222 HULL SCIENTIFIC AND FIELD NATURALISTS CLUB. 



It is, however, a necessary preliminary to such work 

 that the extent of these areas and their dates of enclosure 

 should be accurately determined. With this object, an 

 investigation was commenced some years ago, but was 

 ultimately laid aside, partly through pressure of other work, 

 and partly because of the difficulty of obtaining accurate 

 information on matters of recent history. I now have no 

 opportunity of pursuing the matter further, and therefore 

 wish to point out what seems to be wrong in our present 

 information, and where additional information is required. 

 It is to be regretted that the loose statements of earlier 

 writers should be continually repeated without criticism. 



The old Humber bank (ante 1750) extended from Paull 

 Holme to Thorneycrofts, and thence along the present 

 Keyingham drain by Saltagh, No Man's Friend, Ottringham 

 Clough, and Winestead Clough to Patrington Haven. From 

 Paull Holme to Thorneycrofts it can still be traced, and it is 

 marked for the greater part of its length on the Ordnance 

 Map of 1824. South of this, three main areas have been 

 reclaimed : Cherry Cob Sands, Saltagh Sand, and Sunk 

 Island. Cherry Cob Sands extend from the old bank 

 between Paull Holme and Thorneycrofts to the western 

 end of Sunk Island, and probably caused the warping 

 up of the latter ; its clough, which bears the date 1770, is 

 somewhat primitive, and consequently the ditches on this 

 area afford more salt-marsh and marine forms than those of 

 the later reclamations on Sunk Island. Saltagh Sand forms 

 a small triangle lying between the other two, with its apex 

 at Stone Creek. 



Much has been written about Sunk Island, but in no case 

 does the account seem correct. The different reclamations 

 may generally be identified by the present banks, roads, and 

 drains, though there is much confusion of these three on the 

 maps. The land enclosed previous to 1800 lies to the south 

 of the present church, and is readily identified. Mr. A. E. 

 Butterfield ("Naturalist," Nov., 1904) states that this was 

 1561 acres in 1744; Allen ("History of Yorkshire") quotes 

 a letter of 171 1, in which the area is estimated at near 2000 

 acres; Poulsen quotes a survey of 1764 as 1500 acres, and 

 another of 1774 of 1561 acres, and on the facts stated there 

 the last date seems correct. It should he possible, however, 

 to verify this from the surveys quoted by Poulson, and it 

 may be pointed out that no evidence as to the extent of the 

 enclosed land can be obtained from charts. 



More difficulty is felt in accepting the date 1800 for the 



