Peggy's Field, South Otterington, North Yorkshire Heritage Assessment
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
PEGGY’S FIELD, SOUTH OTTERINGTON, NORTH YORKSHIRE HERITAGE ASSESSMENT JB Archaeology Ltd On behalf of Lavingham Planning Consultants Ltd July 2020 Peggy’s Field, South Otterington, North Yorkshire – Heritage Assessment ___________________________________________________________________________________ JB Archaeology Ltd Rosebank, Newby Wiske, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, DL7 9EX Tel: 01609 773764, Mobile: 07903 867160 Email: [email protected] Web: www.jbasarchaeology.co.uk Company Number 10299372 VAT Registration Number 247354789 ___________________________________________________________________________________ JB Archaeology Ltd on behalf of Lavingham Planning Consultants Ltd 2 Peggy’s Field, South Otterington, North Yorkshire – Heritage Assessment ___________________________________________________________________________________ Contents Summary 1.0 Introduction 5 2.0 Background 5 Location Geology and Soils Topography and Land Use 3.0 Methodology and Information Sources 6 4.0 Archaeological and Historical Background 7 Prehistoric Iron Age/Romano-British Early Medieval Medieval Post-medieval Historic Mapping 12 Historic Landscape Characterisation 14 Site Visit 15 Geophysical and Topographic Surveys 17 5.0 Discussion, Conclusions and Recommendations 18 Acknowledgements 18 References 18 Illustrations Front Cover. 1842 Tithe map showing Peggy’s Field, Plot 130 Figures Figure 1. Site Location Figure 2. Detailed Site Location (Lavenham Planning) Figure 3. Historic and Archaeological features within the study area Figure 4. 1842 Tithe map (NYCRO) Figure 5. 1857 6” 1st edition OS (National Library of Scotland) Figure 6. 1930 6” edition OS (National Library of Scotland) Figure 7. 1893 25” 1st edition OS (National Library of Scotland) Figure 8. Greyscale image of topographic data (Lyall) Plates Plate 1. General view of site, looking north-east Plate 2. General view of site, looking south Plate 3. Curved boundary with possible infilled ditch, looking west Plate 4. Field to south of irregular boundary, looking south-east ___________________________________________________________________________________ JB Archaeology Ltd on behalf of Lavingham Planning Consultants Ltd 3 Peggy’s Field, South Otterington, North Yorkshire – Heritage Assessment ___________________________________________________________________________________ PEGGY’S FIELD, SOUTH OTTERINGTON, NORTH YORKSHIRE HERITAGE ASSESSMENT Summary A heritage assessment was undertaken on an area of land known as Peggy’s Field in South Otterington, North Yorkshire (NGR SE37405 87404). The assessment recorded that the site lies to the south-west of the historic core of the medieval settlement with a number of features in the surrounding landscape showing the development of a medieval and post-medieval rural economy. The site itself contains the well-preserved remains of ridge and furrow cultivation which forms the junction between three fields. Two of the fields can be seen to contain broad ridge cultivation with the third field having narrow ridge cultivation. The narrow ridge field to the west is separated by what appears to be the remains of a hollow-way that ran out from the village into the surrounding fields. At the southern end of the potential hollow-way there is an area of generally level ground that could represent either the remains of platforms of unknown date or a more recent attempt at levelling of the ridge and furrow. Due to the well-preserved nature of the ridge and furrow, it is recommended that, in agreement the Principal Archaeologist NYCC, a programme of evaluation by trial trenching be undertaken to establish the extent and degree of survival of the ridge and furrow and potential platforms. The results of this would then be used to inform a final mitigation strategy, again in agreement with the Principal Archaeologist NYCC, for any potential development. ___________________________________________________________________________________ JB Archaeology Ltd on behalf of Lavingham Planning Consultants Ltd 4 Peggy’s Field, South Otterington, North Yorkshire – Heritage Assessment ___________________________________________________________________________________ PEGGY’S FIELD, SOUTH OTTERINGTON NORTH YORKSHIRE HERITAGE ASSESSMENT 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 This document presents the results of a heritage assessment on Peggy’s Field in South Otterington, North Yorkshire. This report has been produced JB Archaeology Ltd. (JBA Ltd) on behalf of Lavingham Planning Consultants Ltd. The research was undertaken between 17th and 24th July 2020. Based upon Ordnance Survey data with permission of Her Majesty’s Controller of Stationary Office Crown Copyright. JB Archaeology Ltd., Rosebank, Newby Wiske DL7 9EX. Licence Number 100048796 Figure 1. Site Location 2.0 BACKGROUND Location, Topography and Land-use 2.1 The area is part of the current draft housing site allocation for Hambleton District Council (HDC). The site is locally known as Peggy’s Field and lies in the southern half of the village on the western side of the A167. Peggy’s Field is surrounded by modern housing to the north, west and east with an open field to the south. The site has a public footpath running east-west along its southern boundary and is at a height of c.27m OD (NGR SE37405 87404) (Figures 1 & 2). The site is generally level but contains a series of pronounced earthworks and is currently used for grazing. The site is in South Otterington civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire. ___________________________________________________________________________________ JB Archaeology Ltd on behalf of Lavingham Planning Consultants Ltd 5 Peggy’s Field, South Otterington, North Yorkshire – Heritage Assessment ___________________________________________________________________________________ Geology and Soils 2.2 The underlying solid geology of the site is of the Mercia Mudstone Group of the Triassic Period. Overlying this, the quaternary geology is the Breighton Sand Formation which is glacial in origin (http://mapapps.bgs.ac.uk/geologyofbritain/home.html). The soil which has developed from these deposits is classified as the Escrick 2 association which is a deep, well drained, coarse loamy soil (Soil Survey of England and Wales, 1983). Figure 2. Detailed Site Location (Drawing David Hill) 3.0 METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION SOURCES 3.1 The principal aims of the heritage assessment were to: identify known archaeological and historic sites within the study area for the proposed development identify areas with the potential to contain any unrecorded archaeological remains propose management measures which could be implemented to avoid, reduce or remedy any potential adverse effects likely to occur during any works within the area of the proposed development (see accompanying Archaeological Assessment) 3.2 This report is based upon the review of readily available documentation relating to the site and its environs. A study area around the site extending to c.500m was used in order to gather the relevant data and to ascertain if there were any significant features/sites lying outside the site that may have an influence on any proposed development. The resulting sites identified within the study area are shown in Table 1 and Figure 3. To produce this report, research was undertaken at the North Yorkshire Historic Environment Record held by NYCC ___________________________________________________________________________________ JB Archaeology Ltd on behalf of Lavingham Planning Consultants Ltd 6 Peggy’s Field, South Otterington, North Yorkshire – Heritage Assessment ___________________________________________________________________________________ at Northallerton and the archives of the North Yorkshire County Record Office, Northallerton where historic maps were consulted. Further online research was undertaken to investigate the history of the area, including: the National Archives ‘Discovery’ online catalogue; the National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE) and the National Heritage List for England (NHLE). 3.3 The following data sources were researched for the assessments: North Yorkshire Historic Environment Record North Yorkshire, York and the Lower Tees Valley Historic Landscape Characterisation North Yorkshire County Record Office published and unpublished historical and archaeological studies cartographic sources (including historic Ordnance Survey maps) National Heritage List for England National Record of the Historic Environment 3.4 A walkover survey was undertaken on 20th July 2020 to determine the potential for unrecorded archaeological or historic sites within and adjacent to the area of the proposed development. 3.5 In addition, a combined geophysical and topographic survey was also undertaken on the 20th July 2020. A summary of the results of these surveys is discussed below and for details see Lyall, 2020. 3.6 All archaeological works were carried out in accordance with the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists Standard and Guidance for Historic Environment Desk-Based Assessments (2017). 4.0 ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 4.1 Archaeological and historic sites recorded within the study area are summarised in Table 1 below. The sites are identified by a site number, which is correlated with the North Yorkshire Historic Environment Record (HER) entries (MNY/ENY) where relevant. A central grid reference, suggested classification and a date are provided for each site, which are graded in archaeological significance as of 1 (national), 2 (regional) and 3