[3][4] The area around Thearne is primarily agricultural, low lying (less than 16 feet (5 m) above sea level), with extensive drainage.

[7] Flooding of the Beverley-Hull road led to orders for an improvement of the area's drainage in the 17th century.

[13] The ferry closed in August 1946 when the Windham Arms Public House at Wawne, from where it operated, was sold to Moors' and Robson's Brewery.

Their new tenant, Walter Twidale, reported that the ferry boat was no longer safe to use, as recorded by Ronald Dixon, the chairman of Woodmansey Parish Council, in the council minutes of December 1946.

[14][15][16] A waste water treatment works for Woodmansey and Thearne was constructed in the 1950s, north-east of the village.

[7] Glasshouse agriculture developed extensively around Wawne in the second half of the 20th century.