Yearsley Moor Archaeological Project 2009–2013 Over 4000 years of history 1 Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................. 3 List of Tables .................................................................................................................. 4 Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... 5 1. Preamble .................................................................................................................... 6 2. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 7 The wider climatic context ........................................................................................... 7 The wider human context ............................................................................................ 7 Previously recorded Historic Monuments for Yearsley Moor ....................................... 9 3. Individual Projects ..................................................................................................... 10 3a. Report of the results of the documentary research.............................................. 11 3b The barrows survey .............................................................................................. 28 3c Gilling deer park: the park pale survey ................................................................. 31 3d The Yearsley–Gilling boundary markers .............................................................. 40 3e Field walking at Temple Hill, Gilling East: analysis of finds .................................. 44 3f The bell pits survey ............................................................................................... 47 3g The quarries survey .............................................................................................. 52 3h Yearsley and its pottery industry .......................................................................... 55 3i The Yearsley mill ................................................................................................... 56 3j. The military impact from the early 1900s to the end of the Second World War .... 69 3k. Possible early settlement site in Gilling Park: report on aerial survey photos ...... 78 4. Closing comment ...................................................................................................... 80 Appendices ................................................................................................................... 81 Appendix 1 – Combined Monuments List, March 2013 ............................................. 82 References ................................................................................................................... 90 Cover photo courtesy of John Illingworth, Fiji Images. 2 List of Figures Figure 2.2 Continent of Eurasia .................................................................................................. 7 Figure 2.1 Extent of ice during the last ice age ........................................................................... 7 Figure 3.1 Location of barrows investigated a part of survey (March 2011) .............................. 29 Figure 3.3 Extract from the Ordnance Survey map 1856 .......................................................... 31 Figure 3.2 Jefferys ‘The County of York ................................................................................... 31 Figure 3.4 Possible south-west park pale ................................................................................. 32 Figure 3.5 Possible northern park pale ..................................................................................... 33 Figure 3.6 Possible pale to the south-east (SE 60456 75859) .................................................. 33 Figure 3.7 Proposed deer park pale ......................................................................................... 35 Figure 3.8 Breached dams ....................................................................................................... 37 Figure 3.9 Location map of boundary mark .............................................................................. 40 Figure 3.10 Boundary marker stone No.4 ................................................................................ 41 Figure 3.11 Stone with a double cross ..................................................................................... 42 Figure 3.12 BM Stone No. 8 ..................................................................................................... 42 Figure 3.13 A cross section of a bell pit mine ........................................................................... 48 Figure 3.14 One of a number of deep bell ................................................................................ 50 Figure 3.15 The Yearsley puzzle jug ........................................................................................ 55 Figure 3.16 Millstone ................................................................................................................ 56 Figure 3.17 Location of Mill and Pond ...................................................................................... 58 Figure 3.18 Mill, pond and track ............................................................................................... 59 Figure 3.19 Plan of Mill complex .............................................................................................. 59 Figure 3.20 The foundations of the mill .................................................................................... 60 Figure 3.21 The millstone ......................................................................................................... 61 Figure 3.22 The wheelpit and cogwheel pit .............................................................................. 61 Figure 3.23 Internal Wall of Watermill ...................................................................................... 62 Figure 3.24 Pottery Sherds ...................................................................................................... 62 Figure 3.25 Incised Stoneware................................................................................................. 63 Figure 3.26 Plan of pond and dam ........................................................................................... 64 Figure 3.27 Profile of pond, dam and cores .............................................................................. 65 Figure 3.28 Core 3 ................................................................................................................... 66 Figure 3.29 Aerial photograph showing possible crop marks ................................................... 78 Figure 3.30 Possible enclosure ................................................................................................ 78 Figure 3.31 Possible crop marks .............................................................................................. 79 3 List of Tables Table 3.1 List and site reference of barrows investigated as part of this survey ....................... 29 Table 3.2 Records of the possible park pale ............................................................................ 33 Table 3.3 Aerial photographs showing the possible park pale .................................................. 34 Table 3.4 Greystone Rigg bell pit locations .............................................................................. 50 Table 3.5 Calliger Rigg bell pit locations .................................................................................. 51 4 Acknowledgements Howardian Hills AONB (Paul Jackson, Liz Bassindale) Forestry Commission (Nick Short, Katie Thorn, Petra Young, John Harkness, Brian Walker) Ampleforth Abbey & College (David Read) North Yorkshire County Council (Linda Smith) English Heritage (Al Oswald, Yvonne Boutwood, Susan Harrison) Heritage Lottery Fund Natural England North York Moors National Park Authority Modern Apprentices, NYMNPA North Yorkshire County Records Office (Margaret Boustead and team) Michael Gubbins Luigi Signorelli The Borthwick Institute York University Library York Minster Library John Harrison Peter Morgan Nigel Copsy Jon Kenny Jane Young John Illingworth Mr and Mrs Walker Lynn Harrison Jonathan Newdick Imagemakers John Henderson David Roberts Nick Burrows John Illingworth James Carter Frances Mee 5 1. Preamble Yearsley Moor straddles the parishes of Yearsley and Gilling East in the Howardian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), North Yorkshire (centred on SE 592 755). This currently primarily wooded area has a wealth of archaeology and history spanning over 4000 years, from the Bronze Age to the present. In 2009 a group of volunteers started to look into this history through extensive field work and desk-based studies, checking whether existing records are still valid and rediscovering forgotten features. Eventually a number of project ideas crystallised into manageable categories, starting with the list of recorded monuments in the Yearsley Moor Archaeological Project (YMAP) area as held on the National Monuments Records database. The YMAP is part of the Lime and Ice Project,1 a five-year project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, with additional support from North York Moors National Parks Authority, Howardian Hills AONB, English Heritage, Natural England and the Forestry Commission.