Lake Pickering

Lake Pickering was an extensive proglacial lake of the Devensian glacial. It filled the Vale of Pickering between the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Wolds, when the (largely Scandinavian) ice blocked the drainage, which had flowed north-eastwards past the site of Filey towards the Northern North Sea basin. The lake surface rose until it overflowed southwards and cut an exit between the Howardian Hills and the Yorkshire Wolds at Kirkham Priory between Malton and Stamford Bridge, so creating the River Derwent. In modern times, as an artificial flood relief channel, much of the flow of the River Derwent (which drains a large area of the North York Moors) has been diverted, about 6 miles (10 km) upstream of West Ayton, before it reaches the plain of the Vale of Pickering, east into a new channel called the Sea Cut along a previously dry side valley (probably a glacial overflow channel) and into the existing Scalby Beck's course through Scalby, North Yorkshire to the North Sea. The idea of these lakes was first proposed in 1902, when Professor Percy Kendall of Leeds University published a paper detailing his theories. It has been suggested that lake Pickering was the largest inland lake in Britain at the end of the last Ice Age.

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1.6 km

Marishes

Marishes is a civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The parish has an area of some 2,960 acres (1,199 hectares), and is located between Malton and Pickering in the low-lying Vale of Pickering. Whilst the main occupation of the residents in the parish is agricultural in nature, the area is known for its onshore gas field. In 2015, the population of the parish was estimated to be 140.
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1.8 km

St Francis' Church, Low Marishes

St Francis' Church is a chapel of ease in Low Marishes, a village in North Yorkshire, in England. The church was constructed in 1861, as a chapel of ease to St Peter and St Paul's Church, Pickering. It is in the 13th-century Gothic style, with a prominent spire. Its designer is unknown, but the church claims that "the competence of its design suggests the work of a major architect". A porch was added in about 1870. The church was grade II listed in 1996. In 2004, it was discovered that the church had never received a licence for public worship. When one was granted, the church was dedicated to Saint Francis. The church is built of red brick, with dressings in blue brick and stone, and a slate roof. It consists of a nave and a chancel in one cell, and an added west porch. On the roof is a square wooden bell turret with an octagonal shingled spire. On the north and south walls are buttresses, and recessed pointed arches containing circular windows. Inside, there are a wooden chancel screen, altar, reredos, altar rail, octagonal pulpit and pews.
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2.1 km

Vale of Pickering

The Vale of Pickering is a low-lying flat area of land in North Yorkshire, England. It is drained by the River Derwent. The landscape is rural with scattered villages and small market towns. It has been inhabited continuously from the Mesolithic period. The present economy is largely agricultural with light industry and tourism playing an increasing role. It is defined by the Yorkshire Wolds escarpment to the south, the Corallian limestone foothills of the North York Moors to the north, the North Sea coast to the east and the Howardian Hills to the west.
2.4 km

Ryedale gas fields

The Ryedale gas fields, also known as the Vale of Pickering gas fields, comprise four onshore gas producing fields in North Yorkshire, United Kingdom. The fields were discovered between 1970 and 1991. From 1995 to 2019 the gas was used as fuel for the gas-turbine driven Knapton power station. Production of gas from the fields was suspended in 2020.