged older or younger. Thus although erosion by Wolstonian ice created new surfaces in central Lincolnshire, the Fen basin, and the Vale of Belvoir, and probably breached a former drainage divide near Gainsborough, elsewhere either little-modified land surfaces are buried by drifts or younger landforms have developed after drift deposition. In other areas, the glacial impact appears minimal, and pre-Wolstonian landforms survive as part of the present land surface. The land surface of the Vale of Belvoir and surrounding areas contains just such a variety of features, and the Bain valley in the western Lincolnshire Wolds provides a measure ofpost-Wolstonian 'fluvial' erosion at the mean rate of about 3 3 tonnes/hectare/ year.

Field meeting on the Lincolnshire Limestone of Southern Lincolnshire and Leicestershire 19 September 1976

The report records the itinerary of a one day excursion to four localities (Greetham, Thistleton, Stainby, and Leadenham) where the Lincolnshire Limestone is exposed. The objectives of the meeting were to examine the sections in the light of recent research on the litho- and biostratigraphy of the formation and to demonstrate the contrasts between the Lower Lincolnshire Limestone sequences of south and central Lincolnshire. The proposed correlations are illustrated on detailed, measured sections.

A method for assessing woodland flora for conservation using indicator species

A method is proposed for assessing the flora of woodlands based on a simple count of a selected list of species. The species selected are those which (a) are especially associated with woodland conditions, and (b) exhibit a poor colonizing ability. The results of a study in central Lincolnshire are used to test the method and demonstrate its advantages. The practicability of the method for general application is discussed.

On the Glacial and Postglacial Structure of Lincolnshire and South-East Yorkshire

Abstract The features of Yorkshire and North-east Lincolnshire having distinctive characters from those of Central and South Lincolnshire, the authors describe the two areas separately. In the former, their coast-sections exhibit the Glacial clay separated into two portions: of these the lower, which they identify with the ordinary (or upper) Glacial clay of the South, contains abundant chalk débris; but the upper or purple portion (which was in places divided from the lower by sand and gravel beds) contains no chalk in the upper, and but little in the lower part of it, the place of the chalk being taken by fragments of Palæozoic rocks. The latter of these clays alone extends over the Wold-top at Speeton, and alone occupies the valley along the northern Wold-foot, and so away northwards to Scarborough and the Tees-mouth, from which the authors infer that the north of England did not subside beneath the glacial sea until after the south had been submerged. The so-called Bridlington “Crag” is shown to be an intercalated bed in this purple clay. Both these clays are shown to be denuded, and their denuded edges to be everywhere covered by a much thinner Boulder-clay, that of Hessle, which wraps Holderness like a cloth, extending to altitudes of 150 feet, and running down the east of Lincolnshire to the Fen-border. This Postglacial Boulder-clay of Hessle is again cut through, and in those places covered by posterior beds of gravel, one of which (at Hornsea) contains fluviatile shells. At Hull this clay supports a forest, which is now submerged 33 feet below the Humber,—the same submerged forest also occurring at Grimsby. The authors regard the position of the sea during the Postglacial period as having been principally on the west of the Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire Wold until the formation of the gravel-troughs cutting through the Hessle clay, and that its present position was connected with a recent westerly elevation and easterly depression. The Glacial clay of Central and South Lincolnshire belongs to the chalky portion, from which all the superior or purple part of the formation has been denuded; and the valleys of Central Lincolnshire are shown to be cut out of the Cretaceous series and Glacial clay as a common bed, the hills formed of the clay rising to elevations equal to the Wold in that part. The Glacial clay of both areas is shown to be denuded westwards, and the denuded edges occupied with sands and gravels termed by the authors denudation-beds.