Flamborough Head (/ˈflæmbərə/) is apromontory, 8 miles (13 km) long on theYorkshire coast of England, between theFiley andBridlington bays of theNorth Sea. It is achalk headland, with sheer white cliffs. The cliff top has two standing lighthouse towers, the oldest dating from 1669 andFlamborough Head Lighthouse built in 1806. The older lighthouse was designated a Grade II*listed building in 1952 and is now recorded in theNational Heritage List for England, maintained byHistoric England.[1]The cliffs provide nesting sites for many thousands of seabirds, and are of international significance for their geology.
Flamborough Head has been designated aSpecial Area of Conservation (SAC) by the British Government'sJoint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC). (Special Areas of Conservation are strictly protected sites designated under theEuropean CommunityHabitats Directive, which requires the establishment of a European network of important high-quality conservation sites to make a significant contribution to conserving the 189 habitat types and 788 species identified in Annexes to this Directive.) Flamborough Outer Headland is an 83 hectares (210 acres)Local Nature Reserve.[2][3]Yorkshire Wildlife Trust manages the Flamborough Cliffs Nature Reserve, located on the headland.[4]
The cliffs at Flamborough Head are designated aSite of Special Scientific Interest for both geological and biological significance. First designated in 1952, the SSSI area extends from Sewerby round the headland to Reighton Sands.[5] The estimated 200,000 nesting seabirds, including one of only two mainland British gannetries,[6] are the most notable biological feature.[7]
The headland is the onlychalk sea cliff in the north. The coastline within the SSSI has strata from theupper Jurassic through to top of theCretaceous period, and the headland exhibits a complete sequence ofChalk Group North Sea Basin strata, dated from 100 to 70 million years ago. The various chalk deposits are known as the Ferriby, Welton, Burnham and Flamborough Chalk.[7] The dramatic white cliffs contrast with the low coast ofHolderness to the south, where the chalk is deeply buried and the glacialboulder clay above erodes very readily.[8] The chalk cliffs have a larger number and a wider range of cave habitats at Flamborough than at any other chalk site in Britain, the largest of which are known to extend for more than 50 metres from their entrance on the coast. There are alsostacks,natural arches andblowholes. The site is identified as being of international importance in theGeological Conservation Review.[7]
Seabirds such asnorthern gannets,kittiwakes andAtlantic puffins breed abundantly on the cliffs.[7]Bempton Cliffs, on the north side of the headland, has anRSPB reserve and visitor centre.[9]
The shooting of seabirds at Flamborough Head was condemned by ProfessorAlfred Newton in his 1868 speech to theBritish Association for the Advancement of Science. Local MPChristopher Sykes introduced theSea Birds Preservation Act 1869, the first Act to protect wild birds in the United Kingdom.[10] Shooting continued, with an 1886 edition ofThe Cornishman newspaper reporting the enormous flocks of sea birds are affording sport, with the fisherman killing the birds for selling totaxidermists; two boatmen were bagging a hundred birds daily.[11]
Because it projects into the sea, Flamborough Head attracts manymigrant birds in autumn, and is a key point for observing passing seabirds. When the wind is in the east, manybirders watch for seabirds from below thelighthouse, or later in the autumn comb thehedges andvalleys for landbird migrants. Flamborough Head has abird observatory.
A Franco-American squadron fought theBattle of Flamborough Head with a pair ofRoyal Navy frigates in theAmerican War of Independence on 23 September 1779. In the engagement,USSBonhomme Richard andPallas, withUSS Alliance, capturedHMS Serapis and HMhired armed shipCountess of Scarborough, the best-known incident of CaptainJohn Paul Jones's naval career. Thetoposcope at the lighthouse commemorates the 180th (1959) anniversary of the battle.
Danes Dyke is a 2-mile (3.2 km) long ditch that runs north to south isolating the seaward 5 square miles (13 km2) of the headland. The dyke and the steep cliffs make the enclosed territory and its two boat launching beaches, North and South Landings, easily defended. Despite its name, the dyke is prehistoric in origin, andBronze Agearrowheads were found when it was excavated byPitt-Rivers in 1879. It is aLocal Nature Reserve.[12][13]
On the north side of Flamborough Head lies Thornwick Bay, a bay with a rock beach surrounded by cliffs.[14] The second part of the nameThornwick comes from theOld Norse wordvík ('bay') (meaning that the modern nameThornwick Bay is tautologous). At the north side of the bay lies Thornwick Nebb, the final part of which comes from Old Norseneb ('promontory').[15][16]
A plaque at Thornwick Bay commemorates the 1952 loss of Robert Redhead, the bowman of theBridlington lifeboat, while attempting to rescue two girls, Joan Ellis and Gillian Fox, from drowning.[17]
Flamborough Head and the village ofFlamborough are the setting for the bookBill Takes the Helm byBetty Bowen.[18] In the book an American boy struggles to save his grandmother's house – in which he, his sister and grandmother are living – from destruction by the sea. He is also desperately trying to get used to England after the death of his mother, who requested in her will that he be sent there.
Flamborough Head was featured on the television programmeSeven Natural Wonders as one of the wonders ofYorkshire and briefly in the first series ofCoast.
Flamborough Head was featured in the finale of series 3 of theITV dramaScott & Bailey.
North Landing beach was used as a film location for the2016 re-make ofDad's Army.
During the evening of 23 August 2006, alightning bolt hit abuttress on the cliffs, sending 100 tonnes of rock into the sea.[19]
54°06′58″N0°04′59″W / 54.11599°N 0.08305°W /54.11599; -0.08305
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