After studying the Soils in Cumbria survey record IV (sheet NY14/15: Abbey Town) it was noted, by S. Garner, that the small settlement of Dryholme (a farm and biogas plant) was situated on a small hill on the Solway Plain, based upon distinctly different sedimentology. Given the suspected etymological roots of Dryholme, I decided to investigate.
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| Left: OS map of Dryholme and the surrounding area, right: LIDAR map of Dryholme and the surrounding area (accessed through LIDAR finder). |
Part 1: The sedimentology
Looking at the superficial deposits of the area, two deposits dominate. The majority is composed of silts, clay and fine grained sands with lenses of gravel that are interpreted as raised tidal flat deposits of Holocene age (BGS, 2021a). However, distributed as enclaves within these deposits, the Kilblane Sands and Gravel Formation outcrop which is a Devensian age deposit of sand and gravel, with cobbles and pebbles. These are interpreted as being glaciofluvial in their genesis (BGS, 2021b; Entwisle, 2007) and form small topographic rises above the tidal flat deposits that surround them.
The Kilblane Sand and Gravel Formation is restricted to the area currently occupied by the small rise of Dryholme, currently occupied by a small settlement, with a small exposure to the south: a sinuous ridge with the small settlement of Hayrigg. The distribution of these two superficial deposits is shown below.
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| Map of superficial deposits surrounding Dryholme. |
Part 2: The etymology
The term 'holme' or 'holm' is derived from the Middle English 'holm' from the Old Norse 'holmr'. The term 'holmr' independently refers to both "a (small) island" and "raised land, often surrounded by watercourses, ditches, marshland or the like (Fellows-Jensen, 2021). In a Cumberland context, some authors suggest that the term while originally referred to an island, later referred to an area of land higher than the surrounding plain and subject to isolation by floods according to Sedgefield (1955). It is worthy of note that a similar related English word 'holm' refers to "sea, ocean (and) wave", however the it is certain that the element 'holmr' in English and Scottish place names are of the Scandinavian origin (Fellows-Jensen, 2021).
In summary, the word 'holme' is can be currently used to refer to "small grassy islands of the Northern Isles and of islands in Scandinavia and in Scotland and the north of England a piece of flat low-lying ground by a river of stream sub-merged or surrounded in time of flood" (Fellows-Jensen, 2021). For a full discussion on the use of the word 'holme' see Fellows-Jensen (2021).
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| Photos of Dryholme and the surroundings. |
Also worthy of note is that the other nearby exposure of the Kilblane Sand and Gravel Formation is the sinuous ridge that now contains the the small settlement of Hayrigg. The word 'rigg' is considered to mean a ridge (as evident is rigg and furrow) suggesting that the settlement of Hayrigg literally means 'hay ridge'. It could be speculated that the best place to dry or grow a good hay crop would be the dry ridge above the marshy tidal flat deposits, and this gave rise to the name.
Conclusions:
In summary, the small topographic rise of Dryholme is formed of the Kilblane Sand and Gravel Formation which is surrounded by Holocene raised tidal flat deposits suggesting that the rise of Dryholme was at least periodically an island surrounded by tidal flats. This is evident in the sedimentology and suggested by the topography. Dryholme has its etymological roots in the Old Norse 'holmr' that currently refers to "small grassy islands of the Northern Isles and of islands in Scandinavia and in Scotland and the north of England of a piece of flat low-lying ground by a river of stream sub-merged or surrounded in time of flood" (Fellows-Jensen, 2021).
This demonstrates the link between the historical status of the once, at least periodically, 'dry island' and it's sedimentology and etymological roots.
References:
BGS. 2021a. Raised Tidal Flat Deposits of Holocene Age: The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units, viewed 24th September 2021, <https://webapps.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=RTFDF>.
BGS. 2021b. Kilblane Sand And Gravel Formation: The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units, viewed 24th September 2021, <https://webapps.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=KBSG>.
Fellows-Jensen G. 2021. Old Norse Place-Name Evidence in and around the coastal fringe of North Yorkshire. Part 3: Danish or Norwegian Origin; "on dalr and holmr in the place-names of Britain". viewed 24th September 2021, <http://www.ramsdale.org/dalr.htm>.
Sedgefield WJ. 1915. The place-names of Cumberland and Westmorland. Manchester University Press. Manchester.
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