Holiday rental in East Riding Of Yorkshire – coast, nature and culture

East Riding Of Yorkshire combines the open North Sea coast with nature areas as well as country houses, churches and historic sites. Between chalk cliffs, mudflats and old buildings are places where landscape and history meet in particularly vivid ways. This gives you a wide range of experiences to plan around: the eventful history of Bridlington Priory, medieval interiors or traces of a centuries-old tradition in Flamborough.

Coast and nature

At RSPB Bempton Cliffs, around half a million seabirds gather to breed on the chalk cliffs above the North Sea between March and August. Travelling there on foot or by bicycle is recommended; bicycle racks are located in front of the visitor centre. Spurn Point is even more changeable: the constantly shifting peninsula is more than three miles long and only 50 metres wide in some places. It lies between the North Sea and the Humber Estuary.

Spurn is designated as a National Nature Reserve, is known for bird migration and is characterised by a mosaic of beaches, mudflats, salt marshes, dunes, grassland, open water and lagoons. The footpaths in Spurn National Nature Reserve are generally open at all times unless bad weather causes the area to close. There is also a visitor centre, birdwatching hides, toilets, refreshments and a charging station for electric cars. The Spurn lighthouse is also part of the coastal landscape: it was built in 1895, guided ships along the coast for more than 90 years and was decommissioned in 1985.

Flamborough Cliffs Nature Reserve is home to one of Europe’s most important seabird colonies. It has Heritage Coast, SAC, SSSI and SPA designations, and the King Charles III England Coast Path runs through the area. From the cliffs at Flamborough, sea views and good views of nesting puffins are possible from mid-May to mid-July. Danes Dyke also combines nature with traces of an older landscape: the area was designated as a Local Nature Reserve in 2002 because of its value for wildlife and its importance to the local community. An ancient bank-and-ditch system runs through Danes Dyke and gave the nature reserve its name.

History and architecture

The historic destinations of East Riding Of Yorkshire reflect different periods and architectural purposes. Burton Agnes Manor House has a rare and well-preserved Norman undercroft as well as a 15th-century roof within a medieval manor-house interior. Burton Agnes Hall, by contrast, combines Elizabethan and Jacobean architecture and has an art collection ranging from Old Masters to contemporary art. The gardens of Burton Agnes Hall contain thousands of plant species, a yew maze and large outdoor games.

Sledmere House has a symmetrical design, a grand façade and interiors with elegant furnishings and works of art, and was designed by Sir Robert Smirke. At the house, the Rare Breed Farm Park offers encounters with rare and endangered animal breeds as well as information about their care. Sewerby Hall is a Grade I listed building. Sewerby Hall and Gardens is set in 50 acres of early-19th-century parkland in a dramatic clifftop position with spectacular views across Bridlington. The zoo at Sewerby Hall includes penguins, donkeys, kusus and llamas, among other animals.

The churches and ruins also tell stories spanning long periods. Howden Minster includes elaborately decorated ruins of a 14th-century choir and chapter house, attached to a minster church with a cathedral-like appearance that is still in use. Bridlington Priory was founded in 1113 as a house of Augustinian canons. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries during the Reformation, most of the buildings of Bridlington Priory were destroyed; only the nave survived. Today’s Beverley Minster was built between 1220 and 1425 and offers tours called “Exploring Beverley Minster” and “Roof Tours”.

Near Rudston stands the largest single menhir in England. The Rudston Monolith dates from the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age. In Flamborough, the Flamborough Longsword Dancers perform a centuries-old sword dance in the village and on the headland every Boxing Day. The steps presumably represent the mending of fishing nets.

Special experiences

The landscape can be combined with specific activities in several places. At Danes Dyke, the 3-kilometre circular Tree Trail begins at the information board on the car park. At the Living Seas Events Centre, the programme includes family-friendly rock-pool safaris, activities about the geology of the cliffs and talks by wildlife experts.

The different places in the area offer further connections between coast, nature and culture: Wansford, South Cave, North Ferriby, Melbourne, Howden, Hessle, Goole, Brough, Bridlington, Beverley, Arnold, Walkintgon, Blacktoft, Hedon, Coniston, Carnaby.

Other places include Driffield, Cottingham, Aldbrough, Rowley, Nafferton, Brandesburton, Withernsea, Patrington, Pocklington, Rudston, Ulrome, Thwing, Skirpenbeck, Hull, Kirkburn, Hornsea.

For further discoveries nearby, there are also Flamborough, Barmston, Withernwick, Preston, Market Weighton, Swanland, North Newbald, Eastrington, Hutton Cranswick, Bubwith, Paull, Rise, Stamford Bridge, Skipsea, Boynton, Barmby Moor, Tickton, Beeford, Wold Newton and Everingham.

For the higher-level travel overview: Yorkshire And The Humber.