Lincolnshire Wolds The Wolds comprise a series of low hills and steep valleys underlain by calcareous (chalk and limestone) and sandstone rock, laid down in the Cretaceous period. The characteristic open valleys of the Wolds were created during the last ice age through the action of glaciation and meltwater.
Geographically, the Lincolnshire Wolds are a continuation of the Yorkshire Wolds which run up through the East Riding of Yorkshire, the Wolds as a whole having been bisected by the tremendous erosive power of the waters of the Humber.
The Lincolnshire Wolds can be divided into four distinct areas: the main area of chalk hills in the north, the north west scarp, an area of ridges and valleys in the south west, and the claylands in the south east. The Red Hill nature reserve near the village of Goulceby is notable for the unusual red colour of its soil and underlying chalk.
The Wolds are sparsely populated and have a deeply rural character.
The area has a fascinating history, with a strong Viking influence evident in many of the placenames. There are also an abundance of mediaeval 'lost villages': settlements abandoned due to changes in land use, soil exhaustion and disease.