Our Marine Heritage

The North Sea coastline and its history have over the years been a closely guarded secret, full of mystery, surprise and deprivation. Today we still find relics of the past within our marine environment, whether they take the form of shipwrecks lost to the North Seas harsh conditions, mammoth tusks found off the coast of Yorkshire reminding us that Dogger Bank was once a land footbridge for woolly mammoths or heavy cannon balls still found in trawl nets off the coast of Suffolk, reminding us of previous battles at sea.

Our history is evident along the entirety of the coastline, opening our eyes to the origin of where some of the current issues affecting marine life have stemmed from. Our local heritage has not only shaped our lives but our marine environment also. We should take note of past activities and use the knowledge we have learnt to carve out a better future for marine life.

Learn about some of the ways in which we have used our marine and coastal environment over the years by clicking on the links below:

• Secret caves and smugglers tales
• Tales of whales
• The 'roll' of a fisherman's wife
• Whether the weather be fine
• The heart of a Darling
• I saw tomato, you say tomatoe
• Grim findings
• The 'golden' catch
• Thou shall have a fishy
• A sea of sails