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Draft Desk Based Assessment ~ Introduction
Introduction
This document presents the results of an archaeological Desk-Based Assessment undertaken by Field Archaeology Specialists Ltd on behalf of Mike Griffiths and Associates for Tarmac Ltd. The area covered by the assessment (Figure 1), situated on the northern side of the River Ure, forms part of a rare prehistoric landscape in which lie the six henges of Thornborough, Nunwick, Hutton Moor and Cana Barn, as well as one or more cursus monuments, extensive concentrations of Bronze Age burials and other associated features. In the western part of this area, the monuments of Thornborough are situated on a plateau of river gravels which have long been exploited for mineral extraction. To the north of the monuments is Nosterfield which has been worked since the early 1990s.
This archaeological assessment forms part of a planning proposal to extend Nosterfield eastwards over a 40ha area to the east of Ladybridge previously known as Halfmile Plain. The detailed study of an area of 12.25km2 is designed to assess the immediate archaeological impact of the proposal, and a less detailed study of a broader area of 90km2 aims to assess the significance of the archaeological landscape and the impact of the proposed development on this landscape.
Figure 1. Location of study area
Location & Land Use
The landscape study area lies at the western edge of the Vale of York, centred on an area of fluvio-glacial gravels on the northern bank of the River Ure which flows towards Ripon some 7.5km to the southeast, and continues to its confluence with the River Swale near Boroughbridge. Along the southwestern edge of the area, the ground slopes gently down to the river on its course from West Tanfield on the 35m contour, past the deserted settlement of East Tanfield, and into an area known as Bell Flasks where the river’s course has changed over the centuries (Ordnance Survey 1856; Figure 2) leaving areas of bog and marsh as attested by the name. Still on the low-lying river plain further south lies the village of Nunwick and the Nunwick henge, although the land starts to rise again towards Hutton Conyers and Marton-le-Moor.
Figure 2. Map showing the landscape of the Nosterfield area. Click Detailed Study Area for enlargement.
On the western part of the area the land rises steeply onto a limestone ridge between West Tanfield and Well and reaches as high as 140m at Whitwell Hill to the north of Binsoe. The majority of the parishes of East and West Tanfield, around the Thornborough henges, are flat and low lying between the 40m and 45m contour, situated on a plain of glacial gravels. North of this, to the east of Well, is a limestone ridge capped with till which rises above the 50m contour in the area of Langwith and on the same ridge further east is Camp Hill Plantation which also overlooks the plain to the south. A ridge of gravel running north-south from Carthorpe to Kirklington has provided prominent points in the landscape which have been used for burial in the Early Medieval period (How Hill and Camp Hill) and possibly for fortification at other times. Other high points include areas of till such as Whitecross Hill to the south of Kirklington, Mill Hill, Upsland Hill and Chapel Hill which lies immediately to the east of the central and southern Thornborough henges. The southeastern part of the study area is sited around Hutton Moor which has an undulating surface over glacial till. Here, occasional outcrops in the underlying sandstone rise as high as the 70m contour, in particular around Blois Hill Farm, and like Blois Hill, many of these high points have been used as sites for Bronze Age burial mounds.
The majority of the land within the study area is used for arable cultivation, although there are many areas which appear to have always been badly drained. There are also several disused marl pits, limestone and sandstone quarries and gravel pits which do not appear to have been reclaimed for agriculture since the Post-Medieval period. More recent quarrying has resulted in the creation of the Nosterfield Nature Reserve to the northeast of West Tanfield. A large tract of land to the north of Nosterfield is currently being worked (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Location of historic, recent and proposed mineral extraction.
Geology (Map 1)
The western part of the landscape study area is located upon an outcrop of Magnesium Limestone (Permian) approximately 5-6 miles wide running in a north-south direction. This outcrop forms a ridge cut by the River Ure at West Tanfield and broadens out to include Well and Snape to the north. This area includes occasional head deposits, boulder clay and alluvial fan deposits around the village of Well. To the west the land rises up with deposits of till over an outcrop of Millstone Grit and to the east on the northern side of the River Ure is the low-lying plain of fluvio-glacial gravels on which are sited the prehistoric monuments of Thornborough. The River Ure has an uneven belt of alluvium along its route with a broad band of River Terrace deposits along its northeastern bank. These deposits stretch from the Bell Flasks area and broaden out from Norton Conyers to Nunwick, the site of another Neolithic monument.
Amidst the Fluvio-Glacial Terrace deposits are patches of glacial till around Thornborough, Upsland, Rushwood and Chapel Hill (which sits on an outcrop of Upper Magnesium Limestone). Alluvium and Fluvio-Glacial Terrace deposits are also present along the Stell, Upsland Stell, Norton Beck, Nunwick Beck and Healam Beck.
In the northern part of the study area are patchy outcrops of a ridge of esker, sands and gravels thrown up from the retreating glaciers. This ridge runs from immediately northeast of Sutton Howgrave to the east of Carthorpe and includes Camp Hill, How Hill, Scrogs Hill and Yamagarth. These areas have been exploited at various times for gravel as well as for their elevated position, such as for the aforementioned Early Medieval burials and for the house on Camp Hill.
To the north of Nosterfield, along either side of Ings Goit is a deposit of peat which broadens out into a patchy area to the west of Ladybridge (DBA 329). This area is known as the Flasks, meaning an area of pools or marsh (Ekwall 1960,181). Recent archaeological excavations suggest that the area contained a small lake in the early prehistoric period. Other areas of peat are found to the east of Ladybridge (DBA 330), around the moat of Upsland Farm, to the east and southeast of Castle Dykes along the Light Water and the Stell, in an area around the Wath Beck to the north of Wath, and in patches along the Healam Beck to the east of Camp Hill and on Marton Moor.
Along the line of the A1, and on most of the eastern part of the landscape study area including Kirklington, Melmerby, Hutton Moor and Marton-le-Moor, the geology is glacial till or boulder clay over sandstone of the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Group (British Geological Survey 1985, 1992).
Aims & Objectives
The assessment was carried out on two levels. A broad study of an area covering 90km2 of the landscape between the Rivers Swale and Ure aimed to place the known and potential sites and monuments in their archaeological and geographical context. This study also aimed to assess the significance of the landscape and the impact that the proposal may have on sites which have the potential to increase our understanding of these monuments and the organisation of the landscape in which they stand.
The more detailed study of the area of 12.25km2 around Nosterfield and the Thornborough henges aimed to assess the significance of the known and potential archaeological sites in the immediate area of the proposal and to assess the impact that further quarrying would have on the known monuments and their setting.