Geography of Lincolnshire

The ceremonial county of Lincolnshire is the second largest of the English counties and one that is predominantly agricultural in character. Despite its relatively large physical area, it has a comparatively small population. The unusually low population density that arises gives the county a very different character from the much more densely populated and urbanised counties of south-east and northern England, and is, in many ways, key to understanding the nature of the county.

Classification

For the purposed of a general geographical classification the county can be broken down into a number of sub-regions:

The Lincolnshire coast.
Lincolnshire Fens: a region of flat, marshy land that predominates in the southern and south-eastern areas of the county. Also included is the nearby industrial town of Scunthorpe, a once important steel producing town, but now somewhat in post-industrial decline.
The vale of the River Trent in the west of the county, bordering Nottinghamshire.
The Isle of Axholme in the north west.

The highest point of the county is just to the north of the village of Normanby le Wold, in the Lincolnshire Wolds north-east of Market Rasen. Marked by a trig point, it is 168m/551 ft high and is a Marilyn.

The Greenwich Meridian

The Greenwich Meridian runs through the county. It extends from the Humber Estuary between Cleethorpes and Humberston at ¹ and passes through Louth and Boston before leaving the county south of Gedney Hill at ¹.