Skipsea meres

All the water from the meres has either drained away naturally, or been removed by human intervention, most notably for agricultural purposes.

[note 1][9] Many of these meres disappeared due to human intervention through drainage schemes to provide land for agriculture and grazing.

[16][17] All of the meres show the same strata laid down over thousands of years: lacustrine clays, Skipsea Till (silt), peat, and a topsoil most likely due to run-off earth from deforestation.

[18] During Medieval times, the various meres in Skipsea (and throughout Holderness), were an important source of food for those living around them.

[27] Archaeological investigations have located the remains of the timber harbour used by the castle to transfer goods from ships.

[28] Studies conducted on the pollen from Bail Mere have determined that the temperature in the immediate post-glacial age was about 2°C warmer than at present.

[37] The site of Skipsea Withow Mere is actively being eroded by the wave action of tides from the North Sea.

[38] Bones recovered from the eastern edge of Skipsea Withow Mere, have been determined to be of red deer (cervus elaphus) from the Mesolithic era.

The archaeological survey of the area considered the bones were not there due to natural death, but more likely cast into the mere after human predation.