Mayhew, Peter J. orcid.org/0000-0002-7346-6560 (Cover date: August 2025) In search of the lost moors of the Vale of York. The Naturalist, 150 (1119). pp. 81-108. ISSN: 0028-0771
Abstract
Moors are as much a part of Yorkshire’s identity as its accents, terriers and whippets, puddings, cricket and tea. Probably the most commonly held vision of Yorkshire Moors is that of wind-swept, heather-clad uplands, which are still easy to find today. A minority of people may also envisage the boggy moors and wastes of the levels between Doncaster and the Humber. Few, hearing the term ‘Yorkshire Moors’ today, would associate them with the Vale of York. This great central lowland, with York city at its heart, divides the Pennine dales, in the west of the county, from the Yorkshire Wolds, Howardian Hills and North York Moors to the east, and drains and waters a great expanse of the land between the Humber and the Tees. Today there is very little land in the Vale that could be considered moor, but some small fragments of remaining semi-natural habitat and an abundance of place-names hint at a past when moor was a prominent feature of its landscape. In this article I go in search of the lost moors of the Vale of York, and ask: Where were they? What happened to them, and when?
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | Yorkshire Naturalists' Union 2025. |
Keywords: | landscape history, historical ecology, Yorkshire nature, moorland conservation, heathland conservation, wetland conservation, mire conservation |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Biology (York) |
Depositing User: | Dr Peter Mayhew |
Date Deposited: | 26 Sep 2025 12:11 |
Last Modified: | 26 Sep 2025 12:11 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Yorkshire Naturalists' Union |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:232274 |
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