What is the cause of these?

Sir loin

Member

Location

North Yorkshire

• Jul 8, 2022

• #1

Over the past 2 or 3 years these trenches ( 2 of them horizontal across a slight incline and 10 metres between them ) have started to appear in on of our permanent pastures they measure a metre wide and 4 to 5 metres long. they are about a foot deep and getting deeper every year by 3 or four inches. The grass is always lush in the bottom but never boggy and never soft if I jump on it feels very firm underfoot. The soil on the sides keeps falling in and we are not on gypsum that I know of so I have discounted sink holes. There are no drains or we have not drained the land anywhere near them . Any Ideas?

 

caveman

Member

Location

East Sussex.

• Jul 8, 2022

• #2

You say no drains, but could they be sunken, filled ditches from old field boundaries?

 

W

whatnow

Member

Location

Wiltshire

• Jul 8, 2022

• #3

Buried tree finally rotting? Last few years we’ve had holes appearing where elm trees were buried 30-40 years ago

 

E

egbert

Member

Livestock Farmer

• Jul 8, 2022

• #4

Are you on limestone?

 

puppet

Member

Livestock Farmer

Location

sw scotland

• Jul 8, 2022

• #5

Any old mines or underground streams? Not sure I would jump on the area too hard to find out.

 

CPF

Member

Arable Farmer

• Jul 8, 2022

• #6

Just be careful I would not be jumping up and down on it in that area . I would get a digger in to dig a cross-section out to see what I could find . Pictures from last year I posted.

 

le bon paysan

Member

Livestock Farmer

Location

Limousin, France

• Jul 8, 2022

• #7

I was wondering maybe a sinkhole.

 

Kevtherev

Member

✓

Location

Welshpool Powys

• Jul 8, 2022

• #8

Fault underneath in the rock moving?

 

R

renewablejohn

Member

Location

lancs

• Jul 8, 2022

• #9

Stone drains collapsing. All our stone drains are 11 yards apart they were measured using a chain (22yds) which you just dragged from one drain to the next with an end in each hand.

 

Dry Rot

Member

Livestock Farmer

Location

Scottish Highlands

• Jul 8, 2022

• #10

Iron age grain store?

 

P

primmiemoo

Member

Location

Devon

• Jul 8, 2022

• #11

Infestation of Wyrmes?

 

puppet

Member

Livestock Farmer

Location

sw scotland

• Jul 8, 2022

• #12

Are you near the sea?

 

Sir loin

Member

Location

North Yorkshire

• Jul 9, 2022

• #13

caveman said:

You say no drains, but could they be sunken, filled ditches from old field boundaries?

Click to expand...

They are only 4 or 5 metres long and no hint of it happening anywhere else in the field

egbert said:

Are you on limestone?

Click to expand...

Yes

renewablejohn said:

Stone drains collapsing. All our stone drains are 11 yards apart they were measured using a chain (22yds) which you just dragged from one drain to the next with an end in each hand.

Click to expand...

Very possible will have a dig next time we hire a 360 .

puppet said:

Are you near the sea?View attachment 1047918

Click to expand...

No

 

Northeastfarmer

Member

Location

Cleveland

• Jul 9, 2022

• #14

Get the digger in and relieve everyones curiosity

 

E

egbert

Member

Livestock Farmer

• Jul 9, 2022

• #15

isn't linear erosion within the limestone the cause of 'limestone pavement'?
Is that what's happening?

 

Sir loin

Member

Location

North Yorkshire

• Jul 9, 2022

• #16

Thats clints and grikes we are not high enough for that .

egbert said:

isn't linear erosion within the limestone the cause of 'limestone pavement'?
Is that what's happening?

Click to expand...

 

D

DanniAgro

Member

• Jul 9, 2022

• #17

One of the likely causes are old mines progressively collapsing - where there any in your area?

 

Lazy Sod

Member

Location

Warminster Wiltshire

• Jul 10, 2022

• #18

I had a 2 sink holes on my former farm once. One was about 8' across an 3' deep, the other was smaller. We had greens sand soil with a stoney subsoil overlying chalk, not a drain on the farm and not a mining area. I got in touch with a local farmer who was a very good diviner and his conclusion was that it was caused by underground water.

It was quite funny really as I got knock on my door at 7am one Sunday morning to find the stalker employed by the chap who rented the deer shooting. Accompanied by an obviously well heeled german they had driven their Daihatsu fourtrack straight into the hole and needed a pull out.

 

Last edited: Jul 10, 2022

Kiwi Pete

Member

Livestock Farmer

Location

Owaka, New Zealand

• Jul 10, 2022

• #19

It looks like what we call an "under-runner", where underground water erodes soil aggregates and a sinkhole can form.

often they're found in gullies, but not always!

 

Wood field

Member

Livestock Farmer

Location

South Pennines ol14

• Jul 10, 2022

• #20

We e a bit of ground that was mined for both coal and fire clay
So far we’ve had five depressions form.
One the length of a bus and a meter deep, but generally they are one or two meters in diameter
I contacted the coal authority and they have been brilliant
Engineer on site within hours the first time, he established it was coal and therefore had a team out to dig down, fill with clean stone and geo mesh then replace top soil
Other ones I just phone him and leave them to it .
May be worth the op finding if it’s been mined in the past