| Humber | |
|---|---|
 Humber Bridge viewed from the south-east | |
  Mouth of the Humber | |
| Location | |
| Country | England |
| Counties | East Riding of Yorkshire,Lincolnshire |
| Cities | Kingston upon Hull |
| Towns | Brough,Grimsby,Immingham,Barton upon Humber,Cleethorpes |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Trent Falls |
| • coordinates | 53°42′03″N0°41′28″W / 53.7008°N 0.6911°W /53.7008; -0.6911 |
| Mouth | |
• location | North Sea, betweenSpurn Head |
• coordinates | 53°32′34″N0°05′32″E / 53.5427°N 0.0923°E /53.5427; 0.0923 |
| Length | 38.5 mi (62.0 km)[1] |
| Basin size | 24,240 km2 (9,360 sq mi)[1] |
| Discharge | |
| • location | freshwater inflow[1] |
| • average | 250 m3/s (8,800 cu ft/s)[1] |
| • maximum | 1,500 m3/s (53,000 cu ft/s)[1] |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | River Ouse,River Hull |
| • right | River Trent,River Ancholme,River Freshney |
| Designation | |
| Official name | Humber Estuary |
| Designated | 28 July 1994 |
| Reference no. | 663[2] |
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TheHumber/ˈhʌmbər/ is a largetidal estuary on the east coast ofNorthern England. It is formed atTrent Falls,Faxfleet, by the confluence of thetidal riversOuse andTrent. From there to theNorth Sea, it forms part of the boundary between theEast Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank andNorth Lincolnshire on the south bank. Also known as theRiver Humber, it is tidal its entire length.[3]
Below Trent Falls, the Humber passes the junction with theMarket Weighton Canal on the north shore, the confluence of theRiver Ancholme on the south shore; betweenNorth Ferriby andSouth Ferriby and under theHumber Bridge; betweenBarton-upon-Humber on the south bank andKingston upon Hull on the north bank (where theRiver Hull joins), then meets theNorth Sea betweenCleethorpes on the Lincolnshire side and the long and thin headland ofSpurn Head to the north.
Ports on the Humber include thePort of Hull, thePort of Grimsby and thePort of Immingham; there are lesser ports atNew Holland andNorth Killingholme Haven. The estuary is navigable for the largest of deep-sea vessels. Inland connections for smaller craft are extensive but handle only a quarter of the goods traffic handled in theThames.[4]
There are numerous theories for how thehydronym ofHumber is derived fromCeltic orPre-Celtic languages. For example, it may be aBrittonic formation containing-[a]mb-ṛ, a variant of the element*amb meaning "moisture", with the prefix*hu- meaning "good, well" (c.f.Welshhy-, inHywel, etc).[5]
The first element may also be*hū-, with connotations of "seethe, boil, soak", of which a variant forms the name of the adjoiningRiver Hull.[5]
The estuary appears in someLatin sources asAbus (A name used byEdmund Spenser inThe Faerie Queene). This is possibly a Latinisation of the Celtic formAber (Welsh for river mouth or estuary) but is erroneously given as a name for both the Humber andThe Ouse as one continuous watercourse.[6] BothAbus andAber may record an olderIndo-European word for water or river, (as in the 'Five Rivers' of thePunjab). An alternative derivation may be from the Latin verbabdo meaning "to hide, to conceal". The successive nameHumbre/Humbri/Umbri may continue the meaning via the Latin verbumbro also meaning "to cover with shadows".[7]
Although it is now anestuary its entire length, the Humber had a much longer freshwater course during theIce Age, extending acrossDoggerland, which is now submerged beneath theNorth Sea.[8]
The Humber features regularly in medieval British literature. In theWelsh Triads, the Humber is (together withthe Thames and theRiver Severn) one of the three principal rivers of Britain, and is continually mentioned throughout theBrut y Brenhinedd as a boundary between the southern kingdom (Lloegyr) and various northern kingdoms. InGeoffrey of Monmouth's 12th-century historically unreliable chronicle (Historia Regum Britanniae), the Humber is named for "Humber the Hun", an invader who drowned there during battle in the earliest days of the chronicle.
The Humber remained an important boundary throughout theAnglo-Saxon period, separatingNorthumbria from the southern kingdoms. The nameNorthumbria derives from theAnglo-SaxonNorðhymbre (plural) = "the people north of the Humber".[9]
The Humber is recorded with the abbreviationFl. Abi (The Abus river,Ancient Greek:Ἄβος) inPtolemy'sGeographia, discharging into the German Ocean (theNorth Sea) south ofOcelum Promontorium (Spurn Head). Ptolemy also gives theIron Age tribes of the area as theCoritani south of the Humber and theParisi to the north.[10][11]
In the 1719 novelRobinson Crusoe, Crusoe leaves England on a ship departing from The Humber.
On 23 August 1921, the BritishairshipR38 crashed into the estuary near Hull, killing 44 of the 49 crew on board.[12]
From 1974 to 1996, the areas now known as theEast Riding of Yorkshire,North Lincolnshire andNorth East Lincolnshire constituted the county ofHumberside. The Humber, from 1996, forms a boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire (to the north) and North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire, to the south.
TheHumber Forts were built in the mouth of the estuary for theFirst World War. Planned in 1914, their construction started in 1915 and they were not completed until 1919.[13][14] A coastal battery at Easington,Fort Goodwin orKilnsea Battery, faced the Bull Sands Fort.[15] They were also garrisoned during the Second World War, and were finally abandoned for military use in 1956.
Fort Paull is further upstream, a Napoleonic-era emplacement replaced in the early 20th century byStallingborough Battery oppositeSunk Island.[16]
TheHumber Bridge was the longest single-spansuspension bridge in the world from its construction in 1981 until 1998. It is now thetwelfth longest.
Before the bridge was built, a series ofpaddle steamers operated from theCorporation Pier railway station[17] at theVictoria Pier in Hull to therailway pier in New Holland. Steam ferries started in 1841, and in 1848 were purchased by theManchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. They, and their successors, ran the ferry until the bridge opened in 1981.[17] Railway passenger and car traffic continued to use the pier until the end of ferry operations.[18]
The line of the bridge is similar to an ancient ferry route fromHessle toBarton upon Humber, which is noted in theDomesday Book and in a charter of 1281. The ferry was recorded as still operating in 1856, into the railway era.[19] The Humber was then one mile (1.6 km) across.[20]
Graham Boanas, a Hull man, is believed to be the first man to succeed in wading across the Humber sinceancient Roman times. The feat in August 2005 was attempted to raise cash and awareness for the medical research charity,DebRA. He started his trek on the north bank atBrough; four hours later, he emerged on the south bank atWhitton. He is 6 feet 9 inches (2.06 m) tall and took advantage of a very low tide.[21] He replicated this achievement on the television programmeTop Gear (Series 10 Episode 6) when he beatJames May who drove anAlfa Romeo 159 around the inland part of the estuary in a race without using the Humber Bridge.
On Saturday 26 August 1911, Alice Maud Boyall became the first recorded woman to swim the Humber. Boyall, then aged 19 and living in Hull, was the Yorkshire swimming champion. She crossed the Humber from Hull to New Holland Pier swimming the distance in 50 minutes, 6 minutes slower than the existing men's record.[22]
Since 2011, Warners Health have organised the 'Warners Health Humber Charity Business Swim'. Twelve swimmers from companies across the Yorkshire region train and swim in an ellipse from the south bank to the north bank of the estuary under the Humber Bridge over a total distance of approximately1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km).[23] Since then, an organised group crossing at the Humber Bridge has become an annual event, with a small number of pre-selected swimmers crossing in a 'pod' which remains close together, in aid of Humber Rescue.[24]
In 2019, Hull-based competitive open water swimmer Richard Royal became the first person to attempt and complete a two-way swim across the estuary,[25] beginning and finishing at Hessle foreshore, with Barton on the south bank as the mid-way point, fulfilling the land-to-land criteria, covering a total of 4,085 m (4,467 yd). Royal holds the record for the fastest one-way swim across the Humber (35 minutes 11 seconds) and the fastest two-way swim (1 hour, 13 minutes, 46 seconds), certified by Guinness World Records and the World Open Water Swimming Association.[26] He raised over £900 for Humber Rescue, who provided safety support during the swim.
The Humber is home both to resident fish and those returning from the sea to their spawning grounds in Yorkshire,[27]Lincolnshire andDerbyshire.Salmon,sole,cod,eel,flounder,plaice,sprat,lamprey andsand goby have all been caught within the estuary.[28] It is also used by over-wintering birds,[29] is a good breeding ground forbitterns,marsh harriers,little terns andavocets,[30] and forms part of theSevern-Trent flyway, a route used bymigratory birds to crossGreat Britain.[31]
In 2019 theYorkshire Wildlife Trust and theUniversity of Hull re-introduced theriver oyster[which?] into the Humber after a sixty-year absence.[32]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Abus".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.The ancient ferry to Hessle, across the Humber, which is here about a mile broad, is appurtenant to the manor, which is vested in the crown...(entry for Barton-upon-Humber)
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