September | 2016 | The Journal Of Antiquities

September 26, 2016
by sunbright57 1 Comment

Steeling Hill Earthwork, Near Coniston Cold, North Yorkshire

Steeling Hill Enclosure, near Coniston Cold, North Yorks.

Steeling Hill Enclosure, near Coniston Cold (north-side).

OS grid reference: SD 8859 5515. A large earthwork or enclosure located on the crest of Steeling Hill above the A65 near Coniston Cold, North Yorkshire. This flat-topped hill on the opposite side of the lane from Kelber Farm was once the enclosure, settlement or camp of an ancient tribe, but unfortunately nothing much is known of its history. It was almost certainly a strategically placed encampment overlooking the valley below and in this sense it may have been a defensive site, although its low, almost non existent outer ditch, is barely visible today at ground level. At its centre there is a round-shaped feature but what this was is uncertain. It might actually be a more modern feature.

To reach the earthwork from the A65 just to the south of Coniston Cold: go along the farm track/footpath nearly opposite The Coniston Hotel towards Kelber farm for 240m, then on the right-hand side go through the gate and head up the grassy hill-side for 220m to a second gate. You can reach the site from here. There is, however, no proper designated footpath up to the hill; and so please remember to ‘fasten the gates’ behind you.

Steeling Hill Earthwork (viewed from the south)

Steeling Hill Earthwork (from the south-west).

This very large rectangular earthwork on the top of Steeling Hill covers a large area of the summit and measures roughly 280m x 138m (918 ft x 452 ft), whilst the smaller, circular feature in the middle measures 74m x 60m (242 ft x 196 ft). The inner part of the earthwork/enclosure is raised by a few feet above the outer ditch, if it was ‘ever’ meant to be a ditch, but at the S and E sides this is much less noticeable. And as to the circular, slightly raised feature at the centre, and its distinct ditch – could this have been an inner enclosure, or maybe a living area with a hearth? Or could this be a more recent feature?

So was this an Iron Age enclosure, or was it a Brigantian settlement?, or maybe something else; it looks to be an unlikely candidate for a Roman camp. Perhaps it was ‘a plain and simple animal enclosure’. But as ever there is a lack of any information regarding this earthwork, only the words ‘earthwork’ or ‘enclosure’ are mentioned on Ordnance Survey maps. There are though one or two other, similar, earthworks in this area, one in particular being near Cobers Laithe at Swinden, near Nappa.

Other related websites:-

http://www.kirkbymalham.info/KMI/malhamdale/speight.html

http://www.skiptoncastle.co.uk/history-of-craven.asp?page=17

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coniston_Cold

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2855812

September 19, 2016
by sunbright57 1 Comment

Lower Colgarth Hill Burial Mound, Near Bell Busk, North Yorkshire

Lower Colgarth Hill, near Bell Busk (burial mound)

OS grid reference:- SD 90489 57365. At the foot of Lower Colgarth Hill beside Carseylands road about halfway between Bell Busk and Airton, north Yorkshire, there is a large and prominent Bronze Age burial mound (tumulus), which is close to a footpath and a ruined barn called Allamire Laithe. The burial mound is also called a bowl barrow or round barrow in archaeological terms, although this one is more like a long barrow, due to its size. You will also notice, although quite faint at ground level, that there are ancient cultivation terraces in this field and those close by. From here you get a good view over the River Aire. From Carseylands Hill road, at the south-side of the ruined barn, go 48m up the footpath to where there is a small boulder in the opening of the wall, then via off to the south for 35m – and you will soon see the grassy mound in the field just ahead of you.

Lower Colgarth Hill, near Bell Busk (a large grassy burial mound).

Lower Colgarth Hill, near Bell Busk (and the large, grassy burial mound).

Lower Colgarth Hill near Bell Busk (the long-shaped burial mound)

Lower Colgarth Hill (and the long-shaped burial mound)

The burial mound (tumulus) here at the foot of Lower Colgarth Hill is rather oddly-shaped, especially at its SW side, where it may have been dug into at some point in the past, although originally it was almost certainly bowl-shaped or bowl barrow-shaped; at a distance it has the look of a long barrow because of this. It measures roughly 11m (36 ft) long and 5.6m (18 ft) wide and is about 5 feet high. This was probably the place where a chieftain or a high-ranking individual of a local tribe was buried – either in the late Neolithic or the Bronze Age. Maybe more than one individual was buried in the mound and, or, quite possibly other members of the chieftain’s family.

Lower Colgarth Hill (and the grassy mound).

However, nothing more seems to be known about the burial mound on Lower Colgarth Hill – which seems to have been overlooked by antiquarians of the past few centuries, although Harry Speight does mention some other ancient sites in Craven; and I don’t know whether the tumulus ‘here’ has ever been excavated. The cultivation terraces in the same field, and in other fields close by, are obviously very ancient. They are of a similar age, perhaps, to the ancient field systems in the Grassington area, which are considered to be Iron Age. Some cultivation terraces, however, are of a more recent age, probably Medieval?

Sources and related websites:-

http://www.kirkbymalham.info/KMI/malhamdale/speight.html

http://www.skiptoncastle.co.uk/history-of-craven.asp?page=17

http://www.docbrown.info/docspics/dales/dspage52.htm

September 11, 2016
by sunbright57 1 Comment

Cobers Laithe Earthwork, Swinden, Near Nappa, North Yorkshire

Cobers Laithe Earthwork, near Nappa (looking north-west).

Cobers Laithe Earthwork, south-side (looking north-west).

Cobers Laithe Earthwork, near Nappa (looking north-east).

Cobers Laithe Earthwork, south-side (looking north-east).

OS grid reference: SD 8669 5340. Sadly next-to-nothing is known about the oval-shaped earth-work or enclosure near to Cobers Laithe farm on Swinden Moor, which is also known as Swinden Earthwork and Swinden Roman Camp, just 1 mile east of Nappa, North Yorkshire. Was it a Roman camp, as a few have suggested, or was it perhaps a Brigantian settlement – at the time of the Roman invasion? Or was it a more typical Iron Age settlement or enclosure? We don’t know with any certainty. And also it is a bit of an odd sort of earthwork-enclosure as it is intersected through the middle by a stream, and there are a numble of circular pits (bell pits), especially at the N side. The earthwork lies on private land. It is located in a field close to Mill Lane at Swinden – between Bank Newton and Nappa, just 380m to the west of Swinden Moor Head farm. On the earthwork side of the lane Ash Tree Farm is about 530m up the fields to the east.

Cobers Laithe Earthwork, south-side (looking north-west).

Cobers Laithe Earthwork, south-side (looking east)

It is quite a large earthwork measuring roughly 107m x 87m and it used to have a smaller inner earthwork with a circular bank but this seems to have disappeared altogether, maybe due to farming and the stream. At the time of my visit the outer bank and ditch of the earthwork were deep in grass and reeds in several places, but despite that they are quite pronounced at the SE and SW sides. And at the N, NW and NE sides the bank and its associated ditch are still quite well-defined, and there is a possible entrance at the NW. But as to whether they were ramparts designed for warfare or security, we don’t know, but in my opinion I would think they were non-defensive.

Cobers Laithe Earthwork (the enclosure south-side). (the inner enclosure).

(The enclosure at the southern-side).

Cobers Laithe Earthwork (grassy bank and ditch)

The oval-shaped layout of the earthwork or camp does ‘not’ look particularly Roman to me. We know the Romans always built square-shaped fortifications. Although it could have been a ‘temporary’ Romano-British camp. However, there does not appear to have been much, if any, Roman activity in the area; and the theory that there was a temporary Roman fort or camp at Long Preston, in the field near St Mary’s church, seems to have all but died a death. In all probability the earthwork here at Swinden was a Brigantian camp, settlement, or enclosure. But another distinct possibility being that this was a more typical Romano-British farmstead.

Cobers Laithe Earthwork (southern-side grassy earthworks.

The relatively flat part of the earthwork, nearest the lane and fence, is on the south-side of the little stream while the northern and, by far the largest part of the earthwork, lies just beyond the stream and up the slight slope of the field beyond. But unfortunately the stream in between the two sections has made for some very muddy and boggy conditions, and so it is not easy to reach that ‘northern’ section unless you have wellies! Its quite obvious that the steam is a ‘more recent’ feature, having gouged out the channel through the centre of the ancient earthwork. To put it another way: the stream was not here when the earthwork was constructed. It was formed from a spring further up the field over hundreds of years, but certainly ‘not’ thousands of years.

The northern part of the earthwork is pock-marked by holes or depressions (bell pits) in the ground, which are probably the result of quarrying for coal a few hundred years or so back. This poor or cheap coal substitute being used by local farms. Some of the holes have now become ponds.

The Pastscape website has the site of an alleged Roman camp (monument no. 45530) about a ¼ of a mile to the north-west at Swinden (OS grid ref: SD 8617 5440), though this is perhaps an error? See the website link below.

Sources and related websites:-

Click on this Geograph link for a good photo of the enclosure on Swinden Moor:- http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2837370

http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=45530

http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=45517

http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=28080

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swinden

http://www.gisburn.org.uk/nappa/

http://www.longpreston.info/history/history.html

http://mapio.net/o/1975548/