On this page are reports, in reverse chronological order, on three guided walks that took place in 2022. To jump to any one report, click the relevant link:
Aug – Preston Moor
Jul – Maiden Castle, A66, Brough, Cumbria
May – Scots Dyke, two walks on sections between Stanwick St John and Richmond.
August – Preston Moor
At the beginning of August SWAAG had permission to explore some of the industrial archaeology on Preston Moor. It’s a fascinating but hazardous area, pockmarked by disused lead and coal workings. It has interesting fauna and flora too, including spring sandwort which has adapted to grow on the spoil heaps. Water-crowfoot, lesser spearwort, and more unusual cream field gentians were also spotted on the walk. The weather seemed to forget it was summer and after the lunch the skies fell, somewhat curtailing our visit to Cobscar smelt mill and the nearby chimney.
J.H.
July – Maiden Castle, A66, Brough, Cumbria
On Sunday 10th July, six members and two guests joined Judith and Alan Mills for the short walk to the Roman fortlet, Maiden Castle, perched up above the A66 overlooking the Eden Valley. John Nolan of the Northumberland Archaeology Group joined us; many members will remember John and his partner Jenny Vaughan helping us with the Big Dig. It was extremely useful to have John along; as a professional archaeologist he pointed out much which might otherwise have passed us by.
Having left Swaledale on a beautifully warm and sunny morning, about 18C, we were rather surprised to find that our meeting point and the fortlet was in low cloud, with a chilly wind, about 12C. Rummaging around in our cars we found sufficient kit to keep everyone warm although Alan ended up wearing an old bright yellow oilskin, kept in the car for emergencies.
The walk began by going up what looked suspiciously like a Roman road complete with what looked like an ‘agger’, ditches either side. Later, after seeing much evidence of quarrying up above, the consensus was that it was a more modern track to cart stone into the valley, possibly for walling or maybe for the nearby Stainmore railway line.
After a short climb up this track, onto the plateau, the actual Roman road is met running broadly east-west; this connected the Roman military strongholds of York and Carlisle. The A66 mainly follows the line of this road. Along the road are some small orthostats which might have been road markers of some sort, with any inscription long gone. Maiden Castle is about one kilometre north-west along the old Roman road although a detour was called for to avoid a rather boggy section. The fort comes into view sitting up above the Eden valley below.
Previous excavations of this now scheduled ancient monument show that it was occupied from at least the early 2nd C to the late 4th. On our visits, the archaeologists’ friends, aka rabbits, have uncovered Roman pottery in the area with small enclosures to the south-west (see plan above), possibly cultivation or maybe some house platforms. Previously we found a piece of grey-ware and part of a Crambeck ware mortarium and on this visit a piece of grey-ware pot rim.
Maiden Castle seems to be part of a network of Roman works, including the Roman road, the forts at Greta Bridge, Bowes and Brough, the marching camps at Rokeby Park, Rey Cross and Crackenthorpe, and a number of possible signal stations. It is very small, about 40 x 50 metres internally; perhaps just about enough to accommodate a ‘century’ of 80-100 soldiers. Perhaps a clue to its small size lies in a small flat area just outside the fort walls in the south-west corner. This might possibly have been the platform for a signal station. Maybe the fort was there to defend the signal stations in the area and react to any identified threats? We left Maiden Castle in bright warm sunshine, with perhaps more questions than when we arrived. Our thanks to Hilary Fawcett and Lesley Wolsey for taking the photographs.
Judith and Alan Mills July 2022
May – Scots Dyke, two walks on sections between Stanwick St John and Richmond
Following her talk in March, Jane Harrison led two walks to look at sections of the Scots Dyke. The dyke is a linear earthwork which today stretches 14 kilometres, from near Stanwick St. John in the north, to just south of the river Swale in Richmond. Over time the embankment has become lower and wider, and the ditch has filled with debris. In places it has been ploughed out completely. Some better-preserved sections remain in the grounds of St. Nicholas and near Whitefields Farm, where a deliberate gap appears to exist. These were visited on the walks.
The purpose of the dyke is unknown, but it probably served as a boundary, rather than as a defensive barrier. It still forms the eastern boundary of Richmond today. Who built it is conjecture, but the occupants of the oppidum at Stanwick might have had the necessary manpower and resources to complete this huge undertaking. There has only been limited excavation of the earthwork and one dating of the ditch suggests that it might have started to infill during the first century B.C.
J. H.
