Late Prehistoric and Early Historic Landscapes on the Yorkshire Chalk 9781841715100, 9781407319919

Table of contents :
Front Cover
Title Page
Copyright
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
LIST OF FIGURES
CHAPTER ONE MULTIPLE LANDSCAPES
CHAPTER TWO CHALKSHIRE: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE YORKSHIRE WOLDS
CHAPTER THREE LINEAR EARTHWORKS AND THE LATE BRONZE AGE LANDSCAPE
CHAPTER FOUR PASTURES AND THE PAST: DEVELOPING LANDSCAPES OF THE IRON AGE AND ROMANO-BRITISH PERIOD
CHAPTER FIVE THE HISTORICAL LANDSCAPE OF TOWNSHIPS IN THE CENTRAL WOLDS
CHAPTER SIX THE WOLDS BEFORE DOMESDAY
CHAPTER SEVEN A PLACE FOR THE PAST
CHAPTER EIGHT FOREVER CHANGES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDIX ONE LOCAL DESCRIPTIONS OF WOLDS LINEARS
FIGURES

Citation preview

BAR  350  2003  FENTON-THOMAS  LATE PREHISTORIC AND EARLY HISTORIC LANDSCAPES ON THE YORKSHIRE CHALK

B A R

Late Prehistoric and Early Historic Landscapes on the Yorkshire Chalk

Chris Fenton-Thomas

BAR British Series 350 2003

Published in 2016 by BAR Publishing, Oxford BAR British Series 350 Late Prehistoric and Early Historic Landscapes on the Yorkshire Chalk © C Fenton-Thomas and the Publisher 2003 The author's moral rights under the 1988 UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act are hereby expressly asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be copied, reproduced, stored, sold, distributed, scanned, saved in any form of digital format or transmitted in any form digitally, without the written permission of the Publisher.

ISBN 9781841715100 paperback ISBN 9781407319919 e-format DOI https://doi.org/10.30861/9781841715100 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library BAR Publishing is the trading name of British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd. British Archaeological Reports was first incorporated in 1974 to publish the BAR Series, International and British. In 1992 Hadrian Books Ltd became part of the BAR group. This volume was originally published by Archaeopress in conjunction with British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd / Hadrian Books Ltd, the Series principal publisher, in 2003. This present volume is published by BAR Publishing, 2016.

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CONTENTS Acknowledgements....................................................................……………………….………….. 1 List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………….……… 2 1.Multiple Landscapes ……………………………………………………..……………………

10

2. Chalkshire: An Introduction to the Yorkshire Wolds …………….……….…………………

21

3. Linear Earthworks and the Late Bronze Age Landscape ………………..…………………..

32

4. Pastures and the Past: ……………………………..……………………..…………………. Developing Landscapes of the Iron Age and Romano-British period

48

5. Historical Landscape and Township Profiles ………………………………………………

75

6. The Wolds Before Domesday ………………………………….…………….…………….

93

7. A Place for the Past ………………………………………………..……..…………………

119

8. Forever Changes …………………………………………………..………..………………

131

Bibliography…………………………………………………………………….…………….

138

Appendix One: Local Descriptions of Wolds Linears …………………………….…………

146

The Figures ……………………………………………………………………………………

151

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This volume was originally a PhD thesis that was submitted to the University of Sheffield in June 1999. It was written and researched between 1990 and 1999 in Sheffield, South Wales and East Yorkshire. Some corrections and additions have been made since then. I am indebted to Andrew Fleming and Mark Edmonds who both acted as supervisors and provided endless inspiration, support and motivation throughout. The finished product has also benefited from comments by Rob Young and John Moreland, the two examiners. The RCHM kindly made available their aerial photographic plots, before publication and for this I am grateful to Cathy Stoertz and Rowan Whimster. Terry Manby was forthcoming with a wide variety of information and advice in the early stages. Hull Museum and the Sites and Monuments Record of Humberside Archaeology Unit (now Humber Archaeology), were helpful in allowing the consultation of their archives: Especially co-operative were Ed Dennison (SMR), Andrew Foxon and Brian Sitch (Hull Museum). Historical records were consulted at the following places: Brynmoor Jones Library, Hull University; Humberside County Record Office, Beverley; Yorkshire Archaeology Society Library, Leeds; Borthwick Institute, York. I am grateful to the staff of these institutions and especially for those historic maps, which I have reproduced and included in the text. Margaret Ehrenberg kindly made available unpublished information on her excavations at Fimber Westfield. The documentary records and information could only come to life through innumerable visits and field investigations on the Yorkshire Wolds. For access to sites and countrysides, which are often inaccessible to the public, I am grateful to many farmers and landowners in East Yorkshire. Principally these include the Sledmere Estate and their land agent, Mr. Tony Wilson; the Birdsall Estate; Lord Hotham and the Dalton Estate; John Scholes and family of Fimber Nab Farm and the tenants of Westfield Farm, Fimber. Thanks to the following for giving permission to use illustrations and aerial photographs: English Heritage, John Dent, Terry Manby, Colin Hayfield and Hodder and Stoughton publishers. Cynthia Thomas, paper engineer of Cardiff, produced the pen and ink drawings. A big thank you must go to all my friends and family for their unending support. My dad was particularly helpful in putting me up at Dalton when a good part of the original thesis was written. Thanks also to everyone else at the Universities of Sheffield and Durham who have helped over the years as well as those at Trinity College, Carmarthen and On-Site Archaeology, York. This is dedicated to the memory of my mum and to the future of my kids, Alex, Joshua and Max.

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LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Eastern Yorkshire: geomorphological regions (from Manby 1988) ………………………………….…...... 151

Figure 2: Water sources in the central Wolds study area ...................................…………………………………….. 152

Figure 3: Location of the study area ..................................................................…………………………………….

153

Figure 4: East Yorkshire: distribution of modern settlement ............…………................…………………………… 154

Figure 5: Photo: Fimber pond ............................................................................…………………………………….

155

Figure 6: Photo: Burdale pond looking west ......................................................…………………………………….

155

Figure 7: Photo: Dry valley at Warren Dale, Sledmere .......................................……………………………………. 156

Figure 8: Photo: Dry valley at Cob Dale, Millington ..........................................……………………………………. 156

Figure 9: Photo: Enclosure fields and soil marks, Fimber ...................................……………………………………. 157

Figure 10: Photo: Dewpond in dale bottom, Cow Dale, Sledmere ....................……………………………………... 157

Figure 11: East Yorkshire: towns surrounding the Wolds ..................................……………………………………. 158

Figure 12: The scenic drive north from Wetwang at Blealands Nook ……………………………………………….. 159

Figure 13: Dale bottom fence along Frendal Dale, Millington ............................……………………………………. 159

Figure 14: Private drive and rights of way at Huggate .....................................……………………………………… 160

Figure 15: Hawthorn hedge follows sinuous line, Hawold ...............................……………………………………… 160

Figure 16: Well known archaeological sites on the Wolds ..............................………………………………………. 161

Figure 17: Changes at enclosure to landscape around Fimber and Wetwang (from Harris 1969)…………………….. 162

Figure 18: East Yorkshire: distribution of parliamentary enclosure (from Harris 1969)………………………………. 163

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Figure 19: Reconstruction of medieval open fields in the townships of Fimber, Fridaythorpe and Wetwang (from Alison 1976) ………………………………………………………………………………………………….…

164

Figure 20: Mortimer and Cole: prominent East Yorkshire antiquarians (from Sheppard 1911)……………………….. 165

Figure 21: Central Wolds study area: villages and relief ..................................………………………………………..

166

Figure 22: Central Wolds: dry valleys and villages ..........................................………………………………………..

167

Figure 23: Photo: The dissected western Wolds at Burdale ............................………………………………………..

168

Figure 24: Photo: The eastern dip slope, looking south over Wetwang village .………………………………………. 168

Figure 25: Linear earthworks in Britain (from Bradley et al 1994) ..................………………………………………..

169

Figure 26: Photo: Earthworks at Fimber Westfield ........................................…………………………………………

170

Figure 27: Photo: soilmarks of linear earthwork north of Fimber village ..........……………………………………….. 170

Figure 28: Linear earthworks and villages in study area .................................…………………………………………. 171

Figure 29: Photo: multiple banks and ditches at Huggate Dykes, looking west …………………………………...…… 172

Figure 30: Photo: single linear at Cow Dale, Sledmere ..................................…… ………………………………..….. 172

Figure 31: Mortimer’s hollow-ways, sections (from Mortimer 1905) ...............…………………………………..…… 173

Figure 32: Linears and dry valleys in the Central Wolds study area ..................…………………………………..…… 174

Figure 33: Linears and dating in the central Wolds ..........................................…………………………………..……

175

Figure 34: Linears in central Wolds: Areas for detailed description ..................…………………………………..…… 176

Figure 35: Huggate Dykes and Greenwick linears and relief ............................………………………………..……… 177

Figure 36: Huggate Dykes earthworks, from OS 25” 1910 edition ..................……………………………………..…

178

Figure 37: Huggate Dykes, section drawing from Varley’s excavation (from Challis and Harding 1975)…………..…. 179

Figure 38: Horse and Holm Dales, linears and relief .......................................…………………………………..…..… 180

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Figure 39: Photo: looking east down Horse Dale ............................................………………………………..……… 181

Figure 40: Photo: linear along Warren Dale, looking east ................................……………………………………….. 181

Figure 41: Photo: Holm Dale, looking south ...................................................…………………………………….….. 182

Figure 42: Photo: Holm Dale head, looking south ...........................................……………………………………….. 182

Figure 43: Fridaythorpe: linears and relief .......................................................……………………………………….. 183

Figure 44: Fimber area: linears and relief ........................................................………………………………………... 184

Figure 45: Fimber Westfield, extract from OS 1910 25”................................………………………………………… 185

Figure 46: Fimber crossroads: extract from OS 1910 25”...............................………………………………………… 186

Figure 47: Fimber crossroads: section through earthworks (from Wiltshire 1862)……………………………………..187

Figure 48: Fimber crossroads: section through earthworks (from Mortimer 1905)……………………………………. .187

Figure 49: Photo: Fimber crossroads: field containing levelled earthworks......……………………………..………….188

Figure 50: Photo: Triplescore Dale and Bessingdale linears, looking southeast from above Fimber Grange....……..…188

Figure 51: Aerial photograph of Fimber crossroads, showing cropmarks of linears.(English Heritage)……………… 189

Figure 52: Middleham Dale: linears and relief.................................................……………………………………… 190

Figure 53: Sledmere Green Lane and Life Hill: linears and relief......................…………………………………..… 191

Figure 54: High Bitings, extract from OS 1910 25”.......................................…………………………………..…….. 192

Figure 55: Aerial photograph: cropmarks and Green Lane at High Bitings (English Heritage)…………………..…… 193

Figure 56: Sledmere Sykes monument: extract from OS 1910 25”...............………………………………….……… 194

Figure 57: Sykes monument linear: sections through earthwork (from Mortimer 1905)………………………….…….195

Figure 58: Sykes monument linear: Anglian cemetery aligned along ditch (from Mortimer 1905)……….………… 196

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Figure 59: Warren Dale: extract from OS 1910 25”...................................…………………………………………… 197

Figure 60: Aerial photograph: triple linears at head of Warren Dale (English Heritage)……………………………… 198

Figure 61: Great Wold Dyke and Cowlam: linears and relief..........................……………………………………….. 199

Figure 62: Cowlam DMV: extract from OS 1910 25”...................................………………………………………… 200

Figure 63: Linear incorporating barrow C76 at Aldro (from Mortimer 1905)………………………………………… 201

Figure 64: Linear incorporating barrow 127 at Vessey Pasture, Aldro (from Mortimer 1905)……………………….. 201

Figure 65: Linear incorporating barrow 256, Aldro (from Mortimer 1905)....………………………………………… 202

Figure 66: Linear incorporating barrow 88, Aldro (from Mortimer 1905)......………………………………………… 202

Figure 67: Trackways and dry valleys before the linears...............................…………………………………………. 203

Figure 68: Linears and water sources in central Wolds..................................…………………………………………. 204

Figure 69: East Yorkshire: Iron Age sites around the Wolds..........................………………………………………… 205

Figure 70: Wetwang Slack: plan of Iron Age cemetery (from Dent 1982)......………………………………………… 206

Figure 71: Wetwang Slack: Early Iron Age settlement (from Dent 1982).........………………………..……………

207

Figure 72: Garton Station: Iron Age and Anglian graves (from Stead 1991)...………………………………………

208

. Figure 73: Iron Age cemeteries and barrows in the northern Wolds........……………………………………………….209

Figure 74: Settlement studies in East Yorkshire.............................................…………………………………………. 210

Figure 75: Wetwang Slack: Excavation plan showing change from open to enclosed phase (from Dent 1983a)…..…..211

Figure 76: Wetwang Slack: Late Iron Age and RB enclosures (from Dent 1983b)…………………………………..... 212

Figure 77: Late Iron Age ladder sites and linear earthworks in the central Wolds………………………………………213

Figure 78: Aerial photographic plots of ladder sites (from Stoertz 1997)...............................………………………….214

Figure 79: East Yorkshire: Roman sites and Roman roads............................……………………………….………….215

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Figure 80: Cropmarks between Huggate and Elmswell (after RCHME)............…………………………….………….216

Figure 81: Cropmarks around Weaverthorpe and the Great Wold Dyke (after RCHME)………………………………217

Figure 82: Cropmarks around Green Lane and Wetwang (after RCHME)........………………………………………..218

Figure 83: Extract from Haynes map of 1744, around Huggate (YAS/95D15)..……………………………………….219

Figure 84: Extract from Jeffreys map of 1772, around Wetwang (DDX/16/335)………..……………………………..220 Figure 85: Warburton’s map of central Wolds, from the mid 18th century (DDSY/106/8).………………….…………221

Figure 86: East Yorkshire townships and study area...................................…………………………………..……….. 222

Figure 87: Townships of study area and reused linear earthworks....................……………………………….……….. 223

Figure 88: Study area townships and dry valleys......................................……………………………………………… 224

Figure 89: Key to township maps...................................................................…………………………………………. 225

Figure 90: Wetwang township.....................................................................…………………..………………………. 226

Figure 91: Wetwang Rakes, copy of map, 1760 (DDCV 179/22)......................……………………………………..… 227

Figure 92: Sledmere township.................................................................…………………………….………………... 228

Figure 93: Photo: Sykes monument...........................................................…………………………………………….. 229

Figure 94: Photo: Memorial plaque to Sir Tatton Sykes, Sledmere church........………………………………………..230

Figure 95: Aerial photograph: Sledmere Park (English Heritage).......................……………………………………….230

Figure 96: Huggate township..................................................................……………………………………………… 231

Figure 97: Fridaythorpe township............................................................……………………………………………… 232

Figure 98: Fimber and Towthorpe townships............................................………………………….…………………..233

Figure 99: Photo: Fimber Grange: ridge and furrow crossed by coach road....………………………….………………234

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Figure 100: Photo: Fimber church on an early Bronze Age barrow.............................…………………………………234

Figure 101: Cottam and Cowlam townships....................................................………………………………………… 235

Figure 102: Garton township.................................................................………………………………………………. 236

Figure 103: Warter township..................................................................………………………………………………. 237

Figure 104: North Dalton township.........................................................……………………………………………… 238

Figure 105: Tibthorpe township...............................................................…………………………………..………… 239

Figure 106: Bainton and Neswick townships...................................................………………………………………

240

Figure 107: Kirkburn, Eastburn and Southburn townships...............................……………………………………… 241

Figure 108: Driffield and Elmswell townships..................................................……………………………………… 242

Figure 109: Anglian burials in East Yorkshire..................................................……………………………………… 243

Figure 110: Central Wolds: Anglian archaeology.............................................……………………………………… 244

Figure 111: Driffield round barrow reused for Anglian inhumations (from Mortimer 1905)………………………… 245

Figure 112: Garton gatehouse: Anglian inhumations aligned along linear ditch (from Mortimer 1905)…………… 246

Figure 113: Wharram area: results of fieldwalking project (from Hayfield 1987)…………………………………… 247

Figure 114: East Yorkshire hundreds at Domesday Book..............................…………………………………………248

Figure 115: Villages linked with regions in the Middle Ages..........................……………………………………… 249

Figure 116: East Yorkshire and references to wold/wald in the Middle Ages..……………………………………… 250

Figure 117: East Yorkshire: Domesday estate centres and major chuches.......……………………………………… 251

Figure 118: Townships and relief in central Wolds.........................................……………………………………… 252

Figure 119: Townships and relief on the northern Wolds...............................…………………………………………253

Figure 120: Townships and pastures in central Wolds...................................………………………………………… 254

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Figure 121: Pastures and trackways in central Wolds....................................…………………………………………. 255

Figure 122: Howe names and areas of the open Wolds...................................………………………………………… 256

Figure 123: Early medieval Wolds: trackways and dry valleys........................……………………………………… 257

Figure 124: East Yorkshire: Early medieval trackways and pasture zones.......……………………………………… 258

Figure 125: Photo: Sledmere Green Lane looking southwest from Blealands Nook……………………………………259

Figure 126: Photo: The Green Lane at Holm Field farm, Fridaythorpe............…………………………………………260

Figure 127: Anglian burials and trackways and township boundaries..............……………………………………… 261

Figure 128: Early Old English place-names on the Wolds..............................………………………………………….262

Figure 129: Scandinavian habitative names on the Wolds................................…………………………………….…. 263

Figure 130: Place-names in tun, on the Wolds........................................……………………………………………….264

Figure 131: Scandinavian topographic names on the Wolds...........................……………………………………… 265

Figure 132: Craike Hill and Garton Station: multi-period monuments.............……………………………………… 266

Figure 133: Kemp Howe, Cowlam and Burrow......................................……………………………………………….267

Figure 134: Linear earthworks in the modern landscape around Fimber..........……………………………………… 268

Figure 135: Sledmere Green Lane in the modern landscape.....................………………………………………………269

Figure 136: The many phases of the Green Lane. ...........................................…………………………………………270

Figure 137: Table summarising the general phases of landscape development on the Wolds………………………

8

271

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today in this country, does not have immovable historical credentials (Shoard 1987). The cultural construction of contested landscapes has been discussed by Bender with regard to Stonehenge. She shows that competing claims to intellectual and spiritual ownership of this single ancient monument have become a symbol for wider social tensions and conflicts within modern British society (Bender 1993a). The historical aspect to these political debates about land and identity in the present are crucial. However, the movement to protect the British landscape is generally perceived as one concerned mainly with environmental conservation and not the preservation of the historical or archaeological heritage.

CHAPTER ONE MULTIPLE LANDSCAPES CONFLICT IN THE COUNTRYSIDE In 1999, the British government announced their commitment to a statutory right to roam over the more remote areas of the English and Welsh countryside. At the same time the Common Agricultural Policy was under serious review. This has often been seen as the root cause behind the massive changes in the British landscape since world war two. The character of the British countryside is changing through political decisions based on public will springing from the individual relationships between people and the landscape. These developments follow a period of crisis in the relationship between government policy and public opinion, with regard to the preservation and character of this countryside. Between the late 1980s and mid 1990s government-led development of this countryside, consisting mainly of road-building and open cast mining, was forcefully resisted by large numbers of people from a wide and varied constituency. The numerous scenes of protest and acts of opposition, which obstructed these developments did so not in the town hall or city office but at the front line amongst the digging machines and fallen trees. These situations highlighted how far people were prepared to go to protect the landscape. It was not only the beautiful views and aesthetics of the scenery that were going to be lost. The strength of feeling that stirred up this resistance seemed to appeal to a deep-rooted sense of attachment and belonging that was embodied in the spirit of the British landscape. The Union Jack flag appeared at many protest sites and sometimes it was subverted into the ‘Union Jill’ (a rainbow-coloured equivalent). The use of these symbols of patria reflected the fact that the protests had tapped into a form of grassroots patriotism. The issues at stake had little to do with party politics or nationalism but were symbolised by people’s veneration of the landscape around them. It demonstrated how important the landscape remains for the cultural identity of the inhabitant communities. It also showed that the identities drawn from it are often conflicting (Bender 1993a).

Crucial to this understanding is the acknowledgement that the British countryside is a product of millennia of historical development. The environment that we are seeking to protect is not a natural creation. Even the remote marginal lands of upland heath and moor are products of human history. This is not their natural state but the result of centuries of intensive clearance and cultivation during prehistory (Dimbleby 1962; Fowler 1983; Jones 1986). Likewise, the characteristic configurations of lanes, hedges, fields, villages, woods and meadows of the British countryside are creations of the longterm historical development of each specific local area (i.e. Hoskins 1988; Taylor 1983; Rackham 1994). It is crucial to appreciate the importance of history in moulding the particular character of the British landscape. This is important not only for historical insight, but as a means of situating the modern landscape in its proper place within time. Only then can we really appreciate what is at risk from development in the modern world. For these reasons, the practice of landscape history in its broadest sense has an important contribution to make towards debates on environmental conservation. The suggestions of the Celtic Energy mining company for instance to re-instate the ‘natural’ landscape at Cwmgwrach opencast in the Neath Valley, following several planned years of mining, were a response to local concerns about the preservation of wildlife and their habitats. The historical depth contained within this landscape however could never have been precisely restored or faithfully reconstructed. The modern landscape is the mutually created product of nature and human action. It can be used to symbolise social and cultural identity. It does not merely carry the imprint of humanity but portrays and structures its very character. Very often, the identities that derive from it are in conflict and in this way the cultural landscape can represent the wider social tensions of the nation.

The anti-road movement and its spin-offs, concerned with opencast mining and airport extensions, were always perceived as environmental campaigns. The historical credentials of the landscape however, did surface now and again as an important contribution to the conservation issue. Many comparisons were made between the tree-house dwellers and the Diggers movement of the years surrounding the English Civil War during the 1640s (Hill 1972;1983). In the years after 1649, several communities had set themselves up on common land in order to use its resources to provide for a self-sufficient community. The landscape was then being used as the symbolic vehicle for the social and political ideology held by Gerard Winstanley and others. Much was made of the archaeological sites, which were going to be lost to the new motorway at Twyford Down but the acknowledgement of the wider historical foundations of the landscape was not made often enough. At another level, the long struggle by ramblers for a right to roam has been based on the premise that landownership, of the kind that exists

CULTURAL LANDSCAPE Landscape is a useful term for historians and archaeologists. It catches all and has many meanings. It can be space, place, scenery and land. It can be present, future and past. It can be real, imagined, perceived or idealised. The key to understanding is not to argue about the meaning of the term but to accept its plurality. For Hoskins the English landscape was a countryside with history. The countryside was the scenic beauty appreciated and loved by his contemporaries. His landscape contained historical depth, not always obvious to the aesthetes who rambled alongside him down the leafy lanes. The historical landscape he reconstructs, “for all its apparent objectivity and foundation in the historical 10

Planned Countryside. The other half of England, Ancient Countryside, has a hedged and walled landscape dating from any of the forty centuries between the Bronze Age and Queen Anne. The fields sometimes bear traces of much earlier phases of planning, but in general they have the irregularity resulting from centuries of ‘do-it-yourself’ enclosure and piecemeal alteration. ” (Rackham 1994:9-10).

record....represents (his) way of seeing England” (Cosgrove 1984:13). It is a cultural and subjective construction. Margaret Drabble has written about literature and landscape and in doing so seems to prioritise its scenic qualities. She tries to identify this peculiarly modern sense of aesthetic voyeurism in past documentary works (1979). For Drabble, the prehistoric and even pre-Norman landscape was somewhere very different, a place of hard work and nature; in short, an environment in which farming practice was carried out to provide the basics of life. Hoskins’ view of the prehistoric landscape is similar to this. It is a functional overpowering back drop to human subsistence activities (1955;1988) and differs from the rich and familiar scenes of historical times featured in the chapters of his seminal work, The Making of the English Landscape.

The generalised differences in landscape character between areas of England are clear to see today and these differences are expressed in the many ways in which the countryside is experienced and inhabited. Whilst modern agricultural methods have intensified in some areas the distinctions have become even clearer; as fields are enlarged and whole landscapes are turned into agricultural factories. These processes have taken place most intensively in areas of planned countryside have thus exaggerated the distinction. Experiments in farming on an industrial scale are perhaps only possible in these areas because of the kinds of landscapes inherited by the twentieth century. The distribution of settlements, the patterns of landownership and the bareness of such areas produced through parliamentary enclosure has made it much easier for these radical dislocations to take place.

More recent geographical critiques have problematised these ways of seeing and interpreting landscape in the past. Cosgrove in particular has emphasised that landscapes are nothing without cultural meaning, “it incorporates far more than merely the visual and functional arrangement of natural and human phenomena which the discipline (geography) can identify, classify, map and analyse....landscape carries multiple layers of meaning.” (Cosgrove 1984:13). The important aspect of this view is that the landscape is culturally constructed and thus carries meanings that depend on the subjects who inhabit and experience it. This is something that may equally be applied to both present and the past so that the interpretation of past landscapes is constructed from the specific cultural standpoint of the historian or archaeologist. Andrew Fleming’s co-operative and collective social landscapes of Dartmoor and Swaledale (1988;1998) are starkly opposed to the hierarchical political landscapes of Renfrew’s prehistoric Wessex (1973) for example. These interpretations are linked in no small way to the different political views of these two individuals. The symbolic properties and subjective perspectives of the landscapes that we reconstruct should not be ignored. The modern landscape is laden with historical influences but it is also replete with cultural ones and its symbolic richness encapsulates the multiplicity of identities and experiences that characterise human society.

It may be easy to identify the distinction between ancient and planned countryside but it is very difficult to offer satisfactory historical explanations for the existence of the distinction. It is more deeply rooted than the enclosure movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth century and may go back beyond the middle ages (Williamson 1989; Williamson and Bellamy 1987). However there are problems inherent in these grand generalisations. Should we really be content with the coarse two-fold distinction, which divides the landscape of England neatly in two, prompting the simplification and reduction of the histories needed to explain its development? Should we uncritically accept that just as the roots of ancient countryside lie firmly in the distant past the planned countrysides of the Midlands and Eastern England are universally of more recent creation? If we are looking for explanations that lie behind these distinctions, we must have a clear understanding of the development of specific local areas. Without the closegrained understanding of the long-term development of individual regions it will not be possible to make sense of the general picture. Generalisations between ancient and planned countryside have been set up in the absence of any detailed long-term understanding of the regional landscapes in England. The distinction exists as an explanatory device, alternative to a regional picture, not as an accretion of a number of local insights, which would make the generalisation more meaningful. As Coones proposed, “The study of regions, past and present, not only serves to unite people and place but, by doing so, also penetrates near to the very heart of landscape.” (Coones 1985:10).

PLANNED AND ANCIENT COUNTRYSIDE Oliver Rackham has discussed in The History of the Countryside the distinction between two different kinds of landscape within modern England; that between Ancient and Planned Countryside. For instance, “ Herefordshire and Essex are lands of hamlets, of medieval farms in hollows of the hills, of lonely moats, in the clay lands, of immense mileages of little roads and holloways, of intricate maple, dogwood and spindle, of pollards and ancient trees. Cambridgeshire is a land of big villages, wide views, brick farmhouses in exposed positions, flimsy hawthorn hedges, ivied clumps of trees in corners of fields, few, busy roads, and above all of straight lines.

The historical foundations of the modern landscape are crucial to our perceptions and experiences of that landscape in the present. Consciously or not, the regional differences in historical development have created the regional diversity of the British countryside that so defines the cultural island. These histories have developed over very long periods and so in order to reconstruct the landscape in the past at any period we have to appreciate the long-term development that

The difference is not just the effect of natural variation in hills, soils and rainfall. A simple explanation is that, in Cambridgeshire, as in most of the English Midlands, hedged fields are derived from the Enclosure Acts of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, before which the land had been farmed in great open prairie-farming fields. ....This is 11

boundary for instance may be reused several times in very different agrarian regimes. Equally its survival may reflect a direct ancestral inheritance within a long line of farming generations. However, such assumptions will never be completely jettisoned until the weight of the findings of long term regionally based landscape studies tip the balance further. There is no doubt that generalised cultural and political changes occur but it would be wrong to assume their presence is ubiquitously felt, at every level of society and in every aspect of life. The balance between change and continuity must be struck.

precedes and follows. It is perhaps at the level of the region that this long-term study is best focused. We will return to the concept of historical regionallity and the pays in chapter two.

BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS If we consider the ways in which landscape history has been conducted in Britain it soon becomes clear that long-term regional studies, whose aim is to map out the historical foundations of the modern landscape, are rare. The problem lies mainly with the academic barriers that have been thrown up between disciplines, approaches to the past and areas of specialism and periods of study. The need to break down many of these barriers has been recognised by Coones with regard to landscape studies:

We will consider a number of ways in which archaeologists, historians, geographers and anthropologists have approached the problem of landscape and in particular the reconstruction of landscapes in the past. In doing so it will be important to identify and illustrate some of the problems we have already introduced in more detail. This will provide support for the methodology of long term, regional, multi-disciplinary landscape investigation.

“Academic specialists...narrow the field, emphasise particular features of interest, and are often over-eager to identify their favourite factor as the central one in a particular instance.”(Coones 1985:6). “...the call is for a breadth of view which will serve to reap the greatest rewards from such work, rather than compartmentalising it by means of barriers created through differences of philosophy, methodology, technique, topic, period, materials, district, scale, and not least by the sometimes striking contrasts which are apparent in the personal backgrounds, outlooks, working habits and characters of the segregated groups of people involved.” (ibid:5).

HISTORICAL APPROACHES The conception of landscape studies lay with historians and historical geographers who sought to extend a documentary investigation outside and into the field. Historians writing a century ago had laid the foundations for more detailed work by paying attention to everyday agrarian practice in the middle ages and its links to feudalism (Maitland 1897; Seebholm 1890). This concern with farming techniques and settlement was easily translated into actual fieldwork and led to the specific investigation of the history of the landscape. W.G.Hoskins, Maurice Beresford and HPR Finberg were all working in the period immediately following world war two. They appreciated the importance of situating their documentary-based findings in the actual landscape to which the historical records pertained. The delineation of AngloSaxon estate boundaries recorded and described in the charters of the tenth and eleventh century could come to life if their lines were to be traced on the ground; preserved in the course of lanes, hedges and walls, now followed by parish boundaries. In some cases their course may have been marked by a low bank and through the discovery of such features the disciplinary chasm between history and archaeology was slowly being crossed.

This compartmentalisation is borne out of academic disciplinary history, where by research priorities are contained within the intellectual remit of university departments confined by the perception of their own subject. It is easier for historians to talk to each other than for them to share their ideas and problems with archaeologists (and vice versa). This extends of course to the nature of the evidence itself and personal training in methods of empirical investigation. Archaeologists can be reluctant to grapple with historical sources. In recent decades the practice of landscape studies in the historical period has actually witnessed a crosspollination of ideas and techniques between archaeologists and historians (Aston 1985). More divisive barriers may exist between period specialisms. For example it is often assumed that the character of the prehistoric landscape has little place in the construction of the landscape for the medieval period for that same area or region. The two periods are then studied and dealt with separately, by different people and with different objectives and theoretical approaches. The methodological, empirical motives that lie behind such a distinction are likely to be an excuse rather than a reason. There is often a sub-conscious assumption that there exists a fault line between the prehistoric and the historical landscape, across which there is little connection. This idea is borne out of the very traditional view of the history of Britain, characterised by invasions and population replacements, whereby the Roman conquest and Anglo-Saxon settlement represent severe ruptures in the structure of the agrarian landscape. Much recent landscapebased work has identified continuities that extend for very long periods and traverse these traditional chronological divisions (Fowler 1975; Williamson 1987; Taylor 1983; Bonney 1976; Hayfield 1987). These long term connections are often fairly shallow illustrations and do not go far enough in explaining the character of the continuity. A surviving field

“The villages have undergone great changes in appearance since they were founded by the Anglo-Saxons, but there is at least one feature in the countryside which is of Saxon origin and often remains more or less intact. I refer to the boundary banks of large Anglo-Saxon estates, which one learns to recognise by laboriously tracing the points named in the surviving charters. This exercise gives one a truer and more detailed knowledge of the English countryside than any other pursuit, not excluding fox-hunting (!). By the time one has scrambled over hedges, leapt across boggy streams in deep woods, traversed narrow green lanes all but blocked with brambles and the luxuriant growth of wet summers, not to mention walked along high airy ridges on a day of tumultuous blue-and-white skies with magnificent views of deep country all round-by the time one has done this, armed with a copy of a Saxon charter and the 2 ½ inch maps, the topography of some few miles of the English landscape is indelibly printed on the mind and heart.” (Hoskins 1955:6612

prelude to the historical period and a time, which has left little lasting trace on the modern landscape. In The Making of the English Landscape, the chapter preceding the English Settlement reads like a description of the environmental background.

7). Here is the true spirit of Hoskins’ endeavour, upon which rests much of the subsequent popular and academic interest in landscape history. It is a celebration of the countryside and everything it stood for to the British people in that immediate post-war decade. Scenic appreciation is inextricably mixed up with historical investigation in a way also appreciated by Andrew Fleming writing in his recent book on the history of the Swaledale landscape, “This landscape has been created by past generations of Swaledale people, and in appreciating the dale’s beauty, we are celebrating its history.” (1998:1). For Hoskins and his followers this appreciation and celebration reached an almost religious fervour. A similar feeling of celebration for the aesthetic beauty and historical depth and mystery of the landscape was felt much earlier by Alfred Watkins who also realised that the two were inextricably linked (1925).

“Much, then, of the work of taming and shaping the landscape by the hungry generations from the Belgae onwards had been lost in the weeds, scrub and ruins by the time the Anglo-Saxon colonists had arrived. The work had to begin all over again.....The great majority of the English settlers faced a virgin country.....” (Hoskins 1955:44). Such a view appears particularly extreme today and admittedly the revised editions of his book make it clear that scholarship has moved on significantly since he wrote this (Hoskins 1988). Nonetheless these revisions are carried out in the form of additional text annotated to the original by Christopher Taylor. The original has endured as an icon of landscape appreciation and enquiry and despite its anachronisms remains intact and in print.

“The outdoor man, away on a cross-country tramp, taking in the uplands, lingering over his midday sandwich on the earthwork of some hilltop camp, will look all round ‘to get the lay of the land’. He will first pick out the hill points: this one bare to the top, another marked by a clump of trees, or less frequently by a single one. Sometimes one or more mounds or tumuli will stand out as pimples on a hill ridge against the sky line and he will remember similar ones which he has passed on his valley route, perhaps belted by a watermoat, built for a purpose so obscure that no one had yet explained it” (Watkins 1925).

In many cases the historical bias of landscape studies remains and there are still landscape historians who perceive the prehistoric phases of development as less than formative; a prelude to the real story. Alan Everitt for instance describes the overall aims of his book on Kentish landscape as follows, “It is not about the Romano-British period itself or about the ultimate origins of Kentish settlement in the Iron Age or Bronze Age since those are matters for the Archaeologist.” (Everitt 1986). If they have an influence on later configuration and character of the Kentish landscape then the form of prehistoric settlement should surely also be a matter for Alan Everitt.

In many ways it is this feeling of reverence and mystery towards the landscape that is often missing from many archaeological studies. These have been too quick to emphasise the landscape simply as land to be exploited and farmed.

Now and again a detailed landscape study rooted in the rigour of documentary analysis has presumed to offer suggestive glances back toward the dimness of the earlier, prehistoric periods. Invariably these attempts have suffered because of the lack of attention or respect paid to the archaeological evidence. Glanville Jones for instance offers a Romano-British or even Iron Age origin for his early medieval multiple estates in West Yorkshire, based simply on the location of hill-forts and Roman towns (1976). This was carried out without the slightest acknowledgement of the social or political conditions of the earlier times, nor any detailed analysis of the archaeological evidence. It remains highly speculative when a more detailed informed and thorough multi-disciplinary study could have added significant value to his suggestions for the origins of the early medieval territorial structure. In Roman and Saxon Withington, Finberg carried out a similar study in the origins of an early medieval ecclesiastical estate in Cheshire (Finberg 1955). He argued that the original land holding formed the estates belonging to two adjacent Romano-British villas. For its time this study stands proud as an example of the successful interaction between documentary analysis, landscape investigation and (limited) archaeological evidence. It also provided a tantalising link between the historically known surviving townships and the more dimly understood Romano-British past.

“Many historians stick to the documents and are reluctant to put on their boots and ask questions of the land...” (Rackham 1994:15). Despite this statement Hoskins and his contemporaries, such as Beresford and Finberg were ‘putting on their boots’ and taking to the land, often armed with medieval documents (i.e. Finberg 1955; Beresford 1971). Most of the time, they were not looking to verify their documentary findings but to illustrate them. Rarely was the field evidence used as an end in itself or as a means of re-evaluating the documents. Most of the time the documents led the way and the landscape was used as a physical backdrop to the stories that they recorded. Much of this early landscape investigation is based within the discipline of History as characterised by the study of documentary rather than archaeological sources. As such it was poorly equipped to deal with the prehistoric origins of the landscapes so gloriously enjoyed by the recently demobbed scholars, in the late 1940s and 1950s. For Hoskins the foundations of the English landscape lay firmly in the Anglo-Saxon period when, he argued, the familiar pattern of nucleated village and open field of the medieval countryside did originate (1955). More recent work has unanimously agreed that the origins of open fields and villages actually lie in the centuries surrounding the Norman Conquest (i.e. Rowley 1981; Harvey 1983; Hall 1988; Williamson 1989).

Much recent work has illustrated the continuities that exist within the British landscape and this has questioned the strength of actual change at perceived thresholds like the

The period before the middle ages was seen generally as a 13

1989) contain a wide range of papers ranging in scope from regional landscape investigations to more general summaries of categories of evidence or wider theoretical issues. In the main these studies are based around historical sources and focus on the historical reconstructions of settlement patterns and territorial organisation. Within the medieval period those landscape studies, which combine sources and adopt a multi-disciplinary approach are on the increase. However there are relatively few detailed regional investigations, which adopt a long-term perspective, rooting their findings for the middle ages within a prehistoric or Romano-British past. Significantly, one of the standard text books on landscape studies, Interpreting the Landscape, which is subtitled, Landscape Archaeology in Local Studies, (Aston 1985), devotes very little of its attention to the prehistoric landscape or indeed the Romano-British period (see also Thomas 1993).

Roman conquest, Anglo-Saxon settlement or indeed the Norman conquest (Taylor 1983; Fowler 1976). These pivotal epochs had traditionally been perceived as watersheds in the development of the landscape, a view embodied in the strict chapter divisions of Hoskins landscape history. No one can doubt the significance of the political or cultural transformations they represent but it has become clear that these changes need not have been felt very strongly at the level of the local community and its associated agrarian structure. Significant contributions have been made about the suggested ancient origins of historical boundaries and territorial structure (Bonney 1972; 1976; Fowler 1976; Hayfield 1987) and of fields and field boundaries (Fowler and Taylor 1978; Williamson 1987). Chris Taylor’s introduction to the history of the English landscape, Village and Farmstead is one of the few general summaries, which give sufficient credit to the influence of the prehistoric, and Romano-British periods and does not treat them as a distant unknown backdrop. He caricatures a persistent view when he writes,

LANDSCAPE ARCHAEOLOGIES Archaeologists had been doing it in the landscape for many years before the 1970s (i.e. Crawford 1928). By this time though deliberate attempts were made to define a specific agenda and theoretical framework for what then became known as landscape archaeology. In essence, it began with the need to move away from an archaeology, which was restricted to the excavation of individual sites. Instead, they paid attention to the spaces in between. This required a redefinition of fieldwork techniques and those aspects of the past, which were under scrutiny. A landscape-based approach for instance was the only way to investigate farming systems in the past but it could also offer a means of gaining a better understanding of the settlement patterns within which individual sites were situated. Thomas has suggested that this tendency to situate archaeological findings in space was paralleled by moves to further contextualise social life, at the time (Thomas 1993). In both cases an increasing concern with the setting of previously isolated artefacts and sites was highlighted.

“It would seem that, while prehistory is irrelevant to the present, medieval and later activities are the foundations on which our own landscape is based. Such views are common, but wrong. As we shall see, the reality is rather more complicated.” (Taylor 1983:107). The existence of prehistoric and Romano-British influence in the modern and medieval landscape is now generally acknowledged. There are few direct attempts to assess the character of these connections or to scrutinise the nature of these continuities. “The Norman Conquest has been variously assessed by historians as marking the true beginning of English political history or as a somewhat vulgar interruption of an essential continuity by an unpleasant but largely irrelevant group of people who represented the closest equivalent in western Europe to the continental barbarians.” (Coones and Patten 1986:145).

The kind of landscape archaeology that was created during the 1970s and 1980s is a product of the dominant theoretical concerns of the New Archaeology. Much of this legacy has remained in the character of archaeology today. Julian Thomas’ criticisms of this practice are severe when he refers to, “a highly empirical school of ‘landscape archaeology’, dedicated to the surveying and mapping of upstanding cultural features (boundaries, field systems, deserted villages)..(which) emerged as a complement to excavation...” (Thomas 1993:19). It is hard to see the difference between the landscape archaeology he is criticising here and the basic essentials of archaeological fieldwork. What he is attacking in this statement is an archaeological investigation whose methods and techniques have taken precedence over the theoretical questions to be answered. Such an observation is valid but should not be used to deny the usefulness of a landscape approach to fieldwork. It is one thing to call for greater theorisation but quite another to deny the value of fieldwork per se. It must be said that many of the studies that appeared at this time were rooted in the objectification of pieces of landscape, which reduced these inhabited areas to a minimum of archaeological features often denuded of their temporal and social context. What’s more the interpretative paradigms with which they were associated very often gave

We are now in a position to re-assess the effect on the landscape of such political thresholds. It should not however lead us to the opposite extreme of timeless unquestioned continuity (see below). Williamson’s work in East Anglia has demonstrated that there are features of the historic landscape, which have survived for many centuries but alongside them lies an equally significant current of change and transformation (1987). In recent decades the pursuit of landscape history has developed a great deal. Studies of the medieval landscape have made great efforts to combine archaeological and historical sources. David Hall’s work on the layout and origins of open fields (Hall 1988) and the multi-period excavations at Wharram Percy (Beresford and Hurst 1976;1990) are but two examples where archaeological fieldwork and documentary research have gone hand in hand. Della Hooke’s exhaustive work on charter boundaries and historical landscapes of the west midlands is another example but one that is steered perhaps more to the historical sources. Likewise a number of edited volumes have characterised the spirit of the discipline. Medieval Villages (Hooke 1985), Anglo-Saxon Settlements (Hooke 1988) and The Rural Settlements of medieval England (Aston, Austin and Dyer 14

during the 1980s as a response to the need for an ‘objective’ picture of the distribution of archaeological sites from all periods (Shennan 1985; Haselgrove et al 1988; Gaffney and Tingle 1989; Richards 1990). The regional archaeological distributions of some areas were seen as un-representative of the actual settlement patterns of the prehistoric and early historic past. This was variously because of a bias towards funerary monuments, the invisibility of settlement sites on the surface or from the air, and/or the existence of concentrations of sites in certain areas, which were not seen to reflect the actual past distribution. They may have been influenced by soil conditions or modern land-use patterns or else they were a result of the favoured attentions paid to certain areas by fieldworkers. The data collecting methodologies adopted by these projects were apparently untainted by the biases inherent in the gradual accretion of archaeological evidence. They comprised mainly fieldwalking surveys and were presented as a series of site distribution maps, set against the backdrop of topography, soils and geology. Far from being situated or contextualised studies, they produced a series of period-based layers, removed from both the previous and subsequent phases of human history. As such any meaningful understanding of the long-term development of these landscapes was very difficult to achieve. The assumption seemed to be that each traditionally defined cultural period enjoyed a separate exclusive history, which was little influenced by its past and had few implications for subsequent future generations in that area. In this we see a prehistoric equivalent to Hoskins’ traditional division of post Roman landscapes into separate chronological slices with no connection to their pasts.

priority to the environmental or economic spheres as the main influences on the character of landscape and of its development. Few fieldwork projects, which drew upon the principle of landscape archaeology, have fully lived up to its expectations. The work of Fleming on Dartmoor was able to work with an exceptional data set and today exists as a model of the practice (Fleming 1988). A thorough but problemdirected fieldwork programme was centred on the mapping and survey of miles of Bronze Age field systems and land boundaries. Key places were targeted for trial excavation, whose findings placed the whole system within a more secure chronological context. The relationship between settlement sites and their surrounding fields was extended to consider the social and political setting of the communities represented. The landscape setting of the field monuments and spaces they defined was further used as a way in to considerations of the organisation of land-use practice. Fleming succeeded in contextualising the archaeological evidence within the landscape and within time. In doing so, he struck a balance between empirical description and theoretical interpretation. The work of Barrett and Bradley on Cranborne Chase could be added to this list, as a project where an integrated and targeted regional approach was adopted. Here, some strong theoretical concerns and questions were addressed in the light of one area, rich in archaeological sites and with a strong history of fieldwork (Barrett and Bradley 1991). Again a clever balance was struck between empirical fieldwork and theoretical interpretation. Crucially, the role of the topographic character of monuments was emphasised along with the presence of the past within the landscape. As such the changes that they observed here during the Neolithic and early Bronze Age could be viewed in the light of the redefinition of these pasts. This is not possible when a regional landscape is reduced to a series of chronologically separate layers.

These landscapes were often perceived as a series of isolated sites or locales of activity with little understanding of what existed between them. Despite the declared concern with broadening the horizons of archaeological fieldwork, outside of the excavation site, what is produced is a network of sites rather than an understanding of the nature of the surrounding landscape. Within the aim to investigate the setting of the site lies a concealed agenda that prioritises the understanding of the site over and above the landscape that surrounds it. Why was this landscape not deemed worthy of investigation in its own right? In the main, these kind of archaeological surveys were descriptive accounts of archaeological evidence across space and seemed to give little priority to interpretation. They were more suited to the needs of the archaeological ‘manager’ than the historian.

Several other projects have appeared which also take on a regional prehistoric landscape and deliberately carry through the past into the present and the future. The Salisbury Plain Linear Ditches Project for instance has investigated the origins and development of land division here between the middle Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Their story is one of repeated reuse, endurance and deliberate slighting of ditches to fit into new schemes of land division (Bradley et al 1994). Here, a problem-directed fieldwork methodology was framed against the need for salvage recording of features, threatened by the activities of the army.

Alongside the attention paid to fieldwalking, a range of studies have appeared which deal with the mapping of aerial photographic evidence (Whimster 1989; Riley 1980; Palmer 1984). The RCHM have now developed a national programme for the mapping of crop and soilmarks to add to these pioneer surveys. The Emerging Past (Whimster 1989) went a long way towards setting the agenda for future RCHM policy. It introduced the cropmark compilations from two areas of high archaeological quality, the Welsh Marches and the Trent Valley. The study went to great lengths to discuss the analysis of shapes and features revealed by cropmark formation. The sites that these marks represented were described by their morphology and classified and grouped accordingly. It has yet to be adequately demonstrated whether such classificatory schemes of cropmarks have any real meaning for the interpretation of sites as locales of

The definition of landscape archaeology drew upon a range of non-destructive fieldwork techniques. Some of these such as field survey had been part of the archaeological armoury since the nineteenth century. Aerial photography had been growing in usefulness since world war two (Riley 1987) and techniques such as geophysical survey were based on more recent technology (Clark 1990). Systematic fieldwalking was also developed at this time and provided an opportunity to identify surface scatters of ceramic or lithic material without recourse to destructive excavation (Haselgrove, Millett and Smith 1985). A whole series of regional archaeological surveys appeared 15

“....the task of the landscape archaeologist appears to be to detail the titanic forces which surrounded these individuals -- population levels, climate, land-use patterns, technology, settlement patterns, and the organisation of focal places......Structures, fields, climate, soils are all fitted into place, in the belief that given a totalising knowledge of all other factors the missing term in the equation, the absent human presence, must emerge.” (Thomas 1993:26).

human activity in the ancient landscape. There is only so much that can be said about cropmark sites, which have not been investigated by excavation or surface survey on the ground. The obsession with surveillance and a ‘specular’ approach to landscape archaeology has been criticised by both Tilley (1994) and Thomas (1993). I do not want to join in with criticism of the more practical aspects of the subject purely because they are not theoretically motivated. It is unhelpful and divisive to characterise all traditions of fieldwork as mindless and uncritical. The compilation of aerial photographic plots and the creation of site distribution maps from surface surveys that do not intrude destructively below the surface are essential parts of the body of archaeological knowledge. Techniques such as fieldwalking have featured as part of very useful problem-led projects, which have added significantly to our knowledge of the development of settlement patterns of all periods (e.g. Williamson 1988; Hall 1988). However, the uncritical collection of artefacts and subsequent compilation of site maps is not an end in itself. Neither of the above techniques on their own can be used to successfully reconstruct or understand past cultural landscapes. These maps can hardly be described as landscapes, as briefly defined above. They produce a cryptic two-dimensional configuration of features, which are far removed from the cultural and social process and experience that characterised the reality of these landscapes, as lived in and understood by people in the past. They are as much an abstract representation as any high-minded philosophical rambling and do not reflect the past as it was experienced. They cater for a scientific, objectified whim for measurement and cataloguing, not for the understanding of past lives. This kind of survey should not be seen as anything other than a first step towards the reconstruction of ancient cultural landscape. In no way should they be perceived as the end product and they are definitely not the closest we can get.

Its theoretical underpinnings were also savaged, “New geography and new archaeology considered space as an abstract dimension or container in which human activities and events took place....Such a view of space decentred it from agency and meaning. It was something that could be objectively measured in terms of an abstracted geometry of scale.” (Tilley 1994:9) Many of the archaeological interpretations of the prehistoric landscape had been concerned with these ‘titanic forces’ and had often used environmental conditions as a device for explaining changes in social and economic life (i.e. Fowler 1983). Studies of field systems, land boundaries and settlement patterns in prehistory had overwhelmingly favoured economic or agricultural explanations (Fowler 1984; Bowen and Fowler 1978). The way in which the economic or environmental agendas came to dominate interpretations was criticised. Instead, the more emotive and experiential aspects of prehistoric social life were emphasised. “..the physicallity of living in the world, the interlocking habitus of action, belief, experience, engagement..” (Bender 1993b:248) was now preferred to the evaluation of population curves or hypothetical crop yields. Prehistoric ceremonial monuments had traditionally been interpreted as expressions of power through the ability of elites to mobilise large work forces for their construction (i.e. Renfrew 1973;1979). Their distribution had been directly related to the political geography of polities. Many recent discussions have focused instead on the subjective experience of individuals at these monuments and within the associated burial rites (Barrett 1994). The specific architectural forms employed in their construction have been discussed for the way the physical and symbolic presence of the monument both reflects and influences the conditions of social life and experience (Thomas 1993). Personal engagement with the monument has been stressed, highlighting the importance of its topographic setting. This can involve the views commanded by the situation of the monument as well as the physical and emotional experience of approaching the site (Tilley 1994; Thomas 1993; Barrett and Bradley 1991). The influence of topography has been put back into interpretations of the prehistoric experience of landscape by the very people who raged so vociferously against its priority in schemes of environmental determinism. However, it is the subjective sensory aspects of topography that have returned rather than the more remote geographical forces that are only perceptible by looking back across several generations.

INTERPRETATIVE APPROACHES During the 1980s the scientific approach to the interpretation of the past, exemplified by the New Archaeology was repeatedly called into question and systematically dismantled (Hodder 1986; Shanks and Tilley 1987). The theoretical foundations of New Archaeology, which dealt with totalising social process, hypothesis-testing, grand generalising schemes and environmental determinism were replaced in many cases by their binary opposites. The new theoretical critique identified archaeological enquiry as a subjective process, allowing for multiple narratives on the past to exist. The importance of individual agency replaced the domineering universal schemes of climate change, and generalising social and economic forces. Actions in the past and their material ramifications were seen as replete with symbolism and active meaning, not as a passive reflection of the social and cultural conditions of life. In many senses the world had been turned upside down. In the 1990s, many authors applied this theoretical critique to the study of past landscapes (i.e. Bender 1993a; Tilley 1994; Barrett 1994). Traditional forms of landscape archaeology adopted a descriptive approach, which characterised the scientific basis of archaeological investigation but this way of dealing with past landscapes was severely criticised.

Much of the re-evaluation of approaches to landscape has stemmed from the work of cultural geographers such as Denis Cosgrove (1984; Cosgrove and Daniels 1988). He pointed out that the modern western way of looking at and understanding landscapes is a product of a particular point in 16

ancestral inheritance. At the same time, the grid is a topographic map that locates resources, camps and huntinggrounds.” (Bender 1993b:3).

history. It was a creation of the historically specific conditions surrounding the advent of capitalism and was mirrored by a whole series of other changes in political, economic and social life that characterised the modern western view of the world (Cosgrove 1984). This view is illustrated with reference to the emergence of the western tradition of landscape painting. It was a medium, which was concerned with realism and objectivity, rather than the subjective impression of a place. “Landscape painting is thus a representation of place which alienates land, such that it can be appropriated by a gaze which looks in from outside.” (Thomas 1993:22). This reflects the historical genesis of a particular way of looking at and constructing landscape. Under this view, places are viewed and dominated, not experienced from the inside through an “.....impression, feel, significance or meaning” (Thomas 1993:21). It is this externalising approach to landscape, which was reflected in the landscape archaeology of the 1970s and which was seen to alienate the evidence from the real historical processes that created it.

Tilley has also picked up on the aboriginal experience of a “.....sacred, symbolic and mythic space replete with social meanings wrapped around buildings, objects and features of the local topography, providing reference points and planes of emotional orientation for human attachment and involvement.” (Tilley 1994:17). In this way the mythic foundations of a community become inscribed into the landscape and through this inscription the living are engaged actively with their past. Time itself is present in these landscapes, visible and readable to those who understand the code. “Human activities become inscribed within a landscape such that every cliff, large tree, stream, swampy area becomes a familiar place. Daily passages through the landscape become biographic encounters for individuals, recalling traces of the past activities and previous events.....” (ibid.: 27). Tilley acknowledges the importance of the inscription of history into the landscape of small-scale societies (see also Gosden and Lock 1998 and chapter seven). Stories about the past were set here and characters and backdrops imposed on the natural topography. A major criticism of the periodspecific reconstructions was that the local past appeared to have no place in them. Within the ethnographic constructions described by Tilley and Bender lies a universal awareness of the past which is represented in features of the landscape and very likely as actual relics in the form of barrows, earthworks, etc. Barrett also hints at the relationship between later Bronze Age communities and the past, represented by the surviving barrows of an earlier and very different time.

“The alternative view starts from regarding space as a medium rather than a container for action, something that is involved in action and cannot be divorced from it” (Tilley 1994:9). This, “...humanised space forms both the medium and the outcome of action, both constraining and enabling it.” (ibid.). The ‘experience’ of landscapes and their meanings to people in the past have become important areas of discussion and these ideas have been applied to archaeological traces. There is not a great deal of difference between this idea that landscape is full of emotive and esoteric references and the discussions by landscape historians of the character or spirit of the historical and modern landscape. The latter too requires more than an objective distanced gaze and requires a meaningful engagement with the lanes, meadows and hedgerows and what they mean to people. Both ways of seeing take us beyond the two-dimensional map of sites, boundaries and contour lines and towards the ways in which the landscape was experienced and perceived.

“By the end of the second millennium the landscape was one of extensive field plots with the widespread enclosure of settlement sites. The round barrow cemeteries now lay on the margins of this arable land. These earlier cemeteries were now formed of monumental turf and chalk-clad mounds, and it was to these that the ashes of the dead were often borne. Such acts were expressive of the now distant and perhaps heroic origins which were claimed by those whose political authority was that of the earthly representatives of the lineages whose own biographies were linked to that of the land and the settlement.” (Barrett 1994:153).

The multiple meanings of landscape depend upon the social and cultural position of the subject experiencing them (Bender 1993b). This appreciation stands in direct opposition to the universal neutral space, which characterised the view of the New Archaeology (Tilley 1994). The appreciation that the western perception of landscape had to be replaced with a more centred and subjective ‘view from the inside’ was made under influence from ethnographic examples, which described a very different kind of meaningful landscape. Many anthropologists talk about the way that the landscape in small-scale societies acts as a physical medium for a whole range of symbolic layers (Tilley 1994; Devereux 1992). This has nothing to do with objectifying space and everything to do with understanding the world. Very often the land is a socially constructed embodiment of the worldview of the people who inhabit it. Every feature is laden with meanings, referring to mythology, ancestors and spirituality.

The relationship between communities in the past, with their past has received a growing amount of attention and we will consider this body of literature in more detail in chapter seven. It is an issue, which has particularly strong resonance for landscape archaeologists as they too are expressing relationships between landscape and the past in this way. Bender has illustrated the importance of a long term view which appreciates the continuing and changing meanings of monuments, in this case that of Stonehenge. She documents the history of the monument and the many ways in which its significance and meaning has been re-invented and subverted throughout prehistory, the middle ages and into the twentieth century (1993b). We can only properly address the long-term sequence in the landscape if we appreciate that the past is always present. Visible traces of the past in the landscape are drawn upon and given respect but also ignored and avoided. Both acts operate through a conscious acknowledgement of

“Aboriginal Australians superimpose creation myths upon the land, thereby turning a temporal sequence into a spatial grid. That mythological grid locates the individual and the clan and allows them to renew their 17

different approaches are most clearly visible and vulnerable to criticism when they are set in contrast to one another. Much of the landscape archaeology of the 1970s and early 1980s adopted a spatial perspective that did not restrict investigation to specific sites. It attempted to situate these sites within space but the space was too often an empty nothingness, inhabited only by other contemporary sites, black dots on a white background. In this sense it was archaeology in rather than of the landscape (Coones 1985). It was neither situated in time nor in experience. An archaeology of the landscape requires an awareness of the meanings and feelings of the place, or at least the will to look for them. In this sense, it does not merely situate itself spatially over a broad canvas but is immersed in the multifaceted entity. “..archaeologists study the meaning of the landscape, not by interpreting the many layers of its representation.....but by probing ever more deeply into it.” (Ingold 1993:172). An examination of the past in a piece of this country must consider the relationship of that past to the present. The importance of this must imply that landscape studies should be carried out over a long-term chronology. What we can see outside the window is an accretion of centuries and millennia of reworking. To situate our enquiry within this landscape will enhance both the understanding of the present and of the past.

the place of features and landscape within the history of the community involved (i.e. Bradley 1987; Gosden and Locke 1998). In many cases the landscape is the medium through which this history is understood and experienced. Recent projects such as those on Salisbury Plain and Cranborne Chases have added so much to our understanding of prehistoric landscape partly because they have highlighted the important role of the past within these landscapes (see above). They remain studies of the prehistoric period and have not attempted to investigate the enduring role of monuments and other sites beyond prehistory and on into the historical landscape. It is time to take this issue out of its prehistoric origins and carry it on to its logical conclusion. Such an investigation is only possible if the long-term perspective is rooted in a regional landscape.

THE WAY FORWARD The theoretical developments of the last ten years or so have provided archaeological research with a much-needed shot in the arm. They have opened up the horizons of enquiry and freed researchers from the pressure to conform to a narrowly defined version of scientific method. In the process however, this has created divisions between academic and professional archaeology as well as between the practice of fieldwork and the pursuit of social theory. Whether intentional or not these distinctions are present and acknowledged by many archaeologists.

The important influence of the past must also contribute to the uniqueness of regional landscapes. They are the product of distinctive and separate histories becoming ever more distinct as time goes on. It is likely that the prehistoric inhabitants of a given region were more closely in touch with their local past than they were with the inhabitants of other parts of Britain. Journeys to the past would have been made regularly by simply travelling short distances across the local landscape where engagements would be made with ancestral or mythic elements. On the other hand journeys to other parts of the country would have been rare, except for the few folk engaged in long distance travel. The close connection between communities and the past questions the usefulness of periodisation within archaeology. However often scholars declare the traditional division of prehistory to be redundant in terms of the actual understanding of social change, the whole divisive edifice remains and is based ultimately on the three age system. “Earnest assessments of the value of interdisciplinary research are insufficient to counter the centrifugal tendencies of an era of specialisation in a field in which integration is the very essence, and where the whole does indeed comprise far more than the sum of its parts.” (Coones 1985:5). Coones’ concerns about the need for interdisciplinary approaches to landscape history could equally be applied to the need for a multi-period regional approach in landscape archaeology.

For the investigation of past landscape, a balanced approach is required. This must be rooted in the best traditions of nondestructive fieldwork but with research aims and objectives that are informed by a mature understanding of the character and meaning of landscape in small-scale societies. Only then can we begin to overcome the distinction described by Ingold as, “between the ‘scientific study’ of an atemporalised nature, and the ‘humanised’ study of a dematerialised history” (Ingold 1993:172). The strong influence of economic interpretation in the prehistoric archaeologies of the 1970s reflected a growing interest with agricultural practice, alongside the development of techniques of environmental sampling. Social change was usually explained in terms of climatically induced alterations in agricultural potential. Scholars at this time often saw land division as an overwhelmingly economic activity. This paradigm was rightly criticised but it has been replaced with something that can appear equally extreme and abstract. The study of prehistoric agriculture is now seen as a theoretically redundant practice and has become the sole concern of the environmental archaeologist. To ignore the more practical aspects of prehistoric social life is to deny the large amounts of time inevitably spent at work by prehistoric people. Agriculture and economic production should not be marginalized but addressed and given theoretical potency. The strong concern with everyday practical work in the New Archaeology was a deliberate move away from the elitism of a biased emphasis on the graves and monuments of the rich and powerful in prehistory. A politically charged return to some aspects of this ‘down to earth’ agenda would be welcomed in many quarters.

MY OLD FRIEND THE LANDSCAPE In response to a paper by Roymans on ‘The cultural biography of urnfields and the long-term history of a mythical landscape’ (1995), Bender remarks that, “There is a logic to writing, as Kopytoff suggested, the cultural biography of an object, in which the object is treated like a person, but there is risk in treating landscape in the same way since, at any given moment, it carries different meanings for different people.” (1995). Landscapes do of course mean different things but so too can individual people be perceived

This chapter has discussed the many different ways of investigating past landscapes. The true colours of these 18

identify its spirit, emotions or thoughts. To this end bits of the thinking and feeling organ may be removed but the analysts will soon realise that a dead subject is no longer of any use to them. It was its essential life that they were after and this can never be restored following torture even by replacing bits of body in the right order.

and treated in many ways by different people Consider the language of the landscape historian: the essential spirit of the landscape is repeatedly referred to as its ‘character’ and even, in some cases, its ‘personality’ (Fowler 1978; Fox 1959). These terms are used to try and capture the feeling of a place something closely bound up with that place’s human occupants but also visible in the arrangement of topography and settlement. They give the landscape a human quality.

As an alternative to these extreme measures or indeed because of the psychological damage inflicted by them, it might be useful to try psychoanalysis. The ruder more physical skills needed for interrogation and torture are useless here and in fact the psychologists consider such tools as mere blunt instruments. In order to engage in this kind of enquiry a thorough grounding in the complex theoretical arguments of modern psychology is required. What comes out of the informant’s mouth will have to be interpreted in the light of the psychologist’s particular understanding of these theories and only then will the information become useful.

Equally common archaeological parlance is to refer to the ‘respect’ given by one feature to another or indeed the ‘relationship’ between contexts in an excavation sequence. Why do we use the language of human relationships in this way? We are indirectly treating the object of archaeological enquiry as a person, or at least giving it some human attributes. Below, some different approaches to interpreting past landscape are compared with different human ways of extracting information. Without characterising the landscape itself as a person, it is the relationship between historian and landscape that may be given some human quality. It is the process of familiarity, finding out and understanding that we are trying to achieve in this chapter, the means rather than the end. This is all about the kind of relationship we want there to exist between historian and landscape.

Alternatively, it is possible from the outset to engage the informant in amicable conversation. Get to know the subject, befriend them. A much deeper understanding will come from a more intimate and convivial relationship and one, which is founded on mutual respect. This will take time to develop and will require walking, talking and drinking in the pub. The clearly defined roles of interrogator and informant may well become blurred as each learns from the other. What develops is a reflexive relationship and gradually you will find out all you need to know. Importantly the enquiries should be conducted amidst surroundings familiar to the informant and in a language they understand. Only then will their real personality appear. Each new piece of information will lead to a wholly unexpected avenue of evidence. In this way, what comes out of the careful and gradual be-friending is not what was originally expected. The information that arises is all the more true for its uniqueness to this one individual and is eventually much more than the set of rather dry questions that were initially demanded. In contrast to the results of torture and interrogation this information was freely and honestly given and was truly an insight. If we are to treat the landscape as a multi-textured fabric, richly woven with multiple meanings and layers of history then it is surely this kind of close-grained intimate understanding that is needed to unlock its secrets and truly capture its character.

The landscapes we study are real places not abstract representations of the past removed from their original context. How should we approach such living, breathing, changing objects of study? By scrutinising and measuring them as objects under a microscope or by getting to know them in a more reflexive and intuitive way? This depends whether we see them as stultified objects or dynamic entities with a spirit and a heart. Sometimes the past is hidden within these landscapes, sometimes it is submerged beneath them and sometimes the past peeps through the modern features. Whichever applies, the past is always part of the existing inhabited present and to understand one we need to know the other. We must get under the skin of the landscape, get to know its secrets, learn how it ticks and capture its spirit. Interrogation is one way of extracting information from a subject. The informant is removed from their familiar surroundings and situated within the laboratory-like conditions of the interrogator’s choosing. A bright light is shone into the eyes, intimidating and bullying them into revealing a concealed truth. Measurements might be taken, the whole battery of techniques attempted and the subject deprived of sleep. Some information might be forthcoming from this process. It is likely to be sparse, disjointed and probably untrustworthy. The subject will have little respect for the interrogator afterwards and may well have suffered under the spotlight.

BREAKDOWN OF CHAPTERS Following the two introductory chapters, the study is divided up into chronologically based sections. Each chapter will deal with the development of the landscape on the Wolds for a specified period. Finally this evidence is brought together and the last two chapters will provide a long-term overview. Chapter three: Linear earthworks and the Late Bronze Age landscape

The next step might well be to take more intrusive, destructive action. The instruments of torture are only brought out as a last resort but sometimes it is the only way to discover truth from an unyielding subject. The problem with torture is that even if the desired information is eventually forthcoming, it will have been extracted at the cost of the life or at least good health of the victim. Pieces of tissue and flesh or bone may be removed and analysed, cavities inspected, measurements logged. All too often this exhaustive process will simply confirm that the subject is human. It cannot

The starting point is the later Bronze Age. On the Wolds, as in many other areas it marks a significant threshold in prehistory when large areas of land were enclosed and divided by ditches, banks and walls (Barrett 1994). We will critically address the perception of this period as a break with the past and consider the fundamental nature of these changes. This chapter will deal primarily with the origins of the pattern of linear ditches, which were first constructed here during the later Bronze Age. A series of descriptions will reconstruct the 19

Anglian period for pasture, removed from the settled areas on the edge, is emphasised and related to the distinctive archaeological patterns found here. Transformations, beginning in the Anglo-Scandinavian period involve the increasing enclosure of the Wolds and the encroachment of settlement.

local patterns and emphasise their relationship to features of the topography as well as other archaeological sites. The enduring role of the linears within this landscape is outlined. The descriptions will also introduce the results of past work on individual linears, including that of antiquarians such as Mortimer and Cole. In addition to their records the main sources consulted for this purpose have been the RCHM survey (Stoertz 1997) and the early series of OS maps from 1854 (6”) and 1910 (25”). The relationship of linears to the existing landscape of barrows, trackways, valleys and ponds will be discussed and arguments put forward that these earlier features were incorporated deliberately into the new scheme of land division.

Chapters seven and eight: Summary and Overview Here, we are able to take an overall view of the whole period under scrutiny. Long-term trends are identified involving the oscillating dynamic between continuity and change that operates on many levels. Structures and features enjoy considerable long-term endurance but are situated alongside periods of radical transformation. The relationship between the Wolds and the wold-edge is one such structure, which serves to transform itself, repeatedly highlighting the integrity and separateness of the Wolds in certain periods. The repeated persistent importance of certain special places on the Wolds throughout this period is highlighted. However, their persistence does not reflect a timeless stability but the continued re-interpretation of their historical significance. The pervasive influence of the past in this landscape is crucial to these final chapters and by extension is perhaps the most significant structural force in explaining the relationship between continuity and change.

Chapter four: Pastures and the Past: Developing Landscapes of the Iron Age and RomanoBritish period In this chapter, we are faced with two periods of time, characterised on the Wolds by very different landscape characters. One is the open, mobile landscape of the early and middle Iron Age, contemporary with the square barrow cemeteries. The other originates during the later Iron Age and constitutes a more enclosed and occupied landscape. The centuries that precede the Roman conquest are identified as significant periods of change. The interdependent relationship between the Wolds and the wold-edge is important to the reconstruction of the Iron Age landscape and the identification of the distinctive character of the Wolds before the transformations of the later Iron Age. It seems to have been a place of predominant pasture, away from the settled and managed lowlands and valleys. Chapter five: Historical landscape and township profiles Here, we present the detailed historical evidence for the twenty townships of the study area. The aim is to identify the nature of the landscape before the radical changes of parliamentary enclosure. Aspects such as the location of open field and pasture as well as the course of pre-enclosure roads are reconstructed, using a range of predominantly late historical records. Tithe and enclosure awards, various eighteenth century maps, estate maps and the first edition OS were all consulted. The information gained and described is used in the following chapter as a means of identifying early elements within this historical landscape. The course of township boundaries, the location of early pastures and routes of perennial long distance tracks are emphasised.

Chapter six: The Wolds before Domesday An overall view of the Wolds landscape before the Norman Conquest is presented in this chapter. Information from the previous chapter is coupled with insights from historical sources taken from elsewhere on the Wolds. The archaeological evidence for the Anglian and AngloScandinavian periods is also discussed. An open, unenclosed landscape is reconstructed and one which is crossed by trackways. The remnants of extensive common pastures are glimpsed in the historical landscapes of the medieval and post-medieval periods, especially in place-names. The long distance tracks are seen to have structured the pattern of township boundaries. The use of the Wolds during the 20

The drift geology of Holderness overlies the same beds of chalk that outcrop to the west as the Yorkshire Wolds. It comprises glacial tills borne by glaciers from two separate directions, which are therefore slightly different in character (Catt 1990). The surface of this till, exposed once the ice had melted, was uneven and formed an undulating series of hollows and ridges. Subsequent deposits of peats and alluvial clays have formed over the till but its uneven character enabled the formation of a mosaic of lakes, islands, marshes and woodland (Gilbertson 1990). This rich and varied landscape of prehistoric and historic times has now been replaced with a more monotonous arable patchwork through draining schemes and agricultural intensification. The recently published reports of the Humber Wetlands Survey have highlighted the rich environmental and archaeological heritage in Holderness, the Humberhead levels and the Vale of York. In particular, this work has forced us to re-consider the idea that this area was a marginal, unoccupied backwater in antiquity (Van der Noort and Ellis 1993; 1994; 1999; 2000).

CHAPTER TWO CHALKSHIRE: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE YORKSHIRE WOLDS “To recline on a stump of thorn in the central valley of Egdon, between afternoon and night, as now, where the eye could reach nothing of the world outside the summits and shoulders of heathland which filled the whole circumference of its glance, and to know that everything around and underneath had been from prehistoric times as unaltered as the stars overhead, gave ballast to the mind adrift on change and harassed by the irrepressible New. The great inviolate place had an ancient permanence, which the sea cannot claim. Who can say of a particular sea that it is old? Distilled by the sun, kneaded by the moon, it is renewed in a year, in a day, or in an hour. The sea changed, the fields changed, the rivers, the village and the people changed , yet Egdon remained. Those surfaces were neither so steep as to be destructible by weather, nor so flat as to be the victims of floods and deposits. With the exception of an aged highway, and a still more aged barrow presently to be referred to themselves almost crystallised to natural products by long continuance-even the trifling irregularities were not caused by pickaxe, plough, or spade, but remained as the very finger touches of the last geological change.”

The Hull Valley is usually classed within Holderness and again recent archaeological and environmental investigations have revealed previously unrecorded prehistoric and RomanoBritish settlement activity (Didsbury 1988; 1990). There are notable concentrations of peat along the drainage system of the River Hull (Catt 1990). The Vale of Pickering lies to the north of the chalk between the Wolds and the Tabular Hills of North Yorkshire. It is a low-lying alluvial plain, which does not rise more than 15m above sea level. Again, there were a series of large lakes here during early prehistory filled by glacial meltwater (Catt 1990). The largest of these, Lake Pickering, was hemmed in on its western side by a moraine of boulder clay. The waters from this lake eventually flowed westwards and south to form the channel now followed by the river Derwent. The sites of the lakes are now filled by peats and one of these provided the anaerobic conditions for the preservation of the remarkable Mesolithic material from Starr Carr (Clark 1954). Farmers have systematically drained this area over the last few decades and the peat is rapidly drying out (Schadla-Hall 1988). The spring-line along the base of the Wolds escarpment, to the south of the Vale, has provided a corridor for settlement between the wet fen and the chalk for many centuries. In this area, the excavations at Heslerton have revealed multi-period traces of settlement and burial stretching back to the Neolithic and Bronze Age, well preserved under wind-blown sands (Powlesland 1986; 2002).

(Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native)

GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY The region of East Yorkshire contains four main topographical-geological zones (Manby 1980; Catt 1990) (fig 1). The Yorkshire Wolds are a crescent-shaped outcrop of chalk stretching from the Humber estuary in the south to the Vale of Pickering and eastwards from here to hit the coast at Flamborough Head. At Bempton the chalk cliffs stand to a height of 135m OD. This area of higher ground varies from between 50m and 200m in altitude above sea level and forms the most prominent zone in East Yorkshire. The low-lying Vales of Pickering surround it to the north, the Vale of York to the west and the plain of Holderness to the east. The Vale of York is a low-lying area representing the floodplain of the river Derwent, which drains from the north into the Humber. To the east, between the Derwent and the Wolds escarpment, runs the Foulness. Environmental research surrounding the archaeological discovery of the Hasholme log boat has shown that in the first millennium BC this part of the Vale of York was a system of tidal creeks which extended inland for up to twelve kilometres in some places (Millett and Mcgrail 1987). The mean sea level has obviously dropped significantly since this time (Manby 1988). The Vale of York is covered by a mixture of glacial and alluvial deposits. These are mainly peats and clays and the area is poorly drained (Catt 1990). It has only been fully exploited for agriculture through drainage programmes carried out during the last two hundred years (Alison 1976). Before this time, much of the area was waterlogged but there existed a series of raised sandy ridges, which would have been more easily drained and thus suitable for settlement (Halkon 1990; Halkon and Millett 1999).

Rising above these three low-lying wet zones is the chalk outcrop of the Yorkshire Wolds. This forms the northern extension of the chalk belt known from the south of England and Wessex. The highest elevations are found along the top of the western escarpment. From here the rock dips gradually towards the southeast where it is eventually overlain by the glacial and alluvial deposits of Holderness and the Hull Valley. The northern scarp slope is dramatic and towers above the low-lying Vale of Pickering. The eastern margins of the Wolds are much less obvious; as the dip slope gradually descends the chalky soils merge with the clays and gravels of the Hull Valley. The characteristic rolling landscape of the Wolds was created by erosion from the thawing of periglacial permafrost, during warm periods 21

depends on how much the water table has fallen. It may be that the hydrological situation of the early nineteenth century is fairly close to that in antiquity but equally there may have been climatic fluctuation in the last two millennia, which has affected it further. It is very important that we try and understand the ancient hydrology of the Wolds as the free availability of water would have made it a very different place for ancient habitation.

within episodes of glacial activity (Catt 1990). This material moved across the landscape en masse. The more violent and swollen of the meltwater streams flowed viciously along the existing valleys, widening them considerably and carrying away their valley bottom deposits. This meltwater activity during the Quaternary has shaped and moulded the Wolds landscape. The sloping tendency of the chalk block meant that drainage mainly flowed towards the southeast but some of the dry valley systems created do flow in a westerly direction as well. The net result is a landscape in the high western Wolds, which is full of deeply incised dry valleys. These no longer carry surface water as it percolates quickly through the chalk into the underground reservoirs of the water table. The valleys become much less distinct as they travel south and east, where the Wolds landscape is more gently rolling and little different in appearance from the flatlands of the surrounding plain. This distinction between a dissected Wolds of the western area and the rolling Wolds of the eastern dip slope will feature prominently below. These topographic characteristics single out the Wolds from the surrounding flatlands: The sudden steepness of the escarpment ridge and the deep V-shape dry valleys, which wind snake-like through the raised lands.

It seems likely that some of the main valleys, which cut into the chalk, did carry running water until quite recently. Folk memories in the now dry village of Fimber (save a pond) still attest to a forgotten watercourse, which is also recorded by the antiquarian J.R.Mortimer (Hayfield and Wagner 1995). This would probably have run intermittently or seasonally from Thixendale in the west of the Wolds through a natural pond at Burdale, to Fimber and beyond to Wetwang and Garton Slack on the eastern dip–slope. Where a stream occurs today at the lower eastern end of this valley it is also known as the Gipsey Race. The tendency for these chalk streams to disappear underground makes it problematic to assume that such a stream was present on the surface throughout the entirety of its course (fig 2). It is difficult to imagine the Wold tops with running water in antiquity but the bottoms of the larger and lower lying dry valleys are likely to have been wet, especially their lower portions. In this scheme therefore we can probably add the main Wolds valleys to the areas most favoured to settlement, which today consists of the spring–line on the wold-edge. Here, especially at the foot of the northern and western escarpments lies a string of villages most of which have medieval origins (fig 4).

WATER SOURCES AND SETTLEMENT There is more than just height above sea level to distinguish the Wolds from the surrounding plains and vales. The dramatic escarpment ridge that rises above the vales marks both the northern and western edges of the Wolds but thereafter, to the south and east, the relief is gradual and slopes gently as a dip-slope towards the clay lands of Holderness. It is the uniform geology of these chalk downlands that sets the area apart from the mixed deposits, which surround it. The free draining nature of the resultant calcareous soils and the subsequent lack of standing or running water have been hugely significant in terms of the history of human settlement. Colin Hayfield and Pat Wagner have contributed much to the understanding of past hydrology and its relevance to human activity here. Much of the following discussion about water sources is based on their recent work (1995).

Despite the apparent lack of water on the Wolds all the modern villages here have medieval origins too. Many of them have a village pond, which was in most cases the only permanent source of surface water. There are many examples of wells to supplement this supply and some have been found in Romano–British contexts (Stead 1980; Brewster 1981). The agricultural improvements of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries brought with them a large number of artificial dewponds mainly built out in the newly enclosed fields. It may be a hangover from this experience that most of the village ponds were traditionally considered artificial (Hayfield and Wagner 1995). If they were constructed then the ponds described by the Old English names of Fimber and Sledmere are at least Anglo-Saxon in origin. That at Fimber was cleaned out in the last century and Mortimer records the discovery of an Anglo-Saxon spearhead in its lower silts. It is perhaps more likely that the village ponds are natural ponds, occurring where outcrops of clay provide a watertight seal for groundwater. Mortimer certainly considered the double ponds at Fridaythorpe and Fimber to be of natural origin in this way (1888). It is only to be expected that permanent settlement would grow up around such oases (Hayfield and Wagner 1995) (fig 5-6). Equally, they would represent important focal nodes in more mobile landscapes that revolved around hunting or pasture.

The availability of water is critical for settlement and agriculture although we should be careful about assuming that settlement will always concentrate in wet areas and avoid those that are more arid. Over the past century, the increased volume of water extracted from the rivers Derwent and Hull, which drain the Wolds, has led to a marked drop in the water table (Hayfield and Wagner 1995). This has caused the diminishment of the only remaining permanent watercourse, which is now even more seasonal than in the past. Descriptions from the eighteenth and nineteenth century (Woodward 1985; Crowther 1992) and the results of a recent excavation across its bed at Caythorpe (Abramson 1996) show how extensive the Gipsey Race once was. Its very name describes a vibrant and fast flowing stream with a tendency for disappearing underground (Smith 1937). Today, the Wolds are surrounded by a halo of naturally occurring springs, which come out of the ground where the chalk bedrock meets clay. These form streams and small rivers that flow into the Derwent to the north and west and into the river Hull to the east. We do not know whether these streams appeared on the surface of the Wolds in the past and this

Topographically, the Wolds is further distinguished from the surrounding lower and wetter lands by its characteristic mixture of open Wold tops with intricate networks of deeply incised dry valleys. These have been formed by periglacial 22

today, particularly in the light of the fact that many villages have shrunk in size (Neave 1990; Hayfield/Brewster 1988). Notable concentrations of settlement occur along the major valleys that dissect the Wolds and in particular the Great Wold Valley of the Gipsey Race. This leads from Duggleby in the west through Burton Fleming and Rudston and on to Bridlington on the east coast. A closely set string of villages is laid out along the floor of this valley with strip townships cutting north to south across the east-west course of the stream and the valley. The other Gipsey Race occupied the valley, which opens out on the eastern edge of the Wolds at Elmswell and Driffield. Here too is a string of settlements, which also follow the valley. These settlements are not aligned along the old watercourse however and the villages are more widely spread. Perhaps the stream had ceased to exist when these settlements were founded?

activity and most are now totally dry. The colluvial deposits in the valley bottoms have not been widely studied but are several metres deep in places (Hayfield and Wagner 1995). Martin Bell's work on the colluvial deposits of the southern English chalk shows that a great deal of information regarding the ploughing episodes of an area can be gleaned from these plough wash fills (Bell 1983). The steep-sided dales are still under permanent grass and exist today as havens for wildlife amidst the arable desert of the wold tops. The valley floor of some of the larger dales is under plough today and in some cases the ridge and furrow of medieval ploughing episodes is visible on the floors of even small dales (i.e. south of Cowlam). The incredibly long runs that the plough team could make along the bottom of some of these narrow valley bottoms would minimise the number of times required to turn the plough and team of traction animals. The unploughed dale-sides are also places where archaeological features such as linear earthworks have survived (see chapter three) (fig 7-8).

The importance of the wold-edge as a focus for settlement has already been discussed. There are also a number of larger settlements here. The six major market/administrative centres of the recent historic period: Malton, Bridlington, Driffield, Beverley, Market Weighton and Pocklington are all sited on the wold-edge at regularly spaced intervals. Each of these towns were already prominent settlements by the time of Domesday Book and it seems that the administration of the Wolds and the marketing of agricultural surplus has been organised from the wold-edge, at least from this time (fig 11). The town of Malton and possibly a site close to Bridlington, had urban origins in the Romano–British period (Ramm 1978). Excavations at Malton show later Roman activity and the site soon re-emerges as an important pre-conquest ecclesiastical and political centre (chapter 6-7). Driffield and Beverley are both significant Anglo-Saxon centres and Market Weighton, Bridlington and Pocklington have undoubted importance by Domesday and perhaps earlier as well (Alison 1976; Hey 1986). The village of Kilham, in the northeastern Wolds and to a lesser degree Hunmanby, are the only Wolds settlements, which enjoyed economic or administrative importance in the post-medieval period. These villages have not since evolved into towns.

The influence of the dry valleys was more significant on the landscapes of the pre-industrial age than it has been since the agricultural improvements of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The oldest surviving routes and boundaries appear to follow the course of the dale bottoms or sides and only travelled in straight lines when it was necessary to cross the wold top between separate dry valley networks. Where roads were re-aligned in the post-medieval era the existing straight and open stretches were retained whereas the windy lengths of the same road that followed the dales were often disregarded. (see chapter 5-6) The modern landscape of the Wolds is wholly rural and agricultural and the vast majority of the field pattern and road system was laid out by parliamentary enclosure. Some preenclosure lines and boundaries remain but many were obliterated at this time and the air photographic cropmark record is characterised as much by medieval tracks and boundaries, as by those of more remote antiquity (Stoertz 1997). Even so the RCHM plots do not include marks that are obviously medieval in date. The isolated farms of the modern Wolds are products of enclosure as are the dewponds and shelterbelt plantations that usually surround them (fig 9-10).

The vegetational and land-use history for the area is not well understood because of the small number of pollen profiles. From the few insights we have, which are virtually all from buried soil horizons underneath prehistoric monuments, the landscape was already largely cleared by the Bronze Age (Manby 1980; 1988). The lack of a uniform environmental overview prevents us from making generalisations on this count. At the time of the Norman Conquest the amount of woodland, as recorded in Domesday Book, is very limited and the only concentration that exists is probably around Beverley in the southeast (Brooks 1986).

The medieval settlement pattern was nucleated with extensive open fields laid out around each village. They often filled whole townships leaving little room for permanent pasture. Many of these medieval villages have now become deserted sites and the extent of settlement contraction is often visible as earthworks within the confines of the successful settlements that remain. All of the existing villages of the Wolds have medieval origins and most retain the organic and well-worn character of their antiquity. This stands in sharp contrast to the ordered freshness of the bleak enclosure landscapes that surround them. In many cases, the roads that lead out of the villages are sunken for a short way until they become wider and more level once outside the village limits. Here they have usually been modified at the time of parliamentary enclosure.

A MANAGED WILDERNESS The Wolds landscape is distinctive from its surroundings through elevation, hydrology, geomorphology as well as the arrangement of the settlement pattern. To be there, it also feels like a different place. The spirit of the landscape as experienced in the present day, needs to be added to this discussion. As we have mentioned the visible configuration of fields, hedges and lanes is almost entirely a product of parliamentary enclosure. The starkness of these changes accentuates the exposed and open situation of the wold tops.

The density of rural settlements today is greatest on the western, northern and eastern edges of the Wolds where villages are strung out along the spring–lines (fig 4). The large amount of deserted settlements in the Wolds interior suggests that the medieval settlement density was greater here then it is 23

management of the spaces in between villages heightens the sense of wilderness. It accentuates the distinction between the organic antiquity of the village community and the lack of history or humanity in the surrounding landscape.

The lack of wooded hedges, the isolation of single trees starkly silhouetted against the sky, the straightness and regularity of the roads, the rigid square fields all heighten the sense of management and exposure. The experience of walking along the dry valleys is completely different as here the ground is covered in grass. The steepness of the slopes softens the bleakness of distant views. Up on the wold tops the wind will carry away much of the sounds generated by animals and people but down in the valleys the concealing grassy bulk can almost create an echo. The valleys are havens within the vast arable prairies of modern agribusiness. Some are accessible to everyone as they are interlaced by public paths. A great number though are restricted and remain the exclusive preserve of shooting parties, dead rabbits and sheep (figs 12-15).

PLANNED AND ANCIENT COUNTRYSIDE The distinction between planned and ancient countryside can be over-generalised. In Rackham’s scheme, the spread of planned countryside cuts a great swathe across England taking in the whole of East Yorkshire. The North York Moors are let off the hook and treated separately as part of the highland zone (Rackham 1994). Can we accept that the historic landscape of all eastern Yorkshire shared a common character rooted in a universal history? On the first edition OS 6” maps, the Wolds appears to be classic planned countryside. As we have seen, most of its features are ostensibly the creations of parliamentary enclosure. The surrounding landscapes of the vales however give a different impression. The distinction is not so clear on the eastern dip slope as here the more luxuriant and inhabited landscapes of Holderness emerge slowly. On the western margins though, the difference is very clearly marked by the topographic barrier of the steep scarp slope. A particularly good example exists in the northwestern corner of the Wolds just south of where it connects with the Howardian Hills. These hills are part of the Jurasssic limestone outcrop, which borders the western Wolds as a thin strip or bench below the scarp (Catt 1990). Here the limestone extends from the Wolds to the Derwent at Malton and then across the western end of the Vale of Pickering to the Moors.

This is not a public landscape. Many of the authorised rights of way are deliberately uninviting. They strike out across the arable desert, marked in crops by ruler straight lines of soil bleached of vegetation. Otherwise, they may cling to the side of a low hawthorn hedge. Visitors and tourists are persuaded to drive through rather than stop and wander. A scenic drive route has been provided for this express purpose (to avoid unnecessary damage to crops?). The few stands of woodland are plantations created in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. They remain away from public access and are rarely available as recreational amenities. Instead, the vast majority of these stands provide shelter for farmhouse complexes or for rearing colonies of pheasants. One of the main reasons for the fiercely restricted access is the need to protect these populations of pheasants from ‘poachers’. The ideal of landownership is so strong that its rights of property extend even to wild animals unfortunate enough to encroach. One attractive recreational aspect to this landscape is its emptiness. Although it often appears empty of wildlife and of wild plants, it is also usually empty of people.

The modern civil parish of Kirby Underdale sits on this limestone belt on the edges of the Wolds. One look at the OS 6”map for the area indicates a clear distinction between the limestone and the chalk. The Roman road that runs along the top edge of the scarp slope more or less marks the dividing line between two different landscapes. One is reminiscent of Rackham’s ancient countryside with irregular enclosures, fields bordered by wooded hedges, winding sunken lanes, streams and springs amidst the dispersed but closely spaced villages of Uncleby, Painsthorpe and Kirby Underdale. Above the Roman road however, the patterns of fields and roads and plantations is that of parliamentary enclosure. This is a landscape of planned countryside. Much of the land in the Kirby Underdale area is pasture. It was enclosed at an earlier date and in a more piecemeal fashion (Harris 1969). This stands in clear contrast to the land up on the Wolds, which is today almost entirely arable. This exercise can be carried out across the region outlining exceptions to the over generalised rule but also reinforcing the separate identity held by the Wolds in the early modern era. This sense of a separate identity for the Wolds has been recognised by Alison (1976) and Harris (1969) and is particularly clear from the contemporary writings and historical developments of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. A closer look at the region shows that Rackham’s two-fold national division into planned and ancient landscape is too simplistic and overgeneralised.

Farming as industry, has transformed the area and farms are now part of large corporate concerns. The JSR group, based at Southburn near Driffield, is run by a local family. They own a large number of farms and many acres of land on the Wolds. Their programme of pig production involves fifteen separate sites, each providing a specialist link in the chain in the pig breeding and rearing system. The existence of a chain of linked processing plants acts as a reminder of the industrial scale of this kind of farming. The tendencies toward corporate agriculture in recent decades have finally severed the link between the agricultural production and its traditional social and cultural associations and foundations. This process is ubiquitous and has also affected the Vales of York, Holderness and Pickering. However, when we look back at the historical landscapes of the Wolds it is clear that the area has always been regarded as a different and separate place. Many of the individual features mentioned above are part of the universal experience of the modern English countryside. On the Wolds, they are relentless and extreme. It is a new kind of wilderness. It has the emptiness and space of a wilderness, for it is a bleak and empty place. However there is very little of the presence of wild nature as everything is intensively managed. Every corner of this profitable place is wrung dry for the revenue it can produce. Such intensive

THE COMING OF THE INCLOSURES Parliamentary enclosure took hold on the Wolds between 1700 and 1850 (Harris 1969). Before 1700, the townships here contained open fields surrounding large nucleated villages. They were open townships farming under a co24

distinction,

operative collective system, which included the organisation of arable cultivation in the open field and the grazing of livestock on the common pasture (ibid; 1951). Some closes existed in the immediate environs of the village, but most of the land would have been unenclosed. The pastures usually lay on the margins of the open fields. Alongside these inhabited townships were some that had been enclosed and turned into sheep walks or rabbit warrens, probably between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. These were townships where villages had gradually become depopulated, in places like Cowlam, Cottam, Arras and Wharram Percy (fig 16). By the 1840s, most of the Wolds was under arable cultivation leaving only isolated areas of steep dry valley or warren under permanent grass (Harris 1969; Alison 1976). The changes of parliamentary enclosure meant the complete transformation of the open townships. Their open fields were enclosed; formerly winding tracks straightened and levelled; plantations and shelterbelts were imposed on otherwise treeless landscape; new farms were built away from the villages. The townships of the Wolds had been more open than those of the surrounding vales as in the latter areas enclosure had already gradually encroached on the open fields. On the Wolds though, the landscape had remained open. For this reason the enclosure commissioners were given free rein to radically transform the landscape they encountered.

“I observed the middle of this riding or division of Yorkshire is very thin of towns and, consequently, of people being overspread with Woulds, that is to say plains and downs, like those of Salisbury; on which they feed great numbers of sheep, and breed also a great many black cattle and horses;...... But the east and west is populous and rich and full of towns, the one lying on the sea coast and the other upon the river Derwent.” (quoted in Woodward 1985:54). The second half of the eighteenth century sees the beginnings of parliamentary enclosure in East Yorkshire. Township by township the formerly extensive open fields and common pastures were transformed into more ‘manageable’ fields bounded by quickset hawthorn hedges. Roads were straightened and confined within hedge lines, where formerly they had been wide and open rambling driveways (Woodward 1985). Much of the descriptions from this period are concerned with the benefits of these agricultural improvements and more efficient utilisation of land for profit. Very little mention is made of the social implications of enclosure in this district. The landscape of the unenclosed townships is characterised as archaic wilderness as for instance in this extract by Arthur Young, written in 1769, “Between Market Weighton and Beverley, I observed several warrens, which must raise the wonder of every traveller, to see such good land left to so woeful an use; the turf is exceedingly rich and fine, and the plentiful crops of thistles scattered about it, prove the natural goodness of the soil....About Bishop Burton is some of the most extraordinary open field land I have met with; for it let while open at 18s and 20s an acre; and now a bill of enclosure has passed, it is said to raised to near 30s per acre.” (quoted in Crowther 1992:19).

The accounts of travellers to East Yorkshire during the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries give us some impression of the view they held of the Wolds. Most tended to avoid the chalk, travelling between populated centres of York, Malton, Market Weighton, Beverley and Hull. They travelled south along the western wold-edge and thence from Weighton across Arras Hill to Beverley. Some also visited friends who owned stately homes often with newly laid out ‘pleasure grounds’. A strong sense of the separateness of the Wolds colours much of this writing. They articulate it through differences in farming practice and observations on varying degrees of efficiency in agricultural exploitation. In other words, the Wolds was often seen as under-utilised and in need of improvement. This stands in stark contrast to the surrounding lowlands where improvement was already well under way. These kind of observations made during the seventeenth and eighteenth century provide the basis for the radical changes in land-use and landownership made through parliamentary enclosure (fig 17). By the end of the nineteenth century, there was less difference as by now all the Wolds townships had been enclosed.

Isaac Leatham also recognised the inefficient way that the land on the Wolds was exploited. He makes little comment however on the social characteristics of the common rights, which are entrenched within these pre-enclosure agricultural schemes (Harris 1969). Land and farming were seen as economic commodities and we get very little sense of the human presence in these pre-enclosure landscapes. The roads across the Wolds, before enclosure were wide to allow easy access with little attention to maintenance. Leatham comments on the need for closer management, “Those (roads) over the uninclosed part of the Wold division, require but little attention; the traveller however, need not complain, because the room allowed will ever enable him to find a good one; but this is not economical in the occupier of the land, though the land may be let at a low valuation, as great waste is often made by such a free range over it: for a considerable saving would be made by only levelling and keeping in order a suitable part thereof.....” (quoted in Crowther 1992:36).

“That part of it towards the sea and the river Derwent is pretty fruitful, but the middle is nothing but a heap of mountains, called Yorkeswold, which signifies Yorkshire Hills.” (Camden 1586; quoted in Woodward 1985:20). Several other seventeenth century writers follow the pattern set by Leland and Camden, in only briefly alluding to the Wolds as most of their travels took them along the populous wold-edges. This period (sixteenth-seventeenth century) had witnessed the gradual desertion of settlements on the Wolds as many long cultivated lands were turned over to open sheep pasture. Extensive tracts of sheep walk and rabbit warren now characterised the post-medieval landscape, particularly in those townships whose villages had become depopulated (Harris 1969; Alison 1976; Neave 1990; Beresord and Hurst 1990). Defoe, writing around 1720, recognised the

The voices of opposition to enclosure are rarely heard in East Yorkshire but some accounts do allude to protest, as in this passage again by Leatham. “Some are of the opinion that inclosures have been the cause of a decrease of population, but a far greater number maintain contrary opinions. Additional labour, an improved air, and an increase of produce are certainly favourable to an 25

post-medieval Wolds and that of the medieval period. The explosion of historical sources from the seventeenth century onwards has allowed the detailed reconstruction of the agrarian landscape. For the centuries that precede the seventeenth however, the quality and frequency of historical documentation is much lower (Alison 1976). The landscapes of the medieval Wolds are only known in outline. The main sources are scanty documentary records and archaeological evidence, which has not yet been adequately investigated. The impression that the medieval landscape is a closed book because we already know all about it is a common one and perhaps reflected in the decision of the RCHM not to map traces of ridge and furrow, identified on aerial photographs (Stoertz 1997). The reconstruction of the layout of open fields is dependent upon their record in very late sources such as tithe maps or enclosure awards of the early nineteenth century (chapter five). It is not straightforward to simply extrapolate these patterns back into the earlier centuries. However, Harvey’s work did show several examples where the mapped field patterns of the nineteenth century could be matched with furlong layouts recorded in the thirteenth (Harvey 1983).

increase in population, these are in general the beneficial consequences of inclosures....Many open fields and commons in this district have been inclosed: and the taste for inclosing has been carried on here as rapidly, and to as good a purpose, as in most other countries.” (quoted in Crowther 1992:37). The increase in available labour he mentions, is no doubt caused by the fact that many households found themselves without land to farm after enclosure. A poem, written at the turn of the nineteenth century captures the excitement of improvement experienced by those yeoman farmers who profited from the changes. They are here likened to a religious striving to make the most of what god has given, “As I look’d round, my wond’ring eye beholds The vast improvements on the Yorkshire Wolds; When on the top of Weatrop Hill I stand, A prospect opens over sea and land.... As o’er this vale I take a wide survey, And view the hills where I oft us’d to play;

The medieval Wolds landscape was characterised by nucleated villages, surrounded by extensive and unenclosed open fields. Many townships were almost entirely filled with cultivated land, with very long furlongs stretching the full length of the township in some cases (Alison 1976; Harvey 1983) (fig 19). For the most part the agricultural regimes of each township community were carried out within the township territory. Many contained specialised areas of pasture often on the margins of the territories. As Leatham described in early nineteenth century, large pasture zones would straddle adjoining township boundaries and these were not always marked by physical barriers (Crowther 1992) (see fig 9). In these cases a shepherd would have the job of keeping stock within each township limits. The townships which did not have designated pasture zones would have operated rotational systems between the two or three open fields, allowing animals to graze the fallow lands (Harris 1951; 1969)

Drove out from thence, my father’s farm was sold; We Lutton left when I was nine years old; This seem’d a cross not rightly understood, But afterward, we saw it work for good, Tho’it was but eight miles we then remov’d, To Kilham; a far better place it prov’d; There all inclos’d, the diff’rence shew’d as plain, As from the wilderness into Canaan......”. (Edward Anderson, quoted in Crowther 1992:50). Alan Harris has emphasised the strong tendency for parliamentary enclosure on the Wolds in contrast to the surrounding vales and plains (1969). This distinction was already present before enclosure took place, evident in the large number of Wolds townships that were still unenclosed in the eighteenth century. Away from the Wolds the pattern had been more mixed with many townships containing areas of both early (pre eighteenth century) and later parliamentary enclosure (Harris 1969). Strickland recognised the distinction also when he wrote, “.....But upon the Wold lands of this Riding (parliamentary) inclosures have been carried to the greatest extent.” (quoted in Crowther 1992:59). By the middle of the nineteenth century, the open barren waste of the Wolds had been transformed (fig 18).

A characteristic of the post-medieval Wolds was the frequency of deserted settlements and depopulated townships. The long-term investigations at Wharram Percy were founded on researching this phenomenon, which is evident from the fourteenth to the fifteenth century. Many Wolds villages show signs of contraction in this period and in several cases the earthworks of abandoned tofts and crofts of former medieval habitation are visible on the ground (S.Neave 1990). The village community at Wharram Percy had ceased to exist by the early sixteenth century (Beresford and Hurst 1990) following a gradual decline in economic fortunes in the previous century. In many cases the desertions of villages at this time are caused by their landlords, who turned away the few households left on the site and converted the arable lands to more profitable sheep pastures (Beresford and Hurst 1990). Many similar cases of the gradual desertion of villages during these centuries are found on the Wolds. Although Beresford tended to attribute these desertions to a late medieval horizon, Neave has shown for the eastern Wolds that many settlements were still occupied sparsely during the seventeenth century (S.Neave 1990). Population levels dropped gradually following the fifteenth century and, coupled with economic

“The country is all inclosed, generally by thorn hedges; and plantations, everywhere grouped over its surface, add beauty to its outline, while they shelter the fields from the cutting blasts of winter and spring. Green pasture fields are occasionally intermixed with corn, or more frequently surround the spacious and comfortable homestead.” (quoted in Harris 1961:97).

MEDIEVAL LANDSCAPES AND VILLAGE DESERTION There is a massive discrepancy between our knowledge of the 26

valleys of the Weald and those of the higher wold land and could be identified both in eighteenth century topographical descriptions and in the historical record for the middle ages. As we saw in chapter one, a failing of Everitt’s work is that he did not extend his enquiry back before the Anglo-Saxon period. In fact, he saw much of the early medieval settlement on the Kentish wold as the colonisation of land, which had previously been unoccupied. If we were to extend our enquiry further back in time before the Norman conquest it could be possible to assess the character of the Yorkshire Wolds during the Anglo-Saxon period and before. This would allow us to consider the earlier origins of the historical ‘pays’, not as something that is determined by the environment and soil type during colonisation after some late Romano-British apocalypse, but moulded by the existing character of landscape and settlement, itself rooted deeply in history. Such an investigation requires a long-term perspective, which would combine both archaeological and documentary sources and bring them together in the same regional landscape.

and agricultural changes, this contributed to the gradual desertion of many villages on the Wolds.

REGIONAL LANDSCAPES AND THE ‘PAYS’ Keith Alison and Alan Harris have both written books about the landscape history of East Yorkshire. The former is part of the series of regional studies based on Hoskins’ The Making of the English Landscape (Alison 1976), whilst the latter is a detailed account of the period surrounding parliamentary enclosure (1700-1850); a short but formative age (Harris 1969). Both authors use the natural topographic divisions of the region as a means of organising the historical landscape. In both books, East Yorkshire is divided up into areas such as the Wolds, Holderness, the Vale of Pickering and the Vale of York and each sub-region is taken to have both a topographic and cultural character of its own. Implicitly and explicitly, they describe these regions as different throughout the middle ages and on into the modern era. The distinctions between these regions that are visible in the modern cultural landscape are rooted in the historical development specific to each region. These distinctions are clearly visible at certain historical epochs but less obvious during others. For instance, during the early eighteenth century many of the Wolds townships were unenclosed whilst others had become depopulated and their lands turned out to pasture. The land here was seen as under-utilised and the whole area was often described as marginal and set apart from the improving agricultural developments that were going on in the surrounding vales. Following 1850, these very clear distinctions had largely been transformed as most townships had been enclosed by acts of parliament. Instead, the area was left with more subtle distinguishing features (the lack of ‘old enclosure’ and the real sense of the very recent creation of the agrarian landscape). During the medieval period too there is less evidence for the obvious distinction between the Wolds and the surrounding lands. In spite of this, the area was noted as different by the very use of the term Wolds and was clearly perceived as a separate place from an early date (see chapter six).

ARCHAEOLOGY IN EAST YORKSHIRE The origins of archaeological investigation in East Yorkshire are always traced back to the pioneering work of the local corn merchant and antiquarian, J.R.Mortimer. Born in Fimber, he also lived at Leavening and most of his adult life in Driffield (Hicks 1978). In 1905 he published his life’s work, Forty Years Researches in British and Saxon Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire. It represents the detailed record of excavations into over one hundred barrows distributed across the central Wolds, between Aldro in the west and Driffield on the eastern dip-slope. In addition he investigated Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon cemeteries and carried out a unique study into the linear earthworks of the area (1905). He worked in close association with his brother, Robert and at times with E.Maule-Cole, vicar of Wetwang who also published extensively in the late nineteenth century (i.e. 1888; 1889; 1893) (fig 20). More perhaps than any other antiquarian of his time, Mortimer’s work has remained an essential starting point for archaeological research on the Wolds. This is primarily a reflection of the quality of his work but it also reflects on the fact that subsequent study has often failed to supersede his findings or provide an alternative. Tom Sheppard wrote his obituary in 1911,

If we follow the work of Alan Everitt, we could describe the Wolds as a ‘pays’ (Everitt 1977; 1986). In terms of identifying landscape regions this is a useful concept as it directly reflects the perception of a regional integrity, which is not based on administrative or political structures. Instead the recognition of a ‘pays’ identifies an area with a common landscape ‘character’ bound up with topography, land-use and social and cultural structure, in many different ways. Their recognition and identification derives from references to a certain regional integrity often by topographers and travellers in the post-medieval period. In Kent for example, Everitt recognises clear distinctions of land-use, social structure and wealth, which were,

“Probably no one in England has done so much for the elucidation of the pre-historic antiquities of his district as has Mr. Mortimer. No one has worked so well, so thoroughly, and so exhaustively; and certainly no one has so carefully preserved the records that were obtained. Unquestionably Mr. Mortimer’s worth will be much more appreciated in the future even than it is today. Few, very few, yet realise the extreme value and importance of his collections.” (Sheppard 1911:330).

“not scattered at haphazard throughout the country but were grouped in clearly defined regions within it. Essentially they were related to contrasts of pays, to types of countryside in vale and upland whose historic differences often lay far back in the origins of Kentish society: in variations of settlement and farming, of land-forms, siting, soil-types and geology that had shaped the very beginnings of colonisation.” (Everitt 1977:4).

If one man had done the same for the southern chalklands he would no doubt have been hailed as a father of British Archaeology. Amongst local archaeologists, he remains a mystical figure, the book a religious text. Perhaps the strength of his influence is indicated by the fact that it was not until the middle of the twentieth century that further significant strides were made to add to the archaeological knowledge of the Wolds.

The differences existed between the landscape of the river

After the second world war, a group of individuals emerged 27

agriculture on the Wolds has been so great that many of the features visible as cropmarks have been severely degraded.

who have added a significant amount of knowledge to the region and whose aptitude was borne out of the strength of the local amateur tradition so epitomised by Mortimer (fig 16). Tony Brewster instigated excavations of many periods but was perhaps best known for the excavations at Staple Howe, the later Bronze Age enclosure on the northern Wolds escarpment (1963). Similarly, Terry Manby has been active in local archaeological societies and research committees for several decades. His work has involved many Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments but primarily the long-term excavations at Thwing. Here he investigated another later Bronze Age enclosure, sited on an existing henge monument. The site was later reused during the Anglian period as a probable high status settlement of some kind (Manby 1980; 1982; 1990).

The background to the survey states that, “In many respects it is the successor to the extensive fieldwork carried out by Herman Ramm during his years as an investigator for the RCHME.” (Stoertz 1997:7). The results of Ramm’s fieldwork remain unpublished and his archive, held by English Heritage was not available for consultation for this study. The Yorkshire Wolds is a very rich archaeological landscape. The archaeology of the area is well known and strong for most periods. This makes it a very good place in which to carry out a long-term regional investigation. The sites and sequences are well known and researched and densely distributed across the chalk land, which shows up cropmarks extremely well. The recently completed and published RCHM survey is an invaluable source of information. However, there are lacunae in our understanding of regional development. Traditionally, archaeological investigations have been very much restricted in scope and focus so that a longer term regional perspective has been made more difficult. Certain periods have received favoured attention in recent years, exemplified by the many recent excavations on Iron Age sites. (Dent 1982;1983; Stead 1986;1991). Very few studies have attempted to look at change over the long term, crucially between late prehistory and the historic period. Those that have adopted a multiperiod stance are localised and have not had wide enough spatial focus to assess the long-term development of anything other than their immediate vicinity (Beresford and Hurst 1990; Hayfield 1987; Powlesland 1986; 2002). Most of all there are clear continuities in this landscape. Prehistoric sites were reused in the post Roman centuries, linear earthworks remained potent features of the historic landscape and the same areas were consistently favoured for settlement. Very little work has addressed the awareness of the past and the way that the Wolds communities dealt with the traces of the past in their landscape. Any consideration of long-term development of landscape must consider the evidence for continuity and change in the light of ideas about the reworking of the visible past and the reinvention of tradition.

It was also during the post war years that the excavations began at Wharram Percy DMV. Originally an investigation of village desertion in the medieval period, this project developed to encircle the origins of the medieval village, its surrounding landscape and its Anglian, Romano-British and prehistoric antecedents (Beresford and Hurst 1990). Colin Hayfield’s work on the landscape development of Wharram Percy parish has enabled the findings from the site itself to be set in some kind of context (1986; 1988). The 1970s and 1980s have also witnessed great strides forward in our knowledge of the East Yorkshire Iron Age. Ian Stead has undertaken important excavation projects on Iron Age cemeteries at Burton Fleming, Rudston and Kirkburn (1986; 1991). Dent’s work at Wetwang Slack, instigated by Brewster at Garton Slack involved the combined excavation of cemetery and adjacent settlement (1982; 1983). Just off the Wolds, to the north at Heslerton, Dominic Powlesland has been excavating the well preserved deposits on the Vale of Pickering. He has revealed remarkable traces of Anglian settlement and cemetery, as well as earlier Romano-British and prehistoric activity (1986; 1990; 2002). We are still waiting for the final publication of some of these projects (Wharram Percy, Thwing, Wetwang Slack) but much interim information has been made available. It is fair to say that their results have revolutionised our understanding of the archaeology of the Wolds. One of the most recent additions to the growing body of information is the RCHM volume, Ancient Landscapes of the Yorkshire Wolds (Stoertz 1997). Herein, the vast collection of aerial photographs for the area have been plotted and presented as a series of annotated 1:25000 maps. The quality of cropmark visibility is exceptional and the resulting archaeological landscapes are mind boggling. The text by Cathy Stoertz takes the usual RCHM line and attempts to breathe interpretative life into the cropmark shapes through classification by morphology. She does not treat them simply as a collection of sites. Stoertz acknowledges that these are traces of a whole landscape and she considers some recurring themes in its organisation. Her discussions however count for little when they do not address the problem of chronology. This landscape has been reworked and modified over time and what we are seeing is not a single phase of agrarian practice but a cropmark palimpsest. Our knowledge of the chronology of many of the sites represented by these cropmarks is minimal and each map reflects the accretion of millennia of human activity. It is therefore highly problematic to interpret the plots without sufficient investigation on the ground. The intensity of recent arable

The nature of the archaeological evidence and its visibility has been a crucial factor in influencing our view of the Wolds in prehistoric, Romano-British and Anglian periods. The good preservation of archaeological monuments in the nineteenth century, meant that the work of Mortimer and Greenwell was focused here. The preservation of barrows was seen as a product of recent landscape history as those that survived in sheep walks until the nineteenth century were mostly levelled during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth. The good visibility from the air in the chalk soils has further heightened the importance of the area and set it apart from the surrounding clays and gravels, which tend to mask cropmark formation. As most sites concentrate here, the Wolds has generally been assumed as the regional focus of prehistoric settlement (Alison 1976; Haselgrove 1984). This view is enhanced by the idea that the light soils would be easier to work under low agricultural technologies. Although very useful for a close understanding of the Wolds archaeology, the RCHM volume does not help to gain a better understanding of the relative importance of the area in relation to the surrounding lowlands. 28

contextualised within their topographic and cultural setting as well as in their chronological context. Only then, will it be possible to reconstruct a humanised cultural landscape and trace its development.

Much recent archaeological work has been concentrated in the adjacent vales and in every case, the quality of the archaeological evidence has been as good as that on the Wolds. Halkon’s work in the Vale of York, Didsbury’s in the Hull Valley and the Humber Wetlands Survey have all pointed to the un-tapped potential for prehistoric settlement off the Wolds. These areas were previously viewed as marginal, uninhabited and waterlogged. We can no longer see the Wolds as an isolated island of early clearance and dense continuous settlement from an early date in prehistory, nor indeed a raised area surrounded by primeval swamp. Most of the archaeological sites known from the area are associated with burial. In the absence of evidence for habitation, the distribution of burial sites has been assumed as equivalent to the distribution of settlement. What is rarely conceived is whether Iron Age or Anglian communities were burying their dead away from settlements, not alongside them. Can we actually use the dense concentrations of burial monuments on the Wolds as a basis for assuming equally dense settlement here? Are we right to envisage the Wolds as the main area for settlement throughout prehistory? Dent for instance has recently suggested that the Wolds may have held a special character in the Iron Age away from the main areas of settlement, which were situated along the Wold margins (1995). Have we thought about the relationship between the area and the surrounding lowlands in enough detail? Are we right to simplistically draw a distinction between the Wolds, on the one hand, and the vales on the other? What about the strip of land between wold and vale where historically, settlement was based? Could the wold-edge represent another topographical zone with distinctive cultural credentials in the past?

APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY We discussed in chapter one, the need for regional, multiperiod, multi-disciplinary investigation in the wider context of landscape studies. This would deliberately ground the longterm development of the landscape between later prehistory and early history, within a specific region. Importantly this kind of approach would use the landscape as a framework within which evidence from many different archaeological and historical sources could be incorporated. Its multi-period and multi-disciplinary character would help to break down barriers between disciplines and period specialisms. It would also allow us to take a less blinkered view of developing landscapes, as approaches are often restricted by narrow specialist concerns. The period between later prehistory and the early middle ages has been seen as one of significant change but also of essential agrarian continuity in this country. Instead of making vague generalisations based on a selective reading of examples it is important to address the issue within one specified region. In this way, the balance between continuities and changes may be identified. The regional approach will also help to consider the applicability of the concept of the ‘pays’ back into the Romano-British and prehistoric period, to assess the origins if any, of the regionallity of landscape character identified during the later middle ages. This would also help to refine the generalised and simplifying impression of ancient and planned countryside whose distinctions are rooted in the late medieval period but whose origins are far from clear.

Alison’s long-term history of the landscape is over due for revision. Written in 1976 it was based firmly in Hoskins’ historical-geographic school, which tended to prioritise historical periods over prehistory. Much attention was paid to prehistoric, Romano-British and Anglian periods but the archaeological evidence was not analysed in enough detail. Furthermore, its division into chronological chapters heightened the sense of a long-term history punctuated by specific thresholds of transformation and change, leaving little scope for long-term continuity nor indeed the reworking of the past. Much more recent archaeological work has appeared since the date of its publication. In spite of this, the book was recently reprinted with no additions or revisions. Landscape history in general has moved on light years since this book was published, as has our understanding of the archaeological landscapes of the Wolds. These new empirical and theoretical developments need to be incorporated into the landscape history of the area.

The Yorkshire Wolds is a region where this kind of longterm landscape investigation would pay dividends, both for the increased understanding of the region and for the light it would shed on the wider questions raised above. This is not a landscape that will reveal its history very easily as on the surface it appears to be of recent creation. Change has occurred in recent centuries, here more than the surrounding plains and vales but there are also features that have survived these recent changes. The balance between continuity and change is an important feature of a rounded view of landscape development.

FIELDWORK AND WITHOUT HISTORY

THE

LANDSCAPE

Some landscapes in modern Britain are obvious palimpsests of their own history. Their patterns of field boundaries, lanes and settlements have been built up and modified consistently over centuries. Within the modern pattern of fields in parts of East Anglia for instance, may be glimpsed fossilised traces of prehistoric field patterns (Williamson 1986). The same is true of many upland areas where modern hedges and walls follow very ancient lines. They might sit on top of a visibly ancient bank or enjoy a rich and luxuriant variety of different species, built up over many centuries. Likewise, in many areas of ancient countryside, the sunken character of trackways is a physical reminder of the longevity and endurance of this individual feature. In these landscapes, historical depth is clearly visible on the surface, worn like grey hair or a stoop.

Several very important multi-period landscape projects have recently been carried out but they concentrate on local areas. It is time to draw the information from these studies together to assess the long-term regional development of this landscape, not just restrict our investigation to isolated locales. The detailed plots of aerial photographs are invaluable as a resource but this work is not the end product. They do not represent ancient cultural landscapes as we defined the term in the previous chapter. This will only be possible when the information that this volume contains is applied thoughtfully to an interpretative investigation of the development of this landscape. These cropmarks need to be 29

Sledmere and Cowlam. This whole area includes a broad cross-section of the variety of topographies found in the Wolds. As a whole, it can act as a sample zone for comparisons between wold and wold-edge and between dissected wolds and the more gentle landscapes of the eastern dip slope and the larger valleys (fig 7-15, 23-24).

The landscape of the Wolds holds very few obvious clues to its ancient history. The severity of the transformations at enclosure made sure that trackways and field boundaries were levelled and straightened and as a result, the vast majority of hedges are short hawthorns, probably 150 years old. In a small number of cases, they have adopted the course of the few ancient features that have survived. On the surface the antiquity of these lines and their former role as trackways or field boundaries is not obvious, for they are marked only by hawthorn hedge. It is only the sinuous course they adopt that sometimes gives the game away. The normal rules of landscape archaeology do not apply here (fig 15). It is rarely possible to make significant discoveries through field observation alone, for the antiquity of landscape features is not part of their physical appearance. The clock has been reset to zero.

It was in this area that Mortimer concentrated his investigations and in particular, he mapped a dense pattern of linear earthworks. The aerial photographic record is strong, especially on the eastern dip slopes in the townships of North Dalton, Wetwang, Garton and Tibthorpe and it reveals a dense distribution of cropmark sites and features from all periods. All of the main periods and types of site found on the Wolds are represented, including linear earthworks, Iron Age square barrow cemeteries, later Iron Age settlements, Romano-British enclosures, Anglian burials and cemeteries. The area is bounded on the northwest by the study area used by Hayfield in his fieldwalking survey (1987) and contains within it the site of the Wetwang and Garton Slack excavations (Dent 1982;1983).

Changes in its recent history have also made it harder to see ancient patterns within the Wolds landscape. Because the transformations of enclosure took place separately between townships, their severity and particular effects were different. In some townships like Sledmere for instance, the changes were radical and pervasive. Here, the Sykes family re-routed the roads and moved the village to make way for emparkment and general gentrification. It seems that many of the field names were lost in the process along with many of the public footpaths. One look at the late nineteenth century situation indicates that the names that do survive around Sledmere were probably introduced along with these landscape changes. Names like Keeper’s Hill, Triplescore Plantation and Avenue Farm are probably not locally-based terms rooted in centuries of farming. Large areas of Sledmere parish around Life Hill are devoid of any names at all. Likewise, very few rights of way have survived in this township when compared with some of those adjacent to it. It would appear that the strength of landownership in Sledmere was so great that alterations in landscape patterns during the eighteenth and nineteenth century, were accompanied by re-naming and the obliteration of rights of way. The neighbouring townships of Wetwang or Huggate also went through parliamentary enclosure but managed to retain a rich compendium of local field names and a network of public footpaths, many of which strike out obliquely across the newly enclosed fields. If we are going to use the place-names and field names as a historical resource, then we must appreciate the distinctions in the quality of evidence that may exist between townships (see chapter five).

The findings from this study area will be complemented by examples drawn from all over the Wolds but especially other parts of the northern Wolds. In this way the scales of analysis will extend from an understanding of the Wolds in general, as a region, down to individual valleys or localities and finally to a consideration of specific features, such as tracks, boundaries, burial monuments or settlements.

THE STUDY AREA The study will be concerned with the changing landscapes of the Wolds but cannot deal in sufficient detail with the whole area. For this reason a specified study area has been chosen to act as a sample. Herein, the detailed scrutiny of the historical and archaeological record will be contained and related to the topography. The area chosen spans the central Wolds to the west of Driffield and includes eight modern civil parishes (figs 3; 21-22). It has been chosen for the presence of several types of wold land: rolling countryside of the eastern dip slope at Bainton and Tibthorpe; the broad sweeping lines of the valley of Wetwang and Garton Slack; the springhead streams of the river Hull at Eastburn, Kirkburn, Southburn, Elmswell and Driffield; the high dissected western Wolds at Huggate, Fridaythorpe and Fimber; the western margins of the Wolds at Warter and the high central Wolds watershed at Cottam, 30

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This project has demonstrated the close link between settlements of the later Bronze Age and the linears and has suggested that they acted as symbolic markers as much as functional boundaries. This latter idea was missing from the earlier studies but also from most archaeological interpretation at that time. The work of Entwhistle and Bradley has also emphasised the chronological depth in what has too often been seen as a single-phase pattern. On Salisbury Plain there is good evidence for the initial later Bronze Age system of linears being re-aligned, abandoned and re-cut throughout the first millennium BC in a complex way that can only be revealed through detailed and closegrained field investigation (one that must include excavation). This process of alteration involved the incorporation of boundaries and ditches that were already old, into a completely new agenda of cultural landscape. At the same time, others became infilled and ignored. Things are likely to have continued in this vein into the Romano-British period and beyond but that phase of activity falls outside the remit of this first phase of the Linear Ditches Project.

CHAPTER THREE LINEAR EARTHWORKS AND THE LATE BRONZE AGE LANDSCAPE INTRODUCTION: LINEARS IN BRITAIN The Yorkshire Wolds is one of the few areas in Britain known for its complex pattern of long distance linear ditches. Others include the chalklands of southern England as well as the Tabular Hills and Moors of North Yorkshire. These monuments provide a tantalising insight into prehistoric land division. However, the majority of academic attention has been paid to those systems in the south of England to the exclusion of the north (fig 25). In this chapter, we will look at the part the linears play in the beginnings of land division on the Wolds in late prehistory. These monuments will not be forgotten in subsequent chapters however, as their banks and ditches, often of massive proportions and long distance, provide the framework for the organisation and meaning of this landscape well into the historic period.

The patterns of linear earthworks that survive today and which appear on archaeological maps are derived from centuries of alteration and adaptation, a point which is also illustrated by the work of Spratt in North Yorkshire. He has identified several medieval examples of linear earthworks (Spratt 1989). The chronological depth present in the Wolds linears and the influence that the prehistoric system of land division exerts on later periods is important. We will return to it in subsequent chapters.

For some years, the archaeological study of linear earthworks in Britain had been groping in the dark. The formative and seminal works of Bowen and others in Wessex were rooted in the post-war fieldwork and survey schools of the Royal Commission (RCHM). These studies were able to build on the explosion of aerial photographic information made available during the post war decades. They sought to accurately record the extensive systems of linear earthworks and field systems on the Wessex chalk and to view them as an integrated landscape. When it came to questions of interpretation and chronology the problems involved were sometimes over stressed. The difficulties in interpretation and dating seemed to outweigh the potential insight that these monuments could offer the then nascent understanding of the prehistoric landscape. It is only with the recent publication of the work of the Wessex Linear Ditches Project that real progress has been made into understanding the complexities of chronology and function, which lie behind the pattern of land division (Bradley et al 1994). The early studies are important as they laid the foundations for later work (Bowen and Fowler 1978; Fowler 1984). However, it is now clear that they were stuck in an interpretative rut, confined by assumptions that the linears represented one phase of land division and that they were primarily connected to the economic requirements of pastoral agriculture.

As with much of the research into British prehistory, investigations into linear earthworks have been focused in southern central England on the chalk downlands of Wessex. The density of fieldwork in this area has far outweighed that carried out elsewhere and it is often tacitly assumed to represent lowland Britain as a whole. The publication of Spratt's study of linear earthworks on the Tabular Hills in North Yorkshire brought a welcome redress to that balance as did Blaise Vyner's study of cross ridge dykes on the North Yorkshire Moors (Spratt 1989; Vyner 1991). This work, along with the evidence from the Wolds, demonstrates forcefully that there are different things going on in the north and that the quality of the evidence is extremely high. Discussions of linear earthworks and field systems in the later prehistoric landscape have emphasised the significance of social and cultural changes that occurred in the later part of the Bronze Age. In most areas, it is this period, which witnesses the earliest and often very massive construction of long distance and large scale linear ditches. This represents a radical re-alignment of the perception of land and landscape as for the first time a sense of territorial organisation finds physical expression in a formal and permanent manner. In many parts of Britain, there is evidence for the creation of land boundaries from as early as the middle Bronze Age. This period marks a watershed within prehistory as hereafter the character of archaeological evidence alters. The difference between a period of ceremonial monuments and one of enclosed settlements and land organisation has identified as fundamental not only to landscape or to archaeology but to the very character of humanity (Barrett 1994). The radical nature of these changes is beyond doubt, but what has not been adequately addressed is the way that

The belief that the linear ditches were part of a cattle ranching landscape and that they represented a move away from an economic base dominated by arable farming was founded on false premises. As the recent work on Salisbury Plain has shown there are actually very few instances of linears cutting ‘celtic fields’ and those that do, represent a later, probably Iron Age episode. The Wessex Linear Ditches Project has shown that the linears on Salisbury Plain were more intimately connected with the territorial organisation of later Bronze Age settlement than merely acting as ranch boundaries (Bradley, Entwhistle and Raymond 1994). "Far from being a distinctive type of enclosure associated with stock management, these sites were very much part of an arable economy" (Bradley 1994:10) 32

a series of published maps by other authors that document the state of archaeological monuments on the Wolds at this time (1889;1890;1891;1892;1894). Although some considerable progress has been made in the present century, there has not been a self-contained and focused project to match that of Mortimer. The linears have been investigated, discussed, surveyed and excavated as additional parts of projects, whose main aims and foci have always lain elsewhere. Terry Manby has sectioned some of the monumental ditches that lie close to the enclosure at Thwing and has shown that these and several others are likely to originate in the later Bronze Age (Manby 1980;1986). The investigations of both Dent and Stead into Iron Age settlement and burial have shown that there is chronological depth in the Wolds system. Whilst in some cases Iron Age burials respect existing linears there are others where new ditches were dug during the Iron Age and Romano-British periods and several clearly overlie square barrows (Stead 1986;1991; Dent 1982;1983a;1995). Salvage excavations along the line of the gas pipeline at Caythorpe have revealed a keyhole view of a complex series of parallel ditches. This again emphasises the multi-period character of these monuments and the considerable amount of adaptation and re-alignment that took place (Abramson 1996). All this work is disparate and unconnected and until a unified project appears with a clear and relevant agenda, we will be no closer to answering the basic questions that are being addressed down south.

these new boundaries may merely be expressing formally, what was already informally understood. The linears on Salisbury Plain and on the Tabular Hills have close relationships with existing barrows and both Entwhistle and Spratt have suggested that this might reflect the formalisation by the linears of an earlier sense of territorial organisation that was based on these barrows. In this way, what appears as a radical threshold, archaeologically datable through the appearance of linear earthworks, may have been the contemporary reality for some time. It may in fact have been a much more gradual process, giving rise to a new territorial scheme but one that looked back as well as forward. (see below). The purpose of this chapter is to investigate whether and why the linear earthworks on the Wolds represent a ‘radical’ threshold of land division in the late Bronze Age. In order to do this, we must consider how the system of land division expressed by the linears relates to the earlier Bronze Age landscape. This will help us to understand the process of change involved in moving from a more open territorial structure to one involving fixed and physical markers. The multi-period character of the linears should be stressed and it is important to identify those monuments, which were either constructed or reused at a later stage. It is no longer tenable to view the visible pattern of linears as a coherent single phase system and from it to reconstruct a single agricultural structure (Bradley et al 1994).

The recent publication of the RCHM volume for the Wolds has added to and up-dated the record first established by Mortimer (Stoertz 1997). It does not pursue the interpretative questions surrounding these monuments very much further and still we are faced with basic problems of dating and function. The results of the Salisbury Plain project are very valuable as a comparative study and an example of what might be achieved. We should not forget though, that there are many differences between what seems to be happening in the two areas in the later prehistoric (and early historic) periods. Perhaps the main lesson to be learnt from that work is that we should not restrict our investigation to the elucidation of the character of the linears by themselves. In addition, we should seek to use them to achieve a more holistic understanding of the late prehistoric landscape and the ways in which these meanings changed over a very long period.

As the initial construction of linears in the late Bronze Age marks the beginning of land division as we understand it, this is a convenient place from which to begin a long term study tracing the changes in landscape character of this region. The study as a whole will examine several dualities: between open and bounded space, between communal and private space, between trackways and boundaries and between systems of local and more extensive settlement and agrarian organisation. These issues begin to arise when the earliest linear ditches are constructed.

LINEARS ON THE WOLDS The linears on the Wolds do not share the illustrious history of investigation enjoyed on the Wessex chalklands of Salisbury Plain, the Berkshire Downs or Cranborne Chase. A detailed survey was initiated by the RCHME in the 1960s under Herman Ramm but its results have never been published and requests to consult this archive are not always granted. The starting point for their description and record is at the beginning of the twentieth century when JR Mortimer published his Forty Years Researches into British and Saxon Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire, in 1905. Mortimer's work is still incredibly valuable for its thoroughness and detail and for the reliability and accuracy of his recording techniques. It is also fortuitous that he did most of the work during the mid to late nineteenth century before the worst excesses of intensive arable agriculture had vandalised what was left of the upstanding monuments. Mortimer's map of the linears in the central Wolds remains the most important source for their study in this area (1905).

The first task has been the collation of all the available existing evidence for the Wolds linears (see appendix one). This will be used alongside the results of field observation to address certain key questions. Fundamentally we will be looking at the part played by the linears in the changing landscape of the Wolds during the later prehistoric and early historic periods. In the present chapter, this is concerned with the inception of the linear system and the question of their relationship to the existing informal expressions of territorial awareness and spatial organisation. The consistent reuse of linear ditches for boundaries, trackways, settlements and burials is testament to the continual and persistent reinterpretation of their meaning but also to a constant reverence for the traditional antiquity of their landscape role. These phases of re-alignment indicate that a great deal of respect is being paid not only to existing monuments and the past but also to the natural landforms of the Wolds. Repeatedly, the valley-bottoms, ridges, slopes and viewpoints

In addition to the works of Mortimer, there is a whole host of antiquarian writing relating to the Wolds linears, published throughout the nineteenth century. Notably, the Rev E.Maule-Cole produced several short articles and pointed out 33

time. The process of destruction has continued into the present century when increasingly intensive arable agriculture has brought into cultivation even the least attractive soils and terrain. The RCHM mapping programme is a response to the high quality of cropmark visibility on the Wolds but it should be remembered that this is only possible where a site has already been levelled under the plough. Most of the traces visible on aerial photographs come from cropmarks where the filled-in ditches are revealed as single lines (Stoertz 1997). In a few cases the associated banks are revealed as soilmarks but as Stoertz points out, “So great is the damage in some cases that it is difficult to discern any trace of chalk banks.” (Stoertz 1997:40).

of this varied landscape played a crucial role in the way it was perceived and inhabited. The manner in which the linears reflect the topography is remarkable and seems to represent more than just a functional reaction to landform. In responding to the topography so sympathetically, the builders of the linears were expressing the potency of certain places and landscape features in a new medium. These places had been long revered and socialised and were to remain so, persistently throughout antiquity. The natural features of the Wolds landscape do not dictate or determine human action or perception. Instead, the form of the topography creates a series of potentials. The Wolds communities reacted to these potentials in a selective way that was historically and culturally specific.

Today, the survival of upstanding linear earthworks is rare and restricted to steep unploughed dale-sides or plantations. Even in cases where a modern hedge-line follows the earthwork’s line, the plough is likely to have encroached from both sides and the monument is usually eroded down to nothing (fig 26-7). The opportunity for field investigation on the surface is a rare thing and the character of individual linears is retrievable only through intrusive means on levelled stretches. The overall pattern of land division represented by these linear ditches is more easily achieved, especially through aerial photography. The interpretation of the pattern is problematic though, without a good knowledge of the form of each monument and the relationships between them (fig 28).

SURVIVAL AND DESTRUCTION Both Cole and Mortimer were witness to the creeping destruction of archaeological monuments on the Wolds, through the increasingly intensive and intrusive character of nineteenth century agriculture. Both were alarmed by the damage being done, especially to linear earthworks, as arable cultivation encroached onto former pasture and levelled the monuments at which the two old men had marvelled in their youth. It is clear from their writing that they equate the damage to field relics with a more general yearning for the lost lifestyles of the agricultural Wolds before enclosure. "The beginning of the present century found the larger portion of the high wolds of East Yorkshire still unenclosed. Large tracts of open common, dotted here and there with furze, afforded herbage for cattle and shelter for the great Bustard, Curlew and Thick-Knee. Then came the Inclosure Act; then the divine turnip; and soon the wild wastes were turned into profitable sheep farms and for many years the 'wool paid the rent'. All this however could not be done without sad destruction to the numberless entrenchments, which covered this part of Yorkshire. A few indeed have been preserved where a plantation or a hedge has offered protection, but the greater number have succumbed to the plough and can only be traced now by artful methods, which for the present we keep concealed from the gaze of the curious." (Cole 1890:109).

If we are to reconstruct the pattern of linears and to understand their character and form as fully as possible, it is necessary to use the aerial photographic information alongside the results of the few excavations and the descriptions and investigations of antiquarians. It is important to take advantage of the earliest map sources as these monuments were in much better order in the nineteenth century than they appear today. The first edition 6” maps were produced in 1854 and those at 25” scale in the 1890s. In many cases, these maps provide accurate plans of the stretches of ditch, now lost.

RECONSTRUCTING THE PATTERN (See detailed local descriptions in appendix one)

Cole recognised that the destruction of linears had already been underway during the eighteenth century as he refers to the lyrical descriptions of Drake who was awestruck by the extensive large earthworks that then survived,

The variety that exists within the Wolds linears or dykes is great and there are many different types varying in length, scale of construction, arrangement of banks and ditches, topographic location and the tendency to enclose or divide. Most consist of a chalk-cut ditch with flanking bank of chalk rubble. Many have two flanking banks and some banks were made up of turfs (fig 26). Several examples are more monumental than average and consist of parallel series of three or more ditches and banks. An exceptional case at Huggate Dykes contains six banks and flanking ditches. For the most part the ditches are massive, up to two metres in depth but some can be as shallow as one metre (fig 29-30). Mortimer identified a class of ditches that he termed hollow ways, which are single shallow ditches with ephemeral banks cut into the upper slopes of steep dale-sides (Mortimer 1905) (fig 31). He contrasted these with the longer and more massive linears found more usually on the wold tops and occasionally along the valley floors. Challis and Harding discussed the Wolds linears and offered three contrasting interpretations (1975). They saw the single dale-side ditches

"On the top of this mountain.... begins a series of such enormous works for fortification, as the like is not to be met with in the whole island." (Drake 1747 (quoted in Cole 1890). The survival of the linear earthworks as upstanding monuments is linked to the agricultural history of the area. Many survived extant in the common pastures of the medieval countryside whilst others were incorporated into the pattern of open fields as furlong boundaries or headlands, or indeed as the basis for the line of trackways. However, the radical changes introduced by parliamentary enclosure during the eighteenth and early nineteenth century was to conclusively re-orientate these old patterns. New hedge-lines and roads rarely took heed of the earlier boundaries and many long-lived stretches of linear earthwork were lost at this 34

three parallel axial lines, which lay on a southwest-northeast axis. These three linears are the longest and amongst the most massive both in the size of their ditches and banks and in the multiplicity of their arrangement (fig 28). They all three follow long sweeping ridges, associated with the broad valleys in this area, which are Garton/Wetwang Slack in the south and the Great Wold Valley to the north. This axial tendency is to some extent continued by the double/triple linears between Wetwang and Huggate, which run alongside two parallel dry valleys, Middleham Dale and Cow Dale (fig 32). To the north and west of here the pattern becomes much more varied and less formulaic. Three main concentrations were identified by Mortimer and Cole where the preservation of earthworks was much greater in nineteenth century than is now the case. One such concentration surrounds the village of Fimber at a point where the Garton-Wetwang Slack splits into two subsidiary dales. From here, the valleys extend west and north and become much narrower and more deeply incised. The linears seem to create a series of large amorphous enclosures influenced by the topographic form of the local valleys. To the northwest in the Wharram-Aldro area lies another concentration based loosely along the top of the Wolds scarp slope. Here, much smaller interlocking enclosures have been formed whilst, from these many earthworks extend down the steep scarp slopes and often lead directly to springs at the base of the chalk (Mortimer 1905). To the south of this area but connected to it by two long distance multiple earthworks, one of which is curiously terrain oblivious, is another concentration located on the top of the western scarp slope at Garrowby Hill. The form of enclosures created here are similar in size and character to those at Aldro and again they are linked to more direct linears, which extend in all directions from the central focus of activity around Millington Lings.

and some larger long distance examples primarily as trackways. Their interpretation was supported by the discovery of metalling in the ditch bottom at Riplingham (Wacher 1956-7) and Walkington (Bartlett and Mackey 1973) and by the pattern of linears with oblique angles at Speeton. Incidentally, the use of these ditches as trackways could well belong to a phase of reuse of the monument some time after the initial date of construction. Challis and Harding saw others as having fulfilled a defensive role with a flanking bank offering protection to travellers using the sunken road. Thirdly and perhaps with most emphasis, they point to the use of linears to enclose and divide areas for arable or pastoral land-use (Challis and Harding 1975). Dent discusses the dykes within a wider study of Iron Age settlement and landscape and chooses to distinguish cross ridge dykes, which traverse the high wold tops between valleys from the rest, which mainly comprise the long distance linears (Dent 1995). Herman Ramm considered much of the pattern of linears found in the northern Wolds to be Romano-British in date and to reflect the imposition of a rigid structure of land division here soon after the Roman conquest (1978). As with several other areas, where linear earthworks are found there appears to be a close relationship between their pattern and the natural topography. On the Tabular Hills of North Yorkshire, the linears tend to follow the ridges that divide a series of north-south valleys. Spratt has suggested that they are acting as boundaries to territories based on these valleys, territories that would have provided a range of natural resources for the community involved (1989). On the Berkshire Downs the long distance ditches also appear to be dividing up the landscape in a manner which is complementary to the natural landforms, some defining the scarp edge and others dividing the upland into blocks (Ford 1981).

The plan is a varied and complex one and in this sense it differs from the more predictable pattern of North Yorkshire where the linears largely follow the watersheds of the northsouth valleys. There are some similarities between the Wolds linears and those found on the southern English chalk. This is manifest in their long distance character and tendency for long enclosures defined by parallel lines. The relationship between the scarp-edge and linears on the Berkshire Downs, for instance, finds a parallel here. Indeed, the enclosures that seem to straddle the northern Wolds escarpment have much more in common with the valley-based territories of the Tabular Hills than they do with enclosures elsewhere on the Wolds (see Powlesland 1988a). There are fewer examples on the Wolds of the kind of terrain oblivious linears found on Salisbury Plain and in general they appear to react to the natural topography more closely than in these other areas. The Wolds pattern possesses more examples of multiply arranged banks and ditches and would seem to contain a greater variety of enclosure types than is found in the south.

Some writers have pointed to similar relationships on the Wolds. Here the linears tend to follow the natural lines of the topography producing an intricate pattern in areas which are deeply incised by dry valleys and adopting more sweeping lines in other areas characterised by broader and more shallow slopes (Mortimer 1905; Cole 1889; Stoertz 1997). This is not as easily extended to the identification of neat valley-based territories as on the Tabular Hills because the topography on the Wolds is much more varied and inconsistent. "The southern and eastern Wolds are more gently rolling and in these areas the layout of linear earthworks appears to have been less constrained by the topography, the longest dykes extending for many kilometres." (Stoertz 1997:41). The distinction between the southern/eastern wolds and the northern/western Wolds expressed in this statement is certainly valid, but it is present in both the pattern of linears and the topography. The longer distance linears in the former area are responding to the more gently rolling landscape as they follow the long ridges between valleys. Likewise, the deeply dissected character of the western Wolds is reflected in the more intricate course that the linears adopt here.

In Wessex, the linears obtain an intriguing potential because of their relationship with hill-forts, field systems and the later Bronze Age settlement pattern, although in many cases the hill-forts date from a later period (Entwhistle and Bradley 1994). The situation on the Wolds is very different and less encouraging as there are much fewer declared relationships. For later Bronze Age enclosed sites such as Thwing, Staple Howe and Devil's Hill, an association has been suggested with the pattern of land division represented by some linears

Mortimer acknowledged that the main concentration of linears in the central Wolds was a block between Driffield and Millington, measuring roughly twenty kilometres by twenty kilometres. This was made up of a basic framework of 35

Likewise, where some dykes have been added to an earlier existing pattern it should be possible to establish an internal relative chronology within the multi-period complex. In reality, it is often very difficult to assess the primacy of certain ditches over others without recourse to excavation, as the majority are only visible in two dimensions on an aerial photograph.

(Manby 1980; Powlesland 1988a). In addition, other undated enclosed sites appear to be connected to linear ditches on aerial photographs (Manby 1980; Dent 1995; Stoertz 1997). All the above writers have stressed the connection between the later Bronze Age enclosed settlements on the Wolds and the pattern of linear earthworks. Powlesland has suggested that the sites at Staple Howe and Devil’s Hill, which occupy commanding locations on the northern escarpment, were located at the centre of clearly defined territories. These areas consisted of enclosed land on the Wolds as well as parts of the low-lying Vale of Pickering and combined a range of resources within a single territorial block (1988a). Manby’s excavations at Thwing revealed another later Bronze Age enclosed settlement of massive proportions. It is situated at the junction of three major long distance linears, which appear to be contemporary with the enclosure (1980). Stoertz has pointed to several other unexcavated enclosures, which may also date from this period. They are often found in similarly commanding locations on the edge of the Wolds, overlooking the wold-edge and lower lying vales and may possess territorial functions. Many are found within areas of land bounded by linears but this should not automatically confer upon them a later Bronze Age date. As we will see, the linear ditches surrounding these enclosures need not date from this period at all.

As more dating evidence becomes known, the later Bronze Age is the most important period for land division through the construction of earthwork boundaries. The initial foundations of the bounded landscape on Salisbury Plain, Tabular Hills and Berkshire Downs all seem to lie in the later Bronze Age (Bradley et al 1994; Spratt 1989; Ford 1981) and the situation is no different on the Wolds (fig 33). There are three cases where small-scale excavations have revealed pottery in the primary silts of the ditches, pottery which has been identified by Manby as Late Bronze Age in date (Huggate Dykes: Challis and Harding 1975; Riplingham: Wacher 1956-7; Walkington: Bartlett and Mackey 1973). His own excavations at Thwing produced several more sherds at the base of the ditch-fill of the 'Great Wold Dyke', a major long distance linear earthwork, which forms a junction with others of similar proportions close to the later Bronze Age enclosed site (Manby 1980;1986). There can be no certainty that one or two sherds in the lower silts of a ditch must be contemporary with the date of its construction. It is always possible that they are residual, disturbed from features or topsoil when the ditch was dug. Elsewhere the dating evidence is more conclusive.

There are no examples of classic Iron Age hill-forts here and no significant arrangements of ‘celtic fields’ either. As indicated above, the intensity of agricultural exploitation over the last one hundred years has severely affected buried archaeological deposits. Nonetheless, there is much to be gained from the aerial photographic record, which has so comprehensively been mapped by RCHM. Most of the sites and features represented probably date from the later prehistoric and Romano-British periods and so, as these relate to the linear earthworks, they can help to illustrate the significant continuing role played by these monuments during the Iron Age and Romano-British periods (see chapter four).

Further finds were made by the Granthams in another long distance and multiple earthwork, later followed by the Green Lane between Sledmere and Wetwang, which follows a ridge on the north of Garton-Wetwang Slack (Grantham C and E 1965). The site lies across the road from the Tatton Sykes monument where Mortimer excavated a length of the same earthwork containing an intrusive Anglian cemetery in its ditch (Mortimer 1905). Here a small group of later Bronze Age sherds were found incorporated into the make up of the chalk bank. The excavators thought that they were from the same vessel and so were highly likely to be closely contemporary with the bank's construction (Grantham C and E 1965). Perhaps the most conclusive piece of dating evidence comes from the work of Mortimer. At Fimber Westfield, one of the few sites where the monumental scale of the linears can still be witnessed, he discovered a pit dug into the bank of a triple ditch and bank earthwork. This contained a collection of “curious pieces of burnt clay”. They turned out to be Wilburton Industry moulds and so confirmed a later Bronze Age date or earlier for this stretch of earthwork (Manby 1980; Ehrenberg and Caple 1985; Adams 1984) (fig 26-7).

DATING AND CHRONOLOGY Linear earthworks are notoriously difficult to date. A long distance boundary, which has been reused and adapted for many centuries, is unlikely to reveal very many archaeological clues about the date of its original construction. Any re-cutting of the ditch would have removed potentially datable material deposited soon after its original digging and such changes could easily take place intermittently along the length of the original course. Sometimes, material incorporated into bank make-up will provide a more securely datable context than ditch-fill but it is quite rare for banks to survive intact on the Wolds. It is rarely feasible to excavate long lengths of ditch and so invariably short-width trenches are cut across features such as these. It is only in special circumstances as on Salisbury Plain, that trench locations can be targeted close to surface scatters of later Bronze Age pottery (Bradley et al 1994). In any case there appears to be much less survival of pottery in the plough soils of the Wolds than the more recently ploughed southern chalk lands.

The Heslerton Project has also found evidence for the initial construction of the linears during the later Bronze Age/Early Iron Age. Powlesland argues that a series of large land units were laid out and physically enclosed with boundaries at this time. This is supported by his discovery of pottery of the seventh century BC in pit alignments just off the northern edge of the Wolds. These land units straddle the northern escarpment and seem to relate to the two enclosed sites at Devil's Hill and Staple Howe, both known to date from the

It is possible to establish some idea of dating based on the relationships between linears and other diagnostic monuments but this will offer only a relative chronology. 36

complexity of the history of these monuments becomes clear.

early first millennium BC (Powlesland 1988a). Direct dating evidence in this case, is only forthcoming from pit alignments below the scarp slope and not from the linears or associated pit alignments on the wold top, to the south.

As we have already mentioned there are many examples of linear earthworks that were used as boundaries and land divisions in the post Roman period. Many served as township boundaries and divisions between open field and pasture during the medieval period (see below and chapter 5-6), whilst others were used as boundaries of wapentakes and hundreds. It is difficult to assess whether such earthworks were constructed for this purpose or were reused. The building of large linear ditches for territorial boundaries is common elsewhere in early medieval Britain (i.e. Fleming 1998). The building of ditches and banks as boundaries for pasture and open fields on the Wolds is also historically recorded for the middle ages (Alison 1976; Knox 1855) (see below for detailed descriptions). The current chapter deals with the initial phase of land division represented by the linears but it is clearly important to be able to identify later examples in order to rule them out from the late prehistoric picture. The reuse of linears and later examples is dealt with below. It will come up again in subsequent chapters.

A further system of multiple ditches has recently been sectioned at Caythorpe on the valley floor of the Gypsey Race (Abramson 1996). Here there was a wide range of pottery recovered from the ditch-fills, suggesting to the excavators that these ditches were cut in the first millennium BC or later. In most cases they were closely associated with pit alignments, which were invariably earlier than the ditches, one containing middle Neolithic pottery in the fill of two of its eighteen pits. The presence of small amounts of Neolithic pottery should not automatically imply a Neolithic date of construction for the pit alignment, as they again could be residual from a deposit disturbed during the digging of the pits. Significantly, the excavations at Fimber Westfield by Ehrenberg and Caple found that one of the ditches of the major ditch system here also probably began life as a pit alignment (Ehrenberg and Caple 1985). The same sequence has been identified from both excavation and aerial photography in the northern and the western Wolds (Cardwell 1989; Stoertz 1997) (see also Wilson 1978).

Mortimer pointed out several cases where he observed relationships between linears and other monuments (1905). There are many examples where round barrows of the early Bronze Age were deliberately incorporated into the line of the earthwork and this clearly provides the ditch and bank with a date later than the barrow. These relationships share similarities with other areas, where linears also aligned upon or incorporated barrows into the physical structure of ditch and bank. We will discuss below how such connections with the past on the part of the builders of the linears, are likely to have been deliberate and knowing, not just the convenient use of prominent features of the landscape (i.e. Vyner 1990; Bradley et al 1994; Spratt 1989). These relationships suggest that the structure of land division represented by the linears may be grounded in existing patterns of territoriality.

There seems little doubt that the later Bronze Age witnessed an explosion in the creation and construction of land boundaries, principally ditches, which in some cases were preceded by pit alignments. However, it is not enough to assign the bulk of known stretches of linear ditch to this period by extension. Writing in the late 1970s, Herman Ramm, who had been responsible for the RCHME investigations of the linears during the 1960s, opted strongly for an Iron Age date for the system, associating it culturally with the square barrow burial tradition (Ramm 1978; Challis and Harding 1975). In doing so, he highlighted several examples where linears seem to have been constructed during the Iron Age, through their relationship with square barrows. Indeed John Dent's excavations at Wetwang and Garton Slack have revealed clearly that linear ditches were still being constructed at this time and particularly towards the end of the first millennium BC (chapter four). Stead's excavations of a group of threatened square barrows at Cowlam also revealed that a double ditched earthwork had been constructed after the middle Iron Age as it cut through one of the square barrows (Stead 1986). In the northern Wolds, Ramm emphasised that many of the linear ditches were part of a massive system of planned land division dating from the early Romano-British period and associated with the settlement of veteran legionaries (Ramm 1978). He found few clear-cut examples to date individual features from excavation but identified a series of Romano-British pottery scatters associated with the system, which is restricted to the northeastern Wolds. More recently, secure dating evidence has come up from this area to suggest a Romano-British date for some stretches of both pit alignment and linear ditch at Swaythorpe (Mackey pers comm) and Cat Babbleton (Cardwell 1989). It is common for Romano-British pottery to be found in the upper silts of many of the ditch-fills of these monuments, something that may illustrate that many were still in use as recognised boundaries during this time (Mortimer 1905; Manby 1980; Bartlett and Mackey 1973). It is only when opportunities arise for large-scale excavations, such as at Garton and Wetwang Slack, that the true

Both Mortimer and Cole pointed out several places where presumed Roman roads cut across the linears and this was a prominent reason for their prehistoric date. The identification of Roman roads is not as simple now as it must have seemed then and is complicated by many centuries of reuse, remodelling and re-orientation of roads on the Wolds. Several straight routes are now seen as post-medieval creations rather than Romano-British in origin (Ramm 1978; Hayfield 1987).

THE LAY OF THE LAND The densest concentration of linear earthworks occurs in the central Wolds between Driffield and Millington. This area straddles the chalk land and the pattern can be well constructed here because of Mortimer's work (1905) The steep-sided dry valleys and the unexpected distinction between the winding dales and the rolling plateaux of the wold tops gives the topography of this area a dramatic quality. To stand on top of a wold it is rarely obvious that the gently undulating landscape is repeatedly cut by steep valleys all around and likewise this sense of lofty openness is hidden from view down in the dales. The valley lines appear as lush green corridors whose ceiling is the sky, leading on the traveller and hiding what might be around the next corner. Eventually they open out onto flat rolling vistas where views are distant and there are no longer secrets held in the intimacy of the dale. Many of these deep concealing dales 37

conform very closely to land divisions recorded on late eighteenth century estate maps at the time of enclosure and may represent medieval furlong boundaries. This does not of course rule out the possibility that these are reused prehistoric linears.

lead ultimately to the more gentle landscapes of the eastern Wolds where the valleys are broad and their ridges difficult to define. The geomorphology is highly characteristic, especially in the western Wolds and here the linears display a sensitive and self-conscious awareness of their topographic location; something illustrated not only by their course but also by the physical structure of the actual monument (fig 32).

To the west of Wetwang and Fimber the natural topography becomes more incised and here the linears create a series of enclosures containing raised pieces of land between dales, their boundaries following the steep valley sides in most cases. The axial tendencies are not altogether lost in this area however. To the south of Fimber a pair of parallel linears continues the southwest/northeast orientation of the pattern, one especially long line extending the line of the Green Lane linear to the east and ending up at Huggate Dykes on the western edge of the Wolds. For several miles in the western portion of its course, it closely follows the upper slopes of a dry valley. Linears that run along valley bottoms are rare and most tend to follow the upper slopes or top of the dale-side. The Wetwang-Garton Slack example is one of the very few and one which was probably constructed during the Iron Age (Dent 1982). Cross-ridge dykes are fewer than might be expected but are found in most cases as short lengths of ditch cutting off a promontory or spur between steep dale-sides. Examples exist on Huggate Pasture, between Middleham and Cow Dale as well as east of Fridaythorpe (see appendix one).

These are constructed monuments. Ditches were dug by human effort, by people armed with bone, stone or wooden tools, the spoil lifted out in baskets or bags. Their course was designed to follow the lines of the topography and in some cases even to mimic its form. Such sensitive responses must indicate the existing importance of these valleys and slopes to the later Bronze Age populations. The linears present us with a distinction between long distance axial lines, which divide broad swathes of territory and others, which serve to delimit enclosed parcels of land. The close relationship between the topography and the linears begins at this most generalised level but operates on several others too. The three main axial lines in this area lie in parallel to each other and are all found on major ridges or watersheds. The Green Lane linear overlooks the GartonWetwang Slack from the north, located on a false crest and is only visible from the south (fig 33). To the north lies the Great Wold Dyke, following the watershed of the Great Wold Valley and further north still another parallel linear follows a ridge on the valley’s south side. This example is complicated by the presence here of a massive complex of linear ditches, known only from the air. They seem to follow the line of the linear, which is probably the original feature here (Stoertz 1997; Riley 1990). Together the three ridge top linears divided this area into three broad strips of land, based on the upper slopes of the two neighbouring valleys. Many shorter and often less massive linears come off these three to divide up the land in between. Whilst direct dating evidence is not available for most, some of the subsidiary lines would seem to be of later date than the long axials. Two of the latter have yielded later Bronze Age artefacts (see above) and look to represent the initial phase of land division.

In addition to topographic position, the linears can be categorised according to their physical form. To reconstruct the original number and size of ditches and banks is not always easy when dealing with features known only from aerial photographs. More important in this regard, are the records of antiquarians such as Mortimer and Cole who went to great pains to record the monuments before the plough levelled them. They were also the first to point out the close connections that exist between the form of the linear earthworks and their topographic situations (Mortimer 1905; Cole 1887). The majority of linears were made up of a single ditch and bank, occasionally of a pair of ditches and banks. Normally the ditches were between one metre and two metres deep. More massive constructions do occur and include the three long distance axial lines mentioned above (Great Wold Dyke, Sledmere Green Lane and Weverthorpe). These monuments contain up to three ditches and banks and represent a massive undertaking of labour and engineering especially as they extend for such great distance. Short length multiple arrangements occur to the north of Fimber village, at Huggate Dykes and at Fridaythorpe, amongst others (fig 267).

The long distance linears are following ridges and watersheds. They appear to run unhindered across open landscape dividing it neatly into broad swathes. They also enclose the high ground or plateaux, which are bounded by the steepness of the valleys and dales (fig 50). Within these upland enclosures are further ancillary linears and these are mainly evident on the high ground to the east of Sledmere. They appear to define discrete blocks of land and often link up at right angles to the ridge following dykes to north and south. Within these parameters, they still pay great respect to the topography, following dry valley sides and crossing the necks of land between valley-heads. From this example, it seems that the long distance linears belong to an early phase of dyke building as they pay little respect to other dykes and define large areas of land (fig 32). Within this framework, we see smaller and presumably later acts of division and enclosure. Reinforcing this generalised idea of sequence is the evidence from Cowlam where one of these subsidiary linears, within the area bounded by the axial lines, is clearly cutting an Iron Age square barrow (Stead 1986). Similarly on Life Hill, again an area between axial lines, the linears

A further category is Mortimer’s 'hollow-ways', which are actually single ditches with a small up cast bank on their down-slope side. The ditches themselves are usually no more than one metre deep and according to Mortimer's sections very often more shallow than that. They usually have a Vshape profile, narrow flat bottom and sloping sides (fig 3031). The main point about these ditches is that they are always short in length and are invariably located about two thirds of the way up the steep slopes of a dale-side, lying along the contour and following the valley line. They display a remarkable consistency in their relationship between physical form and topographic situation. This sensitivity to topographic position is also mirrored by other kinds of linear earthwork. Several of the main axial linears for instance, 38

converge. In addition, there is a sensitive relationship between the form of the linears and their topographic situation or course (valley-side, open wold, etc.). These relationships do not merely illustrate the functional manner in which the local environment determined the system of land division and the layout of boundaries. They may actually be an important signal of the respect being given by the builders of the linear earthworks to an existing landscape logic. If so, this was linked very closely to natural landform and perhaps based on the importance of certain strategic places in a fluid open landscape. The meaningful places in such a landscape were determined and understood by people on the move rather than through static settlement and landownership (fig 32). Not only do the linear builders enhance certain places with earthworks of size but they may also be using these constructions to actually mimic the landforms that surround them. We will go on to further investigate these origins and links with respect to the connection between the linears and other aspects of the earlier landscape: barrows, trackways and water sources.

change their form as they encounter different topographic situations. The Green Lane earthwork is a triple ditched earthwork for most of its course along open wold until it reaches the head of the Warren Dale, just west of the Sykes Monument. Here the multiple arrangements are enhanced and two short stretches deviate off the line in a kink (fig 40). From here on, the linear follows the steep side of the dale and becomes merely a single ditch. Once it emerges from the more shallow end of the valley however, the earthwork again becomes multiple and more massive. At the western end of this long linear it also reaches the head of a new dry valley system and again the topographic significance of this location is reflected in the massive arrangement of six parallel ditches and banks found here, at Huggate Dykes. Here the parallel banks and ditches lie across a neck of land between two dale-heads. It divides two separate dry valley systems, one draining east the other west. It is a short but significant watershed for travellers crossing the Wolds, as this place would have acted as a magnet. It is the only route across the Wolds that avoids the steep sides of the dry valleys. Not only does the earthwork here have multiple ditches but here too a number of other linears converge from all directions (fig 32, 35).

LINEARS AND BARROWS An important part of Don Spratt's model of Bronze Age territorial organisation on the Tabular Hills was the way in which late Bronze Age linear ditches followed watershed ridges. The ridges often also contained strings of early Bronze Age barrows (Spratt 1989). He suggested that the construction of the linears was a way of formally fixing the boundaries of territories with permanent physical boundaries. He suggested that valley-based territories were already in existence and their boundaries were the easily identifiable ridges between valleys, marked with barrows (ibid.). Under this scenario it is difficult to determine whether the linears were following the barrows, the ridge or a conceptual boundary linked to both features. It seems clear though that the linears were expressing some kind of territorial reality that was already understood.

In a number of other key areas the arrangement and complexity of the linears is similarly most massive and monumental at places of special topographic significance, especially at the narrow necks of land between valley-heads. The valley known as Wetwang-Garton Slack turns northward to the west of Wetwang village and splits into two subsidiary branches between the villages of Sledmere and Fimber. Here too the dale-sides become much steeper and the valley bottoms narrower. Again, this important topographic node is marked by the arrangement of linears. The triple dyke seemingly enclosing Fimber village on its northern side may actually be marking this convergence of dales and joining them, reinforcing a separation between north and south here. The earthwork is false crested and can only be seen at distance from the south looking up from the main valley (fig 44). The specific point at which this linear meets the two dales is elaborated with much more complex and interlocking earthworks. This is most marked on the east at the mouth to Triplescore Dale where it joins with other longer distance linears, which lead eventually to the axial lines of the Green Lane and Great Wold Dyke. Mortimer describes what he saw as an 'original entrance' in the triple dyke where it crosses the western dale of Burdale. This opening is still used by the modern road between Fimber and Thixendale (Mortimer 1905).

In a similar way, the Salisbury Plain linears relate closely to Bronze Age barrows and this may represent something more significant than the simple use of mounds as convenient siting points or markers in the landscape (Bradley et al 1994). They stress again the replacement of an existing territorial arrangement, expressed through different kinds of markers and perhaps linked to the dead and the supernatural, with one where ,"Unlike the notion of territory implied by the distribution of round barrows, its expression during the later Bronze Age was intimately connected with the presence of a continuous boundary" (ibid: 142). The replacement of a landscape based on mobility with one of enclosed areas has been discussed more fully by Barrett (1994) and we will return to this below. Does the tendency for linears to respect existing barrows represent the continuity of territorial spaces or were these relationships part of the subversion of an old system through the appropriation of some of its elements?

A further series of multiple earthworks have been identified from aerial photographic evidence to the southeast and east of the village of Fridaythorpe (fig 43). These linears seem to form a link between the two dale-heads that lie to the north and south of the village in a similar way to Huggate Dykes. The Fridaythorpe examples also form the western side of a large enclosure, bounded elsewhere by dale-side linears (fig 32).

Vyner has also published ideas on the relationship between linears and barrows. His work on the moors of North Yorkshire has shown that cross-ridge dykes may have been used to specifically define an area restricted for barrow building and the preserve of the dead (Vyner 1991). The topographic location of these barrows, which lie on natural promontories, is important and it may be that the linears are a

There are a number of places, which contain unusually elaborate and multiple arrangements of ditches and banks. These are invariably places of topographic significance, either at the head of a dry valley or at the point where valleys 39

linears were always later. The phenomenon however, is not only valuable for the chronological information it offers. The respect given by the builders of the linear ditches to existing monuments provides a link between the new system of land division and the existing territorial logic. References to the past such as these are consistently present in this landscape throughout the late prehistoric and early historic period. Although they should not be seen as evidence of an unbroken continuity, they at least provide testament to an awareness of the past and the importance of a tradition, which makes sense of that past by engaging with the natural forms of the landscape and its relics.

later addition to an understanding of space previously informally expressed through the interplay of sepulchral monuments and natural landforms. Again, the linears were used to formally fix in a new medium, a territorial code, which had been understood already for many centuries. The lack of dating evidence from the linears here leaves these questions very open, as their construction may well be much later than the barrows. There are numerous examples on the Wolds of the close relationship between linear earthworks and round barrows and these are manifest in different ways. In some cases, clusters of barrows appear to have been marked by a linear ditch and separated from the adjacent space, not occupied by barrows. In others, linears have been constructed along ridges, which are also followed by strings of barrows, although this practice is not as common on the Wolds as elsewhere (it is seen along the Great Wold Dyke). The most clear-cut examples however were those described by Mortimer who points to two cases on the western Wolds, at Aldro where the parallel line of a double ditch bulges out to consume a barrow within the monument (Mortimer barrows 88 and 256) (fig 63-66). Barrow 256, for instance,

The recent work on Salisbury Plain acknowledged the important role played by round barrows in articulating a sense of place and territorial structure. The pre-linear landscape of the middle Bronze Age was here characterised by, “a more implicit sense of territory, centred on natural landscape features and on the distributions of monuments already in existence.” (Bradley et al 1994:139). In this scheme, the round barrows of the early Bronze Age were used as nodes in the landscape ordering the claims of different communities to areas of land. A mythic history may have built up around some barrows. The original motives behind their construction may well have become blurred and the lineal ancestral connections with their dead occupants replaced with a more malleable mythical association; but one which was all the more potent for that. If the articulation of claims to land, however flexible, was carried out through some barrows then this mythic importance would become mixed up with a practical function and perhaps tied to community identity. In the absence of other prominent features in this open landscape, the barrows would take on even more significance, especially due to their high visibility. The physical incorporation of such a meaningful cultural feature into a new ditched boundary would indeed represent a significant appropriation of its power and landscape role.

“.....was completely within the ramparts of a line of earthworks locally called “Old Dykings”. The western fosse of the entrenchments skirts the margin of the barrow, while on the north side the eastern fosse cuts considerably into the mound; so much so that the entrenchment builders had destroyed a large cinerary urn....” (Mortimer 1905:61) All of these sites lie on a prominent ridge above the scarp slopes of the northwestern Wolds and two sit at the corners of the same D-shaped enclosure. Along the eastern side of the same enclosure, a round barrow (Mortimer’s 127) was truncated by the central ditch of a double dyke and again Mortimer records a section through the feature at this point (fig 64). Manby sees this as a violent relationship, displaying a lack of respect to the barrow as it was "ruthlessly cut through by the ditch" (1980:327). The bank here also contains an intrusive inhumation, presumed to be of Anglian date (Mortimer 1905). There are other examples along the Great Wold Dyke near Thwing where, "Round barrows are incorporated into this dyke system or used as alignment points" (Manby 1980:328).

Not only do linears respect existing barrows but they also provide foci for burials of later periods. In several cases, square barrows were arranged along the length of existing linear ditches, as at Danes Graves and a site known from the air at Weaverthorpe (Dent 1982; Stoertz 1997). Such respect is likely to indicate a continued territorial role for the linears into the middle Iron Age. Dent's excavations at Wetwang/Garton showed that a linear here, interpreted as a trackway, acted as a focus for concentrated burial activity along its length. It extended several kilometres down the valley bottom. The round barrows that also concentrate in this area show that the valley had been an important monumental focus for some time, especially around the natural knoll of Craike Hill (see chapter seven). Here, the communities of different ages were reacting to a latent potency of place in their own cultural media (linear ditch, round barrow, square barrow), something passed down through generations of local people through the mythic associations which this place must have held. There are also Anglian burials in this area (Stead 1991) and they too seem to respect the linears. In two cases, at Garton Station and Sykes Monument, whole cemeteries were cut into the banks or ditches of these monuments (see below and chapter six).

Another example in the Aldro area, Mortimer’s barrow C76 (Aldro Rath), was also, “surrounded by a large fosse and ridge, and closely locked within the rampart of a double entrenchment of great extent...” (1905:71) (fig 63). Another barrow lies close by (no.113) and this one was respected by the detour of a double entrenchment. It is not only on the ridges and on the higher ground that the linears respond to existing barrows. In the valley bottom at Garton and Wetwang Slack, the ditch dug during the Iron Age to confine the later cemetery encircled a large round barrow. Another linear recognised by Mortimer and included in the Garton excavations, encircles a Neolithic long barrow and follows the valley bottom course, which had acted as a linear focus for burial monuments since the Neolithic (Dent 1982;1983a). For Mortimer, the physical link between linears and barrows was useful as a means of relatively dating the ditches. The

The respect given by some linears to round barrows is unquestioned. However, there are many more barrows, which 40

(fig 82). The low route follows the dale-side and then rises up to cross the neck of land along the watershed at Huggate Dykes, dropping down finally into the next valley system and eventually to modern Millington and the edge of the Wolds. This route is perhaps the best candidate for an early long distance route-way as its sights are trained on the horizon. It heads for the settled zone on the edge of the Wolds where water supply is plentiful. Many writers have long since viewed it as a prehistoric ridgeway along with the one to the north, which passes through Wharram, Towthorpe and Sledmere. It is obviously very difficult to offer conclusive supporting evidence to back up this claim. Significantly, the RCHM survey of the complex of linears at Harper Dale, which lie on this route, concluded that the earliest phase consisted of a hollow-way (Challis and Harding 1975). It seems likely therefore that this linear followed an existing trackway, a route now partly followed by the Sledmere Green Lane.

the dykes avoid. The linears tended to incorporate the most prominent barrows and they remained important features of this landscape in the centuries following the early Bronze Age.

TRACKWAYS Linear earthworks were often interpreted as trackways. Mortimer, for example saw some of the Wolds linears (his hollow-ways) as made-up tracks, deep enough to conceal a traveller (Mortimer 1905). Likewise, in Wessex many of the early studies saw them as 'covered ways' (Bradley 1994). Their winding and meandering course on the map does sometimes resemble that of a trackway. It is often difficult to differentiate between a double-ditched trackway or hollow way and a linear ditch from aerial photographic evidence alone (ibid.). Stoertz has come across this problem whilst interpreting the cropmark data from the Wolds (1997). Irrespective of the original meaning of the newly created boundary, many linear ditches on the Wolds were later used as tracks. It is difficult though to argue that this was the original role of the first linear ditch diggings. The ridge following Green Lane and Great Wold Dykes are two good examples of linears that are historically known as trackways, at least during the early medieval period (see chapter 5-6). For linear monuments to alter their function in this way, it becomes even more difficult to pin them down to a particular role or meaning. In fact, it may well be superfluous to do so, as so many possess multiple meanings and fulfil multiple roles at any given time.

The Towthorpe trackway runs along a major ridge and is also followed by continuous township boundaries. A string of Bronze Age round barrows mark its line as does a linear earthwork, for a significant distance. The site of the recent discovery of early prehistoric flintwork around a possible former pond lies very close to the line of this proposed route (Hayfield et al 1995). This is the most compelling piece of evidence for its prehistoric date and has implications for what was discussed above about the strings of barrows along the watersheds of valleys in the Tabular hills of North Yorkshire. Both the Towthorpe ridgeway and the Huggate Dykes-Green Lane trackway seem to have acted as long distance routes for trade and communications across the Wolds, linking the rest of Britain to the west with the eastern coast and the flint sources around Flamborough Head (Cole 1899). Both routes make good sense in this respect as they line up with the two gravel moraines of Escrick and York, which would have acted as communication corridors across the otherwise wet and boggy Vale of York (fig 67).

The confusion is not helped by instances where the earliest linear ditches actually followed existing trackways. John Dent points out the respect shown to trackways by some of the early linears, especially with regard to the two short stretches of multiple earthworks at the head of Warren Dale on the Green Lane linear (Dent 1984). He suggested that here the linear was respecting an existing track as a gap was left in the line of ditches and banks to accommodate its course (fig 82). He acknowledges the pre-existence of a landscape probably dominated by tracks. This was then enclosed and bounded by the construction of linears; “..a complicated network of trackways already existed, and breaks in earthworks may indicate points of intersection.” (Dent 1984:33).

Crucially these lines follow the topographically predicative routes expected for long distance trackways in an open landscape. They run along continuous ridges and head for the narrow necks of land between the heads of dry valleys, in an attempt to avoid the steep valley sides. Under such a scheme, these dale-head locations would take on especial significance for travellers, as they became nodes of communication. The cultural significance of these places may well be acknowledged by the linear builders, for it is at these places that we find the most multiple and massive short stretches of ditch and bank (see above). The neck of land at Huggate Dykes in particular is crucial for those crossing the Wolds, as it is the only connecting ridge between the east and west Wolds. Here too, the long complex linear which extends eastwards from this point is recorded as beginning life in the form of a hollow-way, following Varley’s excavations and the RCHM survey (Challis and Harding 1975). This is generally seen as the first stage in a complex sequence of development at this site (Halkon 1993; Dent 1984), which may well extend into the Iron Age. However, it does appear that the main line followed by the long distance earthwork did originate as a trackway linking the western and eastern margins of the Wolds. The track that is followed by the linears at Huggate Dykes, probably extended to the northeast to join with the Green Lane and eventually the head of

The Green Lane, to the south of Sledmere was identified as a road with ‘British’ rather than Roman origins by Cole in the nineteenth century (Cole 1899). It is clearly older than the medieval township structure, as it is followed by a continuous township boundary for over twenty kilometres (chapter six). The Green Lane also follows a major long distance linear earthwork for part of its course. At Blealands Nook, the linear turns northwards along Bessingdale and leaves the historic Green Lane. From here, a cropmark continues its line to connect with the linear along the dry valley of Middleham Dale, to the south. Historically, the Green Lane continued, not along this southerly course, but along the higher open ground. It is the southerly route, which was followed by the linear earthwork. This route appears to have chronological primacy, as the historical (northern) route pays no respect to late prehistoric cropmarks. If the linear (or early track) had survived from the later Bronze Age then these enclosure sites of the later Iron Age would respect its line, but they do not 41

collection of Mesolithic, Neolithic and early Bronze Age flintwork. Hayfield and Wagner suggest that this pond acted as a magnet for early prehistoric travellers, herders and hunters crossing the Wolds on the nearby ridgeway and a focus for activity which clearly included both use and production of tools from cores (Hayfield et al 1995). That no enduring settlement site continued at this location is an accident of history. Many other Wolds villages are clustered around similar ponds, which could also be natural in origin, where clay-filled hollows have collected surface water. Cole mentions three twelth or thirteenth century records of individuals associated with ponds at Huggate, Sledmere and Wetwang (1892). Additionally, the early Old English names of Sledmere and Fimber are both derived from the word for pond or mere (Gelling, forthcoming; Smith 1937) (see chapter 5-6). The locations of these ponds are prime candidates for sites of early prehistoric significance; if not for settlement then, at least as places where people congregated (fig 2). The ponds would have been particularly important in a landscape that was largely unoccupied, crossed by long distance tracks and used mainly for pasture and hunting.

Warren Dale. Here too the dale-head was later furnished with multiple ditches. Similar embellishment of natural places by linears occurs at Fimber crossroads where, as mentioned above, the elaborate and interlocking linears mark the convergence of two valleys. Original gaps were supposedly left in the place where they crossed each valley, allowing the continuance of the route of movement and perhaps allowing for its control. It seems likely then that the earliest linear ditches, several dated to the later Bronze Age, followed axial courses often on ridges, striking out across the landscape very much in the manner of long distance trackways. The linears are used as tracks throughout antiquity and this continues into the historical period. The early interpretations of linears in Wessex and Yorkshire as trackways were flawed as they most definitely served as boundaries, dividing and enclosing areas of land. However, this interpretation may have only been part wrong, as a number of the early long distance linears on the Wolds may have actually followed existing trackways. In this sense, they could provide a real connection between the bounded landscapes of late prehistory and the more mobile landscapes of the Neolithic and early Bronze Age.

The relationship between linear earthworks and springs on the scarp edge of the Wolds has already been noted. Both Mortimer and Manby have suggested that the linears were involved in the organisation and control of access to water sources. The linears may be respecting the ponds and springs as important cultural locales in the earlier landscape, rather than simply treating them as sources of water. The boundaries may be responding to the existing cultural significance of the springs and ponds rather than their use as a water source in a new scheme of pastoral organisation (fig 68). If large enclosures were created for livestock management, then the provision of water supply would be necessary in a landscape such as this where surface water is so scarce. However, the linears do not enclose areas of land, which contain springs, something first pointed out by Phillips (1855). Instead, they lead down the scarp slopes of the northern Wolds towards springs, stopping before they reach them in most cases. At Burdale, there lies a spring-fed pond at the junction of two dales and here the linears converge from all directions, enhancing the natural junction of valleys at this pond. This could be interpreted as the construction of boundaries which divide up areas of land on the wold edge slopes, giving each equal and shared access to the springs, so that springs lie at the boundaries of land units (Manby pers.comm.). In this way, the collective rights traditionally allocated to the water sources were respected by the early phases of land division and enclosure. The linears themselves of course could also be following the line of trackways leading down to the springs from the upper slopes or along the valleys.

The transition from an open to an enclosed landscape and the radical alteration in the language of space was expressed by the changes to some of the major prehistoric trackways. The routes that structured the organisation of the mobile landscapes of the Neolithic and earlier Bronze Age were later used as boundaries and were followed by linear ditches. It is these ridge-following ditches that also later emerge as long distance trackways in the historical period. The connection between the enclosed later Bronze Age landscape and the earlier mobile counterparts again raises the question of the character of change. Does this reflect the gradual evolution of trackway into boundary or a more abrupt transformation, involving the deliberate appropriation of the track as a means of legitimating a new scheme of land division?

PONDS AND SPRINGS Hayfield and Wagner’s work on the water supply of the Wolds is a valuable and refreshing source of information for a more rounded understanding of settlement and landscape. Their two articles have highlighted the scarcity of water sources and the importance of ponds and springs to communities in all periods. It was only during the agricultural revolution that history documented the construction of dewponds. Previously, the Wolds communities had had to rely on what was naturally available (Hayfield and Wagner 1995). Surface water has always been scarce on the chalk with only one stream, the Gypsey Race, still running. Nineteenth century observers record other seasonal streams in some of the major valleys (i.e. between Fimber and Burdale) and it seems that the water table has dropped significantly during the last one hundred and fifty years. The distribution of medieval settlement was heavily influenced by water availability as villages were strung out along the spring-lines on the wold-edges and along the Gypsey Race itself. The Wolds interior contained villages whose only water source was a pond, often supplemented by one or two wells (ibid.) (see chapter two).

The linears of the central drier Wolds also have relationships with water sources but in this case with the ponds rather than springs (fig 5-6). The antiquity of the village ponds in this area is still open to question but as we discussed above, it is likely that most if not all surviving examples are natural features and have acted as foci for settlement and congregation for many centuries. At Fimber for example there were originally two ponds in the centre of the village, situated alongside a large Bronze Age round barrow. Surrounding the village, are a series of linear earthworks of monumentally massive construction, at least on the northern

At Vessey ponds, a glacial clay-filled feature, which may once have served as a pond, was surrounded by a varied 42

working in Britain have failed to observe this distinction, with the result that they have postulated a network of fixed settlements and land boundaries at a much earlier date than much of the evidence warrants" (Bradley 1993b:270)

side. There are also a series of smaller ditches which, instead of encircling the raised knoll containing the ponds, run along the converging valley-sides towards them. It seems likely they are focusing attention on the ponds in the same way as the linears at Burdale converge on the spring-fed mere. These linears may well have followed trackways, which already led to the ponds (fig 44). In this area, some linears focus on the ponds by leading towards them, whilst others do the same by encircling them. The distinction between these two attitudes may mean something, as the smaller directional ditches (Mortimer’s holloways) are usually earlier than the multiple enclosing linear (Mortimer 1905). We may have a sequence at Fimber, which expresses the beginnings of large-scale land division on the Wolds. This began with the digging of ditches along tracks or routes of movement that led to significant places. This was followed by the enclosure of those places with further more massive ditches (fig 68). In both cases, the existing tracks along valleys were physically enhanced with ditches as a means of drawing them in to a new scheme of land organisation. Later on, this involved the enclosure and division of land.

Barrett has also emphasised the dangers in assuming too much about the immediate implications of farming origins, “There exists an unwarranted assumption that, because cultivation requires the maintenance of field plots, then the appearance of cultivars at the end of the fifth millennium must also herald the emergence of a predominant concern with the social control of portions of the land surface.” (Barrett 1994:143) A more fundamental change may be represented by the radical transformations that take place during the Bronze Age. At this time, large areas of land were divided and enclosed. At the same time, monumental constructions ceased to provide accommodation for the dead but instead began to house the living (Bradley 1984; Barrett 1994). The distinction between the ceremonial landscapes of the Neolithic and early Bronze Age and the agricultural landscapes of later prehistory has long been recognised. Martin Jones describes the distinction thus,

In several other cases, the linears seem to respect the locations where ponds now lie at the centre of modern villages. The two ponds at Fridaythorpe for instance are effectively enclosed by multiple dykes and the Burdale pond sits at the convergence of three valley following linears. Likewise, the old pond at Sledmere was situated alongside the major long distance linear here, a dyke which may have been forced to deviate slightly in order to accommodate its presence (fig 43). It is significant that the linears respond most clearly to those ponds at Fimber, Sledmere, Fridaythorpe and Burdale, all located in the very driest areas of the central Wolds, at greatest distance from the wellwatered wold edges to east and west.

"....a symbolic landscape of the fourth and third millennia BC, marked out by enigmatic monuments and places of the dead was superseded by a series of tangible land boundaries” (Jones 1986:88). At various points during the second millennium BC, "...vast tracts of land were enclosed within tangible, visible field boundaries and frontiers" (ibid.: 70) and by the first millennium, "...greater energy was devoted to embellishing the settlements of an elite" (Bradley 1984:159) than to the construction of earlier ceremonial monuments. The distinction between the two great schemes has sometimes been explained in terms of power-dripping economics. For instance, during the Neolithic and early Bronze Age, power manipulation is shackled to an economy based on the value of prestige goods. This is also linked to the control of trade (Bradley 1984). Under this scheme, the construction of burial monuments and the display of grave goods in elaborate funerary rituals is seen as a public expression of this power, so important to its retention and legitimation. Bradley suggested that the power structures of the first millennium BC were based instead on the control of agricultural production through elaborate systems of patronage or on the management of land. According to this model, the construction of large-scale land divisions and enclosed settlements is a reflection of this change and the increasing role of land and agricultural production in late prehistoric social economy. His emphasis on the elite control of this land management arises partly from the assumption that enclosed hill-forts were elite settlements. This interpretation has been called into question through more recent re-interpretation (i.e. Hill 1997).

MOBILE AND DIVIDED LANDSCAPES The traditional division of prehistory into culturalchronological compartments is convenient for the organisation of courses and to many scholars for providing chronological limits on their fields of specialism. However, if we want to see beyond the development of technology and try to understand social and cultural transitions in prehistoric Britain we need to look for continuities across these divides and for changes within these ‘Ages’. The domestication of animals and plants has traditionally marked the beginning of settled sedentary communities in Britain. However, it is not at all clear how sedentary these Neolithic and early Bronze Age communities actually were. Bradley writes of those who equate the beginnings of farming and the construction of monuments with full-blown sedentism, "They tend to project the agricultural patterns of the later Bronze Age and Iron Age back into earlier periods and in doing so may lose sight of the importance of mobile economies long after the first experiments with farming." (Bradley 1993b: 270).

Fowler considered the advent of land division as a reflection of an increasing need for agricultural efficiency, through a growing pressure on land caused by population pressure or even climatic factors (Fowler 1984). There is little room in this model for social or cultural change and all explanation is cloaked in economic relations. In doing so, Fowler may be

He argues for a transitional phase, which allows for the presence of some agricultural activity but within a largely mobile landscape, "The point at issue is mobility rather than the presence or absence of domesticates . For the most part prehistorians 43

•

guilty of undermining the radical character of these changes. He tends to see them as a blip on a progressive trajectory of development, driven by economic efficiency and agricultural management. The parallel he draws with early modern enclosure is revealing. He uses it as an illustration of another period of land management driven by the pure interests of agricultural efficiency and rationalisation. To take such view on parliamentary enclosure is to deny the real social and political agenda behind these changes and to deny the multifarious social and economic implications of the movement.

more socially restricted and defined rights to land

(from Barrett 1994) In the advent of land division Barrett has recognised a fundamental change. It is not just concerned with agricultural economics nor can it be explained through a shift in the economics of power. He suggests that the linears and other boundaries represent something far more significant than a physical barrier to keep out cattle. Instead, they are a reflection of a new relationship between people and the land. This is perhaps an indication that landscape is becoming less mythologised and more commodified. These changes have enormous implications not only for the structure of society but also for its very spirit.

John Barrett has stressed the significance of the distinction between the ceremonial and the agricultural landscape. “The earlier pattern of an open and general community was now fragmented, as was the landscape itself, no longer a constellation of sacred sites linked by paths of access, but a landscape which began to be divided by large tracts of cultivated and enclosed land. Common land and resources undoubtedly remained, but movement across the land might have been curtailed by the physical barriers which appear as an increasingly obvious feature on the upland landscapes from the end of the second millennium BC” (1994:150)

The evidence for agricultural practice on the Wolds for this period is negligible. It is not clear whether the concept of a change in fallow systems from Barrett’s model can be applied, along with the construction of linears. It is quite possible that more intensive and fixed systems of arable existed but it is equally possible that the Wolds remained predominantly pastoral following the beginning of land division.

He underlines the importance of the changes by explaining them not only in economic terms but also as the expression of a cultural and social transformation. He sees it as a time of cultural change when the very world-view of prehistoric communities was altered and the landscape itself, domesticated for the first time. He puts forward a set of opposing characteristics, which constitute the contrasting mind-sets embodied in the ceremonial, on the one hand and the agricultural landscapes on the other. These involve tenure and rights of access to land, ancestral heritage in the landscape as well as farming systems. In doing so, he is drawing on Ingold's views of the cultural characteristics of the hunter-gatherer landscape. The hunter-gatherers’ tenurial concern with trackways and places stands in contrast to the logic of the bounded landscape that is based on delimited areas of land with more emphasis on permanent settlement sites.

The work of Bradley and Barrett on Cranborne Chase was in part designed to assess the local specificities of these changes in this area. They suggested that moves towards land division and enclosure actually began during the Neolithic, in the river valleys surrounding the Chase and that only later were the ceremonial landscapes of the chalk downland taken in. In this way, the downs represented an area of ceremonial monuments at a distance from their contemporaneous settlements. It is only later, during the middle and later Bronze Age that the higher ground is enclosed. On the downs then the contrast between the ceremonial and agricultural landscape is sharply defined because of the lateness and suddenness of the changes here (Barrett and Bradley 1991). The high visibility of archaeological monuments on the Wessex chalk was caused by its marginality in prehistory, rather than through its focal importance for settlement. There is perhaps a lesson in this example for our perceptions of the prehistoric Wolds.

"The difference between the two agricultural systems is between a landscape which was held together by movement across its surface between a constellation of places each of which was loaded with social and religious significances, and a landscape which was viewed from the centre of a domain, with distinct boundaries......" (Barrett 1994:147).

Barrett is keen to stress the radical nature of the distinction between the ceremonial and the agricultural landscape. The actual process of change from a landscape represented by one world-view to the other is not fully addressed. If the sharpness of the distinction between ceremonial and agricultural on the chalk is a function of the marginality of the downs to the settled river valleys, then the chalk lands cannot be used to illustrate a revolutionary and suddenly imposed new order of land enclosure in general. ParkerPearson also perhaps overstates the fundamentality of the changes when he writes, "This was an era of expansion and there was little reference to distant pasts. Ancient sites were avoided or even slighted by new land boundaries cutting across them" (1993:132). We have seen in East Yorkshire that there are many instances where the monuments representing the new bounded landscape pay respect to the places (barrows, ponds) and pathways of its ceremonial precursor. This is more likely to illustrate a sympathetic connection to these earlier places than to express a radical dislocation with the past.

CEREMONIAL LANDSCAPE •

tenure related to paths and places

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rights of access and belonging to places

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ancestral heritage through monuments

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long fallow systems (shifting)

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communal rights to land

AGRICULTURAL LANDSCAPE •

tenure based on rights to areas of land

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ancestral heritage though group belonging to land

•

short fallow systems (intensive and localised) 44

environment through the production and recognition of meanings in particular places and through events that have taken place.” (Tilley 1994:24).

The first phase of land division on the Wolds may mark the formalisation of territorial structures that had been in transition for centuries before they were physically fixed by ditched and banked boundaries. Does the connection between linears and existing landscape features imply a gradual evolution in the territorial landscape in this way, or could these relationships indeed reflect a more radical subversion of the old structure, as Barrett suggests? The strength of a wholly new system of land division would be made more potent if it were physically associated with the barrows or tracks of the old landscape. In this sense, the physical incorporation of a barrow into the linear earthwork could suggest a radical rather than a gradual change. Big changes like this do not occur overnight, especially if they involve more than just a new mode for ditch digging. What then constitutes the difference between a radical and a gradual change? Is it the time it takes for the changes to be adopted or the degree to which they penetrate society or indeed the completeness of the dislocation with the past? The relationship between the linears and features of the existing landscape must tell us something about the character of the social transformations: But what?

The idea of an open landscape dominated by tracks linking places of spiritual, social and economic import has been discussed with regard to the archaeology of this period. Places such as rock outcrops, viewpoints and water sources were continually venerated from the Mesolithic onwards and sometimes became locations for Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments (i.e. Bradley 1993a). Bradley showed that many locations for some of the earliest Neolithic burial monuments had already existed as places of congregation and veneration throughout the Mesolithic. The structural characteristics of the hunter-gatherer landscape, dominated by pathways and places were probably not affected by the beginnings of farming. Some animals and plants had been domesticated but still settlement was mobile and the landscape, largely open. The construction of monuments at special locations came about through, “a need to capture and control what the landscape is about through architectural morphology.” (Tilley 1994:71), but was often closely responding to an existing sense of place. Monument building was a significant break with traditional architectural and cultural habits but its place within the landscape took a conscious account of the past and the known.

CEREMONIAL LANDSCAPES Tim Ingold's work on the cultural characteristics of the hunter-gatherer landscape was probably the beginning of an interest amongst archaeologists in the character of the more mobile, ceremonial landscapes of the Neolithic and Bronze Age. He used ethnographic studies as a way in to thinking about the meaning and cultural significance of places and landscapes amongst hunter-gatherers, rather than merely using ethnographic analogy to reconstruct their economic characteristics. Ingold argued that the landscapes of mobile hunter-gatherer groups were replete with cultural significance. The most important landscape features were pathways and special places, usually located in dramatic topographic situations and with commanding views (Ingold 1986). The economic advantages of such places to the mobile hunter-gatherer are clear but he is mainly concerned with the cultural and social roles played by these places. He cites many examples where the “features of the landscape are seen .....to be the congealed embodiments of the past creative activity of ancestral beings.” (Ingold 1986:139). Beliefs such as these are widespread and give a clear cognitive context to the existence of special meaningful places in the landscape at topographically distinctive or highly visible places. Tilley reiterates the same point by describing, “a sacred, symbolic and mythic space replete with social meanings wrapped around buildings, objects and features of the local topography.” (Tilley 1994:) Not only do these beliefs apply to points in the landscape but also to larger topographical features as whole valleys, streams, ridges, mountains, etc.

The respect shown by early land divisions to topographically dramatic features such as dry valleys could be responding to the beliefs and meanings that already surrounded these places. What is more, the very close sympathy that exists between the linears and the topography on the Wolds may not only be intended to embellish natural features but could even reflect the desire to mimic or reproduce the characteristic local landforms.

LANDSCAPES OF THE OPEN WOLDS We are not primarily concerned with the period of ceremonial landscape on the Wolds but it has made its presence felt through the very clear influence it exerts on the system of linear earthworks and the beginnings of the bounded landscape in the later Bronze Age. As we will see in later chapters, the duality between an open landscape crossed by trackways and a divided landscape where boundaries and settlements are more important is something that is not restricted to this particular period. Many of the characteristics and components of the ceremonial landscape re-appear during the Iron Age as well as during the Anglo-Saxon period on the Wolds, in contemporaneous contrast with more settled bounded landscapes on the wold-edge. Like the southern chalkland, there are very few archaeological indications of settlement on the Wolds during the Neolithic and early-mid Bronze Age. “In contrast to the vast body of barrow evidence, the occupation sites of the earlier Bronze Age are virtually unknown in East Yorkshire” (Manby 1980:315). Settlement sites of permanence appear at the end of the Bronze Age with enclosures such as Thwing, Staple Howe and Grimthorpe. For earlier periods there are only ephemeral traces of settlement activity, visible as surface scatters of debris such as flintwork and animal bone (Manby 1980;1988). For the Wolds, we do not have any recent focused field projects, which attempt to identify settlements of this period, not visible through aerial

“Features of the natural landscape may be held to have provided a symbolic resource of the utmost significance to prehistoric populations. ....rather than simply providing a back-drop for human action the natural landscape is a cognized form redolent with place-names, associations and memories that serve to humanise and enculture landscape, linking together topographical features, trees, rocks, rivers, birds and animals with patterns of human intentionality. Significant locations become crystallised out of the 45

with more permanent settlements on the wold-edge. The network of pathways, ponds and springs is best seen in the context of a predominantly pastoral economy with settled cultivation plots found on lower lying land, close to more reliable water sources and settlements. In such a scheme, the landscape would have been structured around ponds and paths with any emergent sense of territoriality worked out with reference to these features as well as perhaps the barrows. “These sites did not occupy the centres of territories so much as lie at the end of one path and at the beginning of the next” (Barrett 1994:141). The mythic and economic properties of these places and these tracks was recognised by the new sense of territorial organisation, which was now expressed through bounded areas of land rather than discrete places.

photography. Therefore, any general statement on early prehistoric settlement is subject to the biases inherent in archaeological visibility. Nonetheless, the vast number of ceremonial monuments stands in marked contrast to the lack of settlement evidence. The area may well have been a landscape of burial monuments, especially in the higher reaches away from the larger watered valleys. Perhaps it is time to recognise the archaeological record for what it is and acknowledge that for long periods in prehistory the Wolds were marginal to settlement and were not the focus of domestic activity. “The theme of a lowland focus, in which the chalk massif features as a topographical inconvenience, was useful in directing attention away from the wold tops as places where people lived, to regarding them as crossing places with special qualities.” (Dent 1995:35)

BOUNDED LANDSCAPES

These realisations have been a long time in coming but are mirrored by developments in the south where, “It has taken some time to appreciate the disadvantages of this emphasis on chalkland archaeology” (Bradley 1994:4)

How did the change take place from a territorial system based on tracks to one based on boundaries? A change in the meaning of lines in the landscape from communicator to boundary is one way of explaining the close relationship between the long distance early linears and the trackways. As the major features in the landscape, the existing tracks may have slowly evolved and begun to take on boundary functions in parallel to the changing cultural attitude to land and the nature of its control. Transformations like these take place in people’s minds before they are expressed by action on the ground. The demarcation of areas of land could well begin by using lines that are already known and respected, without an actual physical barrier. The organic network of trackways may have then become formalised by the construction of ditches and banks in order to give permanence to their boundary role. Nodal points in the communication system were given special treatment and embellished by multiple linears. This reflects the way in which the whole structure of the open landscape was respected by the linears and brought into the new scheme.

If the situation on the Wolds during the Neolithic and Bronze Age is anything like that around Cranborne Chase, then the chalkland was perceived and treated as a special landscape away from more permanent settlement, which may have been situated around the well-watered edges. “....there are indications that the main density of earlier Bronze Age (and Neolithic) activity was in the fertile lowlands, some distance from the well-known barrow cemeteries of the period. It may be that the reorganisation of settlement and land use, that becomes such a prominent feature of chalkland archaeology, started in low-lying areas where much of the archaeological evidence has been hidden or destroyed.” (Bradley 1994:4). If these suggestions for parts of the Wessex chalk can be applied to the Wolds then the radical character of the land divisions in the later Bronze Age marks a re-organisation of this area alone and sets it apart from the surrounding vales. The enclosed settlements that appear on the Wolds at the same time may be part of this re-organisation. Our knowledge of contemporaneous settlement on the wold-edge is negligible, apart from the later Bronze Age open settlement from West Heslerton (Powlesland 1986;1988a).

The distinction between a landscape filled with flexible symbolic markers and one structured around continuous linear features with more fixed meanings was already in existence amidst the logic of the open landscape. It is perhaps embodied in the contrasting logics that lie behind Ingold's one-dimensional and two-dimensional tenure, present in the difference between path and place (Ingold 1986). The cursus monuments of the late Neolithic may well be expressing this linearity in monumental form for the first time (Tilley 1994; Barrett and Bradley 1991). As Barrett acknowledges, the third millennium BC is witness to increasingly elaborate metaphorical representations of place and path, but however intricate they become they were still structured by the same spatial logic of approaching a place and leaving it (Barrett 1994). With the construction of linears as boundaries, the distinction between linearity and place was extended to consume areas of land. These enclosed spaces may well have begun as swathes of territory lying either side of a trackway, which was then transformed into a dividing boundary. Some of the Wolds linears seem to have followed the tenurially potent pathways, which probably began to take on a boundary role before they were physically embellished with ditches and banks. Others followed and joined symbolic places such as barrows drawing the power and legitimacy of the old meanings given to these places into the new scheme.

Any settlements that did exist on the Wolds in the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age are likely to have been shifting and temporary with more cultural importance being placed on burial monuments and trackways, but also on water sources such as ponds and springs and other points of topographic significance. Each of these places and the trackways that linked them would have been ‘loaded with social and religious significances’, and it is in response to these existing meanings that certain places continued to be venerated by the system of land division represented by the linears. This was a mythologized landscape, within which features of the topography and relics of the past were woven into a mythic sense of identity and place. In particular, prominent ridges, dry valleys and valley heads all contained significance and this too was reflected in the construction of linears. All the indications are that the Wolds of the Neolithic and early Bronze Age was a mobile and open landscape, perhaps 46

understand some of its oddities and to appreciate the enduring influence it has on later landscapes here.

The elaboration of the arrangement of ditches and banks at valley heads is testament to the enduring significance given to these places through their role as nodes of communication but also to the special meaning given in the mobile landscape to the lie of the land.

The monumental character of the linears has always presented problems for interpretations because the massive scale of the boundaries meant that their role was more than functional. Investigations that stressed their agricultural function could never explain the monumentality of their form. In allowing for their place within a landscape filled with symbolic places laden with mythic-cultural significance and as agents to continue these long-held traditions we are perhaps offering a context in which their monumental character can be more easily accepted. The enclosure of land was not an economic act, although it had agricultural implications. It was a break with past tradition but did not replace a symbolic agenda with an economic one. The old rules still applied but instead of merely enculturing places with isolated constructions people began to physically enhance and even mimic the very land itself. How else could this have been done but in a monumental fashion?

The communities who used the Wolds must have become more closely connected with specific areas of land, resulting in a more exclusive right than had been previously acknowledged. Earlier belongings had been to places and paths but there must be a period of transition between this stage and one where land units were physically enclosed. More informal ways of expressing the link between community and land area may have involved the siting of burial monuments within these areas or overlooking them, but would have been emphasised by repeated grazing and other agricultural habits. Barrett puts these changes down to the fragmentation of the cohesion of the wider community as well as a shift from long to short fallow systems of cultivation. As areas of land are more and more exclusively used the boundaries between neighbouring zones require increasing definition through negotiation and expression. Such a process leads inevitably to the demarcation of physical boundaries. In this way, resources that were once collectively held become the property of more exclusive groups. It seems likely that the tracks and ponds would retain their collective rights longer than most other resources, so that tracks would become boundaries and the new boundaries would respect existing ponds and other water sources.

The construction of linear earthworks on the Wolds, marks the beginning of an enduring structure of landscape and perhaps also of community and land use. There is no doubt that it represented a break with the past. However, the decisions about the location and situation of the linears indicated a conscious and deliberate link between the new scheme and the places and features of the existing landscape. In this way, the past was being manipulated and subverted, as it was drawn into a new world (Bradley 1987). The subsequent chapters will document the continuation of this process but in different ways. Centuries later the same linears that represent the novelty of the scheme in the later Bronze Age were regarded as relics from the past, themselves manipulated and subverted.

We have tried to show how the linears and the territorial structure they created do not represent a completely new system imposed onto a formerly unstructured landscape. The course of the boundaries and the layout of enclosures and even the arrangements and scale of ditches and banks was influenced to no small degree by the existing features of the landscape. This influence was exerted not by a blunt physical presence but through long held significance of place bound up with topography and history. Meanings already held by places such as barrows, water holes, nodes of communication, viewpoints and the lines of tracks and valleys were respected by the linear builders. The new structure involved new ideas regarding the relationship between individuals, their community and land, which was very different from what had been known before. The physical manifestation of these ideas was rooted in the known cultural landscape and this legitimately softened its novelty. There was probably an element of subversion of the old scheme within these changes as meaningful aspects of the open mythic landscape were deliberately incorporated into the new boundaries. By appropriating the physical form of these features some of their potency and legitimacy would be transferred to the land divisions and all it stood for (see Bradley 1987; Gosden and Lock 1998; and chapter seven). If we have dwelt for longer than usual on the origins of the linear system it is because of the great debt that the new land division paid to the past landscape. It is easy to explain the new schemes across Britain as a radical imposition and a break with the past. However, if we have learned anything from three decades of landscape archaeology it is the important and continuing role of the past and its influence on future landscapes. By situating the bounded landscape on the Wolds in its proper temporal context it is much easier to 47

enclosure, elements of which drew on much older pasts for their legitimacy.

CHAPTER FOUR PASTURES AND THE PAST:

Discussion in chapter three highlighted the importance of the topographic context of these land boundaries as well as their relationship with traces of the past. Meanings attached to features of the landscape, tracks and barrows were appropriated by the linears and transferred to them. This involved a degree of selectivity as some features of the old landscape lost their roles and meanings. A large number of barrows were avoided by linears. Change in the landscape was carried out through selective subversion and/or appropriation of the past. Monuments as large and extensive as these are hard to ignore and those that become redundant do so because of deliberate decisions to override their once crucial structuring role.

DEVELOPING LANDSCAPES OF THE IRON AGE AND ROMANO-BRITISH PERIOD “...‘We will not leave,’ she said. ‘We will stay here, because we have had a son here.’ ‘We have still not had a death,’ he said,. ‘A person does not belong to a place until there is someone dead under the ground.’ Ursula replied with a soft firmness: ‘If I have to die for the rest of you to stay here, I will die.’ ”

The later Iron Age is often emphasised as a period of significant change in the Wolds landscape because of the increasing number of ditched boundaries and settlements that appear (Dent 1982;1983b; Bevan 1997). In the above example, the later boundaries were acting as internal infill, dividing and enclosing the large swathes of land originally defined by the earliest long distance lines. Boundary digging continued throughout the first millennium BC, involving the enclosure of units of land of ever decreasing scale, whilst the original long distance lines continued to be respected. It is useful to look at these changes as part of a longer-term process, which began with the original digging of ditches back in the later Bronze Age. At this time, enduring structures of land organisation were established which themselves incorporated and respected an existing ancient system of trackways and special places. Will the long-term view demonstrate that the Iron Age changes represent the gradual continuation of a land division project, which began in the later Bronze Age; essentially an infilling of a well established system? Or, will it underline the more fundamental character of these changes, by associating the increasing scale of land division with transformations in landuse and settlement and the very character of the social landscape?

(Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One hundred Years of Solitude)

INTRODUCTION The first large scale and long distance ditches were dug in the early centuries of the first millennium BC. They followed trackways and paid great respect to the valleys and ridges of the Wolds landscape as well as to barrows and water sources. The few enclosed settlements, which have been excavated also belong to this general period and occupy commanding locations. These sites are usually found in positions, which relate closely to the areas enclosed and divided by the linear ditches. Most linears remain unexcavated and it is unlikely that they were all constructed during the later Bronze Age. In some cases, the excavation of ditches has suggested that they were constructed during the later centuries of the first millennium BC. The large scale excavations at WetwangGarton Slack for instance, identified a linear earthwork which cut existing square barrows and formed a large enclosure of two square kilometres in area, on the slopes of the valley (Dent 1982;1983a). It can be well dated because it is later respected by further square barrows. The northern edge of this enclosure is formed by one of the axial linears (Sledmere Green Lane), a boundary that had already been in use for five hundred years by this time.

The linears were still present in the Iron Age landscape and in many cases were respected and incorporated into new schemes of enclosure and land division. This relationship with the past can be manifested in many ways. The re-digging of ditches and the incorporation of existing boundaries into new schemes are actions, which we are able to detect archaeologically, although rarely able to date. Long-lasting and continued respect to ditched boundaries though could also be made by less visible means such as the maintenance and upkeep of ditches (Gosden and Lock 1998) (see below).

This example deals with the creation of a ditched enclosure on the slopes of the valley. It represented a significant break with tradition by cutting across an existing cemetery, physically breaking the link that the community held with those visible barrows. On the other hand, the enclosure was tacked onto an existing bank and ditch monument. We will argue that this act of respect represents more than the incorporation and use of a conveniently placed bank and ditch earthwork. Instead, the people who created the ditched enclosure were drawing upon the antiquity of the monument and its historical presence in this landscape. It had for a number of centuries physically represented a very old traditional relationship between the community and this piece of land and through incorporation it lent legitimacy to the new scheme of land division. Change and continuity were here enmeshed and both involve an active relationship with the visible traces of the past. Traces of the recent past were deliberately desecrated during the creation of a new

The round barrows cannot be ignored as many of them would have been equally visible during the Iron Age. They had been an important structuring part of the open Bronze Age landscape and this significance had been respected by the linears of the later Bronze Age in many cases. The land divisions of the Iron Age, however do not seem to have enjoyed such a direct relationship with them. In this respect, the pasts associated with these monuments may have forgotten. They may equally have been deliberately ignored or avoided to make way for the construction of new histories, inscribed in different ways into the landscape. 48

end of Garton Slack.

The value of a longer-term perspective has already been underlined. It helps us to see beyond the artificial barriers that have been thrown up between traditional periods and to view the real historical processes that lie beyond. Dealing with the Iron Age and Roman periods together brings these issues into sharp relief. The Roman conquest represents the end of prehistory in Britain and is generally seen as a threshold of change. By focusing on a regional landscape and tracing the trajectories of change and continuity across this eleven hundred year period we are in a position to critically assess this assumption. Having already investigated the later Bronze Age landscape it will also be possible to set the developments detailed here against those earlier times and processes.

The publication of Stead’s study of the Arras Culture provided the impetus for further work and interest by highlighting the potential and quality of the East Yorkshire evidence (1979a). The book was a compilation of the results of past work. The discussion focused on the material culture of the grave-goods and the chronology and cultural parallels of the burial rite. Stead’s work in East Yorkshire has continued to focus mainly on the burial sites creating an imbalance within local Iron Age studies towards the funerary evidence. Consequently, contemporary settlements remain very poorly understood. A turning point came in the late 1960s and early 1970s when excavations began in front of large-scale gravel extraction along the floor of the valley known as Garton Slack. Little was known about the archaeology of this area, apart from the limited work of Mortimer at Blealands Nook to the west and at Garton Station to the east. The deep gravels of the valley floor have tended to inhibit the formation of cropmarks. The decade or so of excavations here under the direction of Tony Brewster and then John Dent have contributed more than any other site to the understanding of the Iron Age landscape on the Wolds. In addition the multi-period character of the findings has given a very clear idea of the process of change and development from the Bronze Age through to the Romano-British period (Brewster 1981; Dent 1982;1983a;1984).

IRON AGE CEMETERIES East Yorkshire is well known for the extensive remains of Iron Age burial mounds and archaeological investigation of these sites has increased in recent years. In spite of this, the landscape of which they were part remains little understood. There is only minimal information or discussion on the settlements and land-use practices contemporary with the burials. An historical summary of the main aspects of Iron Age archaeology on the Wolds, should begin with the nineteenth century antiquarians, Mortimer and Greenwell. During the 1930s their legacy had endured strongly enough for Wright to consider that even then, “...the subject remained under their domination” (Wright 1990:74). The pre-occupation of Greenwell and Mortimer with funerary sites led them to uncover Iron Age graves, but without the help of aerial photography they dealt largely with the few barrow cemeteries then left upstanding. Both were involved in the excavation of the cemetery at Danes Graves where some of the barrows still survive in a plantation and Mortimer also investigated some of the barrows at Scorborough (Dent 1984; Stead 1979a) (fig 69). Ploughing has now levelled all the barrows from the large cemetery at Arras but here too both men were involved, following the initial excavations by Stillingfleet (Stead 1979a). By the end of the nineteenth century two of the largest Iron Age cemeteries had been excavated and several cart burials uncovered. Mortimer had also excavated the site of Blealands Nook, where a number of unaccompanied burials were found associated with a series of small ditched enclosures (Mortimer 1888;1905). Mortimer saw these burials as Romano-British because of the pottery found in the enclosure ditches but they are perhaps more likely to date from the Anglian period (Lucy 1998; Eagles 1979). The site lies in an important location beside the Sledmere Green Lane and close to the cemetery and later ditched settlements at Wetwang Slack. It appears to be the first of the distinctive late Iron Age/early Romano-British ‘ladder’ settlements to have been investigated (see below).

The earliest features at Wetwang-Garton Slack were burial monuments of the Neolithic and Bronze Age, which are scattered along the valley floor and the south-facing slopes of the valley side. Their presence emphasises the long-standing importance of the valley bottom route as a link between the flat and wet wold-edge to the east and the dry chalklands of the Wolds further west. This same route was marked by a ditched trackway, encountered in the excavations, which Dent considers to pre-date the square barrow cemetery. The latter contains nearly four hundred and fifty graves, each surrounded by a square plan ditch and containing a single inhumation. Most are either unaccompanied or furnished with animal bones or pots, but some have brooches. A small minority were given more specialised treatment containing jewellery, weapons and dismantled carts or chariots. Some of these were found away from the main cemetery concentration by Dent and Brewster and another two further down the valley by Stead at Garton Station (Stead 1991; Dent 1985) (fig 70-2). Dent has been able to construct a chronology for the cemetery based partly on the inter-cutting character of the surrounding barrow ditches but supported by the typology of brooch forms found within the graves (Dent 1982). During the third or second century BC a linear ditch was dug through the cemetery, cutting existing graves. This ditch ran along the valley floor mirroring the course of the trackway but creating an enclosed block of land, two square kilometres in area. It cut several of the existing barrows and thereafter served as a boundary containing all further barrows within the confines of its enclosure. Contemporary with the early phase of the cemetery are a group of scattered round houses, some of which were associated with material also found in early graves (see below). The construction of the ditch and large enclosure is taken by Dent to signify the

Little further progress was made during the early twentieth century until the construction of the Driffield aerodrome at Eastburn in the 1930s. Excavations took place in front of the building work, which affected a large area, effectively erasing its history from the map. They uncovered another large Iron Age cemetery of similar size to those at Danes Graves and Arras (Sheppard 1939; Stead 1979a). Eastburn is situated close to the springheads of the river Hull, south of the eastern 49

deliberate enclosure of land, hemming in the cemetery and putting an end to the open settlement associated with it. Instead, the latter phase of cemetery use may be related to an enclosed settlement found within the large enclosure. Following the abandonment of the cemetery a further group of enclosures were constructed over the site and these were associated with roundhouses.

BURIAL RITES AND SOCIETY Stead has identified three idealised types of burial rite. These are groupings, which combine typical aspects including orientation and posture of the corpse in the grave and the kinds of grave-goods that are associated. The ‘normal’ rite (Stead’s type A), he has identified at most sites including Rudston, Burton Fleming and Wetwang Slack. Typically it comprises a crouched or contracted inhumation with head to north, facing east and accompanied by a single brooch and/or joint of lamb, sometimes placed in a pot. Another different rite (type B) was identified and was most numerous at the Makeshift cemetery, Burton Fleming. Here, corpses were flexed or extended, often oriented east to west and only once accompanied by a brooch. Instead they were furnished with swords, spearheads, tools, knives or spindle whorls. Crucially these burials contained bones of pig rather than sheep. A third rite (type C) includes the graves of special status, furnished with carts, swords, etc. which tended not to be accompanied by brooches or pots and which equally favoured pig over sheep (1991).

Stead’s excavations have also continued apace at several sites near Burton Fleming and Kirkburn, the latter at the eastern end of the Wetwang-Garton Slack (Stead 1991). His acknowledged aim during this twenty years of research has been to locate and excavate further cart burials, presumably because of the richness of their contents. He has excavated an Iron Age ladder settlement at Bell Slack, but only because it directly overlay the cemetery here. He writes of the Burton Fleming excavations, “In one respect the excavations had been disappointing because no cart burial had been found.” (Stead 1991:1) The excavations at Garton Station did not reveal associated settlement but there was remarkable evidence for the later reuse of the cemetery site and its barrows and enclosures for Anglian burials, eight or nine centuries later (see also Lucy 1992 and chapter 6-7) (fig 72). The published report of this work deals exclusively with the Iron Age cemeteries and their contents. The Iron Age settlement and Anglian burial evidence is mentioned in passing but are, “to be published elsewhere” (Stead 1991). The published volume remains a milestone in East Yorkshire archaeology and the only fully published account of the excavation of square barrow cemeteries.

Mike Parker-Pearson has taken these observations further along with the help of a number of his graduate students (A.Piccini, A.Piper and B.Bevan). They have looked for more meaningful interpretations within the archaeological patterns left by the burial rite. The way in which the body is treated in death is taken to encode the relationship of the dead person to the world as this treatment represents the manipulation and respect of its natural symbolism (ParkerPearson 1999). He argues that the structures governing the meanings given to animals, cardinal directions and objects, are all part of a perception, which explains the world through overlapping and interdependent sets of binary oppositions. He suggests that the tendency for doorways of roundhouses in the Iron Age to face east or southeast indicates that this direction was seen as propitious and associated with life. It is also the direction of the equinoctial and midwinter sunrise. On the other hand, the west may be associated with death and contain inauspicious properties.

The 1979 discussion of the Arras Culture gave real credence to the idea that the burial rite was unique and different enough to imply the movement of people from the continent to East Yorkshire. “The arrival of artefacts from west central Europe could be explained away by trade, but the arrival of ideas----complex burial rites---must surely mean the arrival and settlement of people.” (Stead 1979a:93). The discovery of the settlement in association with the cemetery, at Wetwang Slack, went a long way towards refuting this argument as it grounded the rite securely within the traditional range of indigenous Iron Age material culture, once known as the ‘Little Woodbury Culture’ (Dent 1982). Recent work has further identified indigenous elements within the burial rite and amongst the grave goods, so that the idea of an invasive community bringing with them these new funerary practices is now out of favour (Stead 1991).

Evidence of similar binary oppositions are apparent in the patterning of graves in East Yorkshire cemeteries, particularly Rudston and Burton Fleming. Those east-west oriented graves are accompanied by a completely different set of grave goods than are those oriented north to south. They are also accompanied by pig bones rather than by the bones of sheep. Those with the head to west invariably contain the right side of the pig, whilst those with head to east are accompanied by the left side of the pig. This is taken to reflect the symbolic association made between right and east and between west and left. By recognising patterning within the burial rite, we are not simply identifying particular cultural groupings but recognising a complex symbolic language, which represents aspects of the worldview of the individuals involved. These are played out in the grave with reference to the dead human body.

The inhumations are normally found with grave-goods, including brooches, pots and animal bones. Occasionally they were furnished with more exotic items such as swords and scabbards, spears, mirrors and other forms of jewellery. In a few cases, the inhumation was interred with a dismantled cart, complete with pieces of decorated bronze horse harness fittings. These ‘chariot burials’ remain the most well known aspects of the square barrow burials. It is with these special graves that much of the weaponry and decorated metalwork was found, recently including a coat of chain mail lain over a corpse from the cart burial at Kirkburn (Stead 1991). There are other ways in which some people received special treatment in death, as several corpses appear to have been pierced with spears after their deposition in the grave pit (ibid.).

Within this language are indications of the identity of the dead person in life, although these must be read and interpreted very carefully. Parker-Pearson argues that the status of individuals may not be marked by direct association with wealth but more universally through their association with either pigs or sheep, “..the human relationship between 50

and rests on the assumption that these burials form one contemporaneous group. Dent has argued that the distinction between the different rites is based on difference in social status implied by distinctions in the quality and range of grave-goods present in the grave (1982). However, it would be dangerous to simply read off social structure in life from the treatment of the dead. As we have seen there may be more subtle status referents in play.

rulers and ruled is mirrored by the ceremonial distinction between pigs and sheep.” (Parker-Pearson 1999:56). It is the burials with pigs that are sometimes furnished with carts or weaponry or other exotic items, but these are explained in other terms. It is the presence of the pig that marks the status of the dead person, not the richly decorated metalwork. Instead these special graves which also include the ritual killings are described as, “dangerous, polluting and destabilising deaths which threatened the well-being of the community at large.” (ibid.). They remain high status people but were also bad deaths that needed to be marked. This shows that there is some relationship between wealthy items in the grave and status, but it is by no means a direct one. If we take on board these ideas then we have to accept that we are dealing with a society in which some social stratification may have existed.

According to Parker-Pearson the kind of social formation present in these communities can be glimpsed through their burial rite. However, this is not as simple as interpreting the presence of exotic items in graves as absolute indicators of status. Social stratification is evident and may be marked by the presence of pig bones, with certain members of the community (elites) recognised as of higher status than the rest (commoners). Kinship ties are important here and the cemeteries may have contained specific zones reserved for certain kin groups. Crucially, these may have also had status attribution so that some lineages were of higher status than others. The use of the term commoners by Parker-Pearson suggests a fairly structured hierarchy containing social classes. If the society here revolved around kinship, as seems likely, such a definition would not be applicable.

There is some evidence for the indication of kinship affiliation in the layout of cemeteries. Several contain distinct clustering of graves and others seem to develop in specific linear arrangements. “The cemeteries form spatial maps of kinship organisation in which each cluster is a lineage of either elite or commoners” (ibid.). Support for this idea comes from the palaeopathology, which has identified pathological conditions in bones specific to certain clusters in the cemeteries at Burton Fleming and Rudston. This might indicate specific kin-based groups in the cemeteries, who shared genetically inherited disorders.

Dent has argued that the square barrow burials represent a more or less complete record of the population of the area. He argues that a complete cross section of society is represented by the graves, which range from the poorest and lowest status to the most wealthy (1982). As we have seen above, there were many factors governing the ways in which the dead were treated other than simply their social status in life. To view the incorporation of artefacts into graves simply as a reflection of wealth and status would be to deny the complexity of the symbols and actions associated with the burial rite. Many inhabitants of this area may well have not been part of this burial tradition at all and instead, along with the rest of Iron Age Britain, dealt with their dead in ways that have left no trace in the archaeological record.

In summary Parker-Pearson writes, “The ways that the body is laid in the grave are linked to lineage affiliation, class membership and cosmology. The positioning of grave goods may define gender and possibly moiety... (whilst)....pig and sheep bones embody a totemic status distinction between elite and commoners.” (ibid.). Stead’s attitude towards the definition of types of burial rite was to identify specific cultural groupings within the Arras graves. His was an analytical study, which recognised archaeological patterns but did not seek to explain them in terms of the people who created and used the burial rite. Parker-Pearson has managed to suggest an ideological framework around which these practices and their symbolism can be fitted, breathing life into a community previously represented by a catalogue of finds. We are still a long way away from reconstructing the character of social groups in Iron Age East Yorkshire but it seems clear that recent work has identified the existence of social hierarchies and the importance of strong kinship relationships.

THE DEAD IN THE LANDSCAPE The majority of Iron Age square barrows are in Eastern Yorkshire, with the majority found on the Wolds where they cluster on the margins of the eastern dip-slope. They consistently favour low-lying valley locations, something also noted by Dent (1982;1995) and Stoertz (1997) in contrast to the distribution of round barrows, which tend to occupy dominant topographic locations with wide visibility. Barrows are concentrated into cemeteries as well as in small isolated groups, suggesting that their role as commemorative monuments in the landscape may not have been consistent. This is also supported by the fact that many of the isolated groups and individual square barrows tend to be located on higher ground, in similar locations to the round barrows. If the majority of barrows were placed in low-lying positions to fulfil certain specific landscape roles then others may have been deliberately placed elsewhere to break away from these conventions. Detailed studies of the location and landscape context of square barrows and cemeteries were lacking until Bevan’s recent contribution (1999). This information is vital if we are to understand the different roles played by these monuments in the landscapes of the middle Iron Age (fig 73). In particular we are interested in their relationships with

The data used by Parker-Pearson came from a restricted set of cemeteries, recently excavated and published by Stead. The area covered by the use of square barrows is large including all of Eastern Yorkshire and much variation in the treatment of the dead can be found within it. It would be unwise to assume that the shared use of certain aspects of burial ritual justifies their inclusion under the same monolithic cultural umbrella. The term Arras Culture perhaps implies too much homogeneity in other aspects of life such as social structure and/or land-use and should be discarded. There are some suggestions that the group of burials, which tended to contain extended inhumations represent a later stage than the rest. This is based on very few dated examples 51

un-marked tracks which were later enhanced by ditches. No doubt there is some relationship between cemeteries and ditched boundaries but this might only be a feature of the period after the second century BC when land became increasingly enclosed. We will return to these issues below.

existing features such as boundaries and trackways. Bevan has discussed the significance of the landscape context of barrow cemeteries, having systematically analysed their topographic location and their relationship to other archaeological features (1999). He argues that “Making visible a group’s ancestors, in this case by creating a mound above the grave gives physical expression to the dead in the affairs of the living.” (Bevan 1999). By grouping those barrows together in discrete locations the sense of an idealised ancestral community was affirmed which was linked to particular lands.

The recent studies of the square barrow burials by Bevan and Parker-Pearson have been important in escaping from the tired confines of chronology and cultural identity favoured by Dent and Stead. They have been less concerned with the empirical study of the cemetery data for its own sake and more interested in the experiences of the people and communities involved. In Parker-Pearson’s case the complex symbolic language attached to the burial rite is illustrated. He also shows how this was used to articulate the dynamic between structure and agency within Iron Age society. For Bevan it is the location and referencing of barrows in the landscape that served to express the relationship between living communities, their ancestral dead and their mythic surroundings.

His findings suggest that a significant majority of cemeteries were located close to water sources, particularly the intermittently flowing streams or gypsies. He uses a series of analogies between water, landscape and life to explain these juxtapositions. The seasonal occurrence of water bursting forth from the earth is mirrored by ideas of the regenerative cycles of life and death and coupled with reproductive cycles of seasonal growth. Bevan further stresses that the “carriage of water and driving of livestock between settlements and springs would have been a regular, probably daily routine” (ibid.) involving regular engagement with the barrow cemeteries, stressing the link between living and dead communities. This is an enticing argument but is problematic because of the difficulty in reconstructing the former course of streams and former location of springs on the Wolds (see chapter two). We know that the water table has dropped in the last one hundred and fifty years but cannot predict its level during the Iron Age. There are many cases where the proximity of cemeteries to water can be unequivocally demonstrated such as along the course of the Gypsey Race and at Craike Hill/ Garton Station, where barrows lie close to the probable site of former springs. Is this the only factor that influenced their location?

We have dealt with the place of the dead in the Iron Age landscape and now must turn to that of the living. The reconstruction of the complete Iron Age experience on the Wolds is still a long way off because of the very little information we have about the everyday domestic settlements of these communities.

SETTLEMENT STUDIES There are many gaps in our knowledge of Iron Age East Yorkshire but perhaps the most glaring is the disparity of evidence between funerary sites and domestic settlement. This is particularly acute for the middle Iron Age when settlements were apparently unenclosed and are thus very difficult to recognise archaeologically. The sudden rise in settlements for the later Iron Age and Romano-British period may have as much to do with their enclosure by deep ditches as it has to do with an increase in population or quantitative expansion (Dent 1983). In spite of these problems some of the projects that have got underway in recent years have deliberately set out to address the disparity. Alongside this the publication of the aerial photographic plots has further enhanced the potential for future work, especially for the settlement record of the late Iron Age and Romano-British periods (Stoertz 1997).

Bevan's study also highlighted the close proximity between barrows and both trackways and boundaries. His analysis was carried out using RCHM aerial photographic plots so that the juxtaposition of barrow cemetery and cropmark ditch was taken to reflect significant contemporaneous respect (1999). The excavated example at Wetwang goes to show how complex these relationships can actually be and how problematic it is to assume the contemporaneity of juxtaposed features in two dimensions on an aerial photograph. To distinguish between a trackway and a boundary from the air is an even more difficult task, as these features can change their roles over time and sometimes fulfil dual roles. Again, the Wetwang example is informative as here the cemetery is first aligned on a trackway and then subsequently along a ditched boundary, the change of emphasis mirroring the changes at work in the local landscape.

The following section will introduce a number of the recently completed and ongoing landscape projects of the area. They are not restricted to one period of investigation but most seem to concentrate on the later Iron Age and RomanoBritish. As well as focusing on the settlement record rather than the funerary sites they have tended to concentrate on the previously overlooked areas on the edges of the Wolds and in the surrounding vales. Their results will be very helpful in assessing the relationship between the wold-edge and the Wold interior and the more generalised distribution of settlement between these two zones.

There are several examples where tight clusters of barrows do appear to have built up alongside existing ditched boundaries, such as at the Makeshift cemetery, Burton Fleming or another near Kilham. The barrows of other cemeteries form linear groupings suggesting they have followed a linear feature that is no longer visible archaeologically. It seems likely that such barrows were arranged along the sides of a un-marked trackway, raising the possibility that other cemeteries may have initially followed

Archaeological research in East Yorkshire during the last twenty years has witnessed a shift away from traditional fields of research such as Roman towns and forts and Iron Age burials. A number of projects have deliberately set out to uncover the more humble everyday aspects of the late prehistoric and Romano-British settlement pattern. These 52

Hayfield has produced a thorough and co-ordinated reconstruction of the Romano-British settlement pattern, as it is evident from surface scatters of pottery. He also links the pottery evidence to geophysical survey and aerial photography. This has revealed a dispersed pattern of farmsteads, closely spaced along valleys at intervals of one kilometre, as well as some wold top settlements and two villa sites. Many settlements were strung out along trackways and boundaries, which seem to have remained in use into the medieval period. Several of the larger pottery scatters contain Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon as well as Romano-British pottery, suggesting a degree of continuity of occupation at these sites.

have tended to emphasise and investigate the landscape surrounding these settlements, using a range of nondestructive fieldwork techniques as well as excavation and have often adopted a more multi-period approach. They have added significantly to our understanding of later Iron Age and Romano-British settlement patterns. By intensively investigating a restricted area or discrete landscape block it is possible to reconstruct a fuller and more integrated sample of settlement pattern rather than to rely on the collation of disparate, partially understood settlement sites from a wider area. The fieldwalking survey carried out at Wharram is a particularly good example (Hayfield 1987) (fig 74). Other projects have provided a more rounded picture by taking attention away from the Wolds, in acknowledgement of the fact that the surrounding vales were not necessarily marginal backwaters in this period. In addition to the Holme project (Halkon and Millett 1987;1988; Halkon 1990; Halkon and Millett 1999), the work at West Heslerton (Powlesland 1986;1988b;2002) and in the Hull Valley (Didsbury 1988;1990) have all shown how lively yet overlooked are the lowlands, when assessing the regional balance of the settlement pattern and the distribution of settlement (see below).

Hayfield emphasises the continuity of settlement sites and patterns between the late Iron Age and the Romano-British period. “Neither Roman nor Saxon invasions would at first appear to have had any major impact on settlement patterns in this part of the Yorkshire Wolds.” (Hayfield 1987:4). Not only does he envisage the unbroken thread of continuous occupation on many sites where Iron Age, Romano-British and Anglian pottery are found on the surface, but he also argues for similar continuity in the territorial and agricultural structures within which these settlements were situated.

The long-term excavations at Wharram Percy began with a solidly medieval agenda. However, during the later 1970s and 1980s it became clear that the site of the medieval village had already been occupied for several centuries (Beresford and Hurst 1976;1990). A number of sites of Iron Age and Romano-British activity were identified including a possible ladder settlement as well as trackways and boundaries that were later incorporated into the layout of the medieval village. Beresford and Hurst have suggested that the site contained up to five settlement foci between the later Iron Age and the late Romano-British period although the character of the community they formed is still unknown (1990). The origins of the site are earlier than this as two farmstead settlements have been suggested from the evidence for the earlier Iron Age. Late Romano-British evidence is less forthcoming suggesting a decrease in settlement intensity. However, there was a crop drying kiln in the north of the site which apparently expanded its capacity around the third or fourth century AD. Similar discoveries have been made at Langton and other sites, giving rise to a suggestion of arable expansion towards the end of Romano-British period (i.e. Ramm 1978).

“....in terms of their archaeologically identifiable settlements and field systems, there was evidence of considerable stability, perhaps even direct continuity. In this respect the Roman and Saxon invasions may merely have added a surface veneer to the existing indigenous population of the Yorkshire Wolds and may have had little direct impact on the more practical aspects of their existing settlement and agricultural organisation.” (ibid: 4). It should not be forgotten that these bold statements are based on the findings from surface collections only and no excavation has demonstrated the continuous occupation of any of these sites. Even at Wharram Percy, where there is an Iron Age and Romano-British presence, the excavations revealed considerable change and modification leading up to the foundation of the village in the early medieval period (Beresford and Hurst 1990). Hayfield’s survey is extremely valuable as it suggests that rural communities need only have been minimally affected by the Roman conquest. This evidence has however been used to extend the case for continuity beyond simply that of site occupation. The continued use of one location for a settlement, or indeed the continued (or intermittent) respect given to an ancient earthwork, does not imply that the countryside was shrouded in a mist of stasis. Taking nothing away from its empirical value, the resolution of Hayfield’s work is crude given the reliance on surface collections. A definitive assessment of the specific character of change at these sites cannot be reached without further work. Excavation of the sites where multi-period pottery scatters are present could identify whether the sequences of occupation are continuous or separated by periods of abandonment. He has perhaps been too quick to infer unbroken stability from the surface evidence alone and has not introduced a sufficient problematic into the question of what is actually meant by continuity.

Leading on from the Wharram excavations a landscape project was set up in 1974 under the direction of Colin Hayfield. Its aim was to investigate the development of the settlement pattern in this area through fieldwalking, geophysical survey and sample excavation. The workings of the medieval landscape were relatively well known through the fieldwork of David Hall. The excavations had also raised the real possibility of continuity from the Romano-British period or even later prehistory, not only in settlement location but also for the use of boundaries and tracks. The work is ongoing and still organised under the same voluntary code as the Wharram digs where involvement was equally for social and archaeological reasons. The results of the fieldwalking programme were published in 1987 in a report, which concentrates on the Romano-British period, for the vast majority of the surface pottery recovered was Roman in date (Hayfield 1987).

Hayfield suggests that the Romano-British settlement pattern of the Wharram area, based on surface pottery scatters is 53

activity is evident on this site, revealing similarities with the site at Sherburn. To the west lies the DMV of Low Caythorpe and to the east a site known only from AP, suggesting the potential of settlement shift here over several centuries (ibid.).

much more extensive than that of the Iron Age or AngloSaxon periods. The sites that seem to show long-term occupation are those that occupy the most convenient settlement locations, including those, which later emerge as medieval villages. The Romano-British period seems to witness an expansion onto more marginal wold top locations through the creation of small farmsteads on the edges of territories. However it is difficult to isolate exactly when this expansion and contraction took place without further excavation of particular settlements.

IRON AGE SETTLEMENTS We have already stressed how the traditional bias of archaeological research towards funerary remains has created an imbalance so that for many years very little was known about prehistoric settlement in this area. This unequal distribution of research resources was identified as recently as 1990 when Millett wrote of the Iron Age situation, “Disappointingly, the highest profile work remains the hunt for ‘rich’ burials of the Arras type,....rather than the pursuit of knowledge about society and the economy within the overall settlement system of the ordinary people.” (Millett 1990a:348). Prior to 1970 there had been notable and important excavations at Grimthorpe (Stead 1968) and Staple Howe (Brewster 1963), revealing two very similar small enclosed settlements complete with round houses and four posters. In date though, they belong to the later Bronze Ageearly Iron Age and should be treated alongside others such as Devil’s Hill and Thwing (see chapter three). They had all fallen out of use before the beginning of the square barrow burial tradition, marking a period of several centuries during the middle of the Iron Age when very few settlement sites are known (Dent 1982; Bevan 1997). This lack of settlement evidence prevails until the later Iron Age (second century BC to first century AD), when several settlements are known from the Wolds and the surrounding area, including the distinctive ‘ladder’ (or droveway) sites (see below). For the middle Iron Age there are very few traces of domestic settlement, setting the area apart from most other regions in Iron Age Britain.

Further fieldwalking has been undertaken by Peter Halkon and Martin Millett near Holme on Spalding Moor and the flat wetlands west of Market Weighton and Shiptonthorpe (Millett and Halkon 1987;1988; 1999; Halkon 1990). This area has long been seen as peripheral to the centres of settlement activity for both the Iron Age and Roman periods, presumed to lie on the drier Wolds. It lies west of the settlement corridor along the western wold-edge that is marked by the Roman road from Brough to Malton. Their findings have shown that, despite the low-lying and wet ground, the area was densely occupied during the Iron Age with several sites discovered which contain evidence for the smelting and working of iron. The discovery of the Hasholme boat has underlined the importance of the local inland waterways in this area, which formed a dendritic system of creeks feeding into a now dried up tidal inlet of the Humber. This illustrates how wetlands do not have to inhospitable and unoccupied or indeed a barrier to communication (Millett and McGrail 1987). The same area during the Romano-British period is home to an intensive pottery industry with many kiln sites known. A spin-off from this intensive survey was the excavation of the previously unknown small Roman town between Shiptonthorpe and Market Weighton, situated close to the main Roman road below the western Wold escarpment (Millett and Halkon 1987).

There is middle Iron Age domestic activity at Wetwang, adjacent to the cemetery which Dent regards as a long established settlement, “..in which there is evidence of zoning for specific activities, such as grain storage, living and burial.” (Dent 1995:87)). Here there were eighty roundhouses belonging to this early ‘open’ phase of settlement. Associated with these were pits and four posters, the latter producing a few artefacts such as weaving combs, ring-headed pins and brooches of the same kind as were also present in the early phase of the cemetery (Dent 1983a). There are signs that some of the roundhouses were aligned along a trackway, which itself is no longer visible but which Dent sees as the main route along the valley bottom (fig 701). The early cemetery grew up along a subsidiary track to the south. He acknowledges that this group of roundhouses is largely undated and the evidence may represent a long history of settlement here going back as far as the late Bronze Age. If this were the case, the site would have a parallel in the later Bronze Age open settlement from West Heslerton (Powlesland 1986). As mentioned above, a large enclosure was constructed at Wetwang in the third or second century BC, which contained in its centre an enclosed settlement (fig 75-6). Dent sees this enclosure and new settlement as coinciding with the abandonment of the ‘open’ phase. Later roundhouses dated through artefactual evidence to the later Iron Age and early Romano-British period occupied positions within the ditched enclosures of the later settlement.

The vast multi-period excavations at West Heslerton have so far yielded little Romano-British evidence, with the area later occupied by the Anglian settlement having been probably used for agriculture in this period (Powlesland 1986). Excavations at Sherburn however,one kilometre or so away, have revealed a late Iron Age and Romano-British settlement occupying a more low-lying position closer to the peatlands of the valley floor (Powlesland 1988b). Aerial photographic plots reveal a network of ditched settlements linked by trackways and boundaries, strung out along this low-lying zone on the southern fen-edge. Late Romano-British and early Anglian levels at Sherburn have pointed to possible waterlogging problems for the inhabitants and eventual abandonment, leading to the suggestion that the community was forced to move to a better site closer to the wold-edge, where the Anglian settlement was founded (Powlesland 1988b). Settlement shift in this manner is well known from the Low Countries in this period (Heidinga 1985) but little understood in East Yorkshire. No other local project has been able to suggest the existence of this phenomenon with as much strength. The excavations at Caythorpe, where a late Romano-British settlement was sampled along the route of a gas pipeline may suggest a similar situation (Abramson 1996). It lay close to the Gypsey Race, along the floor of the valley and may have contained buildings with chalk footings. Some early Anglian 54

locate the domestic habitations of the people who were burying their dead in square barrows. Given the Wetwang example of a cemetery lying alongside an open settlement, it has generally been assumed that similar such settlements lay close to many other of the large cemeteries. It is held that the insubstantial nature of the structures and the unenclosed character of the settlements have meant that they have escaped detection so far. However, despite several recent excavations of cemeteries at Burton Fleming, Rudston and Kirkburn, only at Wetwang has a settlement been encountered.

The open phase of habitation at Wetwang is the first and only known example of a settlement contemporary with a square barrow cemetery. The Caythorpe pipeline excavations revealed a small group of roundhouses on the high ground by the Woldgate ridge, evident as three circles of postholes (Abramson 1996). “There were no finds associated with the structures,” so they were “categorised as Iron Age on the basis of their circular ground plan and the nearby burial.” (Abramson 1996:18). The smallest of the three structures was no more than four and a half metres in diameter but the other two were probably around seven metres, more akin to the smaller structures from Wetwang. It is very difficult to say whether the Caythorpe roundhouses were part of a larger settlement because the excavations were restricted to a fourteen metre wide trench along the route of the pipeline. Their location was targeted to avoid rather than to encounter archaeological features. Crucially they were not visible from the air as cropmarks.

Several discussions of the settlement pattern of the Iron Age have tended to take these assumptions about cemetery and settlement location further by assuming that indeed the distribution of cemeteries in East Yorkshire mirrors that of settlements and of the population (i.e. Haselgrove 1984; Millett 1990). Millett, for instance, describes a “predominantly dispersed pattern of settlement on the Yorkshire Wolds with most of the evidence represented by burials within square barrow cemeteries.” (Millett 1990:348). Haselgrove’s discussion also uses the distribution of cemeteries on the Wolds to support his arguments about late Iron Age settlement expansion. He suggests that settlement was concentrated on the Wolds during the majority of the Iron Age, expanding onto the surrounding lowlands during the first century BC and AD (1984a) (fig 2). To date, there are very few known square barrow cemeteries in the low-lying lands of the Hull Valley and Holderness. The clear distinction in distribution between the eastern Wolds and this area may be partly one of archaeological visibility as cropmarks do not form well on the clays. However it is unlikely to account for their virtual total absence. So far there is only one known example of a square barrow cemetery in this area, at Scorborough three kilometres north of Beverley (Stead 1979a). Neither are there very many square barrows nor cemeteries along the western edge of the Wolds, below the escarpment between the Humber, Market Weighton and Pocklington. This is an area where aerial photography has revealed a complex network of sites but as yet, they do not include square barrows.

Stead’s excavations at the Bell Slack cemetery, Burton Fleming revealed the ring groove of a single round house with further postholes at the entrance. Like the Caythorpe examples this is similar in type to others found at Wetwang and may belong to the Iron Age. Stead generally refers to it as earlier than the associated burials but his final conclusions must await the published report (Stead 1991). In an attempt to switch attention away from funerary sites, but primarily to establish a pottery chronology to help date the burials, Stead and Rigby began a project looking at groups of pits. The findings have not yet been published (information from Dent 1995). Pit clusters have been identified from the air and have been assumed to represent the only archaeologically visible traces of open settlements, possibly contemporary with middle Iron Age burials. Several groups have been sampled but particularly at Rudston along the Woldgate ridge. Here two large clusters of pits contained mainly later Bronze Age pottery whilst others have produced Iron Age and Romano-British sherds. Much is described simply as first millennium in date. Hill has shown for the south how pit deposits during the Iron Age may be interpreted in a number of ways (1995) and clearly these features do not have to represent the rubbish pits of a nearby settlement. Pit groups such as these are often found on high ground close to concentrations of earlier monuments and probably represent expressions of ritual activity, which are continuing the long held traditions of the sanctity of these locations. Further groups have been found amidst the funnelled entrances to the open space above Weaverthorpe, away from the valley floor settlements. Their presence indicates that there is more to the monumentalised Iron Age landscape than simply the square barrows and their tendency for wold top situations stands in contrast to the lower lying positions of the barrows.

Recent archaeological survey and excavation projects have been concentrated on the hitherto overlooked lowland areas, which border the Wolds (see above). Didsbury’s work on the Hull Valley and particularly the work of Halkon and Millett in the Vale of York have identified extensive Iron Age and Romano-British remains, which tend to take the focus of attention away from the dry Wolds and emphasise the important role of wetlands. Likewise, the excavations below the northern escarpment at West Heslerton and those at North Cave and Brantingham, on the western wold-edge have identified important settlement evidence for periods when it is rare on the Wolds themselves. A much wider range of domestic evidence seems to be appearing at these low-lying sites from all periods, including traces of iron smelting from North Cave and the Holme Project, as well as a few sherds of late Iron Age finewares. The latter Dragonby wares are absent from the Wolds and their occurrence in the Vale of York, Hull Valley and on the western wold-edge support the important role played by the low-lying wetlands for communications and indeed settlement.

The roundhouses of open settlements are represented by circles of postholes or shallow ring grooves and are rarely substantial enough to register as cropmarks on aerial photographs. The settlements of this kind on the Wolds, were either from salvage excavations in front of gravel extraction (or the gas pipe-line), or were encountered through their association with other more visible features, such as square barrow cemeteries. Most have been found by chance and not design and it remains a considerable problem to try and

Dent has acknowledged that it may be these well-watered 55

aligned east to west. The latter lies on the course of the presumed early trackway followed, further to the west, by the Sledmere Green Lane and is also followed for much of its course by township boundaries. Dent suggests that the linear bisects an existing cemetery, as barrows occur on both its north and south sides. It seems more likely that the cemetery was built up along a trackway, already marked with ditch and bank.

lowlands rather than the dry Wolds, which contained the main areas of settlement during the Iron Age (Dent 1995). He points out that the soils of the Vales of York, Pickering and Holderness are more fertile than those of the Wolds (1995) and also that the presence of surface water is obviously more predictable in the vales. In particular the low-lying wold margins would seem to have been well suited for settlement and able to support large communities, as here it would have been most possible to integrate the rich resources of wetland with those of the dry wold. In this light, a middle Iron Age settlement pattern that mirrored that of the cemeteries would require some explanation and it seems more likely that many settlements did not lie alongside a cemetery. In this case either their inhabitants were performing a different less visible burial rite or they were travelling with the dead from the settlement to their eventual place of rest.

Many cemeteries are found strung out in clusters along valley bottoms, which are likely to have been used as routes of movement between the wold-edge and the wold interior. A large proportion of the total number of barrows is found in such locations; along the Garton-Wetwang Slack and also along the Great Wold Valley between Rudston and Burton Fleming (fig 73). The definition of these routes with marking ditches seems to have been a late feature of their development and contemporary with the more generalised moves towards enclosure during the later Iron Age. The ladder site known from aerial photograph at Elmswell for instance seems to have built up along this same valley-based track. There are other cases mentioned above where unmarked long distance routes were incorporated into ladder sites at the end of the Iron Age (fig 81).

JOURNEYS TO THE PAST The distribution of cemeteries does not necessarily mirror that of settlements in the centuries leading up to the first century BC. We have questioned the assumption that settlements usually lay alongside cemeteries and that settlement distribution favoured the Wolds in this period. Neither position is fully supported by the evidence that is available. We will now examine the distribution of cemeteries and their location to try and understand the landscape, of which they were part, considering later their relationship to settlement sites.

The tendency for cemeteries and barrows to be found close to trackways has also been noted by Dent (1982) and is apparent through several direct associations between a cemetery and a marked trackway. Perhaps more significantly though is the clustering of barrows and cemeteries along more generalised routes of movement, principally along the communications corridors offered by valley-floors. Their distribution is heavily weighted towards the eastern edge of the Wolds and concentrated in the large broadening valleys that here meet the clays of Holderness. Crucially these valleys would have provided for the natural channelling of people travelling from the eastern wold edge into the higher ground of the interior.

Bevan’s discussion of the landscape context of square barrow cemeteries has been mentioned above (1999). He suggests that there was a strong relationship between the cemeteries and water sources as well as with boundaries and trackways. Within the study area, there does seem to be a good relationship between these cemeteries and trackways. Clear illustrations of barrows situated close to ditched tracks occur on aerial photographs from Pocklington and Rillington, both located below the Wold escarpment (Stoertz 1997). Another can be seen at Loaningdale, this time on the top of the Wold above Londesborough. Tracks such as these are often visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs but many longer distance tracks seem to have remained in use to become modern field boundaries, or tracks later followed by township boundaries (see chapter 5-6). Several of these, which occupy ridgeway positions, are generally seen as prehistoric long distance routes (Hayfield 1987; Dent 1995; Long and Pickles 1993). There are some cases where isolated barrows are found alongside these routes, such as the Towthorpe ridgeway at North Plantation (Wharram). Another example may occur along the north-south Wolds ridgeway at Warter (fig 80). Further south, the large cemetery at Arras is also found close to this ancient routeway, in a dominant location and perhaps at the point where it crosses another east-west route now followed by the A1079. Most barrows tend to occupy lower-lying positions and so largely avoid these ridgeways. They do however tend to concentrate close to other long distance routes.

This kind of distribution does not support the idea that cemetery distribution equates with that of settlement. Bevan had already identified that the cemeteries occupied liminal positions within the landscape in both physical and metaphorical terms (1999). By definition they were located away from settlements. He also suggested that most were found on longer distance routes rather than local tracks, something borne out by the above discussion of the study area linking them to cross-wold trackways. It is important to understand that there are changes in the character of both barrows and cemeteries during the currency of the square barrow tradition (Dent 1982; Stead 1979a;1991). The earliest burials so far excavated are from Cowlam and comprise a small group of larger than average barrow platforms with shallow graves (Stead 1986). The tendency for later graves to be surrounded by smaller barrows and occupy larger and tightly packed cemeteries has been illustrated at Wetwang and is shown by the large developed cemeteries at Eastburn and Burton Fleming. Stead has suggested that the majority of burials probably belong to the second century BC (1991). Many of the isolated, scattered and small groups of barrows are found at higher altitudes than the valley hugging later cemeteries and many of the former lie close to predicted cross Wold trackways or

The earlier, larger barrows from the cemetery at Danes Graves are apparently aligned on a short length of linear earthwork (Dent 1984). It probably extended further to the southeast than it can now be traced, but appears to have terminated at the cemetery site at another linear earthwork 56

The deliberate avoidance of earlier visible relics by square barrows is as significant as their deliberate incorporation in later periods. Clearly the square barrows do not physically touch round barrows or only in rare cases. They might be sited close to but not within round barrows as a means of heightening the sense of difference and disassociation felt by the Iron Age communities to the past that they represent. This is in no sense the result of ignorance or avoidance of this past, but a reflection of a different kind of relationship with it. The location of cemeteries does not seem to have made reference to the distant mythic past represented by the ancient linears and round barrows in the Iron Age landscape (Giles 1998). Instead their markedly different physical form may have reinforced their separate history. In this way, they may have deliberately evoked more recent genealogical histories to the exclusion of the more ancient. We will come back to these issues at the end of the chapter.

clearly visible double-ditched tracks. The large tight clusters of barrows belong to the later period and more often than not they are associated with enclosures or boundaries. The clustering of cemeteries may mark the beginnings of change in this landscape. Their centralisation and the changing emphasis from upland to lowland locations may have represented or influenced social changes that later resulted in intensifying land division. The link between trackways and cemeteries may provide a way out of the restrictive idea that cemetery distribution should be equated with that for settlements. If the landscape we are dealing with in the Iron Age was a fairly mobile one, then individuals would have been involved in regular movement between home settlement and outlying agricultural land. The presence of their community cemetery alongside these tracks would have served its purpose in expressing the integrity of that community in just the same way as a cemetery alongside a settlement would in a less mobile landscape.

LATER IRON AGE SETTLEMENT The settlement sites of the later Iron Age are better documented than those from earlier periods and there are several excavated and dated examples. These sites are known from their interlocking patchwork of square or rectangular enclosures, forming a series of paddock/allotment size areas and have become known as ‘droveway’ or ‘ladder’ settlements (Stead 1980; Dent 1983b; Stoertz 1997) (fig 7778). They are usually aligned along a ditched trackway and are easily identified from the air, as the ditches are deep and tend to show up as cropmarks. Dating evidence from several examples suggests an origin for these ditched settlements during the later Iron Age, in most cases following the end of the square barrow burial rite. Two separate enclosed settlements were found at Wetwang. One lay in the centre of the late Iron Age enclosure and another alongside the valley floor trackway overlying the cemetery (Dent 1983a;1982). Both enclosures contained roundhouses with classic later Iron Age artefacts such as rotary querns, chalk figurines and La Tene three brooches (Dent 1983a). They continued in occupation beyond the Roman conquest, with rectangular buildings replacing the roundhouses. The central settlement was abandoned by the second century AD, where as that alongside the linear/trackway continued up to the third or fourth century AD. Two further ditched settlements of Romano-British date were also found close by (see below).

Bevan suggested that the creation of cemeteries of marked visible barrows was a way of engaging the living community with its recent past (1999). He emphasised the importance of their geographic location and relationship to other features as demonstrating the link to the past, as well as connecting the living community with certain areas of land. In particular it “demonstrates the importance of the past in the Iron Age present” (Bevan 1999:82). The historical genealogies represented by the barrows provide a link with the recent past of the community, whilst their location, with respect to more ancient features, says something about the relationship of the community with a distant perhaps mythic past (Bevan 1999). Mel Giles too has remarked that “..a sense of place and history was generated through harnessing particular ancient features, specifically burial mounds into the architectures of the (Wetwang) cemetery.” (Giles 1998:). She also recognises a discourse between references to the recent genealogical past and a more remote past, represented by the earlier Bronze Age and Neolithic barrows. Some writers have observed that actually the cemeteries and barrows of the Iron Age tend not to directly associate with traces of the past in this landscape (i.e. Dent 1995; Stoertz 1997). Their macro distribution is a lowland one, based in the valleys and very different from that of the round barrows. In some cases where concentrations of round barrows occupy lower ground, as at Wetwang Slack, the square barrows lie alongside them but only in one case is direct physical reference actually made. In this case the one round barrow is encircled by the second to third century BC enclosure ditch. Elsewhere square and round barrows share territory, but do not directly associate in the same physical way that is found during the Anglian period where inhumations are inserted into the body of earlier barrows and earthworks (Lucy 1992; see chapter 6-7). Square barrow cemeteries are not usually found alongside the long distance linear earthworks of the later Bronze Age. These are respected by later Iron Age settlement but not very often by Iron Age cemeteries. As argued above the square barrows are more likely to lie alongside an unmarked trackway than an ancient upland linear boundary. Those boundaries they do respect appear to be small-scale divisions of recent origin.

Further examples have been excavated at Bell Slack (Stead 1976;1991), Rudston (Stead 1980) and Brantingham (Dent 1989) and several similar sites were identified from the air by Hayfield in the Wharram area (Hayfield 1987) (fig 77). All of these, when excavated, revealed both late Iron Age and early Romano-British material and seem to appear generally at the beginning of the first century BC. Those at Maiden’s Grave and Bell Slack clearly overlie the square barrow cemeteries and most of the evidence points to a Romano-British date for the ditched enclosures here. They do not always belong to the period after the use of square barrows though, as at Blealands Nook and Bell Slack there are a small group of late burials that may overlie the enclosure ditches (Dent 1983). Initially excavated by Mortimer, who emphasised its Romano-British character, the Blealands Nook site was found by Dent to have origins during the later Iron Age. At Eastburn, a later Iron Age or early Romano-British ditched settlement overlies the large cemetery here (Sheppard 1939; Stead 1979a). 57

Many of the ladder sites known from aerial photography and excavation, contain traces of both roundhouses and pits within their confines. The Wetwang excavations have shown that roundhouses were here contemporary with the surrounding ditches. However very many are only identified through their ditches and these enclosures may not have always contained settlements. Hayfield’s fieldwalking work at Wharram produced no pottery at all over four of the sites revealed from the air as classic ladders. He argues, based on this absence of evidence, that these sites are not settlements but instead acted as stock enclosures or enclosed allotments (Hayfield 1987). However, given the general paucity and fragile nature of coarse Iron Age pottery, its absence on the surface should never be over-emphasised. In any case a series of enclosures used for livestock would still be likely to yield fragments of pottery vessels associated with the occasional but repeated use of the site.

At Brantingham, the series of ditched enclosures of late Iron Age date lay underneath the remains of a lavish RomanoBritish villa complex (Dent 1989). The material from this site was fairly rich, with Dragonby type finewares, brooches and a coin of Cunobelin all represented, indicating a date in the late first century BC or first century AD (ibid.). Stead’s excavations of the villa at Rudston also uncovered traces of the ditches, hut circles and pits, belonging to one of these distinctive ‘ladder’ settlements, underneath the third century villa complex (1980). Again he dates the ditches as belonging to the immediate pre-conquest period of the early first century AD. The recent publication of the RCHM aerial photographic plots has revealed many more unexcavated examples of these distinctive sites and Stoertz describes them as follows (fig 81), “..the disposition of the cropmarks strongly suggests that they represent settlements of village proportions, including small paddocks or individual holdings typically enclosing areas of 0.25-0.5 ha.” (Stoertz 1997: 51). “Roughly 125 linear enclosure complexes have been recorded on the Wolds, ranging in length from a few hundred metres to more than 1.5kilometres.” (ibid.)

Dent too has tended to see the ladder sites as a series of stock enclosures. Indeed the repeated use of the term droveway settlement itself implies a certain specified function. He argues, “That these enclosures were used for stock rearing is implied by animal burials from Wetwang Slack and Garton Slack, where they were found in large numbers, and from Hayton” (Dent 1983b:39). It hardly needs stressing that the deposition of a dead animal in the ditch of an enclosure does not imply the exclusive use of that enclosure to corral live animals.

The variability in length and complexity is very important and testament to the fact that these sites seem to have developed differently over many years, if not centuries (fig 78). The organic accretion of enclosures and their expansion along an axial route at sites like Warter Wold, Butterwick and Wharram (Gypsey Race) seems to indicate this development. It should be remembered that most of the sites mentioned above have only been partially investigated and it would be wrong to view them all in the same light at this stage.

The association of the ladder sites with pastoral agriculture has also been emphasised because of their relationships with ditched trackways or droveways. These “...usually terminate by entering an extensive open area - which suggests good pasturage as opposed to the rectangular ditched fields or domestic plots.” (Stead 1980:35). Again, if the trackway leads to pasture it does not necessarily follow that the enclosures along it were used for stock control. Their association with pastoralism has led to suggestions of a change in agricultural emphasis towards livestock in the later Iron Age (Dent 1983b). An equally plausible interpretation would be that these enclosures may actually indicate an expansion in the extent of land used for arable production. Livestock would need to be contained within certain physical confines in order to prevent them from straying onto arable fields. Intensification in the organisation of agricultural production with no necessary alteration in emphasis would seem a more likely context (Haselgrove 1984).

Associated with these ‘linear enclosure complexes’ there are often other distinctive arrangements of enclosures known from aerial photography. Several of the ‘ladder’ settlements are surrounded by larger enclosures and ditches, seen by both Dent and Stoertz as representing the fields surrounding a settlement (Dent 1995; Stoertz 1997). We should of course be cautious when imposing interpretations like these on poorly understood sites known only from aerial photography. Also singled out for comment by Stoertz are broad-ditched or double-ditched enclosures which form an integral part of the linear enclosure complexes. One such example is found at Wharram le Street and turned out to be a Roman villa from the third and fourth centuries AD. Another site type she identifies is the large ‘subdivided rectilinear enclosure’, often found in close proximity to the ladder/ droveway site. The Wharram Grange villa is one such example and the ditches here were laid out in the second-third century AD. Stoertz tentatively suggests that both the above mentioned classes of site may represent “Romanised additions or successors to the adjacent linear complexes.” (Stoertz 1997: 55). This may be an example of the development of some of the sites, which began as traditional ladder systems. Instead of being overlain by the later villa, the new Romanised buildings were here attached to the existing network of enclosures. In other cases they seem to have developed in a linear pattern extending further along the axial trackway (i.e. Warter Wold, Butterwick).

They may of course, have nothing at all to do with the economic practices of agriculture. Instead, increased land division and enclosure could be linked to transformations in the social and symbolic relationship between people and land. Where originally, negotiations about land allotment were carried out informally, their increased formalisation would require a greater physical and permanent demarcation of space. Crucially, the need for the permanent definition of enclosed land used for agricultural purposes may have been a social requirement rather than an economic one (i.e. Hingley 1984; Bevan 1997). The interpretation of ladder sites should not be searching for a common function or role but instead at the reason for the need for enclosures, where in previous centuries open sites had been deemed sufficient. As we have seen, we should be wary of imposing familiar agricultural terms onto ancient sites whose function is unknown. This 58

common occurrence. Hayfield’s work at Wharram, for instance has tended to assume a large amount of unbroken continuity in settlement, agriculture and landscape from the Iron Age into the medieval period (1987). A three-fold settlement hierarchy is placed on these (Romano-British) sites. It consists of villages (site lies under medieval village); villas (surface scatter has evidence of Romanised building materials); farmsteads (surface scatters of mainly RomanoBritish date). He suggests that the medieval layout of townships may have its origin in the Romano-British period because the largest Romano-British sites seem to occupy the same locations as the later medieval villages. However, none of this can be demonstrated outside of the excavations at Wharram Percy. Here, in any case, some Romano-British presence is evident but not as a nucleated settlement. At the sites of the three other medieval villages, pottery does occur but only in quantities equable with many of the farmstead sites. Although later occupation may have masked RomanoBritish layers, there remains no other grounds for assigning these village sites a superior status except on deterministic considerations of the favourability of their environmental location (Hayfield 1987). The determinant characteristics for settlement of the middle ages are assumed to enjoy equal applicability in the Romano-British period without sufficient knowledge of the character of that earlier society or landscape. The familiar model of the nucleated village, surrounded by its fields and bordered by boundaries shared with neighbouring communities, has here been taken from the middle ages and forced to fit earlier evidence.

practice is not restricted to the interpretation of site function. In some cases it has coloured the interpretation of settlement change and the reconstruction of the landscape.

FAMILIAR LANDSCAPES Dent’s most recent discussion attempted to make sense of the dense pattern of cropmarks in the area around Rudston and to relate these to transformations of settlement and landscape during the middle and later Iron Age (1995). His ideas rest on the fact that here a long established settled zone existed, close to both the Gypsey Race and the Neolithic/ early Bronze Age monumental focus of monolith and cursus. He argues that this settlement, during the early and middle Iron Age, was surrounded by an area of in-field arable, itself flanked by out-field grazing, the whole territory bounded by the lands belonging to the neighbouring community. He uses the analogy of a modern or medieval upland hill-farm and imposes an agricultural system onto the landscape, without any knowledge of the date or function of any of the individual features. The two ladder settlements of Bell Slack and Maiden’s Grave, he sees as the result of dramatic transformations in the later Iron Age when, “...the expansion of settlement may have accompanied radical developments in the social order.” (Dent 1995:29). He argues that new settlements were created by a dominant authority by “effectively colonising the margins between existing centres of population.” (ibid.) and ignoring long held traditions of spatial order. According to Dent, the two-dimensional plans of these two sites share a superficial similarity with the layout of medieval villages such as Wetwang or Kilham and on this basis he considers it plausible to impose concepts borrowed from medieval agriculture onto the late Iron Age landscape. For instance, he suggests that ladder settlements are “so comparable to medieval settlements in their composition that the term ‘village’ would seem to be appropriate” (ibid: 27). Perhaps even more glaring though is the suggestion that “The absence of complex field boundaries around these settlements suggest that like medieval villages of the feudal system the arable land was worked as open fields in common” (ibid: 28). A complete socio-economic system has been transplanted from the middle ages onto the Iron Age, based on a poorly understood and incomplete record of cropmarks, because it was the only way of explaining the lack of internal field divisions around a site. This site may not even have been a settlement. These agricultural practices and social relations were part of the particular social and economic conditions of the middle ages and cannot be justifiably imposed on prehistoric evidence because of a superficial physical similarity. The analogy of an upland hill farm used for the earlier settlement betrays the assumption that the development from organic to formal is something timeless and inevitable. The sense of change from an earlier organic character to a more formalised system is taken from the stereotypical history of the English landscape, as portrayed by Hoskins. Here, the ancient irregularity of prehistory is forced to conform to the supposed homogeneity of the medieval countryside or the later landscapes of parliamentary enclosure.

We have already discussed how settlements need not have lain alongside cemeteries in the Iron Age. The assumption that they did is itself another illustration of the uncritical application of familiar concepts of landscape back into the past. Likewise, the tendency to assume that the Wolds was comprehensively occupied has also been questioned. A settled and inhabited landscape was assumed for the Wolds and not the more mobile, less fixed organisation of space that seems to be implied by the evidence. Having dealt with the nature of the Iron Age archaeology and the character of the landscape, we will now go on to consider the Romano-British period. Following that summary we will be in a better position to fully evaluate the form of later Iron Age change.

IMPERIAL ATTITUDES TO ROMAN EAST YORKSHIRE Richard Hingley has identified the problems in the traditional approaches to Roman archaeology in Britain, as well as suggesting the course for future work (Hingley 1989). Approaches towards the interpretation of the Roman provinces and their settlement patterns have been influenced greatly by changing political and cultural attitudes during the nineteenth and twentiethth century. Traditionally, British historians and antiquarians interpreted the Roman provinces in the light of their own imperial experience. Their concern with the artefacts, buildings and settlements of elite Roman authority directly reflected the fact that they associated themselves with the Roman elites rather than the subjugated indigenous peoples. Consequently, most archaeological work in the nineteenth or early twentieth century concentrated upon the remains of forts, towns and villas. Since the second

The interpretation of prehistoric evidence with recourse to familiar concepts, as if they were historically neutral, is a 59

The work of Mortimer and Greenwell in the nineteenth century had focused on prehistoric funerary evidence and by the turn of the century, very little progress had been made in understanding the Roman period in East Yorkshire. The exotic remains from the site at Millington had been known for many years by then and it had been put forward as a candidate for the lost town of Delgovitia, otherwise located at Wetwang (Cole 1887;1899) and Londesborough, near Market Weighton (Drake 1736). Cole and Mortimer had also discussed the Roman road network of the area putting forward several candidates. It was not until the 1920s and 1930s though that work, which was primarily focused on Romano-British sites, began. Most attention was paid to the higher profile more ‘Romanised’ sites such as the towns of Malton and Brough. These had been excavated under the direction of Phillip Corder as part of a team that often included Dr.J.Kirk, and Mary Kitson-Clark (Stead 1979b). Excavations also took place in the inter-war years and under the same team on the villas of Langton and Crambeck, in the Malton area. The rural settlement of Elmswell with its tantalising links between late Romano-British and early Anglian occupation was also investigated by Corder and Kirk and immediately prior to world war two began at Rudston villa following the discovery of mosaic pavements (Stead 1980). It was not until after world war two that the lower order settlement sites began to be investigated. More recently attention has focused on integrated multi-period landscape projects from which we are gaining a much more rounded and complete understanding of the settlement pattern and Romano-British landscape (see above).

world war however, the dominant character of political opinion in this country has moved away from a concern with the British Empire and many former colonies have achieved their independence. Likewise, archaeological priorities have changed focus too. The occupants of Roman villas and towns were not people of Mediterranean origin but native Britons who had taken on the trappings of Roman culture (i.e. Millett 1990b). In addition there has been an increasing desire to escape from the confines of an ‘historical approach’ which forces the archaeological evidence to fit into a settlement framework derived from classical sources. It is argued that this neither allows for archaeological evidence to be taken at face value nor does it encourage the identification of difference within or between provinces (Hingley 1989). The concept of Romanization can be traced back to the work of Haverfield in 1912 but has only been adopted universally since the 1970s (Millett 1990b). Millett and others have argued that the experience of social and cultural change was unique in each Roman province and should not be forced to fit a universal empire-wide pattern. The character of the archaeology in Roman Britain is not the result of the imposition of new styles and materials onto a passive indigenous population but the fusion of Roman and native practices and attitudes (Millett 1990b; Blagg and Millett 1990). Thus it is possible that even the social structures of community and family continued in some form from the preRoman period, though these are difficult to identify in the archaeological record (Smith 1978; Hingley 1989). The history of Roman research in East Yorkshire has followed this pattern. For instance the very few historical or epigraphic references to place-names have dominated discussion of the settlement pattern. The Antonine Itinerary and Ravenna Cosmography mention major towns or forts at Eboracum (York), Derventio (Malton), Delgovitia (?) and Praetorio (Brough); given here with their suggested modern locations according to Ramm (1978). The mileages between these settlements, as recorded in the itineraries, have never fitted the actual distances between their supposed locations and so a certain amount of scribal error has been argued for (ibid.; Creighton 1988). Debate has raged for many years about the site of the town of Delgovitia, which still has not been conclusively demonstrated (but see Millett and Halkon 1987; Millett 1990b). A recent re-evaluation of the historical evidence has highlighted the problems in the traditional scheme. It has suggested that Derventio may refer to a settlement at Stamford Bridge, leaving Malton as Delgovitia (Creighton 1988). In the light of these problems it seems sensible to put the historical record to one side in this instance and let the archaeology try and speak for itself.

FORTS, TOWNS AND ROADS The historically documented Roman conquest and occupation of this part of Yorkshire began during the 60s AD. During the initial military campaigns forts were established at strategic locations, along lines of communication, between the Humber crossing and the major fortress at York (Ramm 1978) (fig 79). Brough-on-Humber, Hayton and Malton are all known to have had forts during the Flavian period whilst another probably existed at Stamford Bridge, at the crossing point of the River Derwent, on the road to York (Ramm 1978). It is only the fort at Malton that seems to endure as a military garrison beyond the period of initial conquest, the other three being abandoned early. Despite limited excavations, the site of Brough is known to have developed into a civilian urban settlement from the second century. It was provided with a theatre, whose inscription seems to suggest that the centre was the civitas capital of the Civitas Parisiorum and gives its name as Petuaria (Ramm 1978). This name is not mentioned in the two itineraries but does appear in the first century geography by Ptolemy. The town was probably located deliberately close to an existing crossing point and trade centre at Redcliff which flourished during the late Iron Age (Crowther et al 1988;1990).

Eighteenth and early nineteenth century scholars often offered a Roman military interpretation for the linear earthworks (i.e. Drake 1747). It was only until the more considered approaches of Mortimer and Cole that they were seen to date from before the Roman Conquest. At times however the dating methods were crude, as this remark from Cole illustrates,

The urban centre seems to decline considerably during the fourth century, something that Ramm put down to the problems of flooding caused by a rising water table (1978). It has become clear that such problems are not ubiquitous of riverside late Romano-British settlements in Eastern Yorkshire and there may well be other reasons for its decline. Malton on the other hand, continued to flourish throughout the Roman period. Here a prosperous civilian settlement

“Were the entrenchments on the Wolds the work of the Britons or of the Romans? I have no hesitation in saying of the former; for one reason, and that a good one, that there is not a straight line amongst the whole lot.” (Cole 1888:49). 60

indications of dramatic changes not only in settlement form but also perhaps in economy towards the end of the Roman period.

developed outside of the fort, which too remained in use and was probably adopted as a cavalry base in the later period. It existed as one of the few centralised centres of Romanization in this area, its houses furnished with mosaics and hypocausts and its suburbs busy with trading and industrial activity (Ramm 1978; Wenham 1974). The recent excavations at Shiptonthorpe have revealed traces of a nucleated settlement of rectangular enclosures and buildings stretched out alongside a road associated with a range of pottery, metalwork and many coins (Millett 1985;1987;1990a; Halkon and Millett 1999). The quality and range of material has led the excavators to assign the settlement an urban status and it has been suggested as the site of the lost town of Delgovitia.

The large numbers of sites has led to suggestions that the population of Britain increased dramatically during this time (Hingley 1989). Certainly, where detailed studies have been undertaken, the Romano-British landscape appears to have been settled and managed in a more intensive way than is often expected. The poor state of preservation of the Iron Age settlement pattern however, makes direct comparisons very problematic. East Yorkshire is no exception as the surveys at Wharram and Holme have shown (see above). In both areas the Romano-British occupation is dense, at Wharram for instance there are sites spread out at regular one kilometre intervals. Sporadic fieldwalking at Southburn, west of Driffield, has also indicated dense Romano-British activity here, close to the springheads on the eastern Wolds dip slope. If the density of occupation of these three areas were to be extended across the Wolds, the number of settlements involved would be very large indeed. However, apart from Wharram and Wetwang, our knowledge of the Wolds interior is based either on individual excavated sites or the undated aerial photographic plots. We will return to the interpretation of aerial photographic data below. Most of the excavations are of villas, reinforcing the bias in favour of the Romanised elite, which has been recognised nationally.

There are no known urban centres of any kind to the east of the western Wolds escarpment, although the cluster of villas inland from Bridlington may indicate that a former urban centre existed on the coast here, which has since been lost to the sea (Ramm 1978; Creighton 1988). At present there is no clear idea of the Romano-British status of early medieval centres of Beverley and Driffield. The road that runs south across the Wolds out of Malton is heading for both settlements and increasing archaeological work in these towns has revealed at least some Romano-British activity. The forts or towns known from archaeology are all found along the main Roman roads that run along the western edge of the Wolds below the escarpment (fig 79). Although other roads were suggested by Margary running eastwards from Garrowby Hill towards Bridlington, there is increasing doubt about their authenticity as Roman roads in the traditional sense. It is likely that these routes had been in existence throughout later prehistory and remained so with minor modifications as organic trackways or ridgeways, some stretches being straightened and rationalised in the postmedieval period. It is the regularity imposed on these ancient ways that made them appear as traditional Roman roads.

The Wetwang and Garton excavations are well known for their contribution to Iron Age studies but they also uncovered settlement traces from the Romano-British period, on the same site as the former Iron Age settlement and cemetery (Dent 1982;1983a). The people who lived here, were either unable or unwilling to construct buildings in stone, but they did choose at some point to build rectangular structures instead of the traditional roundhouse. They also had access to mass-produced pottery. Here a group of three settlements existed, each within five hundred metres of its neighbour. They occupied peripheral positions to a large ditched enclosure, originally laid out in the third or second century BC (see above) and each settlement was incorporated into the boundary ditch. The settlements originated in the first century AD and seem to have continued in use until the fourth century. In the centre of the enclosure, the original later Iron Age settlement probably fell out of use in the second century AD. The sequence of development here seems to illustrate very clearly the increasingly dense settlement of certain locations in the Romano-British period and crucially, how this development incorporated the existing structure of land division. “This layout implies that the farms represent an expansion of the existing settlement with the new sites lying beside the main road and utilising the margins of the village territory” (Dent 1983b:39) (fig 75-6). Hingley has interpreted the development at Wetwang as the gradual sharing out of land amongst an expanding kin group. “The three settlements may have shared and had equal rights to the area of arable and/or pasture within the ditched enclosure around which they developed.” (Hingley 1989: 97) (see below).

ROMANO-BRITISH SETTLEMENT For the Roman period, the settlements of the Wolds and East Yorkshire are well known in contrast to the periods that precede and follow. The increase in material evidence in the first century AD has often given the impression of concomitant change in landscape and the settlement pattern. A whole array of settlements are known from excavation, surface survey and fieldwalking and are distributed widely across the area. They range from humble native style farms to lavish and extensive villa complexes, complete with Romanised buildings and artefacts. Many Romano-British settlement sites occupy the same location as late Iron Age predecessors and in these cases it seems likely that there is a degree of stability in the community and populations who inhabited them. The increasing amounts of Roman pottery and appearance of Romanised buildings suggest the adoption of new cultural attributes on the part of local people. It would be too simplistic to reconstruct a static unchanging picture of the Romano-British landscape here based simply on the continued occupation of the same site. The crudeness of much of the data set does not often allow for changes within the Romano-British period to be identified, especially if sites are known only from aerial photographic evidence. From those sites well known through excavation, there are

Elsewhere on the Wolds, our knowledge of the RomanoBritish settlement pattern has to rest on sporadic excavations of individual sites, most of these being villas. They are found in concentrations normally surrounding or close to the 61

existing agricultural and settlement patterns. However, his ideas that the bulk of the long distance linear ditches in this area (north of the Great Wold valley) were creations of the Romano-British period have received some support from recent excavations at Cat Babbleton (Cardwell 1989) and Swaythorpe (Mackey pers.comm.). They are perhaps more likely to relate to the agricultural expansion of the third century than the earlier post-conquest period. Without further ground investigation, we will be no closer to disentangling the Romano-British linears from the prehistoric ones. However, it seems indisputable that many linears were used and respected during the Romano-British period. Many excavated sections have identified significant quantities of Romano-British pottery in the upper silts of these ditches (Manby 1980; Mortimer 1905; Bartlett and Mackey 1973).

Romanised centres, for instance at Brough and Malton, as well as the aforementioned cluster west of Bridlington. In addition there is a significant clustering of Romano-British settlements along the spring-line corridor of the western escarpment. The clustering of Romanised rural settlements, surrounding the centres of population and economic/political organisation, emphasises the important cultural role played by the towns (fig 79). They become centres of romanisation and exert an influence on the social and cultural character of the local landscape. As we saw above, there are few Roman towns on the Wolds itself, or indeed between the chalkland and the sea. Similarly, there is a concomitant lack of villas from most of the Wolds and especially very few along the eastern dip slope. Occupation at the Rudston site (west of Bridlington) began as a late Iron Age ladder settlement and developed into a rectilinear enclosure occupied during first and second centuries AD. During the fourth century AD a large courtyard villa with bathhouse and mosaic floors was built here, as well as a series of more utilitarian buildings including crop drying kilns (Stead 1980). At Langton (south of Malton) a much larger proportion of the site was excavated and again the final most elaborate phase of occupation did not take place until the third century AD (Corder and Kirk 1932). The earliest phases of activity here are represented by a series of three separate much smaller settlements which may have eventually coalesced to form one extensive villa complex (Ramm 1988). Perhaps the most elaborate and lavish example of Roman cultural aspiration, expressed in architectural form, is the villa at Brantingham, (north of Brough) equipped with hypocausts, mosaics and mural paintings (Dent 1989). This is another site, which overlies a later Iron Age settlement and like the other large villas, occupies a location on the edge of the Wolds, with ready access to water sources and close to a range of land types, offering a variety of agricultural potentials.

The most extensive and opulent examples of the classic Romano-British villa do not develop here until at least the third century (Ramm 1978; Dent 1988). There is only one known villa, which dates from the early Romano-British period. That at Welton is again constructed on the site of an existing native farm and continued in use from second century to the late Romano-British (Dent 1983b). The rest of the region’s villas do not fully develop until the third century. Several sites including Langton, Rudston and Harpham were significantly expanded during the fourth century and it is in these later stages that the most extensive range of material occurs at these sites (Ramm 1978). This includes villa buildings with lavish decoration as well as evidence for metalworking and large-scale organisation of agriculture. Dent has suggested that their appearance, coupled with the demise in the ladder sites by this time, may indicate an increasingly arable element in the agricultural economy. The ubiquitous corn driers at these late sites are used to support this argument. He acknowledges that the changes in the third to fourth century may equally represent an intensification of the existing mixed farming regime (1983b).

The majority of settlements, known from the first and second centuries AD, are only different from their late Iron Age predecessors through the presence of Romano-British pottery and other durables. At many sites the ditched enclosures of the late Iron Age droveway type persist as at Garton and Wetwang Slack and Blealands Nook. Other enclosed settlements were provided with more Romanised cultural pretensions, such as the enclosures from the earlier stages of occupation at Langton and at Crossgates, Seamer. Ramm’s suggestions that these sites and others like them, can be described as either Romanised or native is clearly problematic, based as it is on a few durable classes of material culture from sites only partially excavated. Despite the quality of the evidence for the Romano-British period, it is still very rare to come across an attempt to translate the site plans, chronologies and finds catalogues into meaningful ideas about the communities that inhabited the settlements, their ethnic identities or social structure.

CROPMARKS FROM ELMSWELL (figs 80-82)

HUGGATE

TO

We have not yet paid much attention to the aerial photographic plots from the study area in any systematic way. Now that we have discussed the character of the archaeology and wider issues of interpretation, we can look at this evidence in context. The pattern we are faced with is a palimpsest. It represents a partial view of the accumulation of the remains of human activity over three millennia. Most of the features remain undated. The problems of interpreting this kind of evidence without direct support from excavation are clear. The lack of dating information means we have to rely on assumptions about morphological site-types being diagnostic of particular periods. It also means we have little sense of the development of individual sites over time (fig 80). There may well be good reason for assuming that groups of rectilinear settlements aligned along a trackway, date from the later Iron Age or Romano-British period. Stoertz takes this further by grouping sites together based on more specific morphological similarities, often assuming their contemporaneity. None of the sites from her group of curvilinear enclosure complexes have been investigated on the ground and it is not at all clear from which period or periods they date. Morphological

Ramm considered that the early Romanised sites in the northern Wolds were deliberate foundations for retired veteran soldiers (Ramm 1978) but it is increasingly clear that many of the rectilinear enclosures he equated with this phenomenon, have origins in the pre-conquest period (Dent 1983b). He seems to have over-estimated the influence of the Roman conquest and especially that of the military, on the 62

linear. It clearly remained as a significant part of the late prehistoric and Romano-British landscape until the realignment of its course west of Blealands, some time after the early Roman period. Another suggested long distance trackway of the historic period is the north-south ridgeway, which follows the Wolds watershed from Wetwang all the way south to Newbald (May and Pickles 1993). The currency of this route in the later Iron Age is also clearly shown as no less than three ladder sites are aligned upon it. In this area this is shown by the example from the west of Tibthorpe.

analysis of cropmarks can never be a replacement for their investigation through excavation or surface collection. It can rarely add anything to our knowledge of these sites without subsequent work and is more of a convenient tool for ordering information than really finding out about the past. Cropmarks in the area around Wetwang-Garton Slack, are particularly clear and the RCHM plots have enabled an extensive ancient landscape to be reconstructed (Stoertz 1997). Most of the traces of ditch and enclosure are generally seen to date from the late Iron Age or Romano-British, but it would be foolish to rule out the inclusion of sites from other periods in this palimpsest. Featured are many examples of square and round barrows, as well as lengths of ditch, often associated with small groups of rectilinear enclosures. Many of these sites have been seen as examples of late Iron Age/Romano-British ladder sites. Particularly developed examples occur between Huggate and Tibthorpe and at Fridaythorpe. The south facing slopes of the Wetwang Slack contain a particularly dense concentration, where short linear ditches are associated with small groups of rectilinear enclosures. In the centre of the valley-side lies the late Iron Age/Romano-British enclosure and settlements excavated by Dent. Further west is the settlement at Blealands Nook, also clearly visible from the air. The many square barrows in this area concentrate along the floor of the valley, close to the track.

The demarcation of trackways with ditches seems to have taken place during the late Bronze Age and it may also have been a feature of the later Iron Age. The ridgeway is one example as is the track running along the bottom of Wetwang Slack. Although it seems that some stretches of this latter were already ditched by the middle Iron Age, it was certainly re-cut in the third or second century BC. Furthermore, the ladder site at Elmswell, at the eastern end of the valley, is aligned on the track and may be another illustration of its increased enclosure and marking with ditches. A further example is provided by he later Iron Age site at Blealands Nook. Another feature of this area is the presence of extensive open spaces, which are virtually free of any cropmarks. These areas are often bounded by linears with smaller ditches and enclosures encroaching up to these boundaries. This suggests that their emptiness is not a function of archaeological visibility. Stoertz backs this up, “The rate of discovery of cropmarks throughout the Wolds has been consistent enough to support the conclusion that these blank areas are likely to represent true voids.” (Stoertz 1997:69). The higher slopes of the Wetwang Slack, above the Green Lane, is one striking example. This area, Life Hill, contains very few cropmarks apart from ring ditches of barrows or lengths of linear ditch. These latter may well date from the post-medieval (see chapter three or five). This piece of high ground was enclosed by linears in the later Bronze Age and seems to have remained so without internal division into the Iron Age and Roman period. It may well have been a zone of open pasture for the settled communities lower down the valley sides. This is an interpretation also favoured by Stoertz who observes that, “A number of these empty zones are approached by ditched trackways which end in funnel-like openings.” (1997:69) and that the droveways organised and channelled the movement of animals between settled and open areas (see also chapter seven).

A major ordering feature of this landscape is the pattern of long distance linear earthworks, established here during the later Bronze Age. In several cases, the small-scale ditches and enclosures of the later Iron Age and Romano-British clearly respect these longer distance boundaries. For instance, the Green Lane linear is respected by enclosures to the south all the way along its course from Blealands Nook to the Sykes Monument. The settlement at Blealands Nook itself seems to straddle the linear, at the point where it meets the dale bottom track turning north towards Fimber. In other cases, the ditched settlements seem to have been placed within existing territories, defined both by steep dale-sides and the valley following linears of the later Bronze Age. Examples occur at Holm Field, Fridaythorpe and at North Field, Huggate (fig 80). As with the linears, there is some correspondence between cropmark sites and features of the historic landscape, in particular some of the long distance trackways. It was argued above that the Green Lane is one of these and in fact had its origins as a trackway before the later Bronze Age digging of ditches. Certainly, during the later Iron Age and RomanoBritish it was also used as a boundary, as it acts as a division between an area of heavy enclosure and a much more ‘empty’ zone. To the west of Blealands Nook the course of the historic route, followed by township boundary, is not respected by cropmarks. A series of late Iron Age/ RomanoBritish enclosures overlie the modern track, suggesting it was not a contemporary feature. Instead, the late prehistoric course of the Green Lane seems to have extended in a more southwesterly direction than its historic successor. Here the course is visible as an intermittent double ditch, which eventually joins up with the double ditch and bank earthwork along Middleham Dale. This is the course of the earliest routeway, suggested in chapter three as the pre-earthwork track across the Wolds, which was later followed by the

Another less obvious example lies to the south, on Tibthorpe Wold. Although this is not enclosed by linear boundaries it is surrounded by short ditches and small enclosures. It is crossed by the linear cropmarks of a presumed Roman road but no other features are evident. The largest example of a cropmark void lies to the north of Sledmere, on the southern slopes of the Great Wold Valley. Here a strip of land twenty kilometres long and three kilometres wide, is virtually free of cropmarks, save for the odd ring ditch or square barrow (fig 81). Again, the limits of the void are defined by linear ditched boundaries, on the south by the Great Wold Dyke, which is respected by extensive systems of enclosed settlements and trackways. On its northern boundary is a unique system of long sweeping multiple ditches, which must have created a significant barrier between the open area and 63

BC and the first century AD.

the settled valley-side to the north. Incorporated into this system are a number of double ditches, which appear to link the open area to sites known from aerial photography further down the slope. It has been interpreted as a massive system of pasture management, regulating access between settlements and open pasture (Stoertz 1997). Significantly, all three areas mentioned are also used as open pasture in the middle ages (chapter seven).

It is a well-known feature of the Iron Age of southern and eastern England that great transformations seem to have taken place in the two centuries before the Roman conquest (i.e. Cunliffe 1991; Haselgrove 1982;1984b;1989). These are most clearly visible in the archaeological record of the southeast, where the increasing economic and political links to the Roman world were part of the reason for the great social and political transformations. Archaeologically, these are visible as the appearance of oppida, an increase in trade with the continent, an elite burial rite involving imported goods and the importation and minting of coinage. In terms of settlement however, they are a prelude to the even greater changes that are heralded by the Roman annexation. If that is the case in the south it does not seem to be so in the Wolds and in East Yorkshire, where changes to the landscape in the later Iron Age would appear to have been more significant than those which date from after the conquest. They do not however take the same form as contemporary developments in the south.

The oldest features of this cropmark landscape are clearly the longer distance linear earthworks and trackways and all seem to retain some significance into the Iron Age and RomanoBritish. None of them appear to have been deliberately slighted by the late Iron Age or Romano-British system of land division or settlement. In many cases, they have been incorporated into the new scheme, with lengths of ditch leading up to and respecting them. Their presence, as part of a new enclosure or in proximity to a fresh ditch, must have lent some symbolic weight or perhaps legitimation to the newly created land divisions. The oldest boundaries and tracks remained the main ordering components of this landscape, defining large areas of land, which were often treated and occupied in a different way on either side of the boundary.

Haselgrove, in a summary of the evidence, has identified changes in the settlement pattern of lowland northern England during the later Iron Age (1984a). On the magnesian limestone belt of West Yorkshire, the appearance of late Iron Age enclosed settlements mirrors that in East Yorkshire but in County Durham and Northumberland small rectilinear enclosed settlements are known from a much earlier period. He suggests that around the late second century BC there is a general trend in the northeast of England for an expansion of settlement from long settled areas of light soils, like the Wolds, onto the heavier soils of the surrounding vales. He argues that these changes are encouraged by improved agricultural technology and the introduction of new crop types, suited to these previously uncultivated soils and are mirrored across much of Yorkshire and lowland County Durham. Van der veen’s work north of the Tees, has clearly shown that the changes in settlement here are associated with agricultural change and a move toward increasingly intensive arable agriculture (Van der Veen 1992).

REVOLUTION BEFORE THE CONQUEST? There is little support for the idea that the Roman conquest brought with it a significant transformation in the settlement patterns of the Wolds. Ramm’s suggestion that the many rectilinear enclosures were the result of an official Roman policy of farming out retired veteran soldiers onto newly conquered land is no longer tenable (Dent 1983b). Dent states that, “..very few late Iron Age settlements show any indication of abandonment with the arrival of Roman rule.” (Dent 1995:88). The vast majority of early Romano-British settlements have origins in the pre-conquest period indicating a gradual absorption of Romanised lifestyles and material culture on the part of the local communities, without any recognisable rupture in the settled landscape. The ubiquitous ladder settlements occupy a chronological span, which straddles the conquest period and have their origins very much in the later Iron Age.

The connection with the political and social transformations going on in the south, through trade links and political alliance, are seen by Haselgrove as the main reasons behind the changes in the northern lowland areas. The large enclosed late Iron Age site at Stanwick appears to have acted as the northern equivalent of the southern oppida, rooted in ideas of political and economic centralisation (Haselgrove et al 1990). The absence of similar sites in East Yorkshire remains curiously unexplained as this area is often seen as one of the most important political and economic centres in late prehistoric northern England (i.e. Higham 1987). This gap has been partially filled by the recently excavated site on the Humber foreshore at Redcliff, which may have acted as a trading settlement of some size in the immediate preconquest period (Crowther et al 1988;1990).

Millett regards the low profile of official Roman presence in this area as an example of the romanization of the native population and existing power structures through ‘laissezfaire’ incorporation (1990b). In this way, the existing settlement pattern and decentralised distribution of power was retained, the forts merely acting as staging posts on the road towards York and the more ‘troublesome’ Brigantes (ibid.). However, it is difficult to know whether this was so, as we have no idea where the power centres within Iron Age society were located. The level of romanization, in the early centuries of occupation is low compared to other regions to the south. Little alteration in the settlement pattern is suggested by the continuity evident at many sites. Furthermore, it is not until the third or fourth century that the most developed expressions of romanization occur. The few families who chose to express and display their wealth in architectural and artistic form did not do so until at least two hundred years after the conquest. If the conquest did not bring with it any significant change then we should look to the period immediately preceding it, between second century

Haselgrove’s scheme that settlement expanded from light soils to heavier ones is problematic (1984). It is a generalised theory, applied uniformly across the northern lowlands and seems to take little consideration of local peculiarities. Furthermore, his explanations for change are almost totally driven by economic efficiency and assume an unending 64

increasing warfare. Instead, he stresses the role played by the cemeteries and the ditched settlements in affirming community identity and fixing that community in the landscape (1997). The change from visible cemetery to demarcated settlement is described as, “a shift in the signification of communities in the landscape from the places of the dead back to those of the living.” (Bevan 1997:189).

progressive drive for expansion once the appropriate technology becomes available. For our area his ideas are founded on the basic assumption that before the later Iron Age settlement was concentrated on the Wolds and mirrored the distribution of cemeteries. This is one assumption we can no longer accept without question (see above). In any case, the integration of upland and lowland resources would have been crucial to the Iron Age economy here so that it becomes difficult to regard certain areas as being unexploited.

The transformations in the later Iron Age landscape of the Wolds were radical and probably even stronger than is suggested by the statement, “During the first millennium BC, the Wolds became a progressively more enclosed and spatially organised landscape.” (Bevan 1997:189). The changes may have taken effect over as little as one hundred and fifty years, during which time settlement sites became enclosed with ditches and in many cases the existing open collections of roundhouses were probably abandoned. At the same time the cemeteries housing the ancestral dead were no longer used for burial and lost their role as the physical representation of community presence. The land surrounding these settlements was also enclosed with ditches, often aligning on and respecting the longer distance divisions already present in the landscape.

Dent’s excavations at Wetwang were the starting point for a series of articles, which set the changes at the site within the wider regional context (1982;1983a). In these, Dent argues that the increased enclosure of the landscape at Wetwang, in association with the end of the square barrow burial rite and the appearance of ditched settlements, marked a significant threshold of change in the late Iron Age landscape. Bevan has more recently traced these long-term threads of change on the Wolds and further highlighted the importance of the later Iron Age developments (1997). He emphasises the changing form of expression for community identity that they may have represented. Judging from the Wetwang evidence the increasing tendency for enclosure is not a sudden occurrence but something that took place gradually with growing intensity over a two hundred year period (fig 70-1 and 75-6). The initial creation of a ‘centralised nucleated settlement’ in the centre of the large two square kilometres enclosure took place in the third and second centuries BC, with subsequent reduction in the area of burial mounds during the late second or early first century. Most of the other large cemeteries were abandoned during the first century BC and around the same time, a large number of ditched ladder settlements were created. On the whole these sites originate after the abandonment of square barrows as many actually overlie former cemeteries. Dent sees there being an “acceleration of social change” during the first century BC marking the “end of an era” in archaeological terms (1983b). The changes are seen to have continued apace into the first century AD when further examples of ladder settlements are known.

It would be over-simplistic to define a series of specific horizons of change between which the landscape remained unaltered. Transformations such as these are ongoing through the continual negotiation and re-negotiation of social roles and relationships. They are articulated by and expressed through physical action in the landscape. Certain periods however, are times when these landscape changes become accelerated. Social tension may gradually build up and change may take place in a gradual invisible way until its physical implications are felt and become part of the archaeological record. There had been gradual change in the Iron Age landscape but it is hard to identify and trace because of the overwhelming bias of funerary evidence. Both Stead and Dent do agree that early barrows are often larger and more isolated and that the large cemeteries are a late phenomenon. Dent has also shown at Wetwang that the late stages of the cemetery are more tightly packed. If these changes were related to the progress towards a more integrated community group (Bevan 1997), then they may explain the origins of the social circumstances behind the radical changes in community expression, witnessed during the later Iron Age. These latter developments would then represent, not only an acceleration of an ongoing process, but a substantive change in the relationship between community and landscape.

The radical character of the changes on the Wolds is appreciated by both Dent and Bevan, “It must now be accepted from the number of such enclosures and from the excavated evidence for their date that settlement underwent a considerable change in the last century of the Iron Age.” (Dent 1983b:35). Bevan remarks that, “The enclosure of Wetwang/Garton Slack during the later Iron Age was part of a greater movement of settlement enclosure across the Wolds...” (Bevan 1997:188). It would be very difficult to argue that the changes in burial rite were not related in some way to these changes in settlement. Dent suggests that the two were caused primarily by a rise in population and increased pressure on land. This intensified during the third and second centuries BC, forcing communities to physically demarcate land and use that which was available more sparingly (1982). He also argues for an increasingly aggressive atmosphere, in the face of such competition, evident through the rise in weapon graves and appearance of chalk ‘warrior’ figurines (1983b).

It is important to identify not only the time and rate of change but also its character. If we saw these changes in the later Iron Age as mainly concerned with land division it would be possible to argue that they represent the acceleration of an ongoing process. This began centuries earlier in the later Bronze Age, with the initial enclosure and division of large areas of the Wolds. In these terms, the later Iron Age may have witnessed the final management and allotment of land at the level of the local settlement, where as the long distance linears were concerned with dividing the lands of larger neighbouring communities, one from another. The respect given to the earlier boundaries throughout this period would support this view. However, it has been stressed above that the transformations of the later Iron Age are radical and

Bevan’s discussion of the same evidence does not seek to explain these changes in terms of economic forces or 65

for granted, is a significant indication of the character of change generally. It is not necessarily about the imposition of new boundaries and enclosures onto unclaimed land but the increased need to physically demarcate lines in the landscape that have been in existence informally for some time. These may have always been respected and acknowledged as boundaries between different community areas, without the need for a permanent physical reminder of this role. In this way the need for these ditches, often dug at local levels and over short distances, says more perhaps about the social relationships between neighbouring groups than it does about changing agricultural practice, or the need to keep livestock away from crops. An informal open landscape of trackways gives way to one of boundaries, formally fixing rights and claims to land.

appear to have had wider implications. They may actually represent deeper alterations in society and economy.

SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION SETTLEMENT DIVISION

PATTERNS

AND

LAND

We have discussed the evidence for changes in the Wolds landscape during the Iron Age and Romano-British periods. In order to achieve an understanding that is both deep and broad the discussion has operated at a number of scales. This ranges from the generalised distribution of settlement, through the interplay between a specific valley and its adjacent wold top to the changing role played by a particular monument or linear earthwork. Rarely is the resolution of the evidence precise enough to present detailed and continuous site histories. We are forced to deal with generalisations, both of the overriding character of the landscape and the rate and scale of change. It is important that we do not analyse and describe the layout of the landscape without discussion of its relationship to society. These patterns are not worthy of study in their own right. They are only valuable because of the intimate and sensitive relationship they have with the communities and individuals that created them. The agricultural practice of these people has an obvious link to the configuration of ditches, enclosures, fields and settlements. As we trace the trajectories of change in the nature of the landscape it is important to think about how these patterns might reflect the social and cultural world of the Wolds communities. Therefore, we will first summarise the changing structure of the landscape and then set these descriptive conclusions within a more explanatory framework. Special attention will be paid to the relationships between community, land-use practice and the past.

In amongst this explosion of evidence for the obsession with the physical and visible definition of land was the appearance of a new form of settlement. Many ditched trackways were lined with contiguous ditched enclosures at this time. Some of these sites probably acted as settlements, whilst others may have had only agricultural functions, such as enclosures for stock to organise and cope with increasingly intensive agricultural regimes. Some remained in use for several centuries into the period of Roman occupation by which time they had increased in size and been strung out along the axial lane. Others did not develop as far and became abandoned after one hundred years or so. The dramatic appearance of the ladder sites and the renewed practice of ditch digging focuses the mind on this period as a time of change. By doing so it forces us to think about the earlier landscape of the early and middle Iron Age. Here we have little to go on except for the cemeteries and we have discussed at length the many problems surrounding ideas about where the associated settlements were located. There are very few stretches of linear ditch that were dug during the currency of the cemeteries. Those that were, are part of the beginning of the later Iron Age move towards greater division and demarcation of land. The openness of the settlements at this time and the lack of concern with further land division give the impression of a landscape whose resources are not up for competition. The groups and communities inhabiting the area do not have recourse to the digging of ditches for the definition of claims to specified areas of land and must have relied upon alternative media as a means of negotiation. These may well have involved the location of cemeteries as a visible physical presence of the dead members of a community, which may have affirmed the rights of the living community over adjacent pieces of ground. As noted above the Wolds landscape at the time was probably crossed by rambling trackways often located on ridges, which could have been adopted as boundaries if needed. The extensive network of later Bronze Age linear earthworks was present in this landscape but it is not clear how much they were respected as boundaries during this period. Contrary to a number of recent discussions, cemeteries and barrows are only rarely placed alongside the old boundaries. Most have a stronger tendency to lie close to trackways and more generalised routes of movement or else, in their later stages of development, alongside short length ditches of recent creation. All this reinforces the sense of the open, unenclosed character of the Wolds landscape contemporary with the square barrow burial tradition.

We have seen how the character and visibility of the archaeological evidence changes dramatically in the later Iron Age, beginning probably around the later second and first centuries BC. The large amount of funerary sites from before this date contrasts with the increase in settlement sites following it. Faced with this gross imbalance in the nature of evidence it is difficult to draw out consistent long-term patterns. However, it is precisely the change in archaeology, which requires explanation as it signifies a dramatic alteration in the physical inscription of social relationships on the landscape. As in other areas the last century and a half of the first millennium BC seems to have been a period of remarkable change and these changes are one of the big stories of the chapter. Even though long distance ditches and banks had divided up the Wolds into large blocks of land centuries earlier, it was not until the late Iron Age that further infill land division took place and then apparently on a wide scale. On the Wolds many of the once open areas, between the later Bronze Age dykes, were divided up in this period. On the other hand some of these open spaces were not divided but were instead respected by the later Iron Age and Romano-British settlements. Double-ditched trackways also appear as part of this landscape. Many of these are likely to have existed for some time already, but as unmarked ways, often over long distances. The marking with ditches of these routes, whose course may always have been known and taken 66

Hull Valley and Holderness into the interior of the Wolds.

Discussion has also been concerned with an understanding of the location and distribution of settlement sites, contemporary with the Arras cemeteries. The evidence for settlements before the later Iron Age enclosures is virtually non-existent, probably because these unenclosed settlements do not show up as cropmarks on aerial photographs. That said, despite the intensity of archaeological excavations on the Wolds around cemeteries, only one contemporary settlement has shown up, at Wetwang. We should not assume that this was the usual pattern and that cemeteries usually lay alongside or close to the settlement of their associated community. These assumptions arise from the long held view that the Wolds has always been the centre of settlement throughout prehistory because of its wealth of archaeological sites. Most of these are actually funerary and it is becoming clear that the wold margins and surrounding vales were equally, if not more, important for settlement than the interior of the Wolds. We are suggesting that much of the Iron Age settlement pattern may actually have lain away from the cemeteries. The distribution of cemeteries in any case is restricted to certain special areas in the main valleys of the eastern dip-slope. The burial of the dead members of these communities may have involved a journey to the community cemetery from the home settlement. In fact, in the kind of dispersed settlement pattern, which was likely the cemetery may have represented one of the few centralising places where all members of that community could come together. The sense of belonging to the cemetery and its ancestors would have been reinforced by their position alongside trackways, used by the community to travel between the Wolds and the settled lands as part of the agricultural cycle.

There undoubtedly was settlement on the slopes of the broad valley at Wetwang Slack, strung out along the trackway here during the middle Iron Age. It may well be though that the majority of settlements lay to the east of this, on the edge of the Wolds and not in the interior. The changes of the later Iron Age therefore, involve an explosive century or so when the formerly open landscape was enclosed at an ever more localised scale. The foundations of these changes had been laid in the later Bronze Age when large areas of land were defined and divided. These extensive areas were not internally organised though until the later Iron Age. Coupled with an increased concern with digging ditches these changes also seem to have involved an expansion of settlement onto the Wolds from the formerly settled areas, namely the major valleys and the wold-edge. Dent would argue that it is these areas that first witness the appearance of enclosed settlements in the second century BC. The majority of the upland Wolds is seen by Dent as, “land, which had hitherto been avoided” (Dent 1995:97). He adds that enclosed settlements found here “represent the final expansion into the high Wolds.” (ibid.). In several cases in the area between Huggate and Elmswell late Iron Age or Romano-British ladder sites seem to occupy units of land already defined by linears, probably in the later Bronze Age. In other cases these open spaces were respected and remained open. Thus the expansion of settlement from the wold-edge and larger valleys onto higher ground was not a ubiquitous phenomenon but one that is nonetheless visible over the longer term. Certainly, when the distribution map of Romano-British settlements and finds is compared with that for the Iron Age, this contrast is clear. Hayfield’s work at Wharram shows up evidence for a Romano-British settlement pattern, which is far denser than is suggested by the traces of its Iron Age predecessor (1987). As well as the density of settlement there is much more information about settlements with different status in the Romano-British period, suggesting that an elite class was displaying its wealth in architectural form. The villas reached full maturity in terms of lavish opulence and economic intensification towards the end of the RomanoBritish period. They may have occupied discrete territories surrounded by marked and recognised boundaries, which acted as agricultural estates. Little however is known of the settlements, which housed the majority of society.

The importance of these cemeteries for community expression is outlined by Bevan, who writes, “the visible marking of the dead in the square barrow cemeteries stressed community identity, linked that community with a geographic location, and could have made a connection with resources believed to be important to the reproduction of the group.” (Bevan 1999:87). The presence of a number of different kin groups in each cemetery has been suggested by Parker-Pearson, who shows that clustering of graves in cemeteries may have reinforced kinship identity within the wider community. These kin groups may of course have shared a common settlement or farmstead, separate to the other members of the wider group who share the cemetery. With the community dispersed across the landscape in life, the role of the cemetery as a centralised symbol of community bonds becomes even more important.

SHEEP FARMERS OF THE WOLD UNITE The understanding of Iron Age agriculture in Britain has developed greatly over the last twenty five years, helped particularly by the advancement in environmental sampling techniques on excavations (i.e. Jones 1981;1985;1989). The traditional view derived from Cyril Fox’s The Personality of Britain saw a sharp economic divide between highland and lowland Britain (Haselgrove 1989; Millett 1990b). Piggott, partly influenced by Caesar’s descriptions of the interior of Britain as wooded and wild, sought to portray the northern British Iron Age as an expanse of ranching lands, peopled by nomadic pastoralists (Piggott 1958). This image was in sharp contrast to the south and east, where excavated evidence for crop cultivation and animal husbandry suggested a more stable settled population, practising a mixed economy. Over the last twenty years excavations in the north at sites like

Bevan also referred to the regular movement of people passing by the cemetery and barrows going about their daily business of work in the fields, herding livestock or fetching water. This repeated action he sees as continually reaffirming the presence of the past in their everyday world. The community was given an ancient legitimacy through association with the cemetery. A daily engagement with the communal cemetery would obviously require it to be located close to the settlement. However, under the scenario painted above repeated but occasional journeys passing by the cemeteries could still have been made but on a less frequent basis. The fact that the cemeteries tend to lie along routes of movement is important here especially as the main concentrations are along the floor of the main valleys on the eastern dip-slope. These give access from the flatlands of the 67

Brewster did uncover pits which may have been used for grain storage and at Wetwang the four post structures have again been interpreted as above-ground granaries. Few other indications of arable activity are forthcoming from this site, however. In contrast to the cattle dominance of the earlier Iron Age enclosures, middle and later Iron Age sites show a marked preference for sheep. The animal bone assemblage from Garton is repeatedly dominated by sheep and goats; a feature which is consistent throughout its history of occupation (Brewster 1981; Haselgrove 1984a). The excavations at Rillington, on the northern edge of the Wolds, also suggested a predominance of sheep in the herding regimes associated with this site. Similarly, the bone assemblages from Rudston in the Romano-British period also favour sheep over cattle (Haselgrove 1984a).

Thorpe Thewles and Stanwick have overturned this idea demonstrating that extensive arable regimes were in play by the later Iron Age (Heslop 1987; van Der Veen 1991). Here, excavations have revealed deposits of carbonised grain, grain storage pits and rotary querns, just as in the south. Furthermore, pollen diagrams in the northeast indicate the presence of cereal production on a large scale by the Roman Conquest and many of the field systems from South Yorkshire and the Pennines were probably laid out during the later Iron Age. As noted above, there is strong evidence throughout northeastern England for the intensification of agricultural production in the two centuries before the conquest. Haselgrove brings together the evidence for these economic changes and writes, “In Jones’ survey of agricultural developments, the late Iron Age emerges as a more significant period of change than those immediately before or afterwards” (Haselgrove 1989:2). He points to the introduction of new crop types, iron technology for the tipping of ard-shares, the balanced sickle and the beehive quern as technological innovations, which made this expansion of agricultural production possible. This he argues involved the cultivation of heavy clay soils, which hitherto had not been used for arable (1984a). As well as an intensification of arable production, there may have been increasing specialisation in pastoral regimes, as is suggested by the evidence from Wessex where the faunal assemblages on some sites are dominated by either cattle or sheep (Grant 1989). Jones’ study of the grain assemblages from sites in the Thames valley indicates the pastoral or arable specialisation of some sites, dependent on each other to provide resources they did not produce themselves (Jones 1985).

The evidence from the Wolds remains entirely inadequate to say very much about agricultural practice and emphasis. However, the recurrent dominance of sheep in several Iron Age sites is significant. The dry soils of the Wolds are clearly more suited to the grazing of sheep than cattle. The latter require regular access to water for drinking and would be better suited to the low-lying ground on the surrounding vales. For most of the Iron Age Haselgrove seems to support the idea that sheep were grazed in large numbers on the Wolds when he writes “their prevalence (i.e. of sheep) at sites on or near the Wolds .... from an early date reflects the unsuitability of the local environment for arable cultivation” (Haselgrove 1984a:18). He adds, “One area which deviates from this pattern (cattle dominance) in the earlier Iron Age is the Wolds, with its extensive open settlement in the dry valleys and dominance of sheep in the Garton Slack faunal assemblage, suggesting the use of the Wold tops for large scale grazing” (Haselgrove 1984a:17). Whilst the infrequency of evidence for crop cultivation should never be taken at face value in these archaeological conditions, the signs from the Wolds are that large areas of the higher ground were being used for sheep grazing during the early and middle Iron Age. The open character of the landscape at this time and the presence of long distance trackways would support this interpretation, as it would allow large flocks of sheep to graze freely within areas defined by the long distance dykes laid out originally during the later Bronze Age.

For the Wolds it is much more difficult to be specific about the character of the Iron Age agricultural economy. Unlike the northeast there are few natural deposits bearing pollen and so few diagrams exist from which we can reconstruct a generalised environmental picture (van der Noort and Ellis 1993). The calcareous soils of the Wolds do not favour the preservation of organic remains but do allow for the preservation of animal bones. This can lead to a false impression of the greater importance of livestock over crop cultivation, within the agricultural economy. Most crucially though, we have no Iron Age settlement site that has produced large amounts of carbonised grain from which to reconstruct the character or scale of arable practice.

The large scale herding of sheep occurs frequently in the anthropological literature but rarely are such practices addressed in the archaeological record. One recent exception is the work of Francis Pryor at Fengate who has reinterpreted some of the enclosure groups found there in the light of his experience as a sheep farmer (Pryor 1996). He recognised in the arrangements of enclosure-groups at the two sites of Newark Road and Storeys Bar Road, familiar patterns of holding pens and droveways. Their scale seemed suited to the handling of very large numbers of sheep and they may have served as community stockyards where large flocks were counted, sorted or exchanged on a seasonal basis. The sites lay along the predicted route between areas of summer and winter grazing and would have provided the context for seasonal social gatherings as well. He recognises that other sites in lowland England may also have been designed for large scale sheep grazing and suggests that we may have seriously under-estimated the size of flocks and scale of organisation of herding in prehistory. “....extensive

The early Iron Age enclosure at Staple Howe was excavated in the days before environmental sampling was automatically adopted on excavations, but nonetheless did produce an amount of club wheat (Brewster 1963). Four post structures here have also been interpreted as granaries and clearly the processing of crops was going on at the site. Nonetheless, it is the animal bone assemblages that are emphasised in this period with Grimthorpe and Staple Howe both containing a larger proportion of cattle. At Grimthorpe the over wintering of cattle, suggested by the kill-off patterning, implies that a reliable source of fodder was available (Stead 1968). Challis and Harding have suggested that a largely pastoral economy on the Wolds at this time became gradually more intensive and mixed by the middle or later Iron Age (1975). The results of the excavations from Wetwang and Garton must await their full publication but certain aspects of the associated agricultural economy are evident. At Garton Slack 68

would not suggest the freedom for herders to wander aimlessly around the Wolds because the areas are well defined and structured by long distance dykes and tracks. Nor indeed, would it suggest the apportionment of these areas into household-based units, as small-scale land division does not appear until the later Iron Age. Instead, we are probably dealing with large pastures, which have become associated with a particular community grouping. The members of this community, who are likely to be settled in dispersed locations on the edge of the Wolds, may each own sheep, which are grazed together in the pasture, detached and at a distance from the settled area. Therefore this practice would involve the seasonal movement of large flocks between the woldedge and the higher ground of the Wold interior, along prescribed routes of movement. These probably ran along the valley floors or else along the linear ditches, which marked the boundaries of the large areas of pasture. In fact, it is a feature of the history of the linears that they are often treated as both boundary and track.

field systems and large scale land divisions.... show a scale of operation for which a better model ....is the large scale sheep-farming of medieval and even of modern farming where flocks run from hundreds into thousands.” (Pryor 1996:314). There are two important implications of the large scale grazing of flocks of sheep, raised by his discussion. Firstly, that the flock represents the individual stock holdings of a large group of people and therefore is an operation that must be organised at the level of the community, rather than the household or local kin group. Secondly, that it normally requires the seasonal movement of flocks between summer and winter pastures. As Pryor has shown this might involve seasonal gatherings of both people and sheep where animals are perhaps claimed or exchanged. This kind of transhumance has been suggested for the upland pastures of Dartmoor in the Bronze Age by Andrew Fleming (1988). It is also something known for the middle ages, in the north of England, where herds of cattle and flocks of sheep moved seasonally over great distances to take advantage of the full annual range of available pasture, according to the growing seasons of the herbage (McDonnell 1989). These movements were repeated each year along the same routes between summer pasture in the uplands and winter grazing in the lower lands, the latter probably close to the home settlement. They formed connections between herders and their pasture areas and linkages between low-lying settlements and distant but discrete territories. It is argued that herein lies the phenomenon of townships with distant detached portions, which are often recorded as late as the nineteenth century (Michelmore 1979; Fleming 1998). This is an illustration of the emergence in a system of transhumance of rights to certain pastures located at a distance from the home settlements or territories of the group or community involved. By repeatedly using these pastures, the rights of the herders become stronger each year resulting eventually in a legally formalised acknowledgement of their right.

If settlement lay away from the wold tops and concentrated in the larger valleys and wold-edge, then it is unlikely that much of the Wold land was cultivated. It seems more likely to have been grazed and this was probably organised on a large scale. Cunliffe has stressed the symbiosis between sheep grazing and large scale arable with respect to the Wessex chalkland. He has also put forward a seasonal cycle of herding practice which might be useful in understanding the regular movement of sheep between the Wolds and the surrounding flat (probably arable) lands: “From September until December they could have been turned loose on the stubble without the need for special feeding and from December until March or April, when the pastures began to grow again, straw fodder carted to the fields would have been sufficient to keep them alive. For the remainder of the year, from April to August, there would have been ample pasture for the flocks to grow fat on in the fields left fallow and in the open downland.” (Cunliffe 1991:380).

In a prehistoric context, the rights of communities over distant areas of pasture are much more difficult to recognise. In the anthropological literature, much discussion is given over to the territorial patterns of pastoralist groups who have wide jurisdiction over extensive open pastures (e.g. Casimir and Rao 1991). This is often recognised at a tribal scale in arid lands and amongst groups who are entirely nomadic. Casimir has discussed the wider question of rights to pasture amongst groups throughout the world and has recognised that they “punctuate a continuum which runs between one end at which there are no individually recognised rights and another end with inter-generationally transmitted rights of pasture ownership” (Casimir 1991). At the one end of the scale lies the loose and flexible rights of the Bedouin nomads over large areas of desert and on the other the restricted stinted pasture rights of a medieval English township community, nonetheless communally held. A key distinction he makes is between areas of pasture shared between groups on the basis of tribal or kin-based affiliation and those which are specific zones of pasture attached to a home settlement (ibid.).

The Wolds could have provided good pasturage throughout most of the year. The free-draining soil and lack of surface water would not have suited cattle grazing on any scale. Sheep however would have survived very well here for most of the year. Pryor points out that large flocks could not occupy dry pastures all the year round and would require extensive lower lying wetland during the summer. They may have come down off the Wolds in the late summer or Autumn (September to December) and turned onto recently cut hay fields or allowed to graze the post-harvest stubble of a cereal crop. This may have involved the splitting up of the community flock into household or settlement based groups so that they could be dispersed around the in-grounds close to the settlements. Even if the integrity of these communities was not represented by a central focal settlement or even a discrete territory, it did exist when the flocks of sheep came together to be herded up to the pastures (late Autumn or Spring?). As we have seen, the routes of movement that connected the settled areas with the Wold interior passed by the cemeteries and it may have been these seasonal movements that were the principal arenas for engagement between the members of the

What we seem to have on the Wolds are large discrete areas of pasture located at a distance from the main area of settlement whose soils are ideally suited for sheep. This 69

community and their centralised group of common ancestors. In the same way, their presence alongside the routes into the Wolds may have helped to display the rights of the living community over the pastures to which the trackways led. The importance of common descent amongst the group, which shared the pasture, is thus physically represented by the earthen vessels, which contain the remains of common ancestors.

THE END OF IRON AGE COMMUNITY Most commentators agree that the archaeological evidence from the later Iron Age of southern England points to increasingly hierachical and centralised forms of social and political organisation. The minting of coinage explicitly linked to named rulers and places is fairly unequivocal in this respect. By the first century BC large tribal groupings or confederations had emerged, which were apparently ruled by an elite lineage headed by an individual ruler. It is in these areas that the pace of romanisation is swift and may even have begun in some social circles before the period of annexation.

The suggestion that the Wolds was largely used for extensive grazing during the Iron Age, by communities who were settled on the wold-edge and in the larger valleys, should not be seen as turning back the clock to Piggott’s view of nomadic Celtic Cowboys in the northern Iron Age. It is argued here, that this practice was part of a well organised economic system, which integrated lowland, and upland resources and so in overview would be described as a mixed economy. It is only the past tendency to view the Wolds as the focus of settlement that has presumed the presence of arable cultivation here, if anywhere in East Yorkshire. As Dent has noted, the claylands of Holderness are much more fertile lands for crop cultivation (see above).

In East Yorkshire there are none of the archaeological indicators of these social and political transformations in the period leading up to the conquest. There are no signs of centralised settlements emerging as foci of elite power and residence, nor is there the local minting of coinage, unlike the neighbouring tribe of the Corieltauvi to the south in Lincolnshire. It is only during the period of Roman presence in the south after 43 AD that the political centre of Stanwick emerges in the Tees Valley to the northwest. At the same time the trading station at Redcliff began the task of articulating trade across the Humber between the Romanised south and the free north.

The evidence for agricultural change on the Wolds, during the later Iron Age, is scanty and indirect. Haselgrove has argued that here as elsewhere there was a “restructuring of the arable/pastoral relationship to create larger productive territories.” and that “by the end of the Iron Age, arable production had increased greatly in its importance..” (Haselgrove 1984:17). There is very little direct information for the changes on the Wolds and he tends to impose a generalised model of intensification and expansion uniformly across the northeast of England. In particular, his assumptions about the earlier settlement pattern focusing on the Wolds leads to the idea that later Iron Age expansion involved the colonisation of “heavier soils beyond the foot of the Wolds permitted by the combination of improved technology and climate and suitable crops.” (Haselgrove 1984a:19). Agricultural intensification is likely but not proven here and any expansion of settlement that did take place is likely to have moved from the wold-edge areas onto the Wolds, rather than the other way round. In this way, we see the appearance of ladder sites occupying territories already long defined by linears and previously probably used as pastures. Haselgrove has perhaps over-emphasised the economic nature of the late Iron Age changes, as well as over simplifying the generalised relationship between arable and pastoral strategies. As we have already noted the increased digging of ditches at a more localised level is probably linked to the need to re-define relationships between the groups who use and claim the land. As new enclosures are created and new land division statements made so the practice of square barrow burial slowly dies out. This may well have implications for the economic practices of these communities, which were after all bound up with large scale communal sheep pasturage, itself connected to ideological constructs based around the cemeteries. However the changes are also about alterations in the character of the community and with it the relationship between wold and wold-edge, an economic relationship that expressed the integrity of that community. Admittedly the model proposed here is a tentative one but it does fit the little evidence that is available. It further provides an economic basis, which can support the construction of social formations.

Millett has made much of the idea that Roman annexation of Iron Age societies was closely linked to their existing complexity and development. Therefore the proto-state structures of the south were quick to adopt Roman cultural values and practices, whereas less complex societies in the north and west held less demand for the material trappings of Romanisation. For this reason, the level of social and political organisation in East Yorkshire before the conquest may well be reflected in the slow pace of romanisation in East Yorkshire following it. As we saw above, there are no immediate transformations in settlement until around the third century when most of the region’s villas emerge. There are few indications in the archaeological record of the later Iron Age, which can be interpreted as evidence for social organisation. We have seen from the burial evidence of the fourth-first century BC that some social differentiation did exist with certain elite lineages distinguishing themselves from the rest of society. However, these are fairly subtle distinctions and the lack of further overt or domineering expressions of power suggest that stratification was not absolute and that communities were probably fairly small and dispersed. Haselgrove argues for the northeast in general that the strongest social group would have existed at a local level, probably the household or extended kin group. He suggests that looser bonds existed to gel these small local groups into wider ‘clans’ or ‘tribes’ and belonging was probably based on the notion of common descent (1984a). He adds that these larger communities may have shared ritual practices or gatherings and may have had some common territorial ties. The picture that emerges is a series of loosely integrated tribes across northern England with no real sense of political centralisation until just before the conquest. For East Yorkshire, Haselgrove tentatively suggests four or five loose ‘tribal’ groupings informally associated with territories that included both high Wold land and areas of flat vale. The Roman civitates were imposed onto this existing political 70

The later Iron Age settlements are marked by enclosing ditches but they are not physically removed or separate from the neighbouring settlements in the same way as the isolated enclosures of the Thames Valley. Instead, the ditches serve to connect many of the settlements to each other as well as providing physical demarcation. In this way, the increasingly complex network of ditches might be emphasising the integrity of individual households but equally displaying their membership of a wider community, involving a neighbourhood group of connected local settlements. This is the model proposed for the Romano-British phases at Wetwang Slack by Hingley where an enclosed area of land is gradually shared out between settlements located around its edge (see above).

map but may not have directly reflected it. There are hints in the documentary record that a further grouping existed within the civitas of the Parisi known as the Gabrantovices, located in the northern Wolds (Ramm 1978). Likewise the Brigantes emerge into history in the first century AD, probably as a confederation of the many small and large tribes of the rest of northern England. Haselgrove’s model for the political implications of the archaeological changes of the later Iron Age is again applied uniformly across the northeast. He sees the increasing enclosure and intensifying organisation of the landscape as evidence of economic change linked to increasing political control and centralisation. “...the overall trend during the later Iron Age must have been towards the formation of larger corporate groupings as settlement expanded and population rose.” (Haselgrove 1984a:21). His view of increasing control and interference in economy is based largely on the site of Stanwick and the political and economic role it played. As some areas of the north were in contact with the Roman world, moves towards political centralisation and more absolute forms of ranking were encouraged. Here, “..the formation of a Brigantian confederation, apparently in treaty with Rome, finds physical expression in the complex site of Stanwick” (Haselgrove 1989:17). In East Yorkshire however there is no such expression visible in the settlement record. Millett has emphasised how the Iron Age system was decentralised here, something that is reflected in the Romano-British settlement pattern (1990a). Urban centres are restricted to the western wold-edge, along the main communications link with the north. Instead of increasing centralisation in the later Iron Age all the archaeological evidence points to the increasing independence of local household groups and the possible fragmentation of the larger community.

The colonisation of land previously used as common pasture would have necessarily jarred the traditional bonds within the community. It was the sharing of this pasture and the seasonal gatherings related to the herding of flocks that had acted as the regular expression of community identity. With the loss of access to extensive pasturage, alternative arrangements would have had to be have been made for grazing sheep. It is argued that the increasing social integrity of the household is mirrored by a growing economic localisation where much of the agricultural practice, previously organised by the community group, was now played out and arranged by the local settlement. This would account in some ways for the increasing need for localised land division as each household or settlement would now be responsible for the integration of arable and pastoral practices close to the domestic hearth. These are economic implications of the break up of a large community but more significant perhaps was the abandonment of the cemeteries. It was these special places that symbolised the community and rooted its existence in a common ancestral past. Any erosion of the respect given to these cemeteries would have been bound up with the fragmentation of the social cohesion they represented. The days of transhumant seasonal wanderings may well have come to an end in this period. However, this was not all that was changing.

Hingley’s work on the Iron Age settlements of the Thames Valley suggested that the enclosure of a settlement with a ditch may have symbolised the independent attitude of its inhabitants towards their neighbours (Hingley 1984). He argues that areas of closely spaced open settlement represented a community of domestic groups who were interdependent. He suggested that the integrity of the wider community may have lain in their communal control of resources which were vital to social reproduction. This could easily have included a shared right to community pastures. The changes in the later Iron Age towards increasing enclosure of land and definition of settlements under this scheme may indicate the increasing independence of local settlements and households and the break up of formerly strong community bonds. As Giles puts it “The scale and character of agricultural craftwork has thus changed and the household is defined both through its architecture and the labour of its inhabitants in a way that sets it apart from others” (Giles 1998). Bevan too recognises the same phenomenon when he writes, “(The boundaries) physically and visually separate the community occupying the settlement from the rest of society” (Bevan 1997:189). Implicit in both these accounts, dealing specifically with East Yorkshire, is the idea that previous community affiliation between groups of settlements and households gives way in the later Iron Age to more socially independent household groups.

CHANGING HISTORY Mel Giles has identified, in the changes of land division and settlement during the later Iron Age, a change in the dealings of people with their past (1998). She emphasises how important the use of past was to a sense of identity in the present. The cemeteries of the middle Iron Age represent an expression of ancestral homage, often to ancestors as particular people who can be remembered by the oldest members of the living community. The end of the square barrow burial rite changes this and she sees a shift towards association with a more distant mythical past. This is represented perhaps by the chalk figurines, used in story telling as representations of a mythic idealised ancestor (Giles 1998). In this process, she observes a shift from the wider ties of an integrated community towards a greater concern with the household and smaller family groups. Where as the earlier references to the past were made at community level in the cemetery the new references are made in the household. She relates this to other changes in the scale of agricultural organisation (see above). As we have seen the model proposed above also involves the 71

antiquity than did the cemeteries. This past was present in the long stretches of linear earthwork whose origins were so remote that they may have become the subject of mythological tales. Herein would have resided their power.

fragmentation of a wider community and an increasing concern with more localised social groups. The changes in the way that people now deal with their past, identified by Giles through artefacts and storytelling, may also be evident in the landscapes of the later Iron Age. As we have observed the land division schemes of the later Iron Age do tend to affirm the independence of more localised groups. However they also may reinforce the community affiliations that groups of settlements shared by linking them into an interconnected network of ditched trackways and boundaries. Ditches are not simply acting as divisions but may also be bonding settlements, which link their domestic enclosures to a longer distance boundary. The physical marking of these social links may have become more necessary with the break down of some practical aspects of communal life (like common pasturage and associated gatherings).

Gosden and Lock have recently discussed this kind of generation of history through inscription into the landscape (1998). They emphasise the importance of the regular maintenance and cleaning of ditches, as a means of strengthening people’s ties to a known past, or alternatively, changing the nature of attachment to that past. In their case study, a system of ditches act as the physical expression of a five hundred year old genealogy and by persistently carrying out ritualised acts of maintenance, the connection between the living and the dead was expressed. In this way, the ditches of the Wolds may have taken on a similar social role during the later Iron Age, a role which had for centuries been previously fulfilled by the square barrow cemeteries.

As settlements were created and divided one from another by ditches, these networks of land division often incorporated the lines of very old linear earthworks into them. Many of these lines had probably been used as boundaries to areas of wold land for a very long time, as they were originally dug during the later Bronze Age. The swathes of land they bounded are suggested as pasture zones in this period, specifically associated with particular communities. In the later Iron Age concentrations of enclosed settlements and other ditches clearly align themselves along the length of old earthworks like the Green Lane or the Great Wold Dyke (fig 81-2). By making reference to them each enclosed settlement could have been affirming its links to other settlements which also respected this shared ancient boundary. In so doing some of the bonds of community which had become much looser in the contemporary world were re-evoked. The linear earthworks may have become directly associated with this archaic sense of community, made more powerful because of their antiquity and scale compared to the many more recent shorter lengths of ditch in the vicinity.

Too many discussion of late Iron Age change are prone to over-generalisation. Cunliffe seems to favour simplistic mono-causal explanations usually involving pompous generalising schemes of environmental change or population rise (1991:523).These are applied uniformly across wide areas. They ignore, not only the growing evidence for regional and local diversity, but also the active role played by people in affecting change for themselves. The changes in this area are not necessarily a question of expansion through rising population of settlements onto the Wolds but a change in the relationship between the wold-edge and the wold interior. During the Iron Age, communities were largely found around the wold-edge and major valleys, exploiting the vast expanses of wold land for pasture. Their agricultural economy was based on this symmetry, as is the scale of organisation of their communities. The late Iron Age changes may see a breakdown in the integration of these communities and the formation of increasingly localised groups. This would provide a social context for the increase in ditch digging and the breakdown of the burial rite, something which had previously affirmed the existence of wider community ties. This localisation also corresponded to the expansion of settlement onto lands which had formerly been used as community pastures. Now, each settlement had to organise its own arable and pasture and some groupings did respect the bounded pastures of the earlier age. Others were forced to occupy and settle within these former bounded pastures. Therefore, these changes were as much a social transformation as an economic one.

The elaborate constructions of multiple ditches above Weaverthorpe, were probably constructed during the later Iron Age (M.Giles pers comm.). They faced the existing ancient boundary of the Great Wold Dyke and may well have made up for their lack of weighty symbolic antiquity through exaggerated monumental scale. Later Iron Age groups were perhaps harking back to a more distant mythic past through the relationship with some of the very ancient features of the landscape, where as their predecessors had concentrated upon a more recent genealogical history with reference to square barrow cemeteries. As ancient relics, the linears have become perhaps even more symbolically powerful now than ever. Their continual presence now close to permanent habitations and fields served as a reminder of this past and the old sense of community belonging which it represented.

The problem has ceased to be a question simply of population rise or economic change or other forces beyond the control of local communities. Instead we have to acknowledge the active part played by individuals. In this case the new landscapes come about as people coped with (or deliberately influenced) the break up of traditional community bonds by expressing their identity in new ways through reference to different pasts. To talk about economic or social change would be anachronistic as the social and economic character of these communities was interdependent. We have looked at the Wolds and shown how it is difficult to offer mono-causal explanations which would fit other areas. The social and economic fabric here is unique, each aspect woven into a pattern that is peculiar to local people and conditions. The character of social groups is

There is a period of about one hundred years when ditches were being dug and the square barrow rite was in use simultaneously. At this time, people were making reference to both the recent past of the cemeteries and the more mythic past of the linears. If traditional claims to land and access to pastures had been regulated for centuries through the location and use of a cemetery, then the claims and rights expressed by the ditches may have presented an alternative, sometimes conflicting strategy. Claims to appropriate pieces of land were perhaps justified by reference to a past which held more 72

bound up with agricultural practice and these relationships are inscribed into the landscape. This landscape was already heavy with textured histories which are incorporated into enduring ancestral tradition and practice. The way that people relate to these pasts and manipulate them in the present is crucial to the understanding of the transformation of the landscape and the changing character of the living community.

73

74

Settlement Contraction in the East Riding of Yorkshire 16601760 (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Hull); K. Alison (1976) The East Riding of Yorkshire Landscape; A. Harris (1961) The Rural Landscape of East Riding of Yorkshire 1700-1850; A. Harris (1951) Pre-enclosure Agricultural Systems of East Riding of Yorkshire (MA Thesis, University of Hull).

CHAPTER FIVE THE HISTORICAL LANDSCAPE OF TOWNSHIPS IN THE CENTRAL WOLDS

The intensity of landscape change may also be different between townships. In some such as Warter and Huggate a wide range of field names have survived over several centuries, whilst in others such as Sledmere only a very few medieval names remain in use today (see chapter two).

INTRODUCTION Chapter five is a collection of township profiles: A compilation of information regarding the layout and character of the medieval and post-medieval landscape of the twenty townships within the study area. Chapter six on the other hand deals directly with the Anglian and Anglo-Scandinavian period. It will use some of the information presented here as a springboard from which to look back before the Norman Conquest.

The purpose of these profiles is to gather information with which to help in the reconstruction of the medieval landscape and will concentrate on the following areas: • Territorial wapentake)

Most of the information for chapter five has come from documentary sources relating to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the main aim has been to reconstruct the preenclosure landscape. It was through parliamentary enclosure that the foundations of the modern Wolds landscape were laid and when most alteration and change occurred (see chapter two). The prime concerns of these township profiles are topographic and they deal mainly with the layout of boundaries, roads and tracks, open fields and pastures. The origins of many of these features seem to lie in the medieval period and we will deal with these origins in chapter six. The alterations during the years of parliamentary enclosure were so radical that it is often very difficult to identify the traces of the medieval landscape either on the ground or in the documents (see chapter two).

identity

(parish,

township,

hundred,

•

Topographic character of township and village

•

Topography of boundaries

•

Lost townships and detached portions of townships

•

Enclosure, emparkment and village depopulation

•

Medieval land landholding

•

Origin and development of tracks and roads

•

Medieval open fields

• Medieval and post-medieval, pre-enclosure pasture (areas and recorded rights) •

The Enclosure Awards and plans of the later eighteenth and early nineteenth century and Tithe maps of the early nineteenth are our main source for the identification of open fields. In addition the OS first edition 6" maps of 1854 often record the names of former open fields and their general extent. There are a number of large-scale maps of the area from the later eighteenth century, which give a good, albeit coarse-grained, picture of the pre-enclosure road network and the earliest record of township boundaries can also be found in these maps (i.e. Haynes 1744; Jeffreys 1772; Bowen 1750; Bryant 1828; Teesdale 1828). There is likely to have been some alteration in the layout and position of township boundaries before their earliest detailed record and in some cases we can identify the locations at which this may have occurred. Information about the use of the Wolds landscape between the twelth and fourteenth century has been gathered from various land grants and charters recorded usually by monastic and other ecclesiastical institutions (e.g. W.Farrer (1914) Early Yorkshire Charters; subsequently EYC, followed by entry number of charter reference). Earlier sources such as Domesday Book will be dealt with in chapter six.

Place and field names

The use of the same study area as chapter three means that the same places and features appear. Many of the linears are reused as boundaries or tracks. Many of the pivotal places within the linear pattern and in the Iron Age landscape are also focused upon in the medieval period. For instance places such as Blealands Nook, Fimber crossroads, Warren Dale, Huggate Dykes, Garrowby Top all retain their importance, as do the linear features such as the Green Lane and the Towthorpe Ridgeway. This endurance is a response to the topographic peculiarity of these places but also and perhaps most importantly to the conscious awareness that they were already sites with a history. The reconstructions of pre-enclosure landscapes are often conjectural. As a result of the late date of the sources used it is the late medieval or post-medieval system that is mapped. Change and re-orientation is likely to have taken place since the twelth century. The area of study comprises twenty townships in the eastern and central Wolds (figs 87-88). Figure 87 illustrates the location of the study area within the wider township structure. Fig 87 indicates the names of townships and their boundaries and fig 88 shows the townships and dry valleys. The numbers on this map refer to those found with each township profile (see also figs 2 and 3)

The quality of the documentary record for each township can be variable as some do not possess enclosure plans whilst for others more detailed estate maps have survived. Historical studies which deal with the medieval and post-medieval landscape already exist for some areas and places. (The most notable of these are: Victoria County History, East Riding volumes 2, 3, 4 (subsequently VCH); S.Neave (1990) Rural 75

The township featured in an early discussion of local field names in the late nineteenth century by Rev. E.M.Cole (1905), an inclusion that is testament to their strong survival in this area. The rights of way too appear to have survived enclosure largely intact notably that footpath which connects the village to Fimber. It gave the inhabitants of Fimber access to the church at Wetwang before a new one was built in Fimber in nineteenth century. Fimber was a chapelry of Wetwang. Another chapelry is known at Holm Archiepiscopie, a deserted settlement in the far west of Wetwang parish. The village site is marked on the OS 1854 6” at the end of a long spur defined by steep valley sides and now known as Holm Field (Beresford 1951-two). It is not clear whether Holm existed as a separate township at any stage but if it were, the extent of its former territory is not in doubt as it is clearly defined by steep dale-sides and a green lane to the north (see below).

TOWNSHIP PROFILES WETWANG (1) Ecclesiastical Parish: Wetwang (contained township and chapelry of Fimber and chapelry of Holm Archiepiscopie) Civil Parish: Wetwang Township: Wetwang Hundred: Warter Wapentake: Buckrose Wetwang is very much a Wold township. It is situated in the rolling landscape of the eastern central Wolds and contains part of the broad east-west valley of WetwangGarton Slack (fig 24). A twelth century charter mentions Wetwanghedale, and is probably referring to this main valley (EYC 1264). The village is situated on a low east-west ridge raising it above the floor of the main valley (to the north) and a tributary dale to the south. These two valleys converge just to the east of Wetwang, in Garton township. From Wetwang the tributary dale extends westwards into Huggate becoming progressively steeper-sided and more narrow as it splits into three and penetrates the interior of the Wolds (fig 88). The main valley meanwhile turns north into Fimber township.

The place-name Wetwang is commonly accepted as having derived from the Old Scandinavian word Vettvangr meaning "field of summons for the trial of an action" (Smith 1937; Gelling forthcoming). Smith points out that in Scandinavia such trials were normally held in temporary locations so here we may be seeing a different practice involving permanent sites for trial. Notably, the moot place of the whole East Riding is only a mile east of the village in Garton township (see below and Ch 6-7). The area of course, could already have been known by this name before the existence of any actual settlement. Its situation alongside important east-west routes makes it a good place for trial gatherings of this kind.

The village has a simple regular plan of a single row with back lanes to north and south (Sheppard 1976). The road between Driffield and York runs through its historic core, which is now surrounded by modern housing development. Both pond and church occupy central positions on the edge of the main street.

The field names of the township derive mainly from medieval agricultural practices and areas as well as names of dales and hills (Cole 1899). They have survived well especially in contrast to the paucity of such names in the adjoining township and parish of Sledmere to the north.

The township is a square block with a long withered finger of land extending out oddly from its northwest corner. The boundaries to north and south are both green lanes, running continuously across the top and bottom of the township (fig 90). The northern one is preserved for the most part as a wooded trackway but its course is interrupted by a defaced section, recorded as such on 1854 OS (see chapter six for general discussion of green lanes). The southern green lane is also wooded but changes its character as it leaves the township to the west into Huggate. The eastern boundary is smooth and straight and probably marked the edge of open field emphasising the extent of the arable in this township (Allison 1976). The western edge follows Thorndale and then the steep sides of Harper Dale and Holm Dale. For some distance, this boundary follows linear earthworks on the edge of the dale. Boundaries are thus following green lanes, open field boundaries, steep dale-sides and linear earthworks; all common topographic features for this area.

The whole parish, including Fimber township was enclosed between 1803 and 1806 (English 1985) and according to the award there had already been limited enclosure around the village before this date. Another document from the early eighteenth century, was written to the then landowner, Lord Bathurst, in which the agent puts forward detailed suggestions regarding the "improvement of the lands by enclosure" and in so doing makes some significant comments on the condition of the pre-enclosure landscape and agricultural practices (Cole 1894). The agent consistently urges the landlord to increase the productivity of the land and in so doing to override the hereditary common rights of the villagers. For instance, "The long custom of the tenants letting this land to the Town has misled them into an opinion that they have a right to it upon the terms now taken" (ibid: 74) Here he is referring to an area of common pasture to the south of the township in Thorndale. The agent seeks to introduce new crops into the agricultural system so making the land more productive, allowing higher rents to then be charged by the landowner.

This is an area of distant views across wide sweeps of rolling arable fields so characteristic of the eastern dip slope and in some contrast to the more varied and dissected interior of the Wolds, to the west and north. It is a very open township containing few plantations. This is an aspect of its character which has probably not changed since the medieval period for it is described thus in the eighteenth century, "The country is open, scarce a bush or tree appears for several miles". (Quoted in Cole 1894).

Some of the modern roads were in existence before enclosure but many were creations of this time as maps of the late eighteenth century, produced before enclosure, indicate (i.e. Jeffrey’s 1772). The road to Huggate was re-directed at 76

extent as in 1760 it is recorded as 108 acres (Harris 1951).

enclosure and now survives as a right of way along Harper/Middleham Dale. The north-south route across the township in the eighteenth century has now been lost altogether and this was probably the line of the Roman road to Malton (Margery 1955). Its line appears as a single linear cropmark on the RCHM plots (Stoertz 1997).

As well as specific pasture areas there are also recorded rights of pasture in the open fields whilst they are fallow or after harvest. As Harris describes these rights are complicated and well structured being organised around significant season-based feast days (1951). The restrictions are also strictly enforced. For instance, there is the example of a villager in 1705 who was fined for folding his sheep into the open field before the allotted post harvest date of Michaelmas Day (ibid).

At the time of enclosure there were four open fields in the parish. Three were situated around the village (north, west and south) whereas Holm Field lay to the west (Allison 1976; Enclosure plan). A reference from 1608 refers to the "3 fields of Wetwang", so it seems that the Holm Field was added after this date (Harris 1951). According to Harris there was probably one field lying fallow all the time. Hay would have been collected from balks and verges but still had to be brought in from Driffield to supplement this meagre harvest (Howorth 1980). Some enclosure field divisions recorded on OS maps recall, in plan, the furlong boundaries of the open fields (see maps i.e. at Long Blealands, Bottlands and West Field)

Water provision, both for animal and human use was also a problem, as again Lord Bathurst's agent remarks that livestock had to be driven three miles for water in dry summers when the rain fed pond dried up. The pond has at least been around since the fourteenth century, as a list of residents from 1303 mentions Laurentius atte Mar, translated as Laurentius of the pond (Cole 1894). In spite of the apparent simplicity of the township boundaries of Wetwang there is one example requiring investigation and explanation. At the head of Thorndale three township boundaries converge in a confusing dogleg pattern. The triangular piece of land so created is called "Old Wold" on the 1854 OS 6" and it is also at this point that a number of putatively early trackways converge, some following boundaries others not. Two later eighteenth century maps (Jeffrey’s 177two; Bowen 1750) record the pre-enclosure configuration which seems to be much simpler, signifying some alterations since the later eighteenth century. The primary lines are the east-west Green Lane and the northsouth long boundary forming a simple crossroads at this point. A piece of the woldland was probably given over to Wetwang at enclosure, dating from a time when boundaries here were not properly fixed. (See also Huggate discussion) It was also at this time that the old Roman road running past Old Wold was apparently lost.

Pastures and pasture rights are recorded remarkably well for Wetwang mainly because of the Bathurst account. Two areas are mentioned: Thorndale to the south of the township and a detached area of pasture known as ‘Wetwang Rakes’, located 3 miles to the west in Bishop Wilton parish (fig 91). Harris regards Thorndale as a recent (later eighteenth century) creation and yet there are still strong ties to be broken between the townsfolk and this area, which must have taken many years to establish (Cole 1894). Gorse was collected here as a right which the agent regarded as theft and other rights of pasture were rented from the landowner's tenants. The track out to this pasture survives in part as Thorndale Lane but it is only continued to the pasture itself as a right of way across arable fields. A traditional route, which may be based on the course of the former Roman road. There is unequivocal evidence that a new pasture was created in seventeenth century, but it is not necessarily that at Thorndale.

The case surrounding Holme Archiepiscopie also requires some discussion. It is mentioned by Beresford in his catalogue of lost villages in Yorkshire and by Cole in late nineteenth century (Beresford 1951-two; Cole 1894). There is no Domesday reference but Cole reckons that lands here were given before the Norman conquest to St.Peter's in York. Archbishop Thomas (died 1100 AD) granted the prebend of Holme to the Monastery of Hexham. Interestingly he is also the only landlord mentioned for Wetwang in Domesday Book, which suggests that Holme was included in the Wetwang assessment. In thirteenth century the prebend was re-acquired by York. A small place, in 1381 it returned 11 poll tax payers, but probably contained a manor house and chapel (Beresford 1951-two). An early seventeenth century reference records the continued recognition of the prebendcy still at this time but acknowledges the inclusion of the 'towne' within the parish of Wetwang (ibid). The 1854 OS 6" records the location of the site of the former village and Beresford refers to cropmarks here.

If some doubts surround the antiquity of Thorndale as a remnant of old pasture, then a much stronger case can be made for Wetwang Rakes. Here is an example of intercommoning in the medieval period, one of the very few recorded for the Wolds (Harris 1951; 1969; Cole 1894), between the inhabitants of Bishop Wilton township, on the one hand and the Lord of the Manor of Wetwang, on the other. Its use by Wetwang was not open to all inhabitants but was controlled by the lord. In addition to the Bathurst account it is mentioned in 1650 as "a poell of pasture.... lying within the common fields of Bishop Wilton" (quoted in Harris 1951). This is clearly an ancient situation, one preserved probably because of the need for pasture in this overwhelmingly arable township. Notably it is situated close to Garrowby top alongside several other important detached portions and pastures (see chapter six). Furthermore it is the northerly Green Lane which would give access to this pasture from Wetwang. A clear illustration of the usefulness and necessity of a droveway along the boundary, in cases such as this and of the inextricable link between pasture and the green lanes. A map of Wetwang Rakes survives from eighteenth century, showing a trackway which is now a right of way as well as multiple linear earthworks forming the eastern boundary of the unit. This is probably its former

Field names too in this vicinity acknowledge the former importance of the small township. Holm Field in Wetwang has already been mentioned but there is also Holm Mere and Holm Dale, just outside Wetwang in modern Huggate. As well, there are 12th century references to Middleholm (now Middleham, Huggate); Oxeholm (now Oxlands, Huggate); 77

where the coach road version of the Green Lane diverted off from its original line. In places, the boundary runs along the linear rather than the road showing the chronological primacy of the former over the latter feature (see chapter three). The western boundary is more complicated and interesting. The line is not sweeping or smooth but follows a series of adjoining linear earthworks, themselves following the valley of Bessingdale and Broad Dale. A strange kickback occurs above Fimber crossroads on the spur overlooking the convergence of two main valleys here. The line here follows the former cross roads (pre nineteenth century), itself following the line of complex multiple linear earthworks. From here, the boundary follows the road to Sledmere and then a series of dales and ridges to join the Towthorpe Ridgeway.

Kirkholmnab (unlocated but probably Wold Nab, Huggate) and Greneholm (unlocated but probably in Huggate) (EYC 1264-5). It is not clear whether these latter four names refer to the village or are merely regular uses of the generic holmr but they do cluster around the Huggate boundary with Wetwang at Holm Field. If Kirkholmnab is a name referring to the old village of Holm it may be giving us its original name of Kirkholm, suggesting an early church at this place. This would in some sense account for its peculiar ecclesiastical importance and long-lasting administrative autonomy.

SLEDMERE (2) AND CROOM (3) Civil Parish: Sledmere Ecclesiastical Parish: Sledmere with Croom

The northwest corner of the parish gives the impression of having some independent territorial integrity and may be another small hamlet, as yet unrecorded, but perhaps with the name of Maramatte. The territory also contained a Mill. The original line of the Croom-Sledmere boundary is not clear and a much more natural line would be that joining the Towthorpe Ridgeway to the Collingwood linear, possibly the line of the original ridgeway. In this way, the northwest corner would have been part of Croom township originally. Other strange features occur are at Collingwood Plantation where the township boundary follows the linear rather than the High Street; Warren Dale where the coach road and boundary diverge and, of course, Fimber cross-roads. The triangular effect at Canada Cottages is probably created by former roads becoming boundaries. This shape is familiar for converging roads but not for boundaries, unless they have been implanted upon existing roads.

Townships: Sledmere, Croom Wapentake: Buckrose Hundred: Thorshowe (Turbar?) (In Domesday Book, Ledemare is mentioned as an outlier of Fordon and part of Turbar hundred. Smith has attributed this place to Sledmere arguing that the letter ‘S’ was often lost in Anglo-Norman. This would split Sledmere between two hundreds as is the case with Elmswell. Nearby Garton is also a detached part of Turbar Hundred.) Croom is sokeland to Weaverthorpe and soke also to Buckton. Thorshowe is here referred to as wapentake not hundred. Located to the north of Wetwang, Sledmere is now one of the largest parishes in East Yorkshire (fig 87). The modern parish contains the old township of Croom, assessed separately in Domesday Book, and now evident from field names and the remains of a deserted village in the north of the parish (fig 92). In fact, the two medieval settlements were located fairly close to each other, unusual for this sparsely populated area. The parish is centred on the main Wolds eastwest watershed, the southern edge of the Great Wold Valley, at a point where this valley becomes more dissected. At Sledmere, several valley systems meet, some travelling south into Wetwang Slack and others running north down into the valley of the Gypsey Race. It is therefore sitting at an important natural crossroads, in a commanding position. Most of the territory within the former Sledmere township is south facing whilst that within Croom belongs, topographically, to the Gypsey Race valley (fig 88).

The medieval open fields are visible in the late eighteenth century estate maps and to some extent in field names from 1854 OS. At this time, the township of Sledmere seems to have contained 3 open fields: north-west around Maramatte, east around Sledmere Castle and south across Life Hill. The latter two may well originally have been one large open field but the name Sledmere Field on OS 6" only seems to apply to Life Hill. The Maramatte area bears the name West Field on 1854 OS and contains some clear furlongs on eighteenth century estate maps. Some of these furlong boundaries seem to have followed the lines of linear earthworks known from Life Hill, suggesting that the earthworks themselves may be of medieval origin (see chapter three). In Croom there was one open field seemingly surrounding the village and an area of woldland to north-east, now known as Croom Wold. There are also cultivation terraces by the old village, emphasising the lack of good level arable land in this small township. Sledmere township was large and by no means entirely arable, as in seventeenth century, it is noted by Henry Best of Elmswell, as one of the few places on the Wolds where pasture could be rented by those short of this commodity in other areas (Woodward/Best 1984). Pastures in Sledmere, in the eighteenth century, probably existed at the margins of the township around Triplescore Dale, Warren Farm and Flint Hill.

It is easier to look at the boundaries for the two townships separately, as there is much more unity within each township than for the parish as a whole. The boundary between Sledmere and Croom is only retrievable from the late eighteenth century estate maps (DDSY 106/27-29; DDSY 106/4; DDSY 106/7-12). It follows from the east, a linear earthwork the Great Wold Dyke, the main road, an old back lane to the north of Sledmere village (now gone) and Kirby Lane. The rest of Croom boundary is west to east, an arc following two small side valleys. Sledmere is bounded to the east by the sweeping lines of open field edge leading down into the bottom of Greenland Slack. The southern boundary is the Green Lane, the boundary following the linear earthwork in Warren Dale in the southeast corner. This is

There are few land grants available for this parish but a reference for 1649 records that one man Robert Taylor of Sledmere "...may peaceably have, hold and enjoy.... all lands, meadows, pastures, moors, commons and other 78

the great Sykes ancestors. This experience has been carefully managed and refined over the last 200 years. Such was the scale of the eighteenth and nineteenth century changes at Sledmere that it is difficult today to see even the medieval landscape, let alone anything earlier. Within the former township of Sledmere there are no rights of way at all, the park remaining a private place and the field name record from most of the parish is meagre, especially on the southern slopes around Life Hill, where the few names are of enclosure period.

hereditaments... lying and being in Sledmere” as well as "lands called Collingwood" and "Edgward Mere". This refers to the former land of Byland Abbey and the Monastery of Swine. (Descent of lands in Sledmere). Kirkham Priory and Bridlington Priory are also recorded as landlords here in fourteenth century (Bulmer 1892). The dominant landowning presence of ecclesiastical institutions and the evident extensive rights of pasture may recall a time when much of this land was in fact, pasture. The same document records the ecclesiastical dependency between Sledmere and Kirby Grindalythe, in that Sledmere was regarded as a chapelry of the latter parish and with it appropriated to the Priory of Kirkham (Bulmer 1892). Furthermore, the keys of the chapel were taken down to Grindalyth altar every St.Andrew's Day to express the dependency.

The major post-medieval changes took place during the late eighteenth and early/mid nineteenth century. Needless to say the enclosure of a large part of the Wolds was driven and directed from here. The Sykes family owned a great deal of land at this time and took to improving the "uncultivated waste" with a missionary zeal (fig 95). Their own back yard therefore had to reflect the significance of their achievement and their pre-eminence in wealth, influence and land. Accompanying the landscape alterations are a series of estate maps from late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries which illustrate the intended changes, as in new roads, plantations and farms, but also record the existing situation of open field furlong boundaries and the site of the former village. As well, there are general maps from the late eighteenth century onwards, which record the changing scene and enable each phase to be isolated and broadly dated (see above).

The place-name has been interpreted most recently by Gelling as an early Old English topographical name meaning "pool in the valleys", referring to the several "short deep valleys in the area"(Gelling forthcoming). Croom, she sees as an old English dative plural meaning "at the nooks" again referring to the convergence of the valleys at this place. Three ponds are recorded in eighteenth to nineteenth century maps: Church Pond, Ox pond and Skeandale Pond. The importance of the pond(s) for this place in the Middle Ages cannot be overstated and is affirmed by a 1303 reference, for here, to Martin Attemar (Cole 1894).

Several different features of the landscape were altered, in several phases. The early-mid eighteenth century saw the first house and a small landscaped park in front of it: a triangular shape fanning out from the house and framing a wider view to the south. This area was bordered by avenues of trees, recorded in 1910 map and in field names and farm names of today. In 177two, part of the old village was still present alongside this park, along with the old roads, several crossing the emparked area. Later in the eighteenth century plans were made for a more radical change. The park was then much enlarged, consuming the site of part of the village, so moving inhabitants to its north side and leaving the parish church isolated within the new parkland. The old triangle was naturalised, at this stage and the whole area dotted with elaborate curving plantations, all the way from the House to the southern edge of the parish on the Green Lane, the boundary with Wetwang. New farmhouses were also planned, dotted around amongst these plantations, as "eye catchers in the modified Capability Brown landscape.... Castle Farm, a gothic building by John Carr was the most elaborate of these and was placed to be visible from the library of Sykes' new house" (English 1991:). Their concern was with the aesthetics of their home landscape more than its economic potential, as they sought to create a pleasure ground, abounding with contemporary, elite cultural references.

More than any other featured township, the landscape around Sledmere went through enormous change during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Even after the massive alterations imposed by the Enclosure Commissioners, further changes took place here centred on the family seat of the Sykes at Sledmere House. The family had come here in 1748 and by 1880 had become the largest landowners of the East Riding (English 1990). Between them, father and son, Sir Christopher and Sir Tatton Sykes have become landowning legends, being held largely responsible for encouraging the "improvement" of the Wolds through Enclosure. The memorial to Sir Tatton Sykes (figs 94-5), in the village church, reads: " To the memory of Sir Tatton Sykes, fourth Baronet of Sledmere, born 1773, died 1863. He held the Sledmere Estate for forty years and completed the great work of his father Sir Christopher. Together they changed the Wolds of Yorkshire from an uncultivated waste into a model of fruitful husbandry. He was famous as an agriculturalist, as a master of hounds, as a breeder of horses and above all as a landlord whose lifelong care was the welfare of those who lived upon his estate. The Wolds are his memorial." Another, to Tatton's father, Christopher, is in the same vein, "Whoever now traverses the Wolds of Yorkshire and contrasts their present appearance with what they were, cannot but extol the name of Sykes" (Inscription in West Heslerton, quoted in, English 1991)

The road network around the village was radically re-routed at this time so that no public road should run through the park and in order to locate Sledmere village at the centre of the local road system. This was probably when public access to the parkland began to be denied. The new park was fitted within the symmetry of the new road scheme, itself a much larger version of the earlier south-facing triangle centred on the house and garden.

The legacy of this time is felt strongly in the modern landscape of Sledmere. It revolves around the house and parkland, but also features a model estate village and carefully re-directed roads, which take even the casual uninterested passer by on a scenic, drive past monuments to 79

privilege because of an aristocratic sense of natural hierarchy and because of the dutiful care taken of their tenants and estate workers.

The grand plan of the early nineteenth century, involving multiple plantations and new farms, seems to have been toned down later on as many, especially on Life Hill, have now gone. This has left only major plantations around the main road, house and Sledmere Castle whilst the Life Hill slopes are now open to the south. The "vision" achieved its most extensive expression in the early nineteenth century with the view from the House "managed" all the way south to the Green Lane and beyond, into Garton township (see below).

The old eighteenth century road from York to Bridlington ran along the southern edge of the parish as the Green Lane but had been superseded in status by the Fimber-SledmereBridlington High Street, at least by the late eighteenth century (Cary 1899). Improvement of the latter road involved the movement of cross-roads on the edge of the parish towards Fimber, which probably took place in the early nineteenth century. Traces of a north-south coach road can be seen on 1854 OS maps which approached the park from the south and which may have originally joined with the road to Kirby Grindalythe. (See Garton township). A Byland Abbey charter records the name Yorkestret at Sledmere for the thirteenth century, which could either be a reference to the Green Lane or the High Street.

Monuments were built amongst this landscape, an aspect which sets it apart most strikingly from the surrounding area. The castle, pavilion, monument and tower were part of the initial ideal and the larger park of the late eighteenth century. They were located within the park away from areas of public access, so could only be seen from a distance, creating a sense of mystery for those unable to enter and a feeling of privilege for those allowed to get close. In the nineteenth century, 3 more monuments were built. Two alongside the road as it passed through the village and the third, the enormous spire-like tribute to Sir Tatton Sykes crowning the ridge to the south of the Parish, mirroring perhaps the broad outlook and influence he held. It is towering and can be seen for miles, sitting as it does on a bleak and windy viewing spot, on the Green Lane and cutting the linear earthwork and Anglo-Saxon Cemetery (Mortimer 1905; C and E Grantham 1965) (fig 93-5). The main point about these 3 monuments though is that, unlike their romantic-aesthetic and concealed eighteenth century predecessors, they are accessible and not hidden away for private family amusement. They are public proclamations of Sykes wealth and power and attempt to illustrate the perceived close link between the Sykes and the local inhabitants. One, for instance was set up in memorial of those parishioners who died in WW1 under the banner of the Sykes inspired Waggoners Regiment. The difference between the rather aloof cultured refinement of eighteenth century gentry and the more solid paternalistic attitude of Victorian elite is clear in the changing fashions of this park.

The confluence of valleys at Sledmere had acted as a natural cross-roads for many centuries, as here a probable prehistoric Ridgeway passed by on its way from the Wold-edge, in the west to the east coast (Hayfield 1987; 1988 and chapter six). The exact line of this ancient route is much more difficult to trace within Sledmere parish than to east or west.

HUGGATE (4) Civil Parish: Huggate (includes Hawold) Ecclesiastical Parish: Huggate (includes Hawold) Township: Huggate (includes Hawold 1854 but Howard marked as separate township adjoining North Dalton in 1779 and Tibthorpe in 1794) Hundred: Warter Wapentake: Harthill (Wilton Beacon Division) Hawold is soke to the manor of Warter in the 12th century Huggate is another large high Wolds township. It reaches the steep western scarp-edge of the Wolds above Millington and rises to above 200m OD in the most westerly parts, where the landscape is dissected by numerous steep-sided dry valleys. The south-eastern corner of the parish is more sweeping with shallow rolling valley slopes (fig 88). The village lies in a sheltered position in a low pass between the heads of two valley networks. One leading north-east to Wetwang and the other south to Warter and the western Wold-edge. The third system of steep dales lies in the north-west corner and, from here, runs down into Millington. The land between the heads of these 3 valleys acts as a natural land bridge and has always been a strategically important route for anyone crossing the Wolds from east to west. The place-name Huggate, interpreted as 'pass to the mounds' (Smith 1937), seems to reflect this. The village is fairly large and appears to have originally been made up of two settlement foci (OS 1910 25"), separated by a large green, containing the village pond and a well, 339 ft deep. Housing has encroached upon the green in this century, now combining the two areas. There are 4 farms within the modern village, all still in operation, which is somewhat unusual for this area where most are outside the villages, and it may preserve vestiges of the pre-enclosure situation.

A highly symbolic landscape was created, reflecting the relationship between landowner and tenant, landscape and history, or at least how this was perceived by the Sykes. Their tendency to re-write History has already been illustrated by the suggestion on Tatton's memorial that the Wolds were an uncultivated waste before Enclosure, an exaggeration at best. The landscape too was re-invented in the late eighteenth century but in so doing it was intended to look natural. Its plantations were laid out with irregular random lines, overriding the geometry of the first park and plantations and fields were re-named to suit the new land-uses. In effecting such a radical change, though, the "artificial" and contrived character of this landscape becomes much more apparent because its roots towards tradition and history are very shallow. It has not developed gradually or organically, through seasonal and annual rhythms but has been designed under agreement and planning by people whose specific world view placed themselves at the top of the social and economic ladder. The grandeur and sublime elegance of Sledmere park reflects this view of themselves as cultured, refined and privileged amongst ruder surroundings. It physically separates the house and family from the mass of the agricultural work force, their hard work and muddy fields and boots. Nonetheless they felt justified in exercising such

Its boundaries again follow a combination of dale-sides and 80

pasture. For some reason they were not turned into straight level and uniform enclosure roads in 1773. Away from the village, their modern line is not physically obvious today but is preserved as a right of way.

bottoms, open field boundaries (always north-south), linear earthworks and long distance east-west trackways. In this case, the Sledmere Green Lane to the north and the Hawold Bridle Track to the south. Western boundaries are steep dalesides, the multiple earthworks of Huggate Dykes leading to a road /linear in the north west corner. Eastern boundaries are open field edge and dale-side (fig 96).

There are two open fields recorded in the Enclosure Bill of 1773 (North Field and South Field) worked under a then archaic two field rotation (Harris 1951). The fact that one of the open fields was constantly lying fallow again reinforces Huggate's pastoral emphasis in the medieval period. Field names on 1854 OS mention a West Field which probably originally formed part of the South Field, only later becoming separate. Distinctive curving furlong boundaries have been preserved in the enclosure field pattern to the south and north of the village, making it possible to more or less locate the two fields with the aid of 1854 field names.

Although enclosure here was as thorough and radical as any other Wolds parish, it did allow for the survival of many lengths of public right of way and for the memory of many field names recorded on 1854 OS. There is no surviving enclosure plan but an award of 1773 and a bill of 1767 do exist (English 1985). The significant aspect of the medieval agricultural landscape of Huggate is the importance of its pasture provision, unusual in other Wolds townships. There are 3 pastures recorded in the Enclosure Bill: Huggate Tongue, Oxpasture and Cow Pasture (Harris 1951). They carry a complex series of rights and obligations, which restrict their use to specific seasonal periods (based on old festivals), specific types of livestock (beast, sheep, calf, horse, cow) and particular groups of people (i.e. ox gang holders, cottagers, commoners). Pasture rights also existed for the open field fallow, the whole system obviously having been worked out over centuries. Similar common rights are mentioned in 1twoth and thirteenth century grants, which show that rights of common in the open fields and in specialised pastures were held by owners of carucates, in much the same way as the eighteenth (EYC 1243; 1255). Huggate Tongue, in particular carried especially ancient rights based on the old festivals of Lady Day and Michaelmas (Harris 1951). Cattle and sheep were obviously very important in this township and had been for some time before the post-medieval "return of the flocks" (see. Fox 1989).

The late eighteenth century maps by Jeffrey’s (1772) and Bowen (1750) help to identify the pre-enclosure road pattern and show that there were two main alterations made to major routes at enclosure. The road connecting Huggate to Wetwang was moved from its original dale bottom route to cross the high wold land between Aunham and Rabbit Dale. The former line is preserved today as a right of way, parallel to a surviving length of linear earthwork, 40m away, which may be a hollow way from this route. There was another route leading east along Aunham Dale again recorded on Jeffrey’s but also still a minor road in 1854. This route, now gone but with a shadow right of way to the south, lines up with the Green Lane along the southern boundary of Wetwang to the east (see above) and would have continued into the village and up out of the township along York Lane to the north-west. The chronological primacy of its line compared to modern roads and other boundaries is clear at Foxcovert Farm. This was an old and long distance trackway passing through the strategic shoulder of land between dale heads once crossed by Huggate Dykes. It is continued up to Garrowby Top and the Sledmere Green Lane by linears and lengths of township boundary. It has the strongest case of any other route here to be the original "road/pass to the mounds" recorded in the place-name and probably pre-dates the village itself. A late thirteenth century reference mentions a "via regia" in Huggate (Smith 1937), which may refer to this road, underlining its extra-parochial significance. The long thin tapering shape of the North-west corner of the township is caused by the fact that the boundaries follow the lines of two converging roads, the Sledmere Green Lane and this route mentioned above. A similar situation exists where the Huggate boundary meets that for Fridaythorpe, where again two roads converged.

The lack of a plan to accompany the Enclosure Award makes the precise location of these pastures somewhat difficult to trace. Huggate Tongue is no problem as it is recorded on a map of Wetwang Rakes and occupied the township's northwest corner, the highest ground in the parish and well suited for the exclusive use of sheep. Huggate Wold lies to the east of this and Huggate Pasture in the south west corner, both recorded on 1854 OS. These respectively are probably the sites of Oxpasture and Cowpasture, both high exposed ground on the edge of the township. Incidentally, just to the north of Huggate Wold, over in Fridaythorpe township is the field name, Cowpasture and the name Cowpasture Lane. Not surprisingly, the pastures on Huggate Wold and Huggate Pasture see the biggest concentrations of barrows surviving as earthworks on the 1854 OS.

The southern boundary of Huggate is one of the few marked with boundary stones, apparently set up in 1746 to mark the boundary of Warter township, some of which still survive. The need for 37 stones to establish a fairly short stretch of boundary may have followed a dispute over its course and at least serves to emphasise the late fixedness of the boundary here before it could be plotted on detailed maps. Hawold was a separate manor at Domesday and is also recorded as a township on the North Dalton and Tibthorpe Enclosure Plans, separate from Huggate. All the later eighteenth century maps record it as a hamlet within the parish of Huggate and field names on 1854 OS contain the name Hawold. It also notes the presence of earthworks around the nineteenth

The western side of the township then, was given over to pasture in the medieval period with a probable smaller addition on the slopes of Rabbit and Oxlands dale in the centre between the North and South Open Fields. These pastures are close to other specialised pastures; some detached from their associated townships, such as Greenwick and Wetwang Rakes, immediately to the west (see chapter six). Leading north out of the village are two distinctively wide, winding and sunken lanes, which probably served as driveways taking livestock past the open field out into the 81

village (EYC 1264). Close by today there is a small underground reservoir. Likewise, the names Bennidale Holes and Silfburndale may refer to springs and a stream respectively, now lost due to the lowering of the water table in the past 150 years.

century farm, which have been seen as remains of a monastic grange (Loughlin and Miller 1979). Although, Loughlin and Miller see it as the site of North Dalton Grange, which is known to have belonged to Meaux Abbey (Alison 1976), it is more likely to be a separate establishment altogether as all surviving grants relate it to Watton Priory (EYC). In fact Kelly's Directory of 187two declares that, it was originally a grange under the Abbey of Watton and is exempt from tithes". In 1892, Bulmer's Directory mentions Hawold as, "...an estate of 1050 acres belonging to Sir Charles Anderson Bart and forming a separate manor." There is a strong case for seeing Hawold as a separate township in the medieval period but one whose links to Huggate were close, gradually becoming part of its jurisdiction, but outside its ecclesiastical patronage. Various twelth century and thirteenth century grants mention Hawold or Houwald as a separate place but others equally treat it as part of Huggate. For instance, in 1154, 3 carucates "in territorio Houwald" were granted to the nuns of Watton Priory (EYC 1095); in 1163, a grant ofonecarucate in Howald carried with it the right of common pasture in Huggate (EYC 158), suggesting close tenurial links between the two territories. To see Hawold as the site of a grange belonging to Watton Priory would explain its long-held territorial integrity and the large numbers of grants of pasture land in Huggate to Watton. Furthermore, the place name Aunham, found here, is probably derived from Old English Ofnam, meaning intake and often associated with the marginal land given to monastic granges (Allison 1976).

FRIDAYTHORPE (5) Civil Parish: Fridaythorpe Ecclesiastical Parish: Fridaythorpe (Prebendary of Wetwang in York Cathedral) Township: Fridaythorpe Sokelands of 1.5 carucates to Bishop Wilton and 5 carucates to Thixendale Wapentake: Buckrose Hundred: Acklam Fridaythorpe is a small township in the heart of the high western Wolds, surrounded by steep dry valleys. The village is situated between the heads of two different dry valley systems, on the watershed at another important land bridge, strategic for crossing the Wolds. A number of mainly local modern roads radiate from the village and it lies on a main road which was probably another early trackway taking advantage of the gap between the steep valleys at this point (fig 88). The boundaries in the south western corner are formed by the convergence of this road with the Sledmere Green Lane, itself forming the southern boundary in its entirety. Here, the Green lane is marked on the OS 1854 as York Road, signifying the memory of its earlier long distance perspective (fig 97). The two roads join/diverge here in order to share the crossing of the land bridge at Fridaythorpe Cow Pasture. On the east the boundary lies along the edge of the old open field. Notably its gradually curving line is not strictly followed by the closest enclosure field boundary which stubbornly adopts a dead straight course. There is also a linear earthwork recorded along the original line of the township boundary here. The northern boundary follows a more intricate course, crossing a dry valley along the massive linear earthworks at Fimber Westfield and then heading west along the ridge at Lady Graves. The western boundary follows the bottom of a dale, subsidiary to the main Thixendale-Fimber valley.

The southern boundary of Hawold is no doubt that of the Hawold Bridle Track, another long distance route way, eastwest across the Wolds. Originally, it probably ran through the nineteenth century farm site, along the track recorded on 1854 OS and still partially preserved as a hollow way today (Jeffrey’s 1772). The northern and western boundaries are not so clear but seem to have run along the Aunhamdale track/ Green Lane, mentioned above and a continuation of a long open field boundary from the south, which lies on another ancient trackway located on the north-south Wolds watershed. This makes for a very small territory. Like many other parts of the Wolds, the twelth and thirteenth century charters tend to record the granting of land which is situated away from the village and township core. It was probably open pasture-land being colonised and taken into cultivation. A grant from 1200, talks about land " in waldo versus Fridatorp" and other land "versus Wilton" (EYC 1264). The use of this term meaning "towards" suggests that there are no permanently fixed boundaries here, but a general open buffer zone between the neighbouring townships. Another reference records the grant of land ". Upon the new improvement of the wald in Huggate" (EYC 1263), again suggesting the intake of new land from the open Wolds.

There may have been up to 4 open fields in this township as there is place name evidence for East, North, West and Fridaythorpe Fields. They each fit neatly between the roads that converge on the village. Some trace of the furlong boundaries has survived in the enclosure land division and this is especially obvious on 1854 OS. Most of the township was under arable in the medieval period, with small portions of specialised pasture in the north at Lady Graves and in the south at Cowpasture (Allison 1976). Here, there was also a pond, Holm Mere, half within the township and half in Huggate. The two dales of Rain Dale and Wan Dale would have also provided pasture as well as a route north to Lady Graves and Fimber. In Rain Dale there was probably a spring as it is recorded on 1854 OS as Ray Hole. The Lady Graves area and the two dales contain extant linear earthworks, a function of their use as pasture both before and after enclosure. The farm which occupies this land, at present, was

In the medieval period the main water provision for Huggate probably came from the village pond and well, as well as the common practice of collecting rainwater in butts (Harris 1969). There are also hints of other lost water sources preserved only by place names. Waterman Hole is probably referred to in a grant of thirteenth century by the name "Waterinar" and would have been a spring, notably located on the boundary with Greenwick, in the heart of the pasture zone and alongside the early road that passed through the 82

north-east; Ridgeway and watershed on the north.

a later, post-enclosure (after 1854) creation and situated on formerly little used land. The pre-enclosure road north is probably recorded on the plan and shows that the modern Church Lane was laid out at enclosure, as was Cowpasture Lane. There was a further road north before enclosure along Rain Dale, a road that joined with a minor sunken road in Fimber and then ran on to Towthorpe and Sledmere. It appears that Warburton records this route as the main route from Fridaythorpe to Sledmere in the early nineteenth century, as his road passes through Foulthorp (Towthorpe).

Gelling sees Fimber as one of the few early Anglian topographical names on the Wolds, dating from at least the seventh century AD and meaning “pool by the wood-pile” or “woodpecker pool” (Gelling forthcoming). Smith had it as "pool by the rough grass" deriving from an OScand mar for pool rather than an OE version (Smith 1937). Towthorpe is Tovetorp in Domesday Book and derives from Old Danish Tove's village (ibid). Enclosure took place in Fimber between 1803 and 1806, as part of Wetwang parish and at this time, there were already some closes surrounding the village. Reconstructing the open fields is not straightforward but there seems to have been two main open fields, Fimber Field in the south of the township and North Field. Certainly the township was predominantly arable (Allison 1976) with only small areas of pasture, probably at The Pastures, now West Field Farm and at Fimber Ling in the north-west. An annotated OS map in the Mortimer archive marks a Green Lane as having crossed the former pasture zone, before the modern farm, Westfield was built. Likewise, the open pasture character of Fimber Ling is shown by the late formalisation of the boundary here, shown in the nineteenth century, as a curving sod wall, a line strong enough to have been picked up as a cropmark and shown on the RCHM plots (Stoertz 1997). The edge of the open field here is probably the line that now runs through Fimber Ling Farm as a track. It is adjacent to these two pasture zones that the township boundaries are more intricate, probably as a result of their late formalisation. An acknowledgement of the more informal tenure which seems to have survived late in pasture areas. Linear earthworks have survived well at Westfield on steep dale-sides but elsewhere, in the township, have now been levelled, probably only during the last 100 years (fig 26-7). The very large multiple works to the north of the village may have acted as a balk/track within the North Field (see chapter three).

As well as the spring(s), in Rain Dale, there were two large ponds in the village centre, both likely to be natural as they lie in an area of naturally occurring clay (Hayfield and Wagner 1995). They formed an important source of water into the eighteenth century, as is evident from the story of the battle between Fridaythorpe and Fimber over water, featured in the recollections of Mortimer's boyhood (Hicks 1978).

FIMBER (6) AND TOWTHORPE (7) Civil Parish: Fimber (includes Towthorpe) Ecclesiastical Parish: Wetwang (includes Fimber as chapelry) Wharram Percy (includes Towthorpe) Township: Fimber, Towthorpe Wapentake: Buckrose In a way, it makes sense to treat Fimber and Towthorpe together. They are similar small townships, topographically defined and bounded and today, together form one civil parish. Fimber is centred on the valley from Wetwang to Burdale and particularly where it splits to head up towards Sledmere. It also includes segments of higher wold land to the south and north of this valley, up to the watershed. The boundaries are mainly long and sweeping, but with notable examples of more intricate stretches where they have probably been altered or fixed at a relatively late date (fig 88). The southern boundary is the Sledmere Green Lane. To the west, it follows the open field boundary with a short length along the Westfield linears, where a small subsidiary valley has to be crossed in order to follow the watershed of the main valley. The northern boundary is more complex and demonstrably late (fig 98). It is marked on Robert Mortimer's map of the area as a sod wall which winds approximately along its present course (R.Mortimer 1886 (YAS library 96B29); Harris 1969). Now it is a straight line, presumably formalised when this marginal area of the township was brought under cultivation, late in the nineteenth century. The eastern boundary runs for the most part along the B1248 main road, which is a strong candidate for a Roman road (Hayfield 1988). In the south-east corner the township boundary follows linear earthworks along the side of the Wetwang-Fimber valley.

The road system within the township has changed a great deal within the last 150 years, since enclosure. Warburton's map does not mention Fimber but records a through route from Fridaythorpe to Sledmere passing through Foulthorp, probably Towthorpe. This may be a continuation of the existing Fimber-Towthorpe road, which is clearly preenclosure in origin. The main road through the village also has pretensions to be an early route and is a candidate, in early sources for a Roman road (Cole 1899; Margery 1955). However, it clearly post-dates ridge and furrow at one of the few places where it survives extant and, at this point at least, the road cannot be pre- medieval (see chapter three). In fact this particular stretch is probably early nineteenth century, contemporary with the moving of the cross-roads, something which takes place between 1806 and 1823, maybe at or immediately after enclosure (see Sledmere profile) (figs 50, 5two, 100, 135). The pre-enclosure line was a coach road, which can be clearly seen to have cut across medieval ridge and furrow. This road, now visible only as a soilmark, was probably laid out in the seventeenth or eighteenth century. Locating the medieval road east is, therefore, a problem and it may have actually run along the multiple earthworks to the north of the village.

Towthorpe township is based around a subsidiary valley of the main Fimber-Sledmere valley. Its boundaries are therefore normally watershed ones, the whole territory being a natural topographic unit except for the north-east corner which has somehow been carved up and taken into Sledmere. Its boundaries are: the B1248 on the west; the road along York Dale on the south-east; small dales and ridge on the

A right of way survives connecting the village to Wetwang, a 83

landscape changes of that age.

path which is recorded in 1854 as Kirkgate. Presumably, it acted as a way of getting to church in Wetwang when the Fimber church was derelict, until it was rebuilt in late nineteenth century. The original was a Norman construction, as traces of the stonework are mentioned in various sources and a photograph of the ruin can be seen in the existing church. According to Mortimer, there was a wooden predecessor to the Norman church here which is situated on top of a Bronze Age barrow (Mortimer 1888).

Again it seems sensible to treat these two townships together as they share very similar histories and are now part of one parish (fig 88). The two townships form a territory which is topographically based, on a dry valley system. The boundaries on the whole follow the watersheds to this system, on the east and north at least (fig 101). Segments of dale and Wold land on the western side are not included within the township and here the boundaries follow dale bottoms. Boundaries then follow trackways on the northern ridge (High Street), open field boundaries on the east and north west and elsewhere, dale bottom tracks. The boundary separating the two townships, which was also the boundary between Buckrose and Dickering Wapentakes, is the bottom of the main dale, splitting the system in two and now a right of way. The two villages are deserted, their former sites occupied by earthworks and farms, as well as in each case a nineteenth church with Norman font from its predecessor. The excavations of part of Cowlam DMV, by Brewster, were published in 1988 by Colin Hayfield who argued that the site was depopulated in the late seventeenth century, its population having gradually dwindled down to nothing (Hayfield 1988; Beresford 1955). Both villages are situated at the heads of small dales and alongside north-south tracks from Driffield to the Gypsey Race valley.

The village is located on a low ridge where the main valley splits, so overlooks the lower dale bottoms to either side. This eminence is called Hanging Hill on the 1854 OS. The centre of the village contained two large ponds, High and Low Mere, where now only one survives (fig 5,101). They are both probably natural, situated as they are on a clay outcrop (Hayfield and Wagner 1995). These meres were the main source of water for the medieval village forcing farmers to drive livestock outside the township for water in dry summers. A draw well is marked on the 1854 OS. Towthorpe is a Deserted medieval Village, now the site of a farm but the old village earthworks have not been ploughed away. Still containing 30 occupants in the sixteenth century, there were only two farms here by 1821. (Beresford and Hurst 1990). As a result, the former open field arable was converted into pasture in the post-medieval period forming a warren and sheepwalk in the northern part of the township. The open field lay to the south. As mentioned above, a former road ran through the township linking it to Sledmere and Fridaythorpe respectively.

In the north-east corner of the parish there appears to have been another much smaller township/hamlet, called Burrow or Borough. Its boundaries are known from the OS 1854, when its area, as a separate township, was included within Cowlam parish. The name is first recorded in 1285 (Smith 1937) and still survives today in Borough Nook and Borough House. According to Hayfield, this area, "...probably formed a separate estate at some time in the past, ...but it is uncertain what, if any, autonomy Burrow held within the Middle Ages." (Hayfield 1988:24). Teesdale's map of 1828 records it as a separate township with distinct boundaries, as does the Enclosure Plan for Cottam of 1848, but it is a small territory with no recognisable village focus. The earliest form of the name, Burrehou, recalls other early territorial names as Houwald and Hornhouwald in its use of the hou element, and in that respect it may have been the name for a once larger area, now restricted to one small vestige of its former extent as surrounding townships have encroached onto its common lands (see chapter six). There is a high degree of preservation of earthworks, old roads and barrows in the Burrow territory of 1854. The burre element remains unresolved, as to its etymology, but may derive from beorg, OE for hill, an uncommon element in this area. The resulting name, Burrow would, therefore be loosely tautological, as the second element is the Scandinavian, haugr, meaning hill or barrow.

COTTAM (8) AND COWLAM (9) BURROW (10) Ecclesiastical Parish: Cowlam; Langtoft (includes Cottam as chapelry) Civil Parish: Cottam (includes Cowlam) Townships: Cottam, Cowlam, (Burrow?) Cowlam Hundred: Thorshowe Wapentake: Buckrose soke to Weaverthorpe (0.5 carucates and church) soke to Buckton (5 carucates) Cottam Hundred: Thorshowe

There are records of inhabitants at Cowlam until the late seventeenth century, when only a parson and two shepherds remained into the eighteenth (Neave 1991). Hayfield suggests that the desertion occurred within a short space of time between 1674 and 1680, through agreement amongst the tenants to consolidate the holdings under one individual family. Neave on the other hand, prefers to see the depopulation as having taken place over decades rather than years and for the landlord to have been the prime mover behind any engrossment of holdings here. Whatever the reason, by the eighteenth century, the township had become

Wapentake: Dickering Both exposed and open high Wolds townships, Cottam and Cowlam are situated just south of the southern watershed of the Great Wold Valley. Their apparent bleakness is exacerbated by the lack of habitation here in recent centuries and accordingly the area has a deserted feel to it, devoid not just of people but of other obvious signs of a settlement history such as mature trees, old enclosures and sunken worn tracks. More than any, it is Wolds townships such as these, deserted in the Post-medieval period, that display the radical 84

route is also east-west and runs along the northern boundary of Cowlam, the High Street. This route is a strong candidate as a prehistoric Ridgeway, lined as it is by barrows (Cole 1899; Hayfield 1988) (see chapter seven).

depopulated and turned over to sheep pasture and a shortlived rabbit warren. Later, in the early nineteenth century new farms were built away from the old village site when the township was fully enclosed and reverted back to arable predominance. The tithes were commuted here in 1844.

In Cowlam, the northern boundary comes off this road and follows a linear earthwork to the north and then west. This is the main Great Wold Dyke. The way that this linear carries on southwards does suggest a small bite size estate in the north-west corner of Cowlam township, which is filled with large barrows from both the Neolithic and Bronze Age, in a very similar way to the small territory known as Burrow, half a mile to the east. Kemp Howe was reused for Anglo-Saxon inhumations and there are also Iron Age square barrows close by (Loughlin and Miller 1979). This phenomenon whereby places such as this are persistently used for barrow building and burial, in different periods separated by centuries, will be looked at in more detail in chapter seven.

Cottam was apparently depopulated in the early eighteenth century, another late desertion and soon turned over to sheepwalk and a rabbit warren which occupied a large part of the south of the Parish, as it is recorded on Teesdale's map of 1828 . The estate was enclosed and new farms built from 1846, an act which must have spelt the end of the warren, but which preserved it in name only as Cottam Warren Farm. Earthworks from both village sites survived intact into the middle of this century when they were ploughed out, now visible only as soil marks. Their layouts are clear and both look as if they have been planned, in Cowlam's case originally as a two row village, with a third added later to form a T shape (Hayfield 1988). It is more difficult to identify former open fields in depopulated townships because they had been out of use and recognition for some time, before tithe or enclosure records were kept. In Cowlam there may well have been two, east and west field either side of the north-south road, which seem to be preserved in later, nineteenth century field names. They were still in existence in seventeenth century, as a disagreement over tithes includes the reference, ". New sown and growing upon an oxgang of land...in the Towne fields of Collom". (Quoted in Hayfield 1988). For Cottam, there is mention of Cottam Field on 1854 OS, but the location of other fields is not certain. In both townships some of the long north-south boundaries and tracks preserve the flowing line of the open field furlongs, showing at least that the fields were large and once extended as far as the boundaries of the townships.

GARTON ON THE WOLDS (11) Ecclesiastical Parish: Garton Township: Garton Civil Parish: Garton Hundred: Turbar Wapentake: Dickering Garton is a "blocky" township, on the eastern edge of the Wolds, lying amidst the rolling landscape of the broad valleys found here. Views are distant, trees are scarce, arable land is predominant and the skies are big. It is in this respect very similar to its western neighbour Wetwang. The east-west Wetwang-Garton Slack runs across the south side of the township, most of the land here being the south facing slopes of the valley side (fig 88).

The nineteenth century estate and enclosure maps from Cottam record a north-south trackway running through the old village which is now gone but would have served as route between Driffield and Burrow on the High Street Ridgeway, where it bent left along a Green Lane to join the road to Luttons. Likewise, in Cowlam is a major north-south route linking Driffield to Luttons in Gypsey Race Valley and West Heslerton, in the Vale of Pickering. As it leaves Driffield, the feeder road for these two is known as Spellowgate, from the word Spell-how meaning moot or trial mound, common hundredal meeting places. It may have been heading for one of the large barrows on the ridge above Cowlam at Kemp Howe or Willy Howe, or alternatively towards Burrow (but see Elmswell below). There is a record of a beacon in Cowlam, probably on the high ground by Willy Howe and Kemp Howe, into the nineteenth century, which could be seen as far away as Staxton and Settrington (Nicholson 1888).

The northern boundary runs obliquely up the slopes of the valley side along the Sledmere Green Lane and earthwork to the watershed at the Sykes Monument at the head of Warren Dale. From here it follows this dale and a linear earthwork, probably along the original line of the trackway (the later coach road branches off the earthwork here in a more northerly direction). Warren Dale is the only steeply incised dry valley in the township. The southern boundary too follows a Green Lane, again a probable ancient way, but not, as suggested in Victoria County History, a coach road (see below). Both boundaries follow linear earthworks which were used as cemeteries in the Anglo-Saxon period (Mortimer 1905; Lucy 1992). The eastern and western boundaries are both apparently the edges of open field: direct and gradually curving lines which strike out across uncluttered landscape. Again we have a township bounded on the south and north by trackways and on the east and west by open field edges, creating a regular square-shaped territory.

Running east-west across Cottam Warren is the continuation of York-Bridlington coach road, which joins to the west, the Sledmere Green Lane. This stretch seems to have been laid out as a coach road along with stretches of the Kilham Woldgate to the east, probably during the seventeenth century. Clearly it could travel in a direct unfettered line across the landscape at this time, but nowadays is preserved merely as a very straight field boundary. The other main

The township was enclosed in 1774, after which 4 farms were built outside the village. Despite the lack of a surviving plan to accompany the award it is possible to identify the 3 open fields from the OS 1854 map (fig 102). The township was predominantly arable in the Middle Ages with very few recorded pasture areas. There are, however, eighteenth century records of an infield-outfield system to allow for this 85

paucity (Harris 1969). The south-western and north-eastern corners of the township were probably considered outfield, and in some centuries, permanent pasture, as is clear from place-names and in the case of Garton Wold, the arrangement of the field boundaries. The furlong boundaries of the North Field have been preserved in modern field boundaries but these do not extend to the edge of the township to include Garton Wold, where blocky more typical enclosure fields occur. The east-west road from the village to Wetwang was diverted at enclosure and now takes a more northerly line (Jeffrey’s 177two). The main road through the village to Sledmere was already in existence but was probably straightened and widened at enclosure. It is recorded as Gartongate in 1336 (Smith 1937).

Township: Warter Civil Parish: Warter Hundred: Warter Wapentake: Harthill (Bainton Beacon division) Berewicks of Warter: Harswell, Torp, Nunburnholme Sokelands of Warter: Duggleby, Turodebi? Hotham, Seaton Ross, Lockington, Kiplincotes, Thoralby, Hawold (twelth century) Warter is a large township on the western edge of the Wolds and contains high and dry Wold land, dry valleys and some wet land on the western Wold escarpment, which acts as a boundary in some places (fig 88). It is one of the few townships under study which has easy access to springs and streams and there is also record of a mill here and a pond in the village centre known as Bucksey. Most of the township, however, does lie on the Wolds, centred as it is on a system of dry valleys. The system has 3 main branches which are contained within the township boundaries. The valley runs south-west off the Wolds and into the flat clay vale at Nunburnholme and Burnby, both named after the stream. Despite this concern with the novelty of water, the place itself does not seem to have been named after its proximity to streams and springs. It is seen by Smith to have come from OE wearg, felon and treow, tree, meaning a gallows-tree (Smith 1937).

There is also record of a coach road running along the western boundary on its way from Bainton in the south, to Sledmere (OS 1854). It is now preserved as a right of way, as far as the boundaries of Sledmere at least, where public footpaths are in short supply. The western part of the township was littered with plantations in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, many laid under the ownership and guidance of Christopher Sykes (Alison 1974; English 1991). This was part of his grand plan to create a great approach along the coach road to the estate and house at Sledmere. It was with the aesthetic experience of this journey from Beverley, that he was concerned when creating the plantations in this area. Most have now gone along with the road. As English writes, ". (In Garton) his stated aim was not agricultural improvement but to make a 'ride towards Beverley 6 miles through my own grounds' planting the whole way as an approach to Sledmere House." (English 1991). By the mid nineteenth century, under Tatton Sykes, the main approaches had been directed away from the actual parkland and instead skirted its western and eastern sides. Tatton Sykes was also involved in renovating the church at Garton, whose interior was adorned with murals in a bold and garish Victorian palette. In commissioning some of the foremost church architects and artists of the day he was using these cultural and artistic signals to further reinforce the position of his family and Sledmere at the pinnacle of East Yorkshire society.

As with Huggate, the western boundaries of Warter, lying off the Wolds, behave differently from those, which face north, south-east and east (fig 103). The Wold boundaries here are direct and sweeping, in contrast to the intricate and winding path of those on the western Wold-edge. Northern and eastern edges of the township are defined by the watersheds of the dry valley network, boundaries following major, probably ancient, ridgeways. The uniformity of the topographic unit is broken in the south west where the boundary winds around streams, early enclosure and lanes to avoid the lands of neighbouring Nunburnholme. The south east piece of boundary follows another east-west trackway across the Wolds. The western boundary begins as a ridgeline in the south, along the top of the escarpment, but then leaves this natural barrier and again drops down into the valley bottom to follow streams, lanes and linear earthworks. Only in the north-east of the township does the landscape share the bleakness and openness of much of the rest of the Wolds. Elsewhere, it is broken and sheltered by numerous large and small dry valleys, giving it a more pastoral, varied and greener feel than the eastern Wolds.

The place-name in Domesday Book is recorded as Gartun and translated by Smith as deriving from Gara and tun meaning farmstead at the triangular piece of land, probably that caused by the meeting of two roads. A thirteenth century reference mentions Garton in waldo and one of 14C Garton super waldas (Smith 1937). The southern Green Lane boundary is important for a number of reasons. A large number of prehistoric and early medieval burials are concentrated here, along this line, but in addition there is the East Riding meeting place at Craike Hill (Crakhou), just across the boundary in Kirkburn, alongside this track. In this light, the two un-provenanced field names of Howdale, Howdale Hole and East and west Crackendale are significant (Descent of Lands in Garton). The importance of the relationship between Anglo-Saxon burials and these two boundaries will be discussed in the following chapter and the long term importance of these lines in chapter seven.

The village has reduced in size since the late seventeenth century, losing perhaps half its households in the eighteenth (Neave 1990). A map of 1744 by Haynes shows the village as made up of two parts, High and Low Warter. It was replanned as an estate village in the late nineteenth century, the Hall and park lying to the south-west. The house was demolished in 1972, but its surroundings remain as parkland. To the north of the village, lie the earthwork remains of an Augustinian Priory, established in 113two, very close to the existing parish church. It may be the close involvement of this religious order with the lands here that has led to the remarkable record of pre-enclosure field names, in contrast to

WARTER (12) Ecclesiastical parish: Warter 86

Warter Wold (ibid). Linghowes and Middleton Howes are not recorded in the Middle Ages and so are more likely to refer to barrows than any other meaning suggested for names in howe (see chapter six). Morris gives a further list of Warter names and adds High Howe Hill/ Low Howe Hill to our collection of howe names along with some other more remote possibilities (Morris 1898). It is also names in dun that catch the eye in Warter. Dearsden, Carden and Yeadon are all recorded in twelth century and derive from dun, another form for hill (Smith 1937). Here in Warter, the tendency has survived to give a specific name to each feature or area, along with a close-grained description of its topographic character. A tradition which must have once been more prevalent in other townships and which recalls the pre-Norman situation where, "people (were) in possession of a vast and subtle topographical vocabulary, using certain items rather than others because of what Stenton called 'their remarkable sensitivity to diversities of ground' " (Gelling 1984:7). As we will see in the following chapters this sensitivity and awareness of topography has not only influenced the naming of the landscape.

many of its eastern and northern neighbours (Smith 1937; Morris 1898). Enclosure seems to have taken place in the 1790s beginning with an agreement to divide the open fields in 1791, followed by an Act of Parliament in 1794 to allot roads and improve lands (Neave 1990; English 1985). The lack of an Enclosure Plan makes it difficult to locate the open fields but some field names do survive on 1854 OS, which presumably belonged to bundles of strips or furlongs within the open field (i.e. Longlands, Huggate Heads, Ringlands, etc.). At the time of enclosure there were also areas of sheepwalk on the higher ground, but most of the township would have been under arable cultivation in common. The road network in the south of the township was re-organised at enclosure, the earlier roads visible on Jeffrey's map of 1771. The main routes out of the village were straightened but retained, on the whole. The road running north-west out of the village is generally seen as part of the Roman road to Malton, but this attribution is not unequivocal. Its regularity and straightness may have been interpreted as Roman in origin rather than late eighteenth century. However the field name Sky Gates occurs close by which was first recorded as Scaydgat in twelth century (Smith, 1937). This has been translated as either a road used as a race track or a boundary road, not unusual for Roman roads, but not lying on a boundary of any kind today. Incidentally, there is a place-name Merebalk a mile to the south, in Nunburnholme township, which also probably refers to a boundary road and may also lie on the line of the Roman road. The road east to North Dalton was known as Daltongate in twelth century (Smith 1937).

NORTH DALTON (13) Ecclesiastical parish: North Dalton Civil Parish: North Dalton Township: North Dalton Hundred: Warter Wapentake: Harthill (Bainton Beacon division) Here, we have a Wolds township typical of the eastern dip slope, with more in common in post-medieval period with its easterly than its westerly neighbours. It lies just outside the south-west/ north-east boundary, from Warter to Wetwang, that arbitrarily marks the edge of the "dissected Wolds" (fig 88). Its valleys are broad and shallow, all draining eastwards towards Holderness. The boundaries too are regular, forming a very square-shaped township. To the north is the Hawold Bridle Track, a long distance east-west trackway; the southern boundary is probably another, although not as well recorded or complete. On the western edge, the boundary lies on the main Wolds north-south watershed, along another probable ancient trackway, and subsequently follows a direct and smoothly curving line. The eastern boundary is straight, north-south and marked the edge of the open field.

There are several twelth to thirteenth century references in land grants to the Grange belonging to Meaux Abbey at Blanch or Blanchemarle, which is now Blanch Farm in the north-east of the township. Here, land was granted to Meaux Abbey in the twelth century at a place which had formerly been known as Arras or Erghes. A Meaux Abbey Charter of 1156 reads, "totam terram de Herghes que appellatur Blanch" (Smith 1937:169) (all the land of Herghes which is called Blanch). This small territory lies on high ground on the edge of the township and later in eighteenth century was used as sheepwalk. Its liminal status in the early medieval period is confirmed when it is described as lying, ". inter Northdaltonam et Wartre”, (Smith 1937), pointing to a period of only loosely fixed boundaries. The translation of the name erghes as sheiling also backs up the idea that this area was marginal pasture before the creation of the Grange. A footpath recorded on 1854 OS connects Blanch Farm to Warter village and another passes through the farm along the main north-south wolds watershed. This latter forms part of the long distance Ridgeway that runs north-south along the main watershed of the Wolds. As we have seen in chapter four, it had prehistoric origins.

The village is based along two rows in an L-shape plan, focused on the church and pond, both located at the junction of the two streets (fig 104). There was some shrinkage in the late seventeenth century and shrunken village earthworks are visible to the north and north-west of the present village, amidst old closes and a network of footpaths (Neave 1990). Its church has some Norman features but was largely restored in nineteenth century, however Domesday Book records a church and priest here in 1086 (Faull and Stinson 1986).

As mentioned above, there is a very good record of field names in Warter township, known mainly from the 1854 OS but also surviving from land grants from both Warter Priory and Meaux Abbey (see map). Included in this long list are some potentially early names in howe: Stonehow from Staynhou (1twoC); Thorny Bush from Thornhou (1twoC) and Keasey from Kesehou (1twoC). Smith attributes them all to OScand haugr (1937). In contrast there is one early reference to wold, in a twelth century walda, later becoming

The township was enclosed by Act of Parliament between 1778-9 and from the associated plan it is possible to locate the 3 open fields present at this time (North Field, South Field and Forelands). There had been odd examples of piecemeal enclosure before 1778, scattered throughout the township and around the village itself. Pastureland and sheepwalk made up most of the higher ground in the west at 87

would have been of more recent creation. As we will see in chapter six, Tibthorpe Wold is one of the few recognisable vestiges of a formerly much more extensive pasture zone. It was reached from the village by a lane variously known as Pasture Lane (1854 OS) or Green Lane, a track which is now used as an access road to the post enclosure farm at Tibthorpe Lodge Farm. It was also originally crossed by the former Roman road south from Wetwang, but the line of this feature can no longer be plotted with any precision, although it is recorded on Jeffrey’s' 177two map as a major northsouth route. Cropmarks on RCHM plots may well be the only physical traces left of this routeway. A short stretch of right of way on Tibthorpe Wold probably preserves part of its former line, whilst other north-south public paths may preserve the right of way but not the actual course of the old route. The southern boundary of Tibthorpe Wold has survived through enclosure as a field boundary, its eastern edge having been defined by the north-south road and coach road (OS 1854). The latter is now a right of way.

North and South Wold. Both may be very old pasture, the former containing a Grange of Meaux Abbey in thirteenth century (Smith 1937). Roads too were re-organised at enclosure, when, according to Jeffrey’s' map of 177two, two were taken out of circulation only to survive as footpaths into the following century (see map). A footpath is marked on the 1854 OS which is probably the Dikesgate mentioned in a grant of late twelth century. It leads out from the village to the western pastures. There has been some speculation that some of the land assessed at Domesday with North Dalton, was actually part of Hawold, because of an owner overlap and an inconsistent number of carucates within Dalton (EYC; Faull and Stinson 1986). Looking at the thirteenth century charters to Watton there are earlier ones referring to sheep pasture in Howald and later ones referring to sheep pasture in Dalton, for up to 300 animals (EYC). These may refer to both Dalton North Wold and Hawold, immediately to the north, where there are two likely candidates for the sites of monastic granges (Loughlin and Miller 1979).

In the eighteenth century there were two open fields, High and Low Fields, across the southern side of the township, with the eastern side also lying under arable at this time. Eastlands, a furlong name, is recorded as Estelandes in the thirteenth century.

TIBTHORPE (14) Ecclesiastical Parish: Kirkburn Township: Tibthorpe

Throughout the later medieval period Tibthorpe was part of the Parish of Kirkburn, but in 1544 is said to have had its own chapel for the use of those unable to comfortably and regularly travel to the Parish Church (Neave 1990). There is neither church nor chapel there today. Sheahan and Whelan remarked in 1856 that the village contained both a large pond and a very deep draw well (Sheahan and Whelan 1856).

Civil Parish: Tibthorpe Hundred: Driffield Wapentake: Harthill (Bainton Beacon division) soke to Driffield Tibthorpe township lies on the rolling eastern slopes of the Wolds on a spur of land jutting out eastwards towards the wold edge and clay lands beyond (fig 88). Again it is a very open and exposed landscape with only a few shelter belts around the post enclosure farms that lie outside the village. The township is situated between two valleys which are followed by the north and south boundaries, both of these lying on east-west trackways; Tibthorpe Green Lane to the north and the Deep Dale/Hawold Bridle Track to the south. The eastern boundary is smoothly curving and must have marked the edge of the open field. Likewise, the western boundary owes its sinuous line to the same past function except for the north-west corner, which has undergone some re-alignment in the fairly recent past. (See Wetwang and Huggate). Similarly, in the south-east corner the regularity of the boundaries is broken by a "kick-back". It is centred precisely on the former line of the trackway here and may have been created by the late apportionment of the neutral corridor of the track. To its east, a triangular piece of land, Pitland Hill, is defined by modern field boundaries and appears to have once been detached. (See Southburn) (Fig 105).

BAINTON (15) AND NESWICK (16) Ecclesiastical Parish: Bainton Township: Bainton, Neswick Civil Parish: Bainton Hundred: Driffield Wapentake: Harthill (Bainton Beacon Division) Although separate townships these two will be treated together because they form one parish and act as a good example of the contrast between Wold and Wold-edge. Bainton sits on the eastern edge of the Wolds on low ground, the highest lands being in the north west of the township at 85m OD (fig 88). From here the ground slopes gradually away to the south and east. The eastern side of the township is broken by 3 small streams which emerge as springs from the chalk. Despite the proximity to a plentiful water supply, Bainton's character remains very much of the Wold with the familiar pattern of post enclosure farms and a few plantations, away from the village. There is more old enclosure here than townships to the west, but it is concentrated to the east of the village, where the stream afforded the possibility of enclosed meadow or wet pasture (fig 106). Bainton's boundaries also conform to a familiar pattern bounded as it is by sweeping lines of open field edge to east and west and to north and south by boundaries based on east-west trackways.

Enclosure took place here between 1794 and 1796 and from the associated plan it is possible to locate the open fields and pastures at that time (see map). Unlike many other townships on the Wolds, there is a large area of specialised pasture here on the higher Wold land to the north, significantly bounded by the Green Lane to both north and west. Tibthorpe Wold was clearly a pasture of long-standing, in contrast to the two small pockets of out field or ley recorded on 1854 OS which

The seventeenth and eighteenth century landscape here can 88

Southburn Beck. Neswick to the south is also situated on a stream, Wellsprings Drain, as are Elmswell and Kelleythorpe to the north, Elmswell Beck and Gypsey Race. All 5 streams feed into Driffield Beck, to the east, which in turn flows on to form the River Hull. Alongside Elmswell, Kelleythorpe and Neswick this group of townships are smaller, with boundaries less regular, than their cousins on the Wolds. They also form a group of early (pre 8C) topographical names using the OE term, burna, for burn or stream (Gelling forthcoming) (fig 88).

be reconstructed with the aid of two maps, one from 1629 and the other, the Enclosure Plan from 1774-5 (BJL). Most of the township was under arable at this time with a host of names recording different furlongs within the 3 open fields. By 1774 a Sleepwalk had been carved out of the open field in the north of the township, where both fossilised strips and extant broad ridge and furrow signal its former land-use. Between the dates of these two maps there was some contraction in the number of households in the village (Neave 1990). The road system was also re-organised at enclosure (see map). Notably, the line of the former Roman road northwards is recorded in both 1629 and 1774. Another lost road was known as Burrowgate in 1629 and led to what is now Bainton Burrows.

"A group of villages or hamlets to the south west of Driffield, picturesquely situated on broken ground and streamlets of running water, whence the affix of burn" (Ross 1898:15).

The township gives its name to this division of Harthill Wapentake because of a beacon "erected here in ancient times" (Nicholson 1888), who records that petty session of the wapentake court had also been held here. Sheahan and Whelan refer to the beacon itself having been moved from its old position before 1856 because it was obscured by a wood. The OS 1854 records the location of both new and old beacons (see map).

Ecclesiastical Parish: Eastburn, Southburn)

Kirkburn

(includes

Tibthorpe,

Townships: Kirkburn (including Battleburn), Eastburn, Southburn Civil Parish: Kirkburn (includes Eastburn, Southburn, Tibthorpe, Kelleythorpe) Hundred: Driffield (all townships)

The place-name is Bagenton at Domesday Book and then variously Baenton, Baynton, etc. (Smith 1937). In 1301 it is referred to as Baynton super waldas and in the seventeenth century as Bainton upon the Wold (ibid). Smith interprets the name as a personal name, Bega coupled with the OE ingtun, giving it a later Anglian date. A priest is recorded here at Domesday but no church is mentioned. The current church building is elaborate and contains some Norman features, but it is not clear at what date a church first appeared here.

Wapentake: Harthill (Bainton Beacon division) Soke of Driffield: Kirkburn, Eastburn, Southburn

KIRKBURN (AND BATTLEBURN) (17) Kirkburn is the most Wold-like of all the townships in this group as it has a blocky shape and most of its land is dry and chalky. The village in the extreme south of the township lies at the source of Eastburn Beck and from here the ground slopes upwards leading to Craike Hill on the northern boundary (fig 107). Craike is one of the few British names in East Yorkshire and refers to the northern part of this township. It was probably here at Craike Hill that the meeting place for the whole East Riding was located in the Early Middle Ages, being called Crakhou in thirteenth century (Smith 1937) (see chapter six-7). For the most part Kirkburn's boundaries are typical of a Wold township as they follow open field edges on the east and west and the Green Lane along the northern side, now a wide grassy track. In the south however the boundary winds around the southern closes of the village and then follows the stream, enclosing a finger of wet land, known as Kirkburn and Battleburn common in the nineteenth century. This annex also contained the site of the now abandoned village of Battleburn (Beresford 1951-two). The boundary between Battleburn and Kirkburn is discernible from the Tithe map of 1846 and again follows the balk of an open field, creating two strip townships stretching back from the Eastburn Beck.

Neswick is a small township sitting on a low headland which juts out into the main valley draining streams from the chalk Wolds. The name probably reflects this, as it can be translated as ‘the dairy farm on the headland’, from naess, ing and wic (Smith 1937). It has long been a chapelry of Bainton and a chapel is recorded here in the sixteenth century, for the use of the old folk of the village. Between fourteenth and seventeenth century, it was a populous place, "fit to be made a parish" (quoted in Neave 1990), but by the mid eighteenth century had been enclosed and largely depopulated to make way for a Park and large house. Neswick Hall has now been demolished and the township today contains three farms. According to eighteenth century records of the enclosure, there were three open fields in Neswick and a map of 1779 refers to High and Low East Field, but by this time they had already been enclosed. It is a marginal place but with none of the ruler-straight regularity ofparliamentary enclosure, despite the severe effect its enclosure had on the population. The southern and western boundaries are based on straight lines of lanes and open field edge but those to the east and north are much more irregular, variously following field boundaries, streams and lanes and adopting a deviating course. As such the two townships illustrate the contrast between wolds townships and those amongst the head streams of the Hull Valley.

Battleburn did probably exist as a separate vill in the Middle Ages, although it is not mentioned in Domesday Book. In thirteenth century, the vill of Bordelbrun was granted to Guisborough Priory and in 1300 there were 24 bovate holders living here (Neave 1990). Little is known about the reasons for desertion or its date but there were only three cottages left in 1740. The three settlements of Kirkburn, Eastburn and Battleburn lay close together along the beck forming an almost continuous strip of settlement before the abandonment of Eastburn and Battleburn. Thomas

KIRKBURN (17), EASTBURN (18), SOUTHBURN (19), BATTLEBURN Here is a tightly packed group of settlements on the edge of the Wolds clustered around two small streams, Eastburn and 89

centre flanked by a strip of wet pasture, in eighteenth century. It is a complicated territory with intricate boundaries and probably includes two formerly detached portions of land. Bainton Ings is a triangular piece of land which is described on 1854 OS as belonging to Bainton. It lies south of Wellsprings Drain which probably formed the original boundary. Pitland Hill is another piece seemingly tacked onto the township, lying on the Deep Dale trackway, which, surviving for several miles as township boundary is here visible as a cropmark. It is not clear under what circumstances this detached piece became part of Southburn, but it was part of the township in the eighteenth century when it contained the West Field.

Holderness has suggested that hereabouts was the site of the Battle of Brunanburh in 937 AD, a theory which has not been taken up by modern historians who describe the battle as still unlocated (Holderness 1888). From the tithe map it is clear that most of the township was given over to arable with a few meadows and common pastures around the village and beck. Enclosure probably took place during the eighteenth century, but it is not clear exactly when. By the early eighteenth century a warren had been created which stretched across the boundary into Eastburn and is clearly marked on Teesdale's map of 1828. The modern land division on the site of the former warren is much more rigid and regular than that to the west which is to a large extent based on boundaries within the open field.

An eighteenth century map records the layout of open field and pasture in some detail, even recording furlong locations and the allocation of strips. Harvey has used this as an example of a township whose fields were laid out in one go to a pre-determined plan, a system that must have remained incredibly stable for it to have survived into the eighteenth century (Harvey 1983). Enclosure took place here in 1793-7.

The church of Kirkburn is of Norman origin, although substantially rebuilt, and contains a Norman font. Before the construction of this church the place was known as Burnous or Westburn (both from Domesday). The burn element is still present, it being compounded with hus meaning ‘house’ and ‘west’, in opposition to Eastburn and Southburn, reinforcing the unity of this group. The first reference to the church comes from twelth century, ‘ecclesiam de Burnnus’ and then Kirkebrunnom in the thirteenth century. Battleburn derives from a personal name Bordel and again the burn element (Smith 1937). Smith decides not to commit himself to assigning the burn element to an OE or OScand origin but Gelling unequivocally sees the group as OE and accordingly some of the earliest names on the Wolds.

GREAT DRIFFIELD, LITTLE DRIFFIELD AND ELMSWELL This group of townships formed one parish in the Middle Ages, although the extent of the modern Civil Parish does not reflect that of its predecessor. Ecclesiastical Parish: Driffield (includes Little Driffield, Great Driffield, Elmswell and Kelleythorpe)

EASTBURN (18)

Township: Great Driffield, Little Driffield, Elmswell (with Kelleythorpe)

The landscape of Eastburn, along with its easterly neighbour, Kelleythorpe, was drastically transformed in the 1930s when a large airfield was laid out over much of its lands. Only a small area containing the site of the DMV has been left unscathed. Across the rest of the township fieldwork has little to offer anyone but an Aviation Archaeologist. All we have to help us reconstruct the pre 20th century landscape are the results of excavations carried out at the time of Airfield construction (i.e. Sheppard 1938) and a tithe map of 1846.

Civil Parish: Driffield (includes Little and Great Driffield) Garton (includes Elmswell) Nafferton (includes part of Great Driffield township) Kirkburn (includes Kelleythorpe)

Berewick of Great Driffield: Little Driffield, Kelleythorpe, Elmswell, Kilham

It is a small township, the village lying by the Eastburn beck and the lands stretching back up the slope to the Green Lane, its northern boundary. The eastern and western boundaries are probably open field balks, where as the southern boundary bends around the village and then follows the stream. In the medieval period when the village was populated the lands divided neatly between open field over much of the township and a wet carr, in the south alongside the village. After depopulation which finally took effect in the late seventeenth century, the warren (mentioned above with Kirkburn) was laid out over much of the former open field. It had been a ‘settlement of moderate size’ in the Middle Ages, numbering approx. 110-120 people in fourteenth century (Neave 1990) and is mentioned in Domesday as Austburne, deriving from OE aust (east) and burna (stream) (Gelling forthcoming).

GREAT AND LITTLE DRIFFIELD (20) The market town of Driffield is the largest settlement in the study area today, having expanded rapidly following the construction of the canal in 1770 and the railway in 1846 (Hey 1986). Before the eighteenth century it was a large open village with regular markets and fairs, situated conveniently on the edge of the Wolds (fig 108). "The character of 18C Driffield was formed by the fact that it lay at a junction of...two contrasting areas... a fertile plain abounding with water; (and). Dry airy downs, rising with an easy ascent to the highest wold." (Howorth 1980). Its importance as a regional centre had already been recognised by 705 AD when Bede records the death and burial of King Aldfrith here. At Domesday it was a major estate centre with several berewicks and extensive sokeland, more or less contiguous with the hundred that bears its name (see chapter six). Two churches and eight mills are also recorded in 1086 and both eleventh and twelth century

SOUTHBURN (19) The small Wold-edge township of Southburn lies amidst three streams. Eastburn beck marks the northern boundary; Wellsprings Drain flows along most of the southern and eastern boundaries whilst Southburn beck runs through the 90

northern area was known as Driffield Wold with other names such as Clitheroe Wold and Drinkrow wold also recorded for smaller portions in 1854. Here too lies a detached portion of Little Driffield, providing that township with pasture. An early track, called Garton Balk, ran east -west across these pastures.

sources refer to the superior status of its mother church (EYC; Alison 1976: Morris 1986). Smith has suggested that the name derives from OE drif and feld meaning ‘stubble field’, but it has also been interpreted as deriving from Deira, the Anglo-Saxon sub-kingdom (Barley 1938). The latter idea would fit well with a centre with royal connections in eighth century, but has little to support it etymologically. There is much evidence for Anglo-Saxon burial in the town and its immediate vicinity, including other townships to the west, many graves having re-used prehistoric barrows (see chapter six).

Many of the roads running north-south do not appear to have been greatly altered by enclosure and can still be traced on 1854 OS, most retaining their pre-enclosure names. Most of these refer to known destinations such as Garton Balk or Little Driffield Gate. Driffield Spellowgate is believed to refer to a moot or literally speech mound, probably located in the north of Elmswell township where this road meets the Elmswell Spellowgate. At this point there are several other tracks passing by which may also have been heading for this once important meeting place. Another track in the north of the township is known as Ewe Gate or Sheep rake lane in 1854 and reinforces the role of Driffield Wold as a pasture. In 1854 the road north to Langtoft and beyond, formerly known as Duggleby Trod, had presumably been improved as it was administered by a local turnpike trust.

The medieval parish of Driffield was large as is usual for a mother church. Recent changes have greatly reduced its size and we need only note them here (see map). Little Driffield, a separate township and chapelry of the parish of Driffield, lies just outside the modern town and was first recorded in 1290 (Smith 1937). It is today a small village arranged around a pond and medieval church. In the mid nineteenth century there was a "copious spring of water in the village green" (Sheahan and Whelan 1856). The two townships were enclosed together in 1741-2 and formed a joint manor according to eighteenth century records (Neave 1990). The relationship between the two must always have been close as the township of Little Driffield is so small. There is a strong local belief that Little Driffield was the original Anglo-Saxon royal and ecclesiastical centre and that King Aldfrith's grave lies under the church here and not in Great Driffield (Ross 1898), an idea supported by the presence of Anglo-Saxon sculptural fragments in the church (Neave/Pevsner 1995). By 1086 Great Driffield had however superseded its neighbour in status, the latter being known in Domesday as Drigelinghe (Faull and Stinson 1986) and described as a berewick of Great Driffield. Sheep and Horse Fairs were held at Little Driffield from at least the seventeenth century (Neave 1990; Hey 1986). Despite the persistence of its territorial autonomy there is no record of Little Driffield possessing its own open field and in this respect must have belonged with its neighbour. For such a small township to have survived with a separate identity there is likely to be a more ancient foundation and explanation (see chapter six).

The modern farm of Great Kendale lies amidst the former open field, a name which is also recalled in Kendalgate and Kendal bushes. The status or character of this place is not immediately evident, although it is marked on Jeffrey’s' 177two map as a farm. It also is recorded in Domesday Book as a separate vill (Faull and Stinson 1986).

ELMSWELL (21) AND KELLEYTHORPE (22) These two townships were reckoned together for taxation purposes in seventeenth century (Neave 1990) but before that date we do not know their relationship or degree of dependency (fig 108). By 1828 they together formed one township (S R Clarke 1828) but a tithe commutation map of 1815 treats Elmswell as a separate place. Kelleythorpe was probably only ever a hamlet but both townships were mentioned in Domesday Book and both were berewicks of Driffield. Elmswell is well known because of the Farming books of Henry Best which give detailed accounts of farming practice in this township, of which he was squire in seventeenth century (Woodward/ Best 1988). The village, which was not fully depopulated until the mid nineteenth century lies amongst numerous springs on the Elmswell beck. In 1898 it was described as,

The southern boundary of Driffield lies on its beck, as does that of Little Driffield. To the east the boundary follows the open field edge and the northern boundary lies along the line of linear earthworks and a probable early track which is the true extension of the Sledmere Green Lane. The site of Danes Graves, significantly, acts as a junction of two boundaries. The Driffield Spellowgate forms some of the western boundary, the rest following dale bottoms. The boundaries of Little Driffield are much more intricate, suggesting that the size of this township may have been reduced at some point.

"A hamlet, consisting...of a few cottages, several of which are mud-built and thatched, scattered in picturesque confusion... and nestling under the shadow of the Manor House." (Ross 1898:15). Enclosure by Act of Parliament took place in 1770-1 but it seems that much of the open field had already been apportioned and enclosed by this time, probably in sixteenth or seventeenth century (Neave 1990). Accordingly, the nineteenth century field pattern, visible on 1854 OS recalls the layout of open field strips very closely. The medieval landscape was almost a miniature parallel of its neighbour, Driffield, containing three open fields and a northerly area of Wold-land, with wet pastures in the south. The quality of the land in 1840 was high in the south in the old enclosures where the soil was a strong clay loam. Further north,

As mentioned above the two townships were enclosed together in 1741-5. The basic layout of the open field strips has been preserved in the land divisions of enclosure and can be clearly seen on 1854 OS. There were three open fields running north-south in parallel with several Fall names recording the furlongs within them. In addition this map records five detached portions of Little Driffield scattered about the former open field of what must have been bundles of strips farmed by its inhabitants. The pattern of land division alters radically in the north of the township reflecting what must have been open pasture or out field in 1741. This 91

however, away from the demesne lands, it became chalky, thin and friable so here would probably have been treated as outfield and only sown every now and again (Woodward/Best 1988). Pasture provision in the seventeenth century is well recorded by Best. As well as using the wet meadow land, there were enclosed pastures alongside the hamlet and the fallow arable land or temporary leys (probably on Elmswell Wold). In addition he claimed the right to graze 360 sheep, "on a sheep rake in Cottam Field" (ibid.). Several disputes had arisen between Best and Cottam farmers over the right to graze here. "I claim there no propriety in the soil, but a rake for my own, or my tenants' sheep who farm the demesnes... by prescription or possession time immemorial". (Best, quoted in Woodward 1988). He goes on to say that the pasture is divided in two by a highway that is an extension of the Sledmere Green Lane. Spellowgate runs north from the village and met with its Driffield namesake on the north-eastern edge of the township, although there is no obvious indication of a barrow here. The road becomes much less marked where it enters the Wold on Tithe map of 1815, a sign that it was used as access to the pasture. Other place-names that refer to Spellow include Spellow Heads and Spellow Farm. The western boundary runs along Garton Balk, a road that ran from Cottam in the north down to Kirkburn and Neswick (Jeffrey’s 177two) and was described by Best as "an ancient trackway, 60-70 ft wide" (ibid). It has survived intact today and remains as an impressively wide green lane for this part of its course. The 1828 map of Henry Teesdale marks a detached piece of land situated between Kelleythorpe and Elmswell which is not marked on 1854 OS by which time the two townships had become one. This area is known as Driffield Greets on the Elmswell Tithe map of 1815 and significantly lies at the head of the Tibthorpe Green Lane and contains the head of the Gypsey Race.

92

later, Scandinavian names (Gelling forthcoming). The placenames suggest that the post Roman period may have witnessed a contraction of settlement off the Wolds leading to renewed expansion in the centuries before the Norman Conquest. This general pattern of change conflicts with Hayfield’s picture of continuity from the Wharram evidence but is it borne out by other sources?

CHAPTER SIX THE WOLDS BEFORE DOMESDAY INTRODUCTION The distribution of vills (townships) in Domesday Book is the earliest comprehensive record of settlement patterns in East Yorkshire (fig 4). This is not a straightforward document but gives an extensive yet coarse overview of tenure and settlement distribution in the eleventh century AD. Within the distribution map there are concentrations of denser settlement along the edges of the Wolds and in the Gypsey Race Valley. Assuming that these vills are more or less equivalent to medieval villages, the Wolds contained as many settlements in 1086 as at any time during the middle ages. The same situation prevails in other areas of ‘wold’ in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire so that, "By the twelth century, the arable field systems of the wolds seem to have been not very different from those of other parts of the Midlands" (Fox 1989:89). In East Yorkshire too there is little apparent distinction between the central dry Wolds and the wetter edges during the middle ages. Both landscapes were characterised by nucleated villages surrounded by extensive common fields.

The idea of Anglo-Scandinavian colonisation and the expansion of settlement at this time is out of fashion and has not been widely accepted for the Wolds. This area has always been seen as one with a long and unbroken history of settlement. Even the most recent discussions seem to take it for granted that the Wolds was evenly occupied throughout the post Roman period (Richards 1999). The lack of archaeological evidence for post Roman settlement is explained as an anomaly in the evidence rather than a realistic indication of the actual picture. The richness and density of its archaeology has led to the belief that the Wolds was always the focus of prehistoric and early historic settlement in the wider region. As we have seen for earlier periods, the high visibility of archaeological sites does not always imply a densely occupied landscape. The vast majority of later prehistoric sites are funerary or monumental and the preceding chapters have shown that this area had a special un-occupied status during much of the first millennium BC.

But how long had this situation prevailed before 1086 and when were the foundations of this medieval settlement pattern laid? Is the eleventh century distribution the same as the Romano-British pattern, having survived over seven centuries, or was there a period before the Norman conquest when the Wolds of Yorkshire held a distinctive and separate identity?

The expansion of settlement in the Anglo-Scandinavian period is accepted for other more marginal areas in East Yorkshire, in parts of the lower vales for example (Allison 1976). Sawyer has suggested that the distribution of Scandinavian names against earlier ones should not be taken as evidence of the foundation of new settlements in this period because many existing sites were probably re-named (Sawyer 1976). However, even a preliminary look at the distribution of the archaeological evidence for Anglo-Saxon settlement substantially favours the wold-edge and Great Wold Valley against the central dry Wolds.

Hayfield's intensive fieldwork around Wharram Percy has tried to understand the development of settlement during the first millennium AD. He has concluded that at Wharram the basic settlement pattern remained more or less the same throughout the Romano-British and Anglo-Saxon periods until the ninth century AD. At this point the dispersed settlement pattern became nucleated to create the familiar landscape of the medieval village (Hayfield 1987; Beresford and Hurst 1990). This is a sequence also mirrored elsewhere in the country (Hall 1988). According to Hayfield the same settlement sites are occupied in the Wharram area throughout and it is assumed that they lay within the same unaltered territorial confines. He has tentatively extended this situation across the rest of the Wolds, where no fieldwork of similar detail has yet been carried out.

As with the Iron Age, the many burial sites on the Wolds should not be taken as evidence for permanent settlements here (Lucy 1998). There is a marked distinction between whole cemeteries on the wold-edge and burials in secondary contexts on the Wolds. It is easy to find evidence for the continuity of settlement on the well watered wold-edge, as around Wharram and transfer this situation to the interior, but it is important to differentiate between the central dry Wolds and this wold-edge zone. It may be that the two areas have completely different settlement histories in the post Roman period. Bearing this distinction in mind, this chapter will consider the evidence for settlement and the agrarian preNorman landscape, paying special attention to the contrast between wold and wold-edge and latterly to encroachment and colonisation from the latter to the former area. The main question we need to address is what was the character of settlement and landscape on the Wolds between the late Roman period and the Norman Conquest? Did this area serve a special purpose to Anglo-Saxon communities when compared to the wold-edge and the vales? How did the familiar character of medieval settlement and landscape here come about? These questions will be tackled using the range of sources from documents, landscape and place-names

A basic continuity of settlement throughout the RomanoBritish and Anglo-Saxon periods is not characteristic of other areas also known as ‘wold’ from other parts of England. According to Fox the tendency in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire is for occupation to contract off the wold areas in the post Roman period only to push back again in the few centuries before the Norman Conquest (Fox 1989). Can this general pattern witnessed in other wold areas be translated to Yorkshire? For the Yorkshire Wolds, Gelling has looked at the place-names and has come to a conclusion similar to that of Fox. She has argued that the earliest Old English names concentrate around the wold-edges and well watered valleys, whilst the drier central Wolds generally contain vills with 93

Watkin 1983). In this way the pattern of burials and cemeteries has generally been considered as a reflection of the settlement pattern. Alison remarks, “The distribution of Anglian burials on the Wolds suggests that settlers were spreading widely into the most favoured areas of RomanoBritish habitation.” (Alison 1976). The region’s best understood site at West Heslerton, which is found at the base of the northern escarpment, contained an extensive cemetery alongside the settlement. All authors have noted that there are concentrations of cemeteries, containing mainly inhumations, in several key areas: along the western Wolds escarpment, in the eastern Great Wold Valley around Rudston and Kilham and in the area west of Driffield on the eastern dip-slope (Faull 1974; Higham 1993). These three areas, along with the northern escarpment, have always been seen as the main concentrations of population as well as places of burial and in that sense the cemeteries are taken to reflect settlement. Indeed, it is these areas where evidence also exists for actual settlements however oblique this evidence inevitably is. On the drier and higher Wolds however, the burial pattern appears to be quite different. Here, burial sites are not found in conjunction with any settlement evidence and they invariably derive from secondary contexts. As we have already seen in chapter four for the Iron Age, the presence of burials on the Wolds need not imply that people were actually living up there.

detailed in Chapter Five. Initially however, we will spend some time considering the archaeological evidence.

PART ONE ARCHAEOLOGICAL APPROACHES The body of archaeological information available for the Anglian settlement of the Wolds is small and unrepresentative. Even so it has improved somewhat since 1979 when Eagles published his Anglo-Saxon Settlement of Humberside (1979). This is a thorough and authoritative summary of all the information available at that time. It focuses on the pottery assemblages derived from burial contexts and also assesses the Anglian settlement pattern against the backdrop of the late Romano-British situation. Since 1979 the excavations at both Wharram Percy (Beresford and Hurst 1990; Hayfield 1987) and West Heslerton (Powlesland 1986; 1997; 2002) have added significant local detail to our understanding. Further Anglian discoveries have been made at Thwing (Manby 1981) and Cottam (Haldenby 1990; 1992; Richards 1994; 1999) and along the gas pipeline at Caythorpe (Abramson 1996) all of probable settlements. Despite these recent discoveries there are still very few settlement sites known archaeologically from this period. The large nucleated site at West Heslerton, located alongside its cemetery serves as a remarkable exception. Most material still derives from burials which are found both in flat cemeteries and as secondary contexts inserted into prehistoric barrows and linear earthworks (Eagles 1979; Watkin 1983). Sam Lucy’s recent analysis of the East Yorkshire burials has also added to our understanding (Lucy 1998).

The cemeteries that are strung out along the western escarpment of the Wolds have generally been taken to represent the burial grounds of a nearby community, settled on the spring-line with the remains of these Anglian settlements probably lying beneath or close to the medieval village (Faull 1974; Eagles 1979). In many cases there is a good correlation between village, township and Anglian cemetery and most of the medieval townships situated along the western scarp contain evidence for Anglian burials. Along the Roman road between Newbald and Pocklington for instance there are a string of medieval villages each with strong suggestions of an Anglian origin. Such suggestions include cemeteries (Nunburnholme, Londesborough, Sancton, Newbald, North Cave, Elloughton) stray archaeological finds, sometimes very rich (Hayton, Newbald), early place-names (Everingham, Goodmanham, Nunburnholme) and the one case of a reference to the place in early sources (Goodmanham in Bede’s History of the English Church and People) (fig 109). At present there has only been one case of structural evidence, from Hayton, but this may indicate that the Anglian settlements lie underneath modern villages. Based largely upon this evidence, Higham has seen this area as the political heartland of Edwin’s Northumbria (Higham 1993).

Very little archaeological investigation has been carried out under modern conditions and it is hard to create a coherent story of the settlement pattern and its development from the motley collection of nineteenth century stray finds. Watkin’s article considered some of the major empirical and interpretative lacunae in depth. He pointed out that most summary works have dwelt on the early Anglian period with very little discussion existing for the period after the eighth century (1983). There are a series of early settlement sites which seem to straddle the late Romano-British/ early Anglian transition but only continue until the seventh century as at Wykeham, Elmswell and Seamer. The burial evidence on the other hand is generally later than the sixth century. Most belong to the sixth and seventh centuries with only a few cemeteries dating to the later seventh and eighth centuries (i.e. Garton Sykes Monument, Uncleby). The poor standard of record for most of the sites and extensive investigation of only a few (such as Sewerby, Heslerton and Sancton) means that, at this stage, we can only get a partial view of the way in which the Wolds was used for burial and settlement.

Most of the evidence for Anglian cemeteries was first recorded in the nineteenth century and these early investigations have seldom led to more extensive work. Many were discovered during railway construction, as at North Cave. The Newbald findings were made in a sand pit in 1901 and 1902 and were furnished with brooches, a knife and scramasax amongst other things (Eagles 1979:207). The Londesborough and Nunburnholme findings were both made in chalk pits during the nineteenth century and include several furnished inhumations (Eagles 1979:208). The pair of cemeteries at Sancton is unusual, the earlier situated on the

Attempts to make sense of the unrepresentative archaeological record and to try and understand the general settlement pattern have once again assumed that the discovery of a burial can be taken to indicate the proximal presence of a contemporaneous settlement (i.e. Faull 1974; 94

Anglian settlement appears to have been concentrated in certain favoured areas: the base of the northern and western escarpment and in the eastern Great Wold Valley. These are all areas with easy access to surface water and with a range of land types within reach of the settlement (fig 110). The concentrations in these three places stand in contrast to the lack of settlement evidence from the interior of the Wolds where neither surface water nor a variety of soil types were available. The paucity of excavated settlements on the woldedge must strongly suggest that the remains of Anglian settlements lie underneath the modern and medieval villages.

Wolds and its later neighbour found closer to the village by the churchyard. The earlier cemetery is made up entirely of cremations some of which are fifth century in date. It is one of the earliest cemeteries in East Yorkshire and may represent the burial focus for a number of local communities at this time. It stands in contrast to the others which are usually later, contain mainly inhumations and seem to have served only one nearby community (Faull 1976) (fig 110). The burials known from Bishop Wilton, Kirby Underdale and Uncleby should perhaps not be included in the string of other western scarp sites as they form a separate group higher up on the Wolds and are all found as secondary inhumations in Bronze Age barrows (Lucy 1992; Williams 1998). The other cemeteries with the exception of Sancton are in contrast found half way up the scarp-slope or at its base, lying a short distance above the medieval (and modern) village. If the barrow cemeteries did relate to specific settlements then these would no doubt have been found at the foot of the western scarp near the modern villages of Kirby Underdale and Bishop Wilton. There are four prehistoric barrows on the wold-land above Kirby Underdale which were reused for burial in this period and a further two to the south on Garrowby Hill. All are found in commanding positions on the wold top with extensive westerly views and lie very close to either the north-south or the east-west Roman road. It is difficult to say how many inhumations were originally placed in these barrows but certainly Uncleby and Painsthorpe Wold One were fairly large cemeteries. Where datable they appear to have been put here during the seventh century although Uncleby is later, probably eighth (Eagles 1979; Lucy 1998). Lucy has suggested that similarly late burials may specifically favour locations on the Wolds because of their liminal situation at a time when the burial rites were dying out (1998). Such a suggestion has obvious implications for our suggestion that the area may well have been seen from a wold-edge perspective as a marginal landscape.

TOPOGRAPHICAL TOUR FROM DRIFFIELD TO FIMBER The area to the west of Driffield is southwest of the KilhamRudston-Boynton zone mentioned above and contains another concentration of Anglian activity. Here the large number of Anglian burial sites is situated on the low-lying gravels on the valley floor as it emerges from the chalk Wolds into the clays of Holderness. Here too are an important group of springs rising at the foot of the chalk to form the headwaters of the river Hull. Alongside these springs are the medieval villages of Kirkburn, Elmswell, Southburn and Eastburn (see chapter five and below). A large number of burial sites cluster around Driffield, the probable royal centre where Bede places the death of King Aldfrith in 705 AD. Most of these are known from inadequate nineteenth century sources and often derive from the investigations of Mortimer (1905; Eagles 1979). More recent barrow diggings by Ian Stead have also found significant Anglian reuse of Iron Age cemeteries in this area (Stead 1991) (see chapter seven) (fig 133). There are few known settlements here apart from the important late Romano-British site at Elmswell where the late fourth century material included ironworking debris, quern stones and crucibles as well as some associated structural evidence. From the same site came unstratified early Anglian material including pottery, a cruciform brooch and a bone comb suggesting possible continuity of occupation into fifth century (Eagles 1979; Faull 1974). The site is situated alongside the Elmswell Beck opposite the now deserted medieval village of Elmswell and is one which would probably benefit from further investigation. All other local Anglian material is funerary and even the town of Driffield contains no direct archaeological evidence for settlement from this period. Only Nafferton, three kilometres east of Driffield has produced Anglian settlement debris and this came from the midst of the medieval village. There is also a notable concentration of Romano-British pottery from Southburn picked up in fieldwalking (see chapter four).

The eastern Great Wold Valley was an attractive area for ancient settlement and several authors have noted the concentrations of later Romano-British and Anglian material near Rudston, Caythorpe and Boynton (Eagles 1979). There seems to have been a series of Anglian cemeteries extending eastwards from Kilham along the slopes above and to the south of Rudston and Boynton. There is fourth century activity to the south on the clays at Harpham but no suggestion of a concentrated Anglian presence. The burial evidence from the Rudston area lies close to other indications of settlement, mainly stray finds recorded in the nineteenth century. Recent discoveries associated with the Caythorpe gas pipeline included an Anglian post-built building and a grubenhaus structure associated with a late Romano-British settlement by the Gypsey Race (Abramson 1996). All of these findings are concentrated on the southern slopes of the valley between the Gypsey Race itself and the woldgate ridge. Again this area is one which has always favoured permanent settlement, lying close to the Gypsey Race with ready access to high, dry pasture, wetter valley floor and lowlying clayland of the Hull Valley and Holderness. At present the lack of Anglian material along the Gypsey Race Valley west of Rudston is curious and stands in marked contrast to the undoubted density of Romano-British and later Iron Age settlement in this area.

The Anglian burial evidence comes from a concentration of sites in the town of Driffield as well as another group to the west between Kirkburn and Garton. The findings in Driffield were made in the nineteenth century during development of the town and include at least three fairly large cemeteries. One at the Recreation Ground may have been inserted into a barrow as Bronze Age material was reported with the Anglian burials (Loughlin and Miller 1979). Another seems to have existed in association with a mound known as Moot Hill, commonly held to be a damaged motte (ibid). This site produced Anglian material including spears and a sword. 95

divided by a Bronze Age barrow. The area surrounding the Green Lane occupied by these two cemeteries had already been used for burial over many centuries. The sequence had consisted of distinctive phases, each separated by a number of centuries. By repeatedly choosing this locale as a place of burial the communities seem to have been responding to the traditional historic or mythic significance of the place (see chapter seven).

Skeletons have also repeatedly turned up since the nineteenth century (Eagles 1979; Loughlin and Miller 1979) (fig 112). Several skeletons have been unearthed near the old gasworks and another focus existed by the railway line to the south of the modern town. To the three or four cemeteries in the town we can add a further two which have been placed in large early Bronze Age barrows at Cheesecake Hill and at Kelleythorpe, located outside the town to southeast and southwest respectively.

Just one hundred metres or so south of the Green Lane cemeteries another barrow was used for Anglian inhumations. Here Mortimer found four inhumations placed in the upper fill of the barrow ditch. They were largely unaccompanied but for a few scraps of iron from one grave. More recently Ian Stead has excavated further secondary Anglian inhumations from Iron Age barrows and cemeteries in two sites to the north and south of the Green Lane. It is unfortunate that the British Museum team responsible for this excavation did not give as much priority to the Anglian burials as they obviously did to the Iron Age graves. In all there were thirty seven Anglian burials excavated at Garton Station although we are still awaiting full publication of the results. Twenty or so more were identified and unexcavated (fig 72). Some inhumations had been placed within existing Iron Age square barrows and had cut the earlier graves. One group of eleven were surrounded by a square-plan ditch, which may have been constructed in the post Roman period, as it did not contain Iron Age burials within its confines. Further groups were found unenclosed by ditches but clearly placed deliberately close to the square barrow cemetery. Stead suggests that the original Iron Age cemetery would have been larger than the seventeen or so barrows revealed by his excavations and he does not rule out the possibility that some barrows, especially the largest, were built in the Anglian period although he considers this unlikely. Two further Anglian secondary inhumations were excavated at his Kirkburn site two, a little south of the Green Lane (see chapter seven) (fig 132).

A remarkable concentration of cemeteries existed here during the Anglian period when Driffield was probably a royal centre of some kind. Some local historians have considered the village of Little Driffield, to the west of the modern town, to have been the site of the Anglian settlement. These theories have suggested that the settlement focus that gave rise to the modern town was founded some time later but before the compilation of Domesday Book. There are indeed fragments of pre-conquest sculpture from the church at Little Driffield (see chapter five). The concentration of Anglian material does strongly suggest that beneath the town lay an extensive settlement. However, the fact that the findings are entirely funerary in character might indicate that the site was used uniquely for burial (fig 132). Chris Loveluck has emphasised the special character of the grave-goods found with burials in this area and has suggested that Driffield was a royal caput or estate centre from an early date (sixth or seventh century AD) (Loveluck 1996). He stresses that the eighth century references to Driffelda are more likely to indicate an estate rather than a specific settlement at the same location as the later town. The estate would have contained a series of specialist economic settlements and Loveluck suggests that Elmswell may have been a centre for metalworking. Another strong concentration of Anglian funerary remains occurs three kilometres to the west of Driffield alongside the Green Lane. The track runs east-west along the bottom of the valley and is followed by township boundaries. At Garton Gatehouse Mortimer found two adjacent cemeteries of thirty one and thirty two inhumations which had been placed in the ditch of a linear earthwork and then covered with earth. “. For a distance of 40 yards they mainly occupy the northern fosse of a British double entrenchment, which divides at this spot and encloses the barrow.” (Mortimer 1905:247) (Fig 112). According to Mortimer two feet of deposit had already accumulated in the bottom of the ditch before the burials were placed therein but he did find a fragmentary vase on the original ditch-bottom accompanied by traces of burning and some animal bone. The burials from the western Anglian cemetery were accompanied by a range of grave-goods including penannular brooches, bone combs, bronze buckles and iron knives. These assemblages have a strong native British rather than Anglian element although the dating or cultural affinity of these objects has been discussed neither by Eagles nor Faull. One bronze object is remarkably similar to the ‘bean can’ found with an Iron Age cart burial in Wetwang Slack, two kilometres west of here. The eastern cemetery was unfurnished and also exhibited differences in the layout of skeletons, prompting the suggestion that there exists here both pagan and christian burial practices (Eagles 1979; Watkin 1983). The two cemeteries appear to have been

The importance of this group of Anglian cemeteries is not merely limited to the post Roman period and is only fully apparent when we put back into this landscape the several millennia worth of monuments which were to be found here. The concentration of Anglian graves is so strong, not out of coincidence, but purely because of the pre-existence of the many Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age monuments that also cluster around the Green Lane. Neither is it coincidental that Craike Hill, the natural focus of the whole monumental complex, later emerges as the meeting place for the East Riding, nor indeed that the Green Lane served as one of the major routes of access between the Hull headsprings and the Wolds in the post Roman period. In short this area had been acting as a meeting place and burial zone throughout the post Roman centuries and probably for many more centuries before the Roman conquest (see chapter seven). As we look westwards from the eastern dip-slope up into the interior of the Wolds there are fewer indications of an Anglian presence. Where burial evidence exists it has invariably come from Mortimer’s digging of Bronze Age barrows (fig 110). Very few examples can be found between Kirkburn and Warter apart from one reused barrow at Blanch farm where the Anglian inhumation was furnished with a 96

furnished with an elaborate gateway structure built to display the status of the new owner. As the site was soon abandoned Richards argues that this period (tenth century) sees a further shift in settlement and the foundation of the village at Cottam itself on the site of the DMV.

sword and a pot (Mortimer 1905). Apart from this one site there are Anglian burials at Fimber, Sykes Monument and Cowlam. The Sykes Monument and Cowlam sites are both found on prominent commanding ridges, locations chosen for this topographic reason as well as the presence at both places of linear earthworks and barrows. The former is an Anglian cemetery excavated initially by Mortimer following its discovery during the construction of the monument to Sir Tatton Sykes. As at Garton Gatehouse the inhumations were placed along the bottom of the ditch of a linear earthwork; numbering forty two, few of the graves were furnished (fig 58). Further burials were found to the west on the other side of the road by the Granthams in 1959 when some were associated with eighth century coins (Grantham C and E 1965). A bold statement was once again being made by the community(s) that buried their dead here. In doing so they were appropriating the monument, its mythic associations and the past of this place for their ancestors and for themselves (Williams 1998). They probably did not live up here on this exposed but panoramic spot but recognised the significance of the place where the trackway now followed by the Green Lane met the head of Warren Dale. In the same way that generations and centuries before, the builders of the linear earthwork had done and indeed as did the victorians in choosing this place for the most fitting spot at which to monumentally commemorate Sir Tatton.

The valley known as Wetwang-Garton Slack divides at Fimber Nab. From here it proceeds northward to Sledmere and westward towards Fimber and Thixendale (figure 111). The topographic significance of this valley junction had been acknowledged and exaggerated centuries earlier when prehistoric linear earthworks were constructed here in monumental scale. So too its potency was recognised in the Anglian period when inhumations were placed in association with some of these multiple earthworks, lying then at the crossing of several cross wold route ways that were probably current in the post Roman period (fig 110; 50-1). Two kilometres west of here further Anglian inhumations were found in Fimber churchyard and reported by Mortimer, who spent his early life in the village. The church was built on top of a Bronze Age barrow and so these burials, one of which was accompanied by a penannular brooch, were placed into the barrow and could have formed the monumental focus for the earliest church building. (Fig 100). The importance of this place in an open and sparsely settled Anglian landscape would have been the ponds. The presence of burials does not necessarily imply a nearby Anglian settlement to go with the early name. It is likely though that some kind of community did settle here at an early date, alongside the ponds and the route way.

A similar site seems to have existed at Cowlam, where Mortimer and then Brewster excavated Anglian inhumations secondary in the Bronze Age round barrow of Kemp Howe (Loughlin and Miller 1979) (fig 133). In all, eighteen inhumations were found here without grave goods and with some indication of the use of wooden coffins with iron corner plates (Eagles 1979). Brewster is also said to have discovered an Anglian hut nearby with a central hearth. It is only the lack of other similar local Anglian structures that has elevated this find to the status of a settlement but it should not be forgotten that three kilometres east lies the recently investigated site at Cottam, rich in metalwork (Haldenby 1990; 1992; Richards 1999). Despite the large number of metal finds from this site Richards has argued that it may still have had a fairly humble status compared to the “productive” sites from this period such as at Flixborough. The paucity of grave-goods with the Kemp Howe burials may well suggest a late date which would accord well with the eighth to ninth century bracket suggested from the metalwork at Cottam. This little group of Anglian sites lies on an exposed ridge position alongside the High Street, which may well have been in use as a thoroughfare in this period. Furthermore it is located within another notable concentration of prehistoric monuments.

This is an area we know well. It has played an important part in the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age landscapes discussed in earlier chapters. These are the same linear earthworks, which responded to and mimicked topography and were also venerated during the later Iron Age. They were again drawn upon through the placement of Anglian burials. Places like Huggate Dykes, Blealands Nook, Sykes monument, Fimber Nab and Fimber ponds have come up before. It is no accident that they too form a significant part of the post Roman landscape.

WHERE IS THE ANGLIAN SETTLEMENT ON THE WOLDS? Margaret Faull remarked in a paper on East Yorkshire written in 1974 that “Where the people of 5-7C AD actually lived has still to be discovered” (Faull, 1974). This question remains unanswered but since that time there has been progress made in finding settlement sites of this period, in particular from the important projects at West Heslerton and Wharram Percy. The West Heslerton Project has unearthed over several seasons of excavation a large nucleated Anglian settlement lying on the spring-line at the base of the northern Wolds escarpment. It is situated next to its associated cemetery and contains post-built halls as well as grubenhauser and a range of evidence for a thriving agricultural and semi-industrial economy covering twenty hectares and with suggestions of internal zoning. Powlesland has described it as a proto-type village and argues that it represents the norm in Anglo-Saxon settlement of England (1997; 2002). To the north, on lower lying ground, is a late

Julian Richards excavations at Cottam have revealed a snapshot of the changing early medieval landscape in this area (1999). The site began life probably in the eighth century AD when a small farmstead was present that he suggests was part of the royal estate of Driffield. It may have been a settlement specializing in hunting and upland farming within the wider estate. During the later ninth century the focus of activity shifts slightly and the finds associated with this phase appear to display more ostentatious and high status elements. This has been interpreted as a local lord taking over the site as the royal estate started to fragment. It was 97

within the Late Bronze Age enclosure and the Cottam site amidst a cluster of Bronze Age and Iron Age barrows. Clearly extraordinary settlements they both date from the eighth and ninth centuries (Haldenby 1992; Manby 1982; Richards 1999). They may have been deliberately situated on the high open wold and have more in common with the consumptive high status strongholds of the west and north in this period than they do with lowland settlements like West Heslerton. It is clear from Richards excavations that the high status associations of the ninth century site at Cottam are fairly short-lived and that this phase of activity succeeds an earlier more humble settlement (Richards 1999).

Roman site seemingly abandoned in the fourth or fifth century and maybe forming the predecessor for the Anglian settlement. Along with several other sites it forms another concentration of Anglian occupation along the spring-line of the northern Wolds escarpment and there can be no doubt that these remains represent permanent settlements. Several of the field scatters from Wharram contain pottery from Iron Age, Romano-British and Anglian periods leading to the conclusion that these sites were continually occupied from later prehistory through to the ninth century AD. Hayfield postulates that the settlement pattern was a dispersed one of small regularly spaced farmsteads but with larger “villages” occupying the more favourable locations which later emerge as medieval settlements. It is at these sites that Anglian material has been found whilst the other smaller sites are usually restricted in date to Romano-British period. The dispersed pattern has changed by the eleventh or twelth century when we have the regular pattern of medieval village and open fields as is evident at Wharram Percy itself. However the Wharram evidence is viewed we clearly do not have any significant concentrations of population here anything like that which existed at West Heslerton and it is difficult not to agree with Hayfield that the pottery scatters represent nothing larger than small farmsteads or hamlets. Some of the pottery could even have derived from the occasional and temporary use of sites which were formerly (Roman period) permanent settlements. Without excavation we cannot assess the size, permanence or economic base of the community/ settlement represented. Neither is it possible to properly compare this data-set with that derived from several years extensive excavation on archaeological deposits protected by wind-blown sand, as is the case at Heslerton. At Wharram the quantity of pottery is much smaller in the Anglian period than earlier phases and there is very little associated evidence of industrial or craft activity, or indeed any structures. Fieldwalking on a scale as intensive as this would be expected to unearth some richer metalwork or craftrelated artefacts if they were there. Nonetheless if these scatters do represent Anglian settlements they are restricted to the main valleys and springheads.

The lack of settlement evidence from the Wolds interior, certainly before the eighth and ninth century, is remarkable. It sets this area apart from the wold-edges where we find concentrations of both settlement and burial evidence from an early post Roman date. The burial sites that do occur up on the dry chalk are also different from those on the edge in that they were almost all placed in prehistoric monuments. The Wolds burials are special and were sited in these places not because of the proximity of a settlement but because of the existing importance and contemporary meaning of the place. For this reason they do not need to infer the presence of permanent settlements in their vicinity. So to answer the question of where people are living, it seems most likely that most people were settled on the wold-edges, in areas with ready access to surface water where they also had land locally available for a full range of livestock and crop-related agriculture. This does not of course include the wide expanses of dry chalk land that are found between Huggate and Kirkburn and Sledmere and Middleton. We might wonder how this extensive landscape was perceived and used by the communities living around its watered edges. Woldedge communities based along the western escarpment would have lived in the shelter of the scarp slope, towering above their fields and homes and lives. Its brooding presence, a reminder of the open wide expanse of wold beyond its steep climb. In this sense it is difficult not to see the scarp-hill as a barrier, especially if communication routes were mainly along the base and the only reason to go up there was to graze sheep or gather timber or whins. Another reason to venture up onto the wold with its ancient barrows, replete with stories and magic might of course have been to bury some of the local dead. However, what was so different about those individuals selected for a final journey that was longer than usual? Why were their bodies not interred in the local cemeteries that were spread along the settled lowland zones?

We cannot unquestioningly transfer the density of pottery scatters found within Wharram Percy parish to the rest of the Wolds, despite Hayfield’s remarks for the Romano-British period that “At present there is no reason to think that, in general terms, the Roman landscape at Wharram was any different from that of any other part of the Yorkshire Wolds” (1987:5). These other areas have fewer local sources of water than Wharram and are much less hospitable to permanent settlement. Unlike the Wharram area they do not have ready access to water or to low-lying land off the wold-edge.

Archaeological evidence can be tantalisingly inadequate to reconstruct a generalised image of the character of a past landscape. For now we have taken the archaeology as far as it will go and will proceed to consider the historical sources. Chronologically these have limited relevance for this period but they are useful none the less to construct a framework of possibilities for the later post-Roman Wolds. It is necessary to use the earliest available sources and in spite of their late date they do possess archaic glimpses of the character of the Wolds landscape in this period.

Apart from the Wharram sites there are very few known Anglian settlements of any kind from the Wolds. Most of the material from this period is funerary in character. Very rich and diverse material has come from non-funerary contexts at Cottam and from Thwing, including metalwork and craft working and industrial debris. They are both located on the southern watershed ridge of the Great Wold Valley alongside the Great Wold Dyke and amidst concentrations of major prehistoric monuments. The Anglian site at Thwing lies 98

Yorkshire and is therefore likely to be connected to a preAnglian people or region. Higham's etymological link is plausible but he attempts to reinforce it by giving a pivotal place in Deiran geography to all historical Anglian places situated remotely close to the river. This may be pushing his case a bit far (Higham 1993:81).

PART TWO THE HISTORICAL LANDSCAPE The fundamental tenet of the approach adopted throughout the thesis has been to try and achieve a rounded and complete impression of the development of this landscape through a close and intimate relationship with it. Therefore, in order to understand the character of the early medieval Wolds we need to know as much as possible about the medieval and post-medieval landscape. It is this aim that stands behind the existence of the township profiles in chapter five and the application of this information in the analysis of the historical sources. We are looking for echoes of an earlier landscape preserved within its medieval successor and in so doing will obviously have to address the question of the origin of the medieval structure.

RIDINGS, HUNDREDS AND WAPENTAKES Yorkshire was probably recognised as a separate county during the tenth or eleventh centuries and around that time divided into three parts or Ridings, from the Scandinavian word thrithing meaning a third part (Hey 1991). By this time the East Riding already had its own identity, a function of the topographic character of the territory and its natural boundaries. By Domesday Book the Riding was divided into eighteen hundreds whose location and extent are easily plotted because of the detailed listing of their component vills in the Yorkshire Summary of Domesday Book (Darby and Maxwell 1962; Brooks 1986; Faull and Stinson 1986) (fig 114). However the earliest record of the layout of individual township boundaries dates from the nineteenth century. We do not know if these boundaries remained unchanged over the previous eight hundred years. Elsewhere in Yorkshire the Ridings were divided into much larger wapentakes but similar territories are not recorded in East Yorkshire until the thirteenth century. The East Yorkshire hundreds seem to represent a much more complicated system than the later wapentakes as they contain many detached, dependent portions often at a distance from the parent hundred.

This section begins with a consideration of the historical sense of regionality in East Yorkshire at various levels. This leads on to a look at the townships and parishes of the historical Wolds and thoughts about the origins of the landscape of which they are part. Following this we try and catch some of the vague resonance of the pre-Norman landscape present in the historical record. This deals with the identification of pastures, long distance trackways and finally, territories or estates. The expansion of settlement onto the Wolds is then considered especially through the light of place-names. This involves the foundation of open fields and the origins of townships and villages. Ultimately, the findings of the whole chapter are summarised and brought together in an attempt to reconstruct the true spirit of the place in this period.

In other parts of the country the terms wapentake and hundred were often used to refer to territories of the same character and extent. In East Yorkshire there are similarities between the two systems. In three cases the later wapentakes appear to be made up of groups of three hundreds (i.e. Buckrose, Dickering and Holderness wapentakes). Ouse and Derwent wapentake more or less constitutes the detached holdings of three former hundreds whereas the large wapentake of Harthill, divided into four divisions based on beacons, contains the territories of nine former hundreds (Brooks 1986). The sense of the separateness of Holderness is already felt in 1086 when there is a reference to the "men of Holderness" in Domesday Book. Another from 1166 refers to a wapentake of Holderness already by this date (Anderson 1934; Roffe 1991). Furthermore, the hundred of Thoreshowe is actually described as a wapentake in Domesday Book (Faull and Stinson 1986). For Roffe the wapentake structure is already present in East Yorkshire by 1086, the hundreds representing sub-divisions of wapentakes. He argues that the difference between East Yorkshire and the North and West Ridings was merely the result of a change in the form of textual organisation in the Domesday Summary (Roffe 1991). In this way the most radical administrative re-organisation would have occurred in the tenth century when the system was created and not after the Norman Conquest. Roffe sees the hundredal system as having been imposed on existing townships in the tenth century (Roffe 1986).

DEIRA The historical emergence of the territory of East Yorkshire can be traced to the Historia Brittonum, a compilation of northern British and Welsh sources probably brought together in the ninth century AD at St.David's in west Wales (Dumville 1989). It contains a genealogy of the kingdom of Deira tracking back from King Edwin (reign: c 616-633), which suggests that the kingdom may have had origins in the fifth or sixth centuries AD. It was under Edwin that Deira was united with Bernicia, the kingdom to the north, to bring the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria under a single dynasty. Deira was located in East Yorkshire and bounded here by that region's natural limits made up of the North sea, the Humber Estuary and the Vale of York. The northern boundary is less easy to pinpoint and may lie on the river Tees or the North Yorkshire Moors (Blair 1947; Higham 1993). A more securely datable historical reference is found in Bede who also refers to Deira, locating the monastery at Beverley "in the wood of the men of Deira" (Bede Ecclesiastical History Book five, chapter two). In fact many of the references refer to the people of Deira rather than describing the kingdom by its territorial extent (Smith 1937).

Before the tenth century, political geography in Anglo-Saxon England was characterised by distinct groups of tribal peoples and larger kingdoms, rather than the patchwork of state-controlled administrative districts, which existed by the

Higham maintains that the name Deira shares the same British root as the river name Derwent, derived from deru for oak tree and that the original identity of the Deiran people and kingdom lay in the Derwent Valley (Higham 1993). It is one of the few British names to survive in Anglian East 99

identity and name in the pre-Norman period but that it is not until after the conquest that its sense of separateness becomes historically attested. Is it possible that the earliest names given to the region might tell us something about its perceived character, particularly in the period before the Norman conquest?

eleventh century (Bassett 1989). The hundreds (and wapentakes) are not known before the tenth century and are largely seen as an innovation across Anglo-Saxon England and the Danelaw for the “...adjustment of taxation, the maintenance of peace and order and the settlement of local pleas.” (Stenton 1971:297). Although the variety that exists suggests they do not derive from a single act of state-imposed re-organisation (ibid) they both usually contain a central focal point or meeting place at which the court hearings or trials were held in front of what amounts to a popular council. Many names of both wapentakes and hundreds derive from these moot places, which are very often situated on barrows or beacons (Anderson 1934; Smith 1937; Gelling 1978; Turner 2001) and in fact the name wapentake itself is derived from Old Scandinavian terms referring to the symbolic flourishing of weapons at these open air public meetings. Traditionally, the wapentake is associated with the Danelaw and the hundreds with Anglo-Saxon areas but Stenton regards the terms wapentake and hundred as interchangeable. The changes that take place in East Yorkshire in the twelth and thirteenth centuries when wapentakes emerge are largely mirrored in the rest of Anglo-Saxon England. We will consider further in chapter seven how the use of ancient monuments for wapentake meeting places reflects the continuing reuse of the past in this landscape during the medieval period.

In the middle ages the sense of the Wolds as a region or ‘pays’ becomes stronger and better documented. Several villages are described as lying "on the wolds" from the thirteenth century (Smith 1937) in the same way as settlements on the Wolds of Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire (Fox 1989) (fig 115-116). For example we have Garton in waldo from 1208, Bainton super waldas from 1301 and Brunbi (Burnby) sub walda from 1160-80 (Burnby lying just off the Wolds, underneath the western escarpment) (Smith 1937). There is a marked concentration of these names on the edge of the eastern dip slope where the woldedge is not so clearly marked in topography as on the west and north. Notably there are very few of these names recorded in the southern Wolds, south of Market Weighton. "General references to the Wolds are not common" (Smith 1937:13) but they occur from the thirteenth century. For example there is a fourteenth century reference to waldas and waldo as well as a sixteenth century Woolde and seventeenth century the Woolds and Yorks Wold (Smith 1937). A third category of place-name containing the wald element appears later and contains names which refer to a share of the woldland, often associated with a particular township. In their earliest form they are usually found without any qualifying place-name prefix. For instance East Heslerton Wold is known merely as waldum in 1180 and likewise, Huggate Wold is waldo in 1200-20 (Smith 1937). Only in Potter Brompton and Staxton do we find waldam de Staxton and waldo Brumton in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries (ibid). There are also examples of Northwold (Nunburnholme 13C), Houstwald (Mowthorpe 12C) and Caldwald (Warter 12C, now Cold wold). It would appear from this that the earliest sense of the Wolds may be an extended and unified region and not a collection of smaller township-based pieces. Only later does each piece become synonymous with its township. Indeed to Gelling the name "was only considered appropriate to districts" (1984), so that names which used it as a second element were referring to smaller parts of a larger area of wold land. The sense of the Wolds as a unified and separate district seems to pre-date the idea of a patchwork of townships each with its own share of the Wold.

THE WOLDS The names that are given to a region can tell us a great deal about how it was perceived and inhabited. An adequate historical record does not exist before the eleventh century and so for this period we do not know how the Wolds was named. Even after this date we are only provided with occasional and fleeting references to such things. The Wolds has long been recognised as a separate topographic and geomorphologic area. But how far back does this perceived sense of separateness go and when was it first historically recorded? It is universally accepted that the name Wolds derives from the Old English (OE) wald meaning ‘woodland’. This meaning of the word dates from the pre-Norman centuries as after the eleventh century the wald element is taken to refer to ‘high open ground’ (Gelling 1984). The Wolds as a region does not appear historically until after Domesday Book (1086). The question we must address is whether this area was given the name before the eleventh century or afterwards. The answer to this question may tell us whether it was named after its wooded nature or its open character.

Harold Fox writes, " although the term is used in early written sources...in contexts which clearly imply woodland, later usage equally clearly indicates that a wold...was thought of as countryside devoid of wood." (Fox 1989:81). After the twelth century, the word is used to refer to ‘open high ground’ and not the earlier sense of woodland,. This change is explained by some authors through the clearance of these high forested districts of trees (Gelling 1984). Everitt on the other hand doesn't accept that areas known as Wolds in the middle ages were so called because of their open lofty aspect in the eleventh to twelth century, favouring instead the Kentish situation where the Wolds indeed were forested in the early middle ages (Everitt 1977).

The Yorkshire Wolds are not mentioned historically as a distinct region until the thirteenth century (Smith 1937) but there are earlier attested place names that include the wald element. The earliest in East Yorkshire is that of Wauldby from Domesday Book (Gelling 1984). Other early uses of wald include Hawold, which is first mentioned in the twelth century but it may occur in Domesday Book as Holde (Faull and Stinson 1986). Another early reference to wold appears in a charter of Newbald from 963, which records the location of the boundary as heading, "from the street east right on up a wold" (Farrer 1914; Long and Pickles 1993). It seems likely, as Gelling suggests (forthcoming) that the area later known as the Wolds did have a distinctive geographical

There is little evidence for woodland on the Wolds. The only 100

townships. The term may also have been used to describe the tenurial rights of the area. The central Wolds may have been the original Wolds and could have possessed a different tenurial character than the area to the north and south which were originally known by other names. Only later when this term had lost its original meaning did the whole topographic mass became known as the Wolds.

Domesday references to woodland come from the eastern edge of the southern Wolds between Scorborough and Ferriby on the Humber foreshore. Here presumably lay the wood of the men of Deira, mentioned by Bede to have existed near Beverley. Elsewhere on the Wolds there are very few place-names denoting the presence of woodland at the time these settlements were named in the Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-Scandinavian period. All the evidence points to the fact that the Wolds had been largely cleared of wood for many centuries (Alison 1976; Eagles 1979).

THE YORKSHIRE DOMESDAY BOOK There are very few documentary sources for East Yorkshire before 1086, which are of use to the landscape historian. Unlike the south of England there is only one surviving preNorman charter, for Newbald from 963 AD (Farrer 1914; Long and Pickles 1993). Around the time of the Norman conquest there is an explosion of information and with it the introduction of a whole range of new issues and problems. To historians the age of Domesday Book marks the beginning of a new historical agenda and a new historiographical era. But does the Norman take-over actually mark an equally radical threshold of actual change in the Wolds landscape?

Gelling suggests that the region name originated in the southern Wolds in the Anglo-Saxon period because of its extensive woodland and that the name was only later transferred to the northern Wolds to emerge in the twelth century, in Hawold and others (1984). However there are some problems with this suggestion. There are no actual references to the Wolds as a district, before the twelth century, after which time the sense of the OE word wald is one of open high ground rather than woodland. Odd instances of the wald element like for Wauldby, before this time could be referring to small pockets of woodland and need not be describing extensive areas. In addition the overwhelming majority of medieval wald names of all kinds come from the long cleared northern Wolds.

"Notwithstanding its awesome reputation as a full and definitive account of the realm, (Domesday Book) 'is incomplete, selective, often inaccurate, indecisive, inconsistent, even from time to time apparently capricious, in its choice of information' " (Roffe 1990; quoted in Palliser 1993:14). The Yorkshire edition of the "great book" is often more unreliable than for other areas because, according to Roffe it was the first to be produced and a lot of the conventions adopted are experimental. A great deal has been written on the Yorkshire Domesday most notably by Palliser (1993) and Roffe (1991; 1990) but also for the East Riding by Brooks (1986). When using the information it contains we should be aware of the limitations revealed by these latest studies, although we need not spend too much time on the minutiae of textual analysis to which it has been subjected.

Chris Wickham has linked the word wald with a tenurial term gualdus, found in early medieval Europe to indicate areas with special tenurial rights. If we follow his arguments then the debate about woodland or open high ground becomes superfluous. He suggests that the term gualdus describes the tenurial character of the place rather than the generalised vegetation cover or prevailing economic practice (Wickham 1990). It may be that the term used to describe areas of wold in this country could also be describing the tenurial character of these areas rather than their topography (see below). Settlements in the Great Wold Valley and those lying along the northern escarpment are not described as lying ‘on the Wolds’ until after sixteenth century. Before this time these areas went by different names, which have since died out: Cranedale or Grindalyth for the southern slopes of the Great Wold Valley and Hertfordlyth for the southern slopes of the Upper Derwent Valley, along the northern escarpment of the Wolds (Smith 1937) (fig 115). Several settlements are recorded with the region names Grindalyth and Hertfordlyth in the twelth-fourteenth century and the former survives in the modern village name, Kirby Grindalythe. The later records (after 16C) locate some of these places on the Wolds instead and by this time the sense of separateness of these two areas seems to have been lost. The settlements recorded as part of the Wolds in the twelth-fourteenth century lie mainly to the south of here on the high central Wolds between Warter and Hunmanby. Their distribution is commensurate with the zone of townships which lie entirely on the Wolds and are often distinguished by their large size and ‘blocky’ shape (see below). At this time the southern Wolds too may have been treated as a separate region but if so its name has been lost.

Domesday Book does not record settlements but vills. These are generally seen as the basic units of land organisation and agrarian practice which later emerge as townships in the medieval landscape (Faull 1984). The survey is really a record of landholding in the form of manors or estates, which may or may not be coterminous with the vill in which they are located. Some vills and sometimes manors are described as sokeland or berewick. These terms are used to describe holdings that are linked closely to a dominant manor and often owe service to the manorial power. This convention has been widely regarded as the vestiges of an archaic territorial and tenurial structure and peculiar to the Danelaw (see below) (Kapelle 1979). The inconsistencies of the Yorkshire text make it difficult to evenly reconstruct the eleventh century landscape. For some places there is mention of woodland, churches and priests, mills and burgesses, with most vills being given a number of plough teams, a value assessment for taxation and an idea of the size of each holding measured in fiscal carucates (Faull and Stinson 1986; Brooks 1986; Darby and Maxwell 1962). Many vills in Yorkshire are recorded as lying waste and without a specific taxable rate or assessment in 1086. Such a systematic reduction in population and taxable value for the 480 odd vills affected has traditionally been put down to the devastation carried out by William the Conqueror between 1069-70. The ‘Harrying of the North’ is recorded by many

The sense of the Wolds as a separate region is slow to emerge from the historical record but it appears to become stronger as the middle ages progress. The earliest references are of a unified district which is apportioned between 101

they are seen as surviving intact. Despite the many examples of these township units in existence in the tenth century, it is not at all clear at what time or under what circumstances they originated. In the rest of the country there are as many studies suggesting a prehistoric or Romano-British date for some townships (i.e. Finberg 1955; Fowler 1976; Bonney 1976) as there are others demonstrating a definite post-Roman origin (Williamson 1986; Unwin 1988). This may have become an academic battleground and it shows that it is foolish to look for generalised models of township origin.

chroniclers and commentators of the time as being especially harsh in Yorkshire where William sought to seek his revenge and stamp his authority on a rebellious people. If Domesday Book is to be taken at face value, many villages and their fields had not recovered seventeen years later. However recent re-assessments by Wightman and Palliser have questioned the extent of the devastation and its long term effects on the Yorkshire landscape (Wightman 1975; Palliser 1991). It would seem that a vill recorded in Domesday as waste need not have been deserted or devastated but could merely have been unsuitable for taxation. Alternatively it may have been assessed along with a different part of its manor. The experimental nature of the compilation of the Yorkshire text is seen as the most important factor in creating these complications (Roffe 1991).

It is inevitable that some features of the landscape survived from the Romano-British period along with a large proportion of the population. This does not necessarily imply that the practice of agriculture and settlement nor the organisation of field systems and boundaries also remained unchanged. Change is inevitable and continuous and we should not assume it can be pinned down to easily defined thresholds, characterised by accepted historical watersheds. Many claims have been made about the continuity of territory but often this has been done without a full consideration of the complicated way in which landscape change takes place. Old features like roads, mounds and banks can remain physically present but with their meanings altered. To demonstrate the antiquity of the line of a township boundary for instance (Bonney 1976) does not also illustrate the antiquity of the township as a territory. Any line in the landscape could have previously existed as a trackway which was later adopted as a boundary (Bassett 1989).

The pattern of vills recorded in Domesday Book for East Yorkshire forms the basis of the medieval settlement pattern and the vast majority of later medieval townships are mentioned. References to woodland are restricted to the southern Wolds and the Vale of York but then it is unclear whether un-managed woodland would have been recorded as it was probably not taxable. Meadow land is concentrated in Holderness for obvious environmental reasons but there are odd references on the western edge of the Wolds as well as one hundred acres at Sledmere, in the heart of the dry Wolds (Darby and Maxwell 1962). Vills recorded as waste or uninhabited have less significance in the light of the above discussion but their distribution does seem to concentrate on the Wolds as well as a small group in Howdenshire. This might say something about the way in which these areas were regarded by the Domesday assessors or the ease with which information was gained here. Pocklington and Bridlington are held to have contained burgesses in 1086, a sign of some commercial importance for these places (fig 117). It is Beverley that soon after emerges as the pre-eminent commercial centre, a status it must have already enjoyed in 1086 but one which goes unrecorded (Brooks 1986). Other significant places are denoted by the number of sokelands and berewicks which are dependent upon them as well as slightly later references to mother churches, often situated at these estate centres such as Driffield, Burton Agnes and Hunmanby (see below).

The claim that "..most of the parishes of medieval England and their subdivisions were in use in the Roman period" (Taylor 1983:104) cannot be supported. Equally extreme is the position of Tim Unwin who has almost reverted back to the spirit of the invasion hypothesis. He explains early medieval settlement patterns and field systems with reference to the homelands of invading Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians (1988), giving the indigenous British communities very little respect. Townships emerge in the historical record in eleventh century as a fairly homogeneous patchwork of territories. Individually they are likely to originate in a range of different ways and at different times. The key to understanding township origins on the Wolds may well rest in the difference between the wold-edge and the wold interior. The former may be an area of continuity whilst the latter saw distinct phases of sporadic settlement and here territorial units may not have remained intact for so long. As we will see those Wolds townships which have the strongest claims for an early origin are all found on the wold-edge, whilst those in the drier and higher Wolds are different and probably originate at a later date. The long term history of the Wolds landscape is structured around the dynamic between wold-edge and wold interior and it is the relationship between the two zones that characterises the overall development. The difference between the two areas is evident within the township pattern but also in many other ways, as we will see below.

TOWNSHIPS ON THE WOLDS As noted above the settlement pattern revealed by Domesday Book for the late eleventh century is one of vills or townships and not necessarily one of villages. The earliest detailed record of the extent of each township territory is the OS first edition 6" map (1854). In other parts of the country the location of the mid nineteenth century boundaries is often much the same as earlier tenth century charters, when these are available. The few surviving pre-Domesday charters for Yorkshire delineate territories, which later emerge as townships both surrounded by the same boundary lines (Faull 1974;1984; Long and Pickles 1993). To Faull the townships are the basic building block of the medieval landscape, units of land containing a range of economic resources and environmental niches to allow for a self-contained community territory. Needless to say there were alterations in the precise delineations of some boundaries but on the whole

The Newbald charter of 963 AD contains a boundary clause which delineates a tenth century estate. It is remarkably similar to the territory later occupied by the combined townships of North and South Newbald, despite some textual discrepancies in the charter (Long and Pickles 1993). The 102

Croom. Others like Hawold, Burrow and Greenwick have much more obscure histories, their township status only vaguely emerging into the historical record. With no evidence of permanent settlement these places may have preconquest origins as detached pastures, dependent on woldedge settlements (see chapter five).

result is a classic wold-edge township. It is aligned across the grain of the topography and contains a combination of wet low-lying ground to the west with higher, drier wold land to the east. The estate boundaries follow natural, anthropogenic and ancient features of the landscape. The boundaries on the low ground to the west follow intricate and deviating courses whilst those on the wold land run in direct lines and adopt a more uniform pattern. Up on the Wold the boundaries are using topographic features as reference points such as trees, barrows and tracks whilst the western boundaries follow field headlands and property boundaries. This highlights the distinction between the open aspect of the wold and the settled and managed character of the wold-edge around the settlement and stream.

Within the study area topography seems to play a large part in structuring the pattern of townships. Some are made up of topographic territories consisting of a self contained network of dry valleys (i.e. Warter, Cottam) whilst many more use topographic features as boundaries. The blocky townships of the eastern Wolds share a conformity, particularly in their boundaries (i.e. Wetwang, Garton, Tibthorpe, Kirkburn, North Dalton, Bainton). All are bounded on north and south by long distance lines, which they share with several other townships (fig 87-8; 119). To the east and west they are delimited by the direct sweeping lines of open field edge. The course of many of these recalls the reverse ‘S’ profile of lands in the open field, implying that the formation of the boundary was either contemporary with or later than the creation of the open field. Where this kind of township contains a complicated deviating boundary it is not found in the wold interior but usually borders on the wold-edge, such as Kirkburn or Bainton, or even Warter. On the other hand the group of townships based around the springheads of the river Hull (Eastburn, Southburn, Kirkburn, Elmswell) are all distinctly small with deviating intricate boundaries, characteristic of the wold-edge.

How much earlier than the tenth century this township territory may have originated is not clear. There are two Romano-British villa sites here at the junction of two Roman roads as well as concentrations of Anglian metalwork and this suggests a long history of settlement alongside the springheads by which the village lies. The Wharram landscape project has also recognised a long history of settlement in the townships that make up the later parish of Wharram Percy (Hayfield 1987). Hayfield recognises continuity of settlement sites and population here and he extends this to township boundaries and the agrarian community-based estates which they surround, giving the townships here at least a Romano-British origin (ibid). Herman Ramm too has suggested a Romano-British origin for the township of Langton evolving out of a villa-based estate (Ramm 1978). Another has been suggested for Rudston (Alison 1976) but neither example is based on anything other than the probable early medieval use of boundaries also recognised as Romano-British. Alison suggests that the evolution of Romano-British estates into medieval townships is a common feature on the Wolds, but acknowledges it has not yet been properly demonstrated (ibid). It is strongly suggested that some areas of the woldedge and Great Wold Valley enjoyed continual settlement throughout the first millennium AD but that is not to say that the rest of the Wolds did too. Nor does it imply that centuries of settlement in the same general area did not bring with them many changes in agrarian practice, territorial organisation, etc. It is in certain environmentally favoured areas usually at springheads on the wold-edge (Newbald, Rudston, Wharram Percy, Driffield, etc.) that concentrations of Romano-British and Anglian archaeological material are found (Faull 1974;1984; Alison 1976). The central dry Wolds contains no similar archaeological concentrations and the pattern of townships appears different here than those along the woldedges.

In the dissected Wolds it is unusual to see block-shaped townships presumably because of the tendency for boundaries to follow the irregular winding lines of the dry valleys. The group of small townships made up of Fimber, Fridaythorpe, Towthorpe and Burdale is one example. Individually they are not bounded on north and south by long distance boundaries but they are as a group, suggesting some sub-division of a once larger unit. The boundaries between Fridaythorpe, Fimber and Burdale are demonstrably different and may be late creations. Huggate and Warter stand out as large and rather anomalous in this context in a similar way to Sledmere, which like Huggate is a predominantly pastoral township in the middle ages. It is possible to conjecture that the former territory of Holm Archiepiscopie extended south into Huggate originally creating another block township which conforms to the regularity of its easterly neighbours. This territory would then include some of the holm names referred to in the twelth and thirteenth century. However the references to these names describe them as lying in Huggate and do not mention Holm which was still inhabited at this time. Historically its ties are always with Wetwang to the east.

The pattern of townships in the study area and the location of boundaries have been reconstructed but there remain many anomalies and oddities. Several examples of very small townships of varying status exist as well as detached portions and late changes to boundaries. The nineteenth century picture is very much a rationalisation of centuries of change to deal with alterations in rural economy, land tenure, lordship and rural society during the middle ages, which affected the division of the landscape into districts. Late (and post) medieval de-population accounts for several townships which no longer have permanent settlements such as Cottam, Cowlam, Eastburn and Southburn, Holm Archiepiscopie and

The character of detachment is also different on the woldedge as here we find what has been referred to as "interlaced" holdings, a complicated patchwork of small often arable holdings intermingled between neighbouring townships (Ecclestone 1993). Interlaced holdings are found where boundaries were pushed through areas, which already had a long history of occupancy and ownership and the resulting deviating line of the boundaries stands in contrast to the broad sweeping lines of boundaries on the Wolds. This kind of detachment occurs between Little Driffield and Driffield (see chapter five) as well as on the southeastern wold-edge 103

up of three depopulated townships and one containing an occupied settlement, Thixendale. The parish church however, lay in the deserted settlement at Wharram Percy (Beresford and Hurst 1990).

between Hotham and Newbald. The Newbald charter mentions acres in the arable fields by the village on the western boundary, some of which are intermingled with the arable holdings of the neighbouring township of Hotham (Long and Pickles 1993). These detached pieces survived intact to be recorded on the 1854 OS 6" maps and their occurrence here has reinforced the antiquity of the western boundary by the tenth century. On the Wolds however, detachments are usually isolated areas as for instance at Greenwick and in some senses at Wetwang Rakes. Little Driffield too has a small detachment in the pastures of Driffield. This kind of detachment is likely to have arisen in a pastoral context where territories with little dry pasture of their own were given access to outlying portions of wold land (Ford 1976). To what extent these distant dependencies preserve the rights of formerly more extensive territories, which cut across the wold and wold-edge is not yet clear (but see below). The different character of land tenure between open field arable and extensive pasture is evidently influencing the extent and layout of township holdings. The same principle may well be evident in the detached portions of hundreds which are recorded in Domesday Book as in the cases of Turbar, Huntow and Burton which are each based on the wold-edge or coast but also contain detached portions of high wold land (Brooks 1986; VCH 1974;1976) (fig 114).

The relationship between township and parish is complicated. By the time the two institutions are properly recorded they have become confused as similar kinds of territory and are often coterminous. In origin however, they are widely different. The work of Blair and Morris has helped to make sense of the seventh and eighth century origins for large parishes each centred on a minster church. These are later rationalised between the tenth and twelth centuries through the building of a series of proprietary parish churches, forming the basis for the medieval parish structure (Blair 1988; Morris 1989; Roffe 1986). Many of the pre-Norman parochial territories have been related closely to secular estates as minster churches were often founded close to royal vills. Pre-tenth century references to minster churches are common in the south but lacking in the north and Danelaw. In East Yorkshire significant mother churches only emerge historically in the twelth century and so it is not easy to assess their pre-Norman origins (Blair 1988). However, Morris has suggested that the strength of the Norman record here is great enough to outweigh limitations surrounding its late date and the likelihood is that many Anglo-Saxon minster parishes existed in Yorkshire only to be recorded later in the twelth century. Some mother churches of the twelth century are also centres of extensive sokes reinforcing the point about the relationship between parochiae and early secular estates. (Morris 1989). For East Yorkshire we have twelth century references to churches of superior status at places like Hunmanby, Burton Agnes, Driffield, Kilham, Weaverthorpe, Beverley, Pocklington, Patrington (fig 117). By this time though any sense of their former superior status is obscure and archaic as they are now part of a patchwork of new parishes, each parish territory acting as a source of revenue for its church. Significantly, the parishes that surround some of the suggested mother churches, such as Pocklington and Bridlington, are much larger than their neighbours, another indirect indication of their former superior status (i.e. Alison 1976). Having established the existence of early pre-Norman minsters here we will return to this below when it is time to reconstruct the character of pre-Norman territorial organisation.

The pattern of townships in East Yorkshire does not appear to be a regular one but neither is it entirely random. There are a large number of strip-like townships always arranged in groups and often sharing long distance continuous boundaries which define their common ends. Invariably these groups lie on the wold-edge, as at Newald and contain a range of land types including dry wold land and wet meadow and sometimes marsh. The southern Wolds is made up almost entirely of this kind of township and there are other groups along the spring line of the northern escarpment, including West Heslerton (Powlesland 1986) as well as the southfacing eastern dip slope between Carnaby and Elmswell. A further group lies just off the eastern dip slope along the western side of the river Hull and another is spread out along the Great Wold Valley, each township cutting across the topographic grain and centred on the stream. Strip townships like these are in a good position to take maximum advantage of the range of environmental niches locally available and thus allow for communities to be as self-sufficient as possible. The uniformity in the patterns also raises the question of planning. It seems apparent that the townships within each group were created at the same time, possibly carved out of a pre-existing, larger territory (fig 86; 119).

THE PASTORAL WOLDS "In the more densely wooded regions of England, traces of use for grazing in pre-conquest times...... are not hard to find. In the wolds, by contrast, which later underwent an arable revolution the traces of a pastoral people are fainter, as we might expect." (Fox 1989: 85).

Whatever the circumstances of their origin they present a marked contrast to the patchwork of block townships which characterise the interior of the Wolds and to the much more random pattern present in the northwest and western woldedge.

Harold Fox attempted to show that the Wolds of the Midlands had traditionally been occupied by pastoral communities, a feature which gave them their name. He used very few examples from East Yorkshire but he considered the Yorkshire Wolds to have enjoyed a similar history (ibid). If this was the case the contraction of permanent settlement off the Wolds in the late or post-Roman period need not be classed as abandonment of lands, but a change in predominant land-use and a shift from permanent to temporary settlement. Many of the characteristics of the

PARISHES Not all Domesday vills have survived as villages and townships. Many became depopulated in the middle ages. This resulted in the amalgamation of townships or meant that the township retained its territorial identity but without a nucleation of settlement. Wharram Percy is a good example where the medieval parish was by the later middle ages made 104

Pluckham, Wayrham, Fordham. Another more tentative remnant is suggested at Cowlam where Croom Wold lies alongside a string of pastures belonging to the Gypsey Race villages. Here too are two small areas enclosed by linear earthworks which may have been carved out of the larger pasture, like others in the west. There is nothing like it on the wold-edge, except for small areas of wet meadow by the streams.

Midland Wolds are shared, in particular the difficulties in recognising the pre-conquest pastoral heritage. This is well concealed beneath the medieval landscape, created by the radical agrarian changes of the Anglo-Scandinavian or immediate post-conquest period. In the medieval period the wold areas are often overwhelmingly arable with extensive open fields, ranging from boundary to boundary in very long lands. But was this the case in the pre-Norman centuries? Does the arable dominance of the middle ages conceal a different earlier system as Fox would have us believe? In East Yorkshire some medieval wold townships are entirely given over to arable, forcing their inhabitants to drive livestock long distances for water in dry season and to maintain detached portions of pasture (Harris 1951;1969; Alison 1976). A few townships were still predominantly pastoral and the twelth century charter evidence refers to extensive rights of pasture in both open field after harvest and during fallow periods, as well as in specialised pasture areas. Presumably the number of animals kept in each township depended on the extent of available specialist pasture. In townships that were predominantly arable, animals could have been grazed on fallow open fields and the rotation system altered accordingly. The adoption of a two field rotation for instance would allow for more grazing land available in the township than a three or four field rotation. The extent of medieval pasture in the study area is mapped in fig 120 (based on evidence discussed in chapter five). It is by no means a full record as it is reliant on evidence that is often inadequate and late. It is clear from the map that each township did not contain a regular amount of pasture, neither in terms of size nor location.

Away from the study area the pattern is repeated in an even more obvious way. Groups of strip townships lying straddled across the wold-edge or slopes of the Great Wold Valley seem to have shared large areas of woldland as pasture in the medieval period. The sharing up of the wold land and fragmentation of extensive tracts on the chalk may be associated with the changing perception of region that is evident in the place-names of the Wolds. As we saw above the early place-names seem to portray the sense of a unified region whilst the later names were related to township-sized pieces of wold pasture (fig 119). Again we get the strong impression that the large wold pastures came first. Strip townships were arranged to physically divide the land which previously these communities had shared under an extensive system of intercommoning. If that was the case the act of township planning would be part of a radical re-design of landscape, agriculture and society. In the wold-edge areas which contain groups of strip townships the relationship between these settlements and their wold pastures is a long held one. However, in the study area it is suggested that the pastures pre-date the settlements in the higher lands of the central Wolds. Encroachment seems to have taken place onto the extensive wold pasture by settlements in the same way that cottages encroach onto a common or Green. The creeping encroachment meant that arable lands were laid out leaving only a small portion of pasture which was then shared out amongst surrounding townships.

Designated pasture areas in the medieval landscape are contiguous between townships (fig 120). It may be that each portion of pasture has been carved out of formerly more extensive areas, which now cut across township boundaries. In the same way as the long distance boundaries these large pastures seem to pre-date the townships as discrete territories. In fact all four main concentrations of township pastures are found alongside or on both sides of long distance boundaries. The pasture of Tibthorpe Wold lies across the boundary from Thorndale, a pasture of Wetwang and adjoins Hawold and Blanch, areas of later intake and probably former open pasture, especially in the light of Blanch's former status as shieling. The townships of Garton, Driffield and Elmswell are fringed on the north by contiguous areas of medieval pasture, which may once have extended into Cottam also. Here though the southern part of the township was arable in the middle ages, but there are still links with the other townships. Henry Best, an Elmswell farmer, for instance claimed in the seventeenth century to enjoy rights of common in Cottam field (Woodward/Best 1985), a claim which possibly recalls the former status of this area as a discrete detached pasture. Another concentration exists to the west of Huggate where its own specialist pastures lie alongside those of Greenwick (detached from Bishop Wilton), Wetwang Rakes (intercommoned between Wetwang and Bishop Wilton) and Fridaythorpe Cowpasture (fig 120-1). To the west of here are Millington Lings and a range of very suggestive pastoral place-names like Manna Green and the Green Wold south of Wetwang Rakes. North of the High Street too there are probably also remnant pastures at

Such encroachment may have involved the erosion of common rights to an extensive pasture and must have taken place gradually over time and through a number of stages. It was not a uniform process but random and sporadic so that some townships were left with no designated pasture. According to Fleming there is a recurring pattern to the loss of commons, involving the informal appropriation of tracts of land by specific communities followed by more formal appropriation involving demarcation and enclosure. Harris refers to the practice of common by vicinage where, "...the waste ground of two townships lye together, and noother hedge nor pale betweene to kepe their catel asonder, so that the catel of one township goth over his meire or bounde into the waste ground of the other towne (sic)...." (Fitzherbert 1539, quoted in Harris 1951:32). This quote describes a transitionary phase in the process of encroachment and enclosure of the common before fixed township boundaries are created. Indeed, Harris also refers to the late medieval practice on the Wolds of shepherds patrolling the un-marked township boundaries, keeping flocks within each township territory (Harris 1969). Many of the pasture zones contain discrete areas of land enclosed by linear earthworks as at Greenwick, Wetwang Rakes, Aldro, Vessey Pasture and Burrow. These enclosures may be early medieval in origin. The linear earthworks that surround some of these areas are likely to be prehistoric but some early medieval examples may also be present. 105

with very few alternatives. It is enough for Smith (1937) that "there are many tumuli in the area" to opt for that translation but on the Wolds of course you are never far from a prehistoric burial mound. There are many famous monuments on the Wolds which contain the haugr element in their name and are clear unequivocal examples of its meaning as barrow ( i.e. Duggleby Howe, Willy Howe, Kemp Howe, etc). Again the sensitive and self conscious relationship between local people, the past and the landscape is evident. But can all the examples of howe names refer to barrows and if so was this meaning constant? After all it is undoubted that the placename element haugr could also refer to a natural hill (Gellling 1984). We will argue that it is in this sense that some of the howe names on the Wolds should perhaps be taken.

The remnant pastures that form part of the medieval agrarian scene, having been divided up into township-portions, are a product of the later stages of the encroachment of permanent settlement onto the Wolds. In the earlier stages they would have been larger in extent and settlement in this area would perhaps have been represented by small communities temporarily based in the Wolds pastures and probably on a seasonal basis. There are some place-names here in erg, which indicate this practice as the erg element is the Old English word for shieling (M.Higham 1978). The three remaining examples are all found in the high central Wolds, in two cases close to the north-south watershed, an area which was one of the latest to be ‘colonised’. Argam lies on the high northeast wolds next to Burton Fleming to which it is sokeland in Domesday Book. This dependent relationship may have begun with Argam acting as a pastoral shelter for the inhabitants of Burton Fleming. Other examples from East Yorkshire are found in well known marginal areas, which were also colonised late as at Holme on Spalding Moor and in the eastern margins of Leconfield township in the wetlands of the river Hull. All forms of the name are plural, either dative or nominative (Arram and Arras) and two are Domesday vills. There are also examples of seasonal settlement names on the Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire Wolds, where Fox regards them as representing, "......earlier forms of pastoral organisation when whole territories, later to become townships, within the wolds, were used more exclusively, and perhaps seasonally, as grazing grounds." (Fox 1989:87)

In a land grant from 1157-70 is the phrase, "...all Hornhouwald, namely from the land of Matthew and the bounds of Thoralby to the bounds of Sledmere and Towthorpe” (EYC 1084). The same charter refers also to the ".. land of Houstwald" (ibid). Both lie in the township of Mowthorpe in the Great Wold Valley although they do not carry that township's name. Only the former contains a ‘howe’ element as Houstwald is derived from austr, meaning east (Smith 1937). They seem to refer to the higher parts of the southern valley slopes on the edges of the township and name portions of this pasture land with the word wald. Does this usage simply indicate the topographic nature of the land or does the wald element contain other meanings connected to the way in which the land was exploited and held?

So there are glimpses of a pastoral heritage for the Wolds that may date from the period before the Norman Conquest. If this is the case it would provide an explanation for the lack of Anglo-Saxon settlements here as the area may actually have acted as a landscape of extensive pasture rather than one of settlement. We will address this question further by considering the evidence for named pasture zones, cross wold trackways and the system of territorial organisation of which the presence of large pastures may have formed an integral part.

The two hundreds of Huntow and Toreshowe in the northern Wolds also contain a ‘howe’ element and like many other hundreds in England look as if they have been named from their meeting place, centred on a prehistoric barrow using haugr (Anderson 1934; Smith 1937; Turner 2001). For Toreshowe (Thor's mound) it would fit perhaps to name a barrow after a major deity expressing mythology in the landscape at a time before these legends were written down. Another hundred, Turbar is derived from Thor and beorg and can be translated in the same way. However there may be a different meaning behind the hundred of Huntow. There are many references in the adjacent townships of Buckton, Bridlington and Grindale to an area of common pasture known consistently as Huntow and the name has survived in the modern landscape in several examples. "The hundred gave its name to an area of common pasture stretching into several townships and the name still survives.." (VCH 1974:3) (fig 122). The old pasture seems to have cut across the adjoining township boundaries in the same way as the pastures mentioned above and this area is again one made up of large block-shaped townships. In each of the townships there are common pastures called Huntow, as for Bridlington, "The common pastures called Huntow and Old Moor in 1771 lay in the extreme north-west, high on the wold, contiguous with pastures known as Huntow in neighbouring townships." (VCH 1974:47) It is assumed that the hundred was named after a barrow and then gave its name to the pasture but equally the pasture could have been named after the hill on which it stood and in turn have given its name to the hundred. A prominent and named barrow may become synonymous with the high waste ground on which it stands so the name could have been used both for barrow and pasture. Whatever explanation lies behind the name however, it is again clear

BARROWS, HILLS AND PASTURE ON THE OPEN WOLDS There are many place-names on the Wolds that contain the howe element but very few of these actually form the root of settlement names. They are a problematic group despite the ease with which place-name commentators may attribute them to a nearby barrow. First of all it is very difficult to differentiate between the OE hoh, meaning a heel-shaped hill or spur of land and the OScand haugr, meaning either a hill or barrow. The distinction between the two depends on the ending of versions of the name, its topographic context or the linkage with OE or OScand compounds. It remains true that "ON haugr cannot always be distinguished from OE hoh" (Gelling forthcoming). With regard to the Yorkshire Wolds Gelling argues that the balance of probability seems strongly in favour of haugr for most of the names with endings in ‘how’ or ‘howe’, etc. Hoh is purely a topographic term and not used for barrows. In the south of England and the Midlands where it is most common there are two more specialised terms for tumulus, hlaw and beorg (low and barrow) (Gelling 1984). In the Danelaw it is accepted that the normal term for barrow is the Scandinavian version (haugr) 106

pasture ground. Houwald is seen by Smith as derived from haugr and wald and again he makes the point that " there are numerous tumuli about". Like Burrow it is a territory of small size, whose status is unclear, but strong enough to be seen as a separate township throughout most of the middle ages. There is no evidence of a definite nucleated settlement here apart from a monastic grange. Hawold also lies in the zone of marginal land on the main Wolds watershed argued above to have been the last area to be colonised and portioned out to specific townships. Like Burrow we might have here the last vestige of a formerly much more extensive pasture zone which was named, along with several others on the high chalkland, after a barrow or group of barrows and which was gradually divided up between nascent townships spreading up from the long settled wold-edge. In its odd way the Houwald and the Burrow retained some sense of independence and were never completely subsumed. These small vestigial areas of the original extensive commons retainined the names of the once much larger area.

that this area of pasture known as Huntow pre-dates the townships which later divide it up amongst themselves. There are many other examples of names in ‘howe’ which appear to have been used at an early stage to describe areas of high pastureland, the kind of land which fits the characteristics of what is generally known later as wold. If a barrow name can be extended to describe the territory of a hundred it may also be possible for it to describe a pasture zone. The status of the territory of Burrow, later part of Cowlam, is not clear in the medieval period as we have seen in chapter five. It is a small territory but retained separate township status into the post-medieval period. Its name is first evident in the thirteenth century as Burrehou and Smith attributes the second element to haugr, clinching the deal with the phrase "there are several tumuli here". In fact Willy Howe and Kemp Howe are close by. In Kilham, two miles to the east, there was another area of common pasture also called Burrow or Bir Howe and recorded from as early as 1362 as demesne pasture. It is probably the same area that is recorded in 1293 as the two hundred acres of pasture belonging to the manor (VCH 1974). It is said to have lain between the fields of Langtoft and Kilham, again in a marginal location straddling the boundaries of two townships. Again we have a ‘howe’ name being used to describe, not a single barrow but a more extensive area of high ground. There are others.

Another example may exist in the now depopulated township of Rowley near Walkington in the southern Wolds. The township was very small and sat on the high Wolds alongside extensive common pastures of Little Weighton and Riplingham. The name has been translated as ruh and hlaw meaning ‘rough hill’ (Smith 1937) a name also mentioned in the Newbald charter. It has been interpreted by some of the charters’ earlier analysts as the name for the extensive waste land beyond the boundaries of Newbald on the top of the Wolds, the same area as Rowley's adjacent commons in the middle ages (Long and Pickles 1993). The hlaw element is probably here being used for ‘hill’ meaning that the rough hill was once the name for extensive waste or pasture lying outside the wold-edge settlements. This eventually gave its name to the small high wold township of Rowley, which was carved out of it.

Middleton-on-the-Wolds is referred to in the twelth century in another land charter, "territorio de Midelton super Mardererhau” (in the territory of Midelton on Madererhau) (EYC 1101). It is not until 1303 that a reference describes the village as lying, super le wald and it looks as if Mardererhau is being used in the twelth century as the name for what is later known as the wold. It is another name probably derived from haugr and originally meaning barrow but used in the sense of a fairly extensive territory or area within which lies the township or village of Middleton. The physical sense of Middleton lying on the Mardererhau also recalls the later sense of places lying on the Wolds. Smith suggests that it derives from a personal name Maynard and haugr, referring to two examples of Maynardhau in this area in the thirteenth century (1937). On the boundary between Middleton and Londesborough is another, Lothenhaues, named after the same root as Londesborough itself. Two nearby areas then are now lost but were probably hills or extensive areas of woldland and probably named after individuals, Maynard and Lodinn. The connection between these waste pastures, lying away from settlements with barrows is a strong and recurrent feature strengthening the idea that the barrow name can be translated and extended to describe the wider area on which the barrow stands. The impression gained is that the period before the Norman conquest on the Wolds was coloured by a patchwork of named areas of pasture. These are often named with the element haugr and later on the term wald is used. By the time they are documentarily recorded these territories are effectively out of use and are only remotely and obliquely described.

Hawold now lies in the township of Huggate. The etymology of Huggate is difficult but it is generally held to be related to haugr and gata meaning ‘road or pass to the tumuli’ (Smith 1937; Gelling 1984). If the sense for haugr could equally be ‘hill’ or ‘upland pasture’ it would fit with a wold-edge centred settlement pattern which treated the higher ground as pasture, distant from permanent settlement. There is even a road here that would fit the bill as the ancient link between wold land and the wold-edge (see below). Under this scheme, the road would have existed before the settlement to which it gave the name (Huggate). Some of the names in ‘howe’ have become townships and settlements. Others were recorded early and are now lost. They seem to have referred to areas of high ground used as pasture rather than simply to barrows. There are other minor names which do the same, although some are recorded late and often their first mention is on OS 6" 1854. The late date of their first record means that we should be careful about using them as evidence for the pre-Norman landscape. Nonetheless they do contain Old English and Old Scandinavian elements and could easily have survived within a long-lived oral tradition.

We began with a name which combined a ‘howe’ element with wald, Hornhouwald. There is another which does the same, Houwald, later known as Hawold. From what we have argued the two can be seen as tautologous, the wold element replacing the earlier sense of howe as hill or high open

Drinkroe Wold and Clitheroe Wold are part of the pasture that belonged to Driffield in the middle ages within a pasture zone shared between the neighbouring townships. With 107

prehistoric in origin. The latter claim was originally made by Cole and Mortimer in the late nineteenth century. Hayfield has given some attention to the important east-west ridgeway that passes through Wharram parish and then heads for Sledmere and beyond to the coast. It has long been seen as a prehistoric way (i.e. Mortimer 1905; Hayfield 1987) giving long distance access to the coastal flint sources on the east coast near Filey and Bridlington and crossing the wetlands of the Vale of York over the gravel of the Escrick moraine. Parts of its length are lined with barrows and recent fieldwork at Vessey Pasture has revealed early prehistoric flintwork around a dried up pond, alongside the ridgeway (Hayfield and Wagner 1995) (fig 121; 123-4). The course of this road across the parish of Sledmere is obscure, probably due to the adaptation of boundaries between Sledmere and Croom. It can be traced to the east of Sledmere as High Street and runs along the ridge, followed by township boundaries and shadowed by the major linear earthwork Great Wold Dyke (see chapter three and seven). High Street has been a major road for some centuries and appears as such on eighteenth century maps. This status has not been bestowed on the ridgeway to the west which carries a right of way and the township boundary for much of its course.

endings in -oe, both could well be derived from hoh, but without any earlier forms it is difficult. Another lies in the strongly pastoral area by Wetwang Rakes and Greenwick. It is called Mannow Green on an eighteenth century map and later known as Manna Green. The Green Wold lies close by on OS 6" and this area is seemingly the destination of the Green Lane. There is a good record of minor names for the townships of Warter and Hunamnby and many of these we know to contain howe elements because their early forms are recorded in the twelth and thirteenth century. In Warter there are some names probably referring to barrows as Linghowes and Middleton Howes but equally there are those which could refer to ‘hill’ or ‘piece of wold between valleys’. Modern Keasey was originally Kesehou, Thorny Bush was Thornehou and there is also Stonehow, as well as other names for hill in dun and wald (Smith 1937). Hunmanby is mentioned in a thirteenth century grant and names like Stainhou, Grethou, Linghou and Spelhou occur, all probably barrows (EYC 434). There is also the name Caldhouberw, made up of ‘Cold/exposed’, haugr and beorg and is thus a tautology using two forms of hill. Another name, mentioned in the charter for Hunmanby, is Caldhouscore which seems to suggest that the root for both names was Caldhou. This might be referring to another early high pasture. Incidentally, the element cald is also used in conjunction with wold in other parts of the Wolds (i.e. Cold Wold, Huggate).

To the south of Sledmere runs the Green Lane, another long distance primary township boundary followed intermittently by stretches of track/right of way but no longer a major road. Maps of the eighteenth century mark its course as an important route and it was probably a coach road. Stretches of this route are still referred to as York Lane or York Road. Like the High Street it has also been seen as prehistoric in origin and for much of its course is aligned on a linear earthwork (Cole 1888; Pickles 1993). In several places eighteenth century road diverges from the township boundary and instead the boundary follows a linear earthwork or the side of a steep dry valley. The boundary is more likely to follow the original line whilst the divergences were probably made in the seventeenth or eighteenth century, when the trackway was made into a coach road and straightened (fig 54-5). It is the straight regularity of the Kilham Woldgate and Cottam Warren coach road that makes them appear Roman, when in fact this stretch was probably an eighteenth century creation. The Green Lane between Sledmere and Wetwang was also a seventeenth or eighteenth century rationalisation but following more or less the original course. Here the boundary and linear earthwork take a slightly different line from the straighter road which is now Green Lane (fig 1256).

Another frequent example of the hill tautology is the name Howe Hill, seen to refer to barrows in Eastburn and Sunderlandwick. At Kirby Underdale, Uncleby and Warter it may be describing the steep scarp slope of the western Wolds, a feature which is otherwise known as cliff or the Hill (VCH 1974). On the northern edge, the scarp is usually called the brow. Another common group are names in Spell howe, meaning a ‘speech mound’ or ‘meeting place’ often forming the central focus of a hundred. Examples occur at Speeton, Folkton, and Hunmanby and as Spellowgate in Elmswell and Driffield. Craike Hill or Crakhou should also be seen in the same sense (see chapter five) but actually as the meeting place of the whole Riding. Finally there are a few settlement names containing the howe element as at Holme on the Wolds (eastern wolds) and Houghton (western edge). So we have a wide range of examples of place-names in haugr, which seem to have been used consistently to describe high pastures, scattered throughout the Wolds. The use of this term often associated by place-name scholars with barrows suggests that these areas may have become defined by the barrows that lay within them and perhaps named after specific prominent monuments. They are only recorded by names which have survived after their demise, once these pastures have become swallowed up by expanding townships.

In the modern landscape these two long distance trackways are often the most ancient visible physical features. They are visible as broad grassy winding tracks, sometimes wooded and lined by linear earthworks and barrows. Even though long stretches are no longer roads of any significance they still carry rights of way, rights which have a very long history in many cases. As a result of the radical changes to the Wolds landscape at enclosure it is very difficult to identify a track as ancient from an examination on the ground. Very rarely do these tracks appear today as sunken ways and most are preserved only by a right of way along the edge of a field marked now by a hawthorn hedge, one hundred and fifty years old (see chapter seven).

GREEN LANES AND DROVEWAYS Archaeologists and topographers have long discussed the antiquity of some of the trackways on the Wolds and have all suggested that the long primary township boundaries may preserve the line of pre-Norman roads (Phillips 1855; Cole 1888;1899; Mortimer 1905; Alison 1976; VCH 1974;1976; Hayfield 1987). Margery considered these long stretches of boundary to be Roman roads but some are now accepted as

We have seen above that the pattern of township boundaries 108

The Sledmere Green Lane in particular is very closely related to the concentration of detached and enclosed pastures around Greenwick and must have been used as a means of access to them in the middle ages, certainly between Wetwang and Wetwang Rakes. Likewise the same Green Lane is linked also to a cluster of pastures around Garton, Elmswell and Driffield Wold. The High Street forms the boundary of pastures along the south side of the Great Wold Valley and the Tibthorpe Green Lane is linked to the cluster of pastures around Hawold. Detached portions of townships whose allegiance is obscure lie at the east end of both the Hawold Bridle Track and the Tibthorpe Green Lane at Pitland Hill, Southburn and Driffield Greets, Kelleythorpe. At the former there is cropmark evidence for the continuation of the trackway as a double ditch. This relationship between the tracks and what we have seen as vestiges of a formerly more open Wolds seems to suggest that the tracks were also very much part of that landscape. In fact, the strength of the tracks supports the idea that the Anglo-Saxon Wolds was a landscape with few boundaries. It was instead crossed by a network of tracks giving access to dry pastures for communities living on the wold-edge.

in this area is based very much on these two east-west tracks (Green Lane and Sledmere ridgeway/ High Street) but there are others here too. The Hawold Bridle Track is now a right of way. It is followed by township boundaries and runs eastwest across the Wolds from Millington to Kirkburn, both villages located on spring concentrations on the wold-edge. It does not follow a classic ridgeway position but the bottom of a broad valley, which cuts into the Wolds from the east. Having crossed the high ground of the Wolds watershed, at the head of this valley it takes an easy course down the head of a steep dry valley on the wold-edge and heads down into the well watered lands around Millington. It is probably this road which is marked on Haynes map of 1744. Today it is merely a strip of grass at the side of an arable field but its long and direct course and persistent right of way and township boundary line single it out as ancient (fig 121; 123). The Green Lane at Tibthorpe is not a straightforward eastwest track but is preserved as township boundary and right of way for some distance nonetheless. It runs from Eastburn on the wold-edge to Hawold and Huggate, where it probably joined the York Lane to proceed northwest to Garrowby Hill. As we saw in chapter five this is the road known as via regia in thirteenth century and probably the road that gave the village of Huggate its name. This road is also lined by prehistoric and Anglian burials as well as linear earthworks and has grounds for some antiquity. The Riding moot place at Craike Hill lies alongside it on the boundary between Garton and Kirkburn (see chapter seven).

This was a landscape of extensive pasture managed and grazed from outside. In this way when the boundaries of townships were created they primarily followed these tracks because they were the major reference points for people experiencing the Wolds landscape at this time. As settlement expanded onto the Wolds, new communities were founded and the Wolds itself was no longer an open expanse but was now the home territory. Therefore what was previously common became appropriated and enclosed, trackways giving free and open access became appropriated too and began to serve a boundary function. Significantly, the tracks are not visible in the same way in the pattern of boundaries on the wold-edges and surrounding vales where a variety of features were followed by boundaries and where long direct trackways did not exist. Again a similar pattern is visible in the Wolds of the Midlands where in Leicestershire, "The pattern of lanes..... is strikingly dominated by eastward running tracks which lead up from the Soar valley, some of them followed by parish boundaries......it is tempting to regard them as droveways connecting vale and wold." (Fox 1989:87).

South of Huggate the pattern of township boundaries changes and instead of blocky shapes there are strip townships running east-west. Some east-west boundaries seem to have carried pre-township trackways as several remain as rights of way. Most of these do not continue right across the Wolds but run only as far as the main north-south ridge following boundary. This line itself is an ancient way along the northsouth Wolds watershed (see chapter four) and continues from that known from the tenth century Newbald charter (Long and Pickles 1993). Many of the trackways had become permanent fixtures of this landscape by the early medieval period and are suitably venerated. They had already been used by generations of Wolds communities before the middle ages and it is this ancestral link that has led to their endurance and use as both boundary and road; not the unique juxtaposition of geology and topography as Pickles would have it for boundary roads (Pickles 1993). The fact that they form the basis for the pattern of townships in this central Wolds area is highly significant, when we are trying to understand the character of this landscape in the pre-Norman era before the townships were laid out. It is undoubted that township boundaries were laid out along existing tracks, not only because of their long distance continuity but also because in several places two boundaries come together that resemble the narrow v-shape of a road junction (i.e. Fridaythorpe, Greenwick and Canada Cottages, Towthorpe: see chapter five). In addition there are some cases where boundaries turn back on themselves as if defining the extent of a broad piece of track by outlining its two opposite edges (i.e. Fimber cross-roads, Pitland Hill, Southburn). All of these examples occur on the line of suggested early trackways.

So far we have been most concerned with the trackways that were later used as boundaries. There are a few others which were part of the early medieval Wolds which remain as major roads. The road between Fridaythorpe and Sledmere is one such route, providing a link between the Sledmere Green Lane at Garrowby and the High Street leading east from Sledmere. It has always been seen as a Roman road but as we have seen this claim can be challenged for a stretch east of Fimber and it has probably altered its course here. The trackways have long distance outlook as they strike out across the landscape limited only by the steep dale sides and so adopting a course which takes great respect of the networks of dry valley system, in the same way as their prehistoric precursors (fig 123). They converge on the strategic land bridges between heads of neighbouring valley networks, as at Huggate Dykes and Garrowby Top. In this way the Anglo-Saxon landscape here has much in common with the Bronze Age and Iron Age Wolds. 109

Fleming has also emphasised the strength of community over territory in these pre-Norman structures and used the term ‘folk territories’ to describe the system in Swaledale (1998).

Their place in the Anglo-Saxon landscape is also shown by the way in which Anglian burials tend to be distributed in this area not on boundaries but on these trackways. It would be possible to demonstrate a relationship between Anglian burials and township boundaries but such an exercise would have failed to appreciate that the lines in the landscape that later become township boundaries were probably being used as trackways when the burials were placed there (cf Bonney 1976) (fig 127).

The main characteristics of Jones' multiple estate were drawn from parallels with a well preserved system in thirteenth century Wales and comprise a number of vills grouped around a central settlement or caput (1976). The inhabitants of the constituent vills owed labour services and renders, often of food, to support the upkeep of the main settlement inhabited by the lord and his retinue. Jones' view of the multiple estate has been criticised because of his use of late historical evidence and the cross-cultural parallels he adopted (Hadley 1996; Gregson 1985). Nonetheless it is generally accepted that the sokes of Domesday do in some cases reflect former territorial arrangements. Hadley has pointed out that we should not assume that, "the landscape was uniformly divided into neatly segmented territories" (1996:11) in this period and we should also be aware of the possibility that some of the Domesday sokes were recent creations. She does not deny that some sokes did represent large multi-vill estates but adds a note of caution by introducing a problematic into the relentless search for ancient origins and unbroken continuity in these territorial structures. Jones' study of the wapentake of Burghshire in West Yorkshire identified a former unity in the complicated tenurial linkages and dependencies recorded in 1086 and convincingly argued that these complexities were recent creations caused by the fragmentation of formerly discrete estate territories. However he then went on to give this territory a much earlier date of origin, based on very meagre archaeological and historical associations. This was driven by his belief, following Jolliffe, that the institution of the multiple estate/shire was in fact a British phenomenon and earlier than the influence of AngloSaxon culture (Jones 1976).

‘FOLK TERRITORIES’ Beneath the pattern of Domesday hundreds lies another territorial structure which still retained some economic significance but whose origins are obscure. The record of settlements as sokeland or berewick in Domesday Book is a frequent feature of the Danelaw. It has been seen to preserve ancient tenurial dependencies between settlements as part of a territorial structure which was already in decay by 1086 (Stenton 1910; Kapelle 1979; Jones 1976). Much has been written about the territorial soke and even more about the implications for pre-Norman territorial organisation in the form of the multiple estate. In recent years the idea of the multiple estate has received some criticism particularly by Gregson and Hadley. The idea of archaic territorial structures preserved in later sources as they decay has been discussed by historians since the seminal work of Jolliffe in 1920s. He considered the most ancient systems to be preserved in Northumbrian records such as the Boldon Book (Jolliffe 1926). More recently Jolliffe's Northumbrian shires have been studied further by Geoffrey Barrow (1973) whilst Kapelle and Glanville Jones have equated them with the sokes of the Domesday Danelaw (Jones 1976; Kapelle 1979). According to this thesis by the Anglo-Scandinavian period, as historical documentation emerges in the north, an ancient territorial system based on discrete estates was in an advanced state of decay through fragmentation. These records which include Domesday Book and even twelth and thirteenth century sources in Northumbria, preserve certain linkages and dependencies between settlements. These were no longer recognised in contemporary reality as the estates they had once constituted had begun to be broken up into smaller more dispersed and fragmented units, forming the basis for full-blown medieval feudal manors. Archaic labour services and tributes survive into the twelth and thirteenth centuries, which have parallels from Northumbria to Wales and which Jones and Jolliffe used as evidence for a once homogeneous structure across Britain. The sokelands and berewicks of Domesday are seen as another vestige of this system whereby a number of dependent settlements are grouped around a central caput and owe services and tribute to it. Parallels exist in the lathes and rapes of Sussex and Kent (i.e. Everitt 1986) and the early shires of Scotland (Barrow 1973). In these examples it seems that territorial identity was originally bound up with community and people rather than with a prescribed area of land. The earliest sense of tribal territory in Anglo-Saxon England is one of a people who were associated with an area, rather than a territory which belonged to a people and certainly from Jolliffe's work this sense of a tribal community link between lord/king and people was stronger than any sense of land ownership (Jolliffe 1926; Bassett 1989).

The Domesday record of sokelands and berewicks in East Yorkshire is complicated revealing anything but a simple pattern of "neatly segmented territories". Is this a reflection of the early medieval territorial complexity, the recent preDomesday fragmentation of estates or even a combination of the two involving the recent creation of some soke relationships? (fig 117). Many vills have only one or two sokelands attached to them and these are invariably close by their "parent" settlement. Whereas there is a fair degree of overlap between the dependencies of smaller sokes there is much less with the larger ones which tend to create groups of vills which are spatially distinct from each other. Most attention has been given to the larger sokes and of these Driffield, Pocklington and Howden and attendant dependencies represent compact clusters of townships, usually a combination of berewick and sokeland. Others such as Beverley and Weaverthorpe comprise a clustered core of dependencies surrounding the parent with detached scattered dependent vills elsewhere. Perhaps the sokes of Warter and Welton provide examples of the most scattered distribution of linked settlements. The sokes of Bridlington and Burton Agnes lie next to each other and are distinct because they are both made up of a core and another detached grouping. Both spatially separate but tenurially linked groups lie alongside their counterparts in the neighbouring soke with both detached groups found on the high wolds in contrast to the wetter and more coastal location of the core and the soke centre. The system of detachment and Domesday dependency 110

the church. In East Yorkshire, it is at the soke centres where the twelth and thirteenth century charters record churches of superior status, often with attendant large parishes. Morris points to a twelth century record wherein Henry the first was keen to safeguard the rights belonging to the parishes of Pocklington, Pickering, Aldborough, Kilham and Driffield. The first three parishes survived as large territories with many dependent churches and all were significant soke centres at Domesday. Similar twelth and thirteenth century records suggest that mother church status should also be conferred on Bridlington which was also a large medieval parish with many chapels. Other examples include Hunmanby and possibly also Market Weighton and Weaverthorpe (EYC; VCH 1974;1976).

in the north-eastern Wolds is also very closely linked to the hundredal arrangements here as all three hundreds are made up of two detached groups of townships, related closely to the sokes of Bridlington and Burton Agnes (Anderson 1934). The VCH has also made this connection stating that, "The hundreds of Huntow, Turbar and Burton were probably grouped around the large manors of Bridlington, Hunmanby and Burton Agnes" and that "it seems likely that the detached portions of the hundreds originated in the connection of certain detached lands with these manors in the pre-conquest period." (VCH 1974:4). The Driffield hundred is more or less equal to its soke, as is Weighton but in other cases such as Pocklington and Warter the hundreds do not compare closely with the soke of the same name. The overlap that exists between neighbouring sokes is a common and widespread feature. It is symptomatic of the break-up of estates, as holdings within townships were granted out to different emerging feudal lords. In East Yorkshire this phenomenon is visible in the west and northwest Wolds but less so in the northeast between Bridlington and Driffield. In the latter area sokes appear to be both larger and more discrete.

Perhaps one the strongest features of the multiple estate model is the idea of an economically self sufficient estate containing a range of land types giving access to resources like woodland, upland pasture, meadow, arable, marsh, etc. for the estate community as a whole (Jones 1976; Fleming 1998; Bassett 1989). In some of the better preserved Northumbrian shires the territory was provided with a large common pasture shared by the shire's component settlements. At Coldingham in the Borders and at Tynemouth in Northumberland shire moors are recorded giving evidence of a system of pasture provision well beyond the scope of the individual settlement and symptomatic of a more extensive economic organisational coherence (Barrow 1973). The common pasture of Huntow whose early credentials are argued above could well have offered a similar provision for an early medieval estate which is later identified with the soke of Bridlington. We have seen how this pasture cut across the boundaries of Grindale, Buckton and Speeton, all berewicks of Bridlington. Furthermore the hundred that existed in this area has been closely compared with the soke of Bridlington and was given the name of Huntow (Anderson 1934). Many other reconstructed examples of shires such as Hallamshire and Wakefield were made up of naturally defined topographic units and contain a range of different land types from the high Pennines to the low-lying valleys (Barrow 1973).

It was held by Jolliffe that the institution of the territorial soke was introduced by the Danes into much of Yorkshire at the same time that the more ancient shire system was abandoned. Kapelle has argued that the soke and the Northumbrian shire are actually the same institution in origin and therefore basically pre-Danish. There is much less evidence in East Yorkshire for archaic food renders or labour services but some do survive of a type very similar to the better preserved Northumbrian examples. These are often connected with soke centres as at Burton Agnes and Thixendale (Kapelle 1979). There is by no means a direct relationship between sokes and pre-Norman discrete estates as there had been so much alteration in the centuries leading up to Domesday Book. In some cases for instance, a soke in Domesday is made up of only one dependent settlement. However there are also examples of large groups of berewicks and sokelands such as at Driffield, Pocklington, Bridlington, Burton Agnes and Beverley. In fact the case for the pre-Danish antiquity of the territories represented by the sokes is reinforced by the fact that many soke centres were also significant central places in the Anglo-Saxon period. Driffield was a probable royal tun, Beverley contained an early monastery and Market Weighton lies very close to Goodmanham, itself associated with the Northumbrian royal house in the seventh century. Furthermore, Bridlington and Pocklington are recorded as probable boroughs in Domesday Book (Brooks 1986).

We are not in a position to trace the precise boundaries of any discrete estate on the Wolds but it is possible to observe that the Domesday soke centres are all distributed around the edges of the Wolds. This is an ideal central location for an economic estate covering dry wold pasture, strong well watered arable and meadow on the wold-edge and further low-lying marsh, by the surrounding rivers. The group of sokelands and berewicks for Driffield straddles the woldedge including land both on and off the Wolds as does the Pocklington soke and those for Burton Agnes and Bridlington. Weaverthorpe soke more or less equates with the group of strip townships in the Great Wold Valley, the region later known as Grindalythe. The Domesday Book estate of Burton Agnes is in fact split between a group of townships on the edge of the Wolds and a detached group to the north on the high Wolds around Thwing. Even though this holding does not form an integral territory it does represent an economic unit including dry pasture on the Wolds and good arable lands close to Burton Agnes itself. There is also record of a further pasture lying in the south of Burton Agnes township where inhabitants of neighbouring townships of Harpham and Thornholme enjoyed rights of common in the

Several studies have pointed out the relationship between secular estates often under royal control and the territories of minsters in the seventh and eighth century. Many examples exist where the mother church occurs alongside the estate centre whose ecclesiastical parish is commensurate with the extent of the estate (Barrow 1973; Blair 1988). The monastic estates of Durham preserve many of the features of the multiple estate into the thirteenth and fourteenth century because these holdings had not become broken up by grants. The soke of Howden might also act as a similar example in East Yorkshire. This territory emerges as the hundred of Howden and is also later known as Howdenshire, its integrity and late preservation probably a result of its strong links with 111

English names (post eighth century) in -tun are found away from the wold-edges in the interior of the Wolds (Gelling forthcoming; Alison 1976; Fellows-Jensen 1976;1993) (fig 129-130) (although a significant proportion lie in wold-edge zones). The question of whether Scandinavian names in the Danelaw represent newly found settlements or the re-naming of existing sites has been debated for a long time (i.e. Sawyer 1976). Here on the Wolds these names are generally seen as recent creations because of the lack of Grimston hybrids, names formed out of the amalgamation of a Scandinavian personal name with the OE -tun (Fellows-Jensen 1993). Names in -thorp and -by are taken by Fellows-Jensen to reflect either new settlements or the splitting up of large estates into smaller independent portions in the years following the beginning of Scandinavian influence in the late ninth century. Coupled with the limited archaeological evidence for pre-Norman settlements on the Wolds this might mean that many of these Wolds villages were founded later than those on the wold-edges. It is unlikely that an expansion of settlement such as this was caused by a sudden influx of immigrants. Instead it should be seen as the result of a rising population coupled with changing social and agrarian conditions, giving rise to new permanent settlements. These were named by local people whose language had been recently influenced by the Scandinavian political take-over.

middle ages (VCH 1974). We have already suggested that in the Anglo-Saxon period settlement was concentrated on the wold-edges. This model of territorial organisation would fit with a Wolds landscape that was largely unoccupied and used as open pasture, grazed possibly under transhumance from settlements based around the wold-edge. A similar early system has been suggested for some areas of Kent by Everitt, where the relationship between a settled river valley and a dependent pastoral wold is mirrored in East Yorkshire by the early connection between the springheads on the wold-edge and the high wold land (Everitt 1976). It may have been the encroachment of settlement onto the Wolds and the establishment of permanent communities here that went hand in hand with the dislocation of these linkages and detached dependencies. It is also the stubborn resistance to change in the face of this encroachment that provides the means for the survival of detached dependencies attached to both hundreds and townships. Ford has discussed a similar situation in the West Midlands, where, “....it seems that the vast belt of interspersed wooded and heathy lands in the north of the Avon region....formed an area in which intercommoning was practised by settlements of the open territories to the south...” (Ford 1976:280) and that, “....by a process of limitation, the erstwhile open woodlands and pastures were gradually appropriated to regions, then to particular individual settlements, and in the course of time, new habitation sites were established on these common lands.” (ibid: 279).

Gelling has interpreted the place-names in a similar way suggesting, "...a falling off of numbers of people living in the northern part of the wolds (in the post Roman period) and an increase starting in the 8C and continuing into 10C.." She does not favour a complete de-population followed by a total re-colonisation. What she suggests is more like a change in the way the Wolds was exploited. In the post Roman period the area may have reverted predominantly to pasture but interspersed by temporary settlements in certain favoured locations. These pastures and shielings would have been dependent upon and organised from settlements on the woldedge or Great Wold Valley. They gradually became more independent as the extensive ties between wold and woldedge were broken and settlement expanded onto the Wolds. This resulted eventually in the foundation of villages, which were then given Scandinavian names.

We have identified a series of probable early centres around the edge of the Wolds, which seem to have played a focal role in co-ordinating the economic management of the Wolds in pre-conquest times (fig 117). This is not to say that they were the centres of territories which together neatly divided the Wolds up into discrete spatially separate units. Hadley has shown that the territorial structure in the northern Danelaw was not necessarily a simple one.

ENCROACHMENT ONTO THE WOLD We know that the settlement names of the Wolds were virtually all in place by the eleventh century. They are recorded in Domesday Book and they contain predominantly Old English and Scandinavian forms. In an unpublished paper dealing with the northern and central Wolds, Gelling drew some general conclusions about settlement history in the pre-conquest period from a look at the place-names and their chronology (Gelling forthcoming). The earliest examples are Old English topographical names and are largely found in the well watered wold-edge with a concentration to the west of Driffield (Kirkburn, Eastburn, Southburn, Elmswell, Driffield). Other early English names in -ham are also found in similar wold-edge locations (Goodmanham, Yedingham, Everingham, Brantingham, Wintringham, Harpham). Archaeological evidence for Anglian settlement is also found in wold-edge locations around Market Weighton, Newbald, Driffield, Rudston and the northern escarpment (see above). These areas are likely to have been continually settled from an early date (Alison 1976; Faull 1984) (fig 128).

A cursory glance at the layout of township boundaries is enough to recognise a certain rationality in their arrangement. In the study area the pattern is governed by a series of long east-west boundaries. One of these, the Sledmere Green Lane, acts as boundary to many townships and was clearly a line in the landscape against which they were organised. Another is the Tibthorpe Green Lane which originally formed the northern boundary to Hawold township and then joined with another major north-south boundary between North Dalton and Warter. Together the two lanes form a continuous boundary containing within it a collection of townships and actually separating Hawold from Huggate (the two are later part of the same township). The territorial unit is centred on the tight group of small townships around Kirkburn including Eastburn,Southburn and Battleburn, the latter now seen as a thirteenth century creation. They are a collection of settlements clustered around springs and with some of the earliest Anglian names in East Yorkshire (Gelling forthcoming) (fig 87-8). They lie close to Driffield and were in fact all sokelands or berewicks of that parent manor in Domesday Book (Faull and Stinson 1986). Considerable and

The bulk of Scandinavian names, in -by and -thorp and later 112

episode which she related to drastic change in agrarian practice manifested in the planning of open fields and laying out of villages. Even after forty years of excavation and survey the precise dating of the planning of the village at Wharram Percy and its fields has not been resolved. It certainly took place between the end of the Anglo-Saxon dispersed settlement pattern in the ninth century and the earliest archaeological remains of the planned village which date from the twelth century (Beresford and Hurst 1990). Whether it was part of Scandinavian estate re-organisation or, like its neighbour Wharram-le-Street a product of the twelth century is not clear (ibid). In Hurst's Medieval Archaeology article he tends to favour the idea that the dispersed settlement pattern of the Anglo-Saxon period gradually became nucleated by the eighth or ninth century and that it was the Scandinavian era that witnessed large scale replanning of fields and some villages (Hurst 1984). June Sheppard's early suggestions were that village planning in this area was likely to be connected to eleventh or twelth century reorganisation, following the ‘Harrying of the North’. This thesis has been undermined by those who have downplayed the seriousness of that episode to local Yorkshire communities and have offered alternative explanations for the entries of waste in Domesday Book (see above and Palliser 1991; Kapelle 1979; Hey 1991; Wightman 1975). Harvey has shown very clearly that the open field systems of the Wolds and Holderness possessed a remarkable simplicity and regularity in almost every respect and one which is likely to be early in date (Harvey 1983). She further suggested that "..arrangements such as these must be the result of a massive laying out of the landscape, a deliberate act of planning" (ibid: 38). Despite the paucity of dating evidence for this episode she favours the Anglo-Scandinavian centuries and equates this act of planning with the planning of villages, another phenomenon encountered in Yorkshire and other parts of the north (Sheppard 1976). Beresford and Hurst have pointed out that there is sometimes a connection between the regular arrangement of holdings in the open fields and the equally regular lay-out of crofts in villages suggesting a contemporaneous point of origin for both (Beresford and Hurst 1990).

concentrated archaeological evidence for Romano-British and Anglian occupation also exists for this area (Faull 1974;1984; Watkin 1983; Eagles 1979). This includes some very early Anglian activity at a late Romano-British settlement from Elmswell (fig 110; 2). It is tempting to see this area as continually settled from the Romano-British period and acting as the settlement core from which the wold land to the west was organised and farmed. The other place-names in the group to the west up on the Wolds are later. Most of these are Anglo-Scandinavian but there is also a difference in the form of the townships. Boundaries on the Wolds for Tibthorpe, North Dalton and Bainton are sweeping and direct. They are fitted in between the long distance boundaries, lines which were probably trackways before the formation of the townships. The boundaries around the ‘burn’ villages on the other hand are intricate and deviating taking care to avoid existing field boundaries, lanes or property boundaries. By the time that township boundaries were fixed the area around Eastburn must have been occupied, whilst the wold land to the west was more open and uncluttered. Settlement had continued on the wold-edge around the springs from the Romano-British period but the Wolds were probably more open. They may have lain largely unoccupied for some centuries, leading to an expansion at a time when new settlements were given Scandinavian names. At this time the only strong and enduring features of the landscape on the Wolds were long distance tracks which were than used as township boundaries (figs 87-8; 121). In this example the scenario suggested by the place-names is apparently backed up by the pattern of townships and their boundaries. It seems obvious that the pre-conquest pastoral Wolds was named to some extent and some of these topographic names emerge later as settlements. For instance the ponds of Finmere and Sledmere are very early English names but not necessarily very early English settlements. Later on they emerge as townships but with parochial ties to parish centres at Wetwang and Kirby Grindalythe respectively, suggesting an early subordinate status. Huggate (road to the mounds), Warter (gallows? gnarled tree?) and Wetwang (trial or summons place) are all names which could also have originally belonged in an open largely unoccupied landscape but one which was known and experienced by those who used it for grazing (fig 128; 131). Names would obviously have been given to ponds, tracks, trees, hills, and special places for gatherings. Any settlement which grew up close by would be likely to take the topographic name for itself. Likewise many of Gelling's 'dative plural' names seem also to be referring to features of the open temporarily settled landscape. In other words, like Arras and Arram, the names were coined at a time before they existed as permanent settlements. Examples include Gardham: ‘at the enclosures’; Cottam: ‘at the cottages’; Croom: ‘at the nooks’"; Hotham: ‘at the shelters’; Cowlam: ‘at the hills’ etc. Many of the dative plurals are found on the central Wolds and are probably coined in the Anglo-Scandinavian period by people whose language had become an amalgam of English and Danish (Gelling forthcoming).

From a reading of all these discussions of village and open field origins, it seems likely that a fairly radical reorganisation of the landscape took place, probably in the tenth century. Given that planning of open fields and maybe also in some cases villages did take place, then the Scandinavian political take-over of the north and subsequent changes in landholding through the introduction of many new landlords, provides an ideal context. This is also probably coincident with pressures relating to rising populations and the need for radical reorganisation of agrarian practice caused by the break up of large estates. Over perhaps a century of change, which also involved the imposition of extensive administrative and fiscal changes, the arable fields of existing settlements were reorganised. However, we do not know what form they had previously taken. New settlements were created perhaps based on existing temporary sites inhabited by pastoralists on the Wolds and now provided with arable fields carved out of the former pasture expanse. These new permanent settlements were often located next to ponds which had been important features of the pastoral landscape and some retained their old names. In these areas,

The predominance of Scandinavian and later English names on the Wolds suggested to Gelling that there was a great deal of re-colonisation here shortly after 900 AD. This is an 113

by any archaeological means other than those of horizontal stratigraphy, which suggest it was a primary element in the pattern of lines preserved by township boundaries. It was clearly a trackway or ridgeway before it became a boundary (Pickles 1993). This same line is followed by the ancient trackway that follows the north-south watershed. Both the above examples come from high Wold land alongside the main watershed, land likely to be the last affected and allotted as the Wolds gradually was brought into cultivation. The use of versus meaning ‘towards’ in some land charters may also imply the late fixedness of boundaries (i.e. versus Wilton, versus Fridatorp) (see chapter five).

township territories were also created surrounding the new settlements. Boundaries followed the existing trackways and the edges of the new open field. Similar territories on the long settled wold-edge had probably been in existence for several centuries already. Sheppard's study of the fiscal carucates of Yorkshire Domesday suggests that the Wolds by this time was one of the most intensive arable areas of the county (Sheppard 1974). If that was the case the central Wolds must have undergone an arable revolution by the eleventh century. What had been an open landscape with free access and common rights of pasture was gradually settled, cultivated and appropriated by encroaching settlements expanding out of former isolated temporary collections of shepherd's shelters and cottages. The process of encroachment onto the Wolds was probably much more gradual than the evidence for planning suggests, involving the slow erosion of common rights by people moving up onto the dry chalk and carving out their own farmland. Perhaps several centuries of gradual encroachment lay behind the radical reorganisation of the tenth century. Only vestiges of the former rights and dependencies and only small reduced areas of pasture survived into the middle ages, as part of the new landscape of townships, villages and open fields. Despite the arable predominance, the final division of these pastures, amongst neighbouring townships, probably didn't take place until after the twelth or thirteenth century until which time, "...in many cases there must have been a zone of jointly exploited waste land between two vills rather than a clearly defined boundary." (Sheppard 1974:69).

The foundation of granges may be an indication of this late intake and two others lie very close to Blanch in similar positions at the edge of townships. Many twelth and thirteenth century charters refer to the granting of pasture land and pasture rights to the Priories of Watton, Bridlington, Malton and the Abbeys of Meaux, St.Mary's York, etc. Most of this is on the high Wolds and seems to have been carved out of the remnants of the extensive early medieval pastures. Granges too were founded on the Wolds and served their parent monastery as both arable and pastoral farms. Some of these grange holdings were mixed in with strips in the common fields of such villages as Burton Fleming and Warter (Blanch). In other cases land was taken in from former waste and common pasture for subsequent use either as new cultivation as at Mowthorpe and Linton or pasture at Speeton (Waites 1968). "As well as land within the open fields .... Bridlington canons took in land outside the fields....Nonetheless it was now being cultivated....Such land was known as 'ovenham',(OE Ofnam) land taken out of the common or elsewhere enclosed or cultivated." (Waites 1968:138). Bishop also states "Granges were created from aquisitions of waste land, of newly cleared land outside the open field system, and of strips and cultures in the open field." (Bishop 1936:200). It remains a generally accepted assumption that granges were carved out of waste land in this period (Barbara English pers comm).

MONASTIC GRANGES IN THE TWELTH AND THIRTEENTH CENTURY The medieval open fields of the Wolds often extended from one boundary of the township to the other. This could imply that the township territory was already in existence when the fields were planned out, with its boundaries fixed. Evidence from the twelth and thirteenth century charters however, seems to suggest that some parts of the Wolds were not fully cultivated and enclosed by this time. They suggest that the township boundaries in some areas had not been fully formalised or fixed even then and the process of encroachment was still ongoing. Two examples come from the high wold land on the margins of the townships of Huggate and Warter and have already been mentioned in chapter five. A charter from the early thirteenth century refers to land lying upon the "new improvement of the wald in Huggate" (EYC 1263). This suggests that arable lands here had only recently been laid out, in an area which was previously probably open pasture. The creation of the grange at Blanchemarle in 1150s also hints that this land was formerly uncultivated and used primarily for grazing. Blanch was previously known as Arras or Erghes, a name given to shielings in the north of England with several other examples on the Wolds (see chapter five) (fig 120). It is also referred to as lying "inter Daltonam et Wartre" (between Dalton and Warter) as if there existed here a neutral zone between the two territories and that the boundary had not yet become fixed. The boundary itself is now marked by an eighteenth or nineteenth century hawthorn hedge. This feature is typical of enclosure re-organisation and so exists as an artefact only in its two dimensional line. This line cannot be physically dated

Hawold was probably largely uncultivated before it became a grange of Watton Priory. The nearby dale of Aunham is derived from the root of Ovenham, the OE Ofnam meaning ‘intake’. North Dalton Grange of Meaux Abbey lies close by also in the margins of North Dalton township (chapter five). Other granges on the Wolds were probably granted from waste or open pasture as at Belagh, Octon, Burton Fleming, Wharram and Mowthorpe. Unlike many Cistercian foundations these did not involve the depopulation of existing settlements. The acquisition of uncultivated waste or common by large ecclesiastical landowners in the twelth and thirteenth centuries could then be seen as the last great encroachment of cultivation and settlement into the open pastoral Wolds at the high point of the medieval arable revolution.

THE MYTHIC LANDSCAPE OF THE OPEN WOLDS Keith Allison regarded the proliferation of Anglian burials on the Wolds as an indication of permanent settlement here. He failed to appreciate that this area may instead have been used primarily for pasture and burial, remote from the home settlement. The fact that most Anglian burials on the Wolds 114

prehistoric monuments available on the chalk but even so the contrast between the two distributions is remarkable enough to warrant a cultural rather than a taphonomic explanation. Faull points out that despite the presence of barrows in the southern Wolds, secondary Anglian inhumations in barrows are few and far between in this area. A few small cemeteries occur in secondary contexts as for instance the two groups of inhumations found in the ditch of two linear earthworks on the boundaries of the township of Garton. Another exists from a large Bronze Age barrow at Cheesecake Hill, Driffield, but most of the Wolds examples are groups of only a few inhumations. Unlike the wold-edge to north, west and east, the villages of the dry Wolds do not have associated extensive cemeteries. Any burials that do occur here are in secondary contexts, at a distance from the medieval village (with the exception of Fimber). In fact many are situated in close proximity to township boundaries. We have seen that this does not necessarily confer an Anglian date onto these territories for the later boundaries are situated along tracks and it is the tracks with which the burials are associated. Nor do these Wold villages have any other indication of origins earlier than the Anglo-Scandinavian period. Only Fimber and Sledmere have early names and these are likely to have referred initially to the ponds and not necessarily to a settled community of any significant permanence.

are not cemeteries but are found in secondary contexts in barrows or linear earthworks is significant. He does acknowledge that, "Certain districts nevertheless appear to have been relatively lightly settled by the Angles, including some of the higher parts of the Wolds..." (1976;47). In a more recent and detailed investigation of the Anglian burials in East Yorkshire Sam Lucy clearly appreciates that many of the cemeteries of this period, especially those on the Wolds, are not usually found alongside permanent settlements (1998). Sam Lucy’s investigations into Anglo-Saxon burial placed great emphasis on the location of cemeteries within the landscape. “Given the attention paid to the construction and maintenance of burial rites, it seems safe to assume that the location in which those rites took place was also important.” (1998:76). The siting of cemeteries on the Wolds was probably in response to the significance of certain locations here through the visible presence of the past or other important topographic features. The placing of burials in the landscape is not just about the veneration of topographic features but is also influenced by the presence of historical significance at certain places. Lucy acknowledges that, “A community may have buried (some of) their dead in a place at some distance from their settlement” (1998:100), and adds, “....cemeteries cannot be used to infer settlement patterns, as has usually been the case in AngloSaxon archaeology. It may even have been that large areas ...were reserved for burial alone (and possibly pasture)” (Lucy 1998:101). Her suggestions are based entirely on an understanding of the burial evidence and she is tentative about isolating specific areas which were devoid of settlement and reserved for pasture and burial.

The burials on the Wolds are often found in close association with the long distance cross Wold trackways that form such a strong structural component of the pre-Norman landscape. They are also often found not only in individual barrows but also in places where concentrations of prehistoric barrows and earthworks are present. Lucy has recognised that barrows from the Bronze Age were chosen as vessels for graves because they were special paces in local myth. She suggested that, “By associating their dead with these places, the mourners may have been either manipulating or drawing upon associations with the distant past.” (Lucy 1998:99). It is of course not only barrows that become used as cemeteries as so too do linear earthworks in some cases. Furthermore, the relics from the past are also respected by boundaries, laid out for townships in the late Anglian or Anglo-Scandinavian centuries. We will come back to this general issue of reusing the past but for now it remains to emphasise that such practices are most clearly visible on the Wolds and not so much in the surrounding lands. As such it is another example of the different way in which the local communities, settled on the wold-edges, perceived the Wolds massif.

It is difficult to reconstruct the character of the Anglian or Anglo-Scandinavian Wolds landscape from the poor quality archaeological evidence that is available. For that reason we have also looked in some detail at the historical sources and this has also pointed towards an open pastoral landscape. The conclusions drawn from the archaeology were tentative. It was clear that very little evidence for actual settlements has been forthcoming. Any indications of settlements in the period leading up to the ninth century came from the long settled lands on the wold-edge. Notably those areas around Rudston in the eastern Great Wold Valley and the springlines along the bottom of the western and northern escarpments. Although the origins of the villages on the Wolds are obscure there is little evidence of any activity before their foundation, probably after the tenth century. There are of course a series of pre ninth century sites in the Wharram area but it is not clear whether this pattern can be extended across the much drier parts of the Wolds.

The discussion of the historical sources reinforces this impression gained from the archaeological evidence. It seems likely though that some of the sense of the character of the pre-Norman landscape has been preserved, mainly through place-names and as patterns in the historic landscape itself. Through a range of sources a number of conclusions have been reached. The place-name chronology suggests that the oldest settlement names are those surrounding the Wolds and in the major valleys. Those names from the Wold interior which are early probably derive from well-known features of the topography which only later gave their names to permanent settlements. The landscape was crossed by long distance trackways like the Sledmere Green Lane and the Hawold Bridle Track. These later form the basis for the pattern of township boundaries. The period before the townships was characterised by an open Wolds landscape

There was also patterning in the burial record which seemed to distinguish the Wolds from the wold-edge and main valleys. Most of the larger cemeteries are found in the settled zones mentioned above. However the pattern of burial on the dry Wolds away from the spring-line western escarpment is radically different. Here most burials are in small groups or individual and they are invariably found in secondary contexts, either inserted into prehistoric barrows or linear earthworks. Undoubtedly there were more barrows and other 115

public rights of access and exploitation. It is these rights that give these areas a distinctive and separate identity from the private settled zones to which they are often adjacent. The Weald of Kent is one of his examples. This was an extensive tract of managed woodland and wood-pasture in the centuries before the Norman Conquest. It was public land but fell under royal control. It was not permanently settled in this period but exploited by the settlements that lay around its edges. By the thirteenth century settlements had taken root in the Weald but this “..represented a cultural change rather than a drastic expansion of the exploitation of the Weald” (ibid: 506). There are similarities with the Wolds in the way that the Weald slowly became colonised in the late first millennium AD. “Slowly settlements began to take root in the Weald. They probably began with colonists occupying the dens of the transhumant pig herds all year round and cultivating by long-fallow systems.” (ibid: 505). The Yorkshire Wolds are not mentioned by Wickham but it seems likely that this area enjoyed a similar character and the same rights as these gualdi in the post Roman period. Equally the changes that take place in the Anglo-Scandinavian period with settlement encroachment and the formation of townships is likely to have much to do with changes in the rights to this land. At the beginning of this chapter we discussed the origin of the name ‘the Wolds’ and indicated that some of the earliest references are to portions of woldland sometimes attached to particular townships. It is clear for each of these settlements that their piece of wold land is away from the settled and cultivated areas and usually provides common pasture for the community. In these examples the use of the word wald may denote the tenurial character of the land and not its topographic nature.

without permanent settlements or fixed boundaries. Instead it was probably used mainly for pasture and occasionally for burial. There are hints from the mentions of sokeland in Domesday Book that this area was apportioned between a series of loosely fixed estates based mostly around the wold-edge. This idea of a series of named areas of pasture is also preserved in some place-names still current in the land grants of twelth and thirteenth centuries. Many of these are names which use the Old Scandinavian term haugr, referring in these cases to either barrows or hills. The haugr element is often used alongside the wald element. There are so many of these names that it appears they were used to describe a whole series of distinct areas within the Wolds before it became divided into townships. The foundation of townships and villages seems to have taken place in the centuries immediately preceding the Norman conquest, although the precise character of this process is not at all clear. Several historians have suggested a degree of deliberate planning in both the layout of villages and the configurations of open fields, something which is particularly visible on the Wolds, in contrast to the surrounding vales. In spite of this there are signs that the process of encroachment and apportionment of the open Wolds continued into the twelth and thirteenth century. At this time certain areas of the higher more remote Wolds were incorporated into the extensive lands of monastic foundations as granges. The arrangement of townships reveals a distinctive pattern whereby those founded in the central Wolds are of a distinctively different character to those on the wold-edge. This may relate to their later date of origin.

The distinction in settlement and economy between wold and wold-edge is not simply created by environmental contingencies such as water availability. The presence of prehistoric monuments on the Wolds for instance may have leant the area a separate quality, which was drawn upon through the selection of these monuments for the disposal of the dead. It appears that those interred within the barrows and linears were not everyday inhabitants but probably criminals or those killed in battle.

The archaeological and historical sources together have suggested that the post Roman Wolds landscape was very different from the settled and divided arable Wolds of the middle ages. The travellers and topographers of the seventeenth century picked up on the emptiness of the place at this time but before the fifteenth century it was packed and heavily cultivated. The pre-Norman Wolds, however was neither cultivated nor inhabited and may have been held in very different regard to the low-lying settled lands of the wold-edge.

Sarah Semple has made an important contribution to the debate about how Anglo-Saxon society perceived the past (1998). She has shown that there was consistent association between ancient barrows and the supernatural from at least the eighth century. This is supported by the many examples where barrows were associated with monsters, goblins and other mythical beasts in both literary writings and placenames. “These sources illustrate a middle and late AngloSaxon fear of prehistoric barrows. This superstition is related to monsters which were believed to inhabit the burial mounds.” (Semple 1998:115). She goes on to point out that there is “….emerging evidence of Anglo-Saxon execution sites and criminal burial grounds located on prehistoric mounds.” (ibid: 111). Reynolds work has also shown that many groups of secondary inhumations in prehistoric barrows found across the country can be interpreted as execution cemeteries (Reynolds 1997). “Reynolds suggests that the choice of barrows for the interment of criminals may have been influenced by the wish for the criminal to be tormented in the afterlife by the evil spirits which dwelt in the mound.”

There are precedents for this situation in other parts of early medieval Europe and several examples are discussed at length by Chris Wickham. He suggests that there are certain areas of landscape spread around the former Roman Empire that tend to be marginal to the main areas of settlement but were exploited for woodland or pasture. Many of these are associated with forest such as the Weald and the Ardennes. They are distinctive landscapes and often described by the term gualdus. This term derives from the Germanic word wald but has no association at all with woodland or any particular type of vegetation. “….gualdus, like forestum, is evidently not a term that describes in any sense the use of land, but simply a particular type of association with the fisc. In the bare pastures of the central Appennines, gualdus was pasture; in the oakwoods of the Monti Sabini, it was woodland; in the Tiber valley it could be settled land….” (Wickham 1990: 493). Gualdus is something that denotes the rights of the land and these are invariably royal lands with 116

(Semple 1998:111). Several of the examples used by Reynolds as execution cemeteries are found in the Wolds barrows. At Walkington Wold for instance there were fifteen execution burials placed within the prehistoric barrow. Eleven of these had their heads buried separately from their bodies. The lower jaws were missing from some skulls which suggested to Reynolds that the heads had rotted whilst impaled on an upright post. Other examples of execution cemeteries in earlier barrows come from Uncleby and Driffield. The otherworldly forces and mythical beasts of the AngloSaxon mind tended to dwell in peripheral areas. They were associated with boundaries, trackways but also areas of under-utilised and uninhabited land (Semple 1998). Not only did single barrows contain doom-laden mysteries but so too did the landscapes in which they resided. We have already seen how the Wolds was directly associated with its barrows through the earliest names we have for the area. Many times the words haugr and wald are used together to refer to stretches of the Wold as in Houwald and Hornhouwald. It is not inconceivable therefore that the mysterious properties of individual monuments from the past could have been extended across whole landscapes that contained many barrows. This would be especially pertinent if that landscape was already marginal to settlement. The ancient barrow was an appropriate place where criminals and enemies could be disposed of and there are many other cases where such burials are found close to crossroads and boundaries. The excavations at Cottam revealed what might be a pit for a gallows pole (Richards 1999) and several of the Wolds place-names suggest a history of trial and execution here (Wetwang: ‘place of trial’; Warter: ‘gallows tree’). It may be that the marginal and largely uninhabited Wolds was seen as a fit place for judgement and execution as it lay beyond the familiar settled lands of the wold-edge. The significance of archaeological monuments in the AngloSaxon and medieval landscape is great. Many charter bounds from the rest of England and the one local example from Newbald respect prehistoric barrows and lengths of ditch, using them as reference points. In some cases such as Fimber and Rudston early churches were probably situated close to a barrow and a standing stone respectively. The relics of the prehistoric past meant something to the Anglian inhabitants of the Wolds, in a way that must have been expressed in myth passed down from generation to generation. Inserting the dead into these monuments is a way of reinforcing the potency of this mythologized landscape and connecting the stories and the ancestors with the recent dead and the living. Perhaps such practice was more likely to take place in an open landscape distant from permanent settlement; in a landscape which was experienced by travellers or shepherds or occasionally for gatherings and festivals, but not the familiar territory of home farm, chickens and family.

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original meanings of these relics were being subverted.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Hingley’s study of the afterlife of Neolithic cairns in Atlantic Scotland demonstrates that their later reuse was neither accidental nor simply borne of convenience, but a meaningful engagement with a constructed past (Hingley 1996). This involved the actual physical manipulation of the Neolithic remains and modification of the structure of the monument itself, centuries later during the Iron Age. This relationship with the past is further illustrated by the apparent copying of Neolithic pottery decoration during the same period. Here people are not only engaging with the traces of the past that are visible in the landscape but are also trying to draw in the portable material relics of the past uncovered from the ground, or from inside these tombs. Similarly when ParkerPearson discussed the changing significance played by the dead in prehistoric and proto-historic southern Jutland, he covered similar ground: “This association of the dead with monuments distant in space and time suggests an active reworking or invocation of values linked to an ancient past.” (Parker-Pearson 1993:214).

A PLACE FOR THE PAST “We would begin to improve communication in a subject which is disastrously over-specialised if we paid more critical attention to the afterlife of monuments.” (Bradley 1987:15). As archaeologists and landscape historians we should never forget the influence of the past in the landscape. Relics from the past are known to become mythologized elements in the landscape giving physical form to the subject matter of stories and songs. Here we will review some of the recent attempts to make sense of the engagement between communities in the past with their past. We will then consider the ways in which this has taken place on the Wolds, drawing information from the preceding four chapters. Finally, it will be argued that the long term persistence of certain places in this landscape was based on the presence of the past at these places. They had long memories that came in and out of focus and the motor of these memories was the relics that clustered. Furthermore, the places were venerated because the visible relics were rooted in local folk memory and not because they could be used as an abstract means of gaining power.

Engagement with the past can be demonstrated through the reuse of a barrow for secondary burial (i.e. Lucy 1992; Williams 1998; Hingley 1996). There are however other forms of engagement which may contain more significance for the overall development of the landscape. Repeated use of certain places over long periods of time may imply the long term sanctity of these locations and not just the invention of history surrounding a particular monument to suit the current situation. A form of ‘ritual continuity’ was proposed by Hope-Taylor for Yeavering but challenged by Bradley (1987). Bradley instead preferred the idea that the post Roman use of the site was a means of appropriating the past associated with the monuments here and reinventing their meaning. The past was drawn upon to serve a political role, “through the strategic use of monuments surviving from the distant past and their incorporation in a different cultural landscape. This.... provides a better explanation for some of the patterns recognised in the archaeological record than the problematical notion of ritual continuity.” (1987:5).

The recognition that prehistoric monuments retained significance in the landscape long after their initial meaning and role had been forgotten has led to a plethora of discussion about the reuse of the past in prehistory and early history (Bradley 1987;1993;2000; Barrett 1990;1994; Lucy 1992; Hingley 1996; Gosden and Lock 1998; Willliams 1998). Bradley has dealt with monumentality in its broadest sense; tracing the history of places chosen for monumental construction by focusing on their significance prior to and following the building of the initial monument (1993 and 1998). The long term history of these special places is the real story behind the construction of a barrow or henge. There are many places on the Wolds which contain a multiperiod complex of monuments. The question remains of the character of this continuity. Is the development of these places a sign of unbroken ritual continuity or was the sequence punctuated by periods of time when the past was reinvented to suit contemporary needs. If the latter, then does this new meaning represent the reworking of long-held folk tradition or a completely new interpretation of the upstanding monuments whose significance had been forgotten? (see Gosden and Lock 1998; Bradley 1987; Roymans 1995).

There is little consistency to the character of the ‘persistent places’ on the Wolds. Some places are respected continually throughout prehistory and early history, whilst others feature more intermittently and in different ways. The intermittent but repeated nature of this respect over many centuries raises the possibility of very long term continuities of tradition and myth. However, it would appear that each different phase of reuse and reference to the past involves no small degree of selectivity and re-invention. There are long periods of time when these places are not apparently respected although these gaps are not as great as those at Yeavering which spanned the entire first millennium BC. We should not discount the possibility of the survival of long-term folk tradition in such cases but it is one which was consistently reworked, coming in and out of focus throughout the centuries as the importance of these places fluctuated.

Bradley has pointed out several examples where monuments from the distant past were incorporated into the present, their original meanings subverted to suit current political requirements (1987;1993). Several others have used the same theme and recognised it particularly in the architecture of burial. Barrett saw that the construction of barrows in the early Bronze Age and their relationship to existing examples “might have been employed to evoke specific references to the past, indicating distinct lines of mythical ancestors amongst whom the dead were to be placed” (Barrett 1990:185). The important aspect of this kind of study is the idea that the past is being evoked to legitimate political and social relationships in the present in an active manner. The

There is much to be gained from taking a long term perspective on the development of a regional landscape. Bradley’s work on monuments emphasised that a full understanding was not possible without a knowledge of the long-term significance of the places where monuments were 119

than explaining the need for legitimisation through the fact that the ruling authority may not have been of indigenous descent. For this invention to have had any strength the post Roman rulers here must have been drawing on and subverting the existing mythic associations that surrounded the monuments at Yeavering, as opposed to interpreting the upstanding relics anew from outside.

built (Bradley 1993;1998). The earliest monuments were rarely new impositions. The choices surrounding their location responded to a long-held sense of place, bound up with its special topographic character (see also Tilley 1994; Bradley 1998). The building of the earliest monument in the Neolithic therefore represented a new way of indicating this significance but one which was rooted in the history of the place. “..instead of creating an intellectual structure around the features of the natural topography, monument building is a way of establishing or enhancing the significance of particular locations.” (Bradley 1993:5). This dynamic between long term continuity and the reworking of traditions through their appropriation into the present is one which never really goes away.

In such cases Bradley is assuming that these places and the monuments they contain are still imbued with power, several centuries after any clear or direct memory of their original meaning had lapsed. In other words they had become part of the mythology of the local people and it is through the regular telling of stories about past events and people associated with these places that they retained some power. The continuing importance of the place though had nothing to do with cultural or ritual continuity, as its meaning had been reworked and changed to fit the current socio-political agenda. The former significance of the hill-fort at Yeavering and its monuments was ‘half remembered and half forgotten’ and therefore easily manipulated and forced to fit an invented mythical ancestry in the present. The perceived power that surrounded the place was strong enough to give political and social reality to the claims to power made by those who now sought to control and manipulate these monuments and this place.

A great deal of recent attention has been paid to the reuse of ancient monuments in Anglo-Saxon England, a trend perhaps begun by Bradley in ‘Time regained’ (1987). In this article he talks about the past being a “resource in the hands of the living” and there are many examples of the precise and deliberate engagement with the past in the post Roman (preNorman) centuries. Most attention has been paid to the phenomenon of secondary inhumation in ancient monuments, mainly early Bronze Age barrows. Williams has recently reviewed the evidence for monument reuse in Anglo-Saxon England and suggests that, “Mortuary practices at ancient monuments would have involved the congregation of people from afar and would have provided an important arena for re-enacting links with the past, with the ancestors and with the supernatural, through the burial of the dead.” (Williams 1998:103). He draws on Beowulf and other Anglo-Saxon literary sources to illustrate that, “Ancient monuments were probably envisaged as powerful, liminal places, that may have been regarded as the dwellings of supernatural beings or ancestral peoples.” (ibid: 103). The many examples that Williams discusses include several from East Yorkshire, where the phenomenon of reuse is widespread. He argues that this engagement with the past was a deliberate appropriation and subversion of the mythical and supernatural character of these monuments. “.. it involved the appropriation of existing attitudes to ancient monuments: elites were not inventing these traditions de novo....they were associating themselves with powerful forces and with a distant past that may have served to legitimise political strategies in the present.” (Williams 1998:103). The political manipulative role of this reuse is also emphasised by Bradley for Yeavering and Newgrange (1987) and by Lucy again for Anglian East Yorkshire (1992;1998).

However, can we be sure that the engagement with the past of prehistoric monuments was always a positive one. Are the dead placed within these barrows in response to their mythical power or to more malevolent forces? As we saw in the previous chapter, the secondary burials on the Wolds inserted into barrows may actually be drawing upon the negative association of the monument. In this way they become the suitable resting place only for social outcasts and criminals. This is still an example of the deliberate engagement with the past but it is very different from the appropriation of the past to legitimate social and political position in the present.

PERSISTENT PLACES ON THE WOLDS When discussing the monumental complexes at Yeavering, Bradley briefly refers to the site of Thwing, “..which (having) already done service as a Neolithic Henge and Late Bronze Age ringwork, was reused in the 8C AD as a high status site and cemetery..” (Bradley 1987:15). At this site Terry Manby unearthed an Anglian cemetery and hall structure located within the prehistoric ringwork, as well as a number of palisaded enclosures attached to the outside of the circular prehistoric enclosure. All of these are late Anglian in date (Manby 1990). This site must be another example of the deliberate evocation of the past by post Roman communities. It is by no means alone on the Wolds as the visible remains of the past are everywhere. Moreover, it has always been so.

Bradley's paper discussed the post Roman appropriation of places and monuments which held sacred potency in prehistory at Yeavering and the centres of Newgrange and Knowth. Here he talks about the elite manipulation of the past to strengthen claims for political legitimacy. “.... a local elite was making a considered effort to strengthen its position through reference to the past. The selective reconstruction of important monuments was really equivalent to the composition of prestigious but fictitious genealogies. We know that this process was taking place during a period of conflict and change, and this may provide a particular reason why the local rulers should have taken such trouble to legitimise their own position.” (1987:10). Here he emphasises the need for the invention of tradition at a time when the retention of power was problematical rather

The Wolds is a multi-period landscape not only because traces of the past are visible today in the configuration of lanes and fields and boundaries. Throughout the late prehistoric and early historic period, relics of the past were prominent features and were incorporated into systems of land division and settlement in a direct and deliberate manner. The problem we have is how to make sense of the many different forms in which reference was made to the 120

ran along the valley floor at least on a seasonal basis. This area between Craike Hill and Garton Gatehouse provides the focus for a phenomenal concentration of burial monuments and linears from the Neolithic through to the Anglo-Saxon period. In many cases this involves the direct and deliberate relationship between burials and monuments of the past. Many of these monuments appear to be concentrated around and along a trackway, which ran along the bottom of the valley westwards towards Wetwang, where it forms the valley based trackway respected by the Iron Age cemetery here. It is marked by a linear earthwork probably in origin dug during the later Bronze Age. East of Garton Station the track forks to form the historically known Green Lane, which is at least as old as the tenth century AD and probably much older. In keeping with other long distance cross wold tracks, such as the Sledmere Green Lane and the Towthorpe ridgeway, it may well originate in the Neolithic or Bronze Age. Many monuments from this period are found alongside it including the Kirkburn Neolithic enclosure as well as several early Bronze Age round barrows.

past; how to explain the many degrees of continuity so represented and the different perceptions of history they may reflect. The multi-period character of the landscape and survival of some features over many centuries does not necessarily imply the continuity of social or cultural formation. It can also be explained by the reuse of the past amidst transformation in other spheres of life. The most obvious examples consist of direct reference made to a visible monument and in particular the insertion of a burial into a barrow or earthwork. Such acts of reference and engagement are often concentrated into certain specific areas which repeatedly contain concentrations of monuments from many different periods. In these cases we are not only dealing with the deliberate reference to individual monuments but also a veneration of the place, the locality surrounding this monument or the group to which it belongs. These areas are often situated at special topographic locations, which might be close to water sources or lie up on the wold top, commanding wide views. Consistent and recurrent reference to these places was responding to the presence of history but also to the continuing recognition of the topographic character of the place. Very often these places are situated close to long distance tracks which were themselves features of the Wolds landscape for very long periods of time.

The Neolithic barrows are scattered along the floor of the Garton-Wetwang Slack but here at Craike they are especially closely concentrated. As far as the Wolds in general is concerned, the small area around Craike Hill represents a significant concentration of Neolithic activity of both a ceremonial and domestic nature (Dent 1983). Stead’s excavations investigated an enclosure here which he suggested was Neolithic in date (1991). It lies alongside the Green Lane and close to the more securely dated Neolithic activity at Craike Hill. The whole valley acts as a focus for the concentrations of early Bronze Age barrows, which lie along the valley floor route way all the way up to Wetwang Slack. During the Late Bronze Age the valley bottom linear was probably constructed, although there is no direct dating evidence for this. Dent considers that the track, upon which the early Wetwang cemetery is aligned, was already ditched by the fourth century BC and this same track/linear passes through the complex at Garton Station from the north. It is now visible only as a cropmark and is later respected by Iron Age square barrows. This linear demonstrates a deliberate respect to many of the existing monuments of the area and incorporates some of them into its line (Mortimer 1905) including a Neolithic long barrow further west up the valley (fig 132; 82).

Many of these persistent places have already featured in earlier chapters but only through the part they played within a chronologically limited slice of time. Here we can trace their development over a much longer time scale.

CRAIKE HILL - GARTON STATION (fig 132) Craike Hill is today a low eminence, about two hundred metres across from north to south. It is a natural hill of fine chalk which “was (once) a prominent landmark, but gravel digging since 1938 has reduced it to a crater.” (Manby 1958:224). It is one of the few prominent natural features in the vicinity and is now covered by young pines and surrounded by the low degraded mounds of former barrows. The small hillock lies in the bottom of the broad valley of Garton-Wetwang Slack,one kilometre or so before it meets the clays of the Hull Valley and Holderness. It is a prominent landmark because the surrounding landscape is so flat and rolling, with distant views from it available in all directions. Today the hill lies alongside the Craike-Tibthorpe Green Lane, part of the route which originally extended westwards as a pre-Norman long distance trackway. It is now a short stretch of wide road at this point and is also followed by the parish boundary between Kirkburn and Garton. The hill itself has been greatly reduced in size over the recent decades as it has provided a quarry for the extraction of flint and gravel. Manby’s excavations on the hill, in which he uncovered traces of Neolithic activity, were carried out in front of this extraction work. Manby saw this material as domestic in character because of the large amount of pottery and flint debris in association with hearth deposits (Manby 1958). More recently, excavation by Ian Stead has identified both Anglian and Iron Age burials in the close vicinity (Stead 1991) to add to the Neolithic and Bronze Age barrows already investigated by Mortimer (1905).

During the Iron Age the a series of square barrow cemeteries are strung out along the valley bottom track/linear. There is a linear cemetery at Garton Station to the north of the valley bottom and at Craike Hill is a cluster of barrows and other rectilinear enclosures, which often contain graves of a special character (Stead 1991) (chapter four). These special graves are sometimes considered to have been placed in liminal locations away from the regular and larger cemeteries because of their unusual nature. Some of the enclosures here do not contain inhumations and as such have few parallels elsewhere in East Yorkshire. Others that do contain inhumations are sometimes circular rather than square in plan. The area to the south also contains some strange Iron Age burial activity, including a further cart burial at Stead’s site Kirkburn one. Kirkburn two, located between Garton Station and Craike Hill, consisted of a large square plan enclosure which overlay a larger probably Neolithic enclosure. Here were two smaller circular enclosures

To the north of Craike Hill is the former course of the (Driffield) Gypsey Race which now rises in the springs to the east at Elmswell. It is assumed that in prehistory the stream 121

The emergence of Craike Hill into the middle ages is shadowy but a number of twelth or thirteenth century references suggest that here was the site of Crakou, the meeting place for the entire East Riding (Smith 1937 and chapters five and six). It is well located for such a role as it lies alongside a long distance track and boundary. Its significance in local myth and folk lore may be reflected by this usage and perhaps a memory of the role of the place that had led to the concentration of cemeteries during the seventh century. There may have been a tradition of meetings and festivals here from that time and perhaps this tradition of gathering was linked to the use of the place for trials or executions. It is not clear exactly what kind of power structures would have used this place before the Norman conquest. No doubt the legitimacy of any meetings and decisions made here, or of the justice enforced, would be helped by the weight of ancient tradition that resided. The pervasive presence of many upstanding monuments each with names or specific myths, the topographic speciality of the seasonal stream and oddity of Craike Hill itself would have added to the potency of the place. Notably, it was during the phases of open un-ditched Wolds that Craike was venerated with burials and traces of Romano-British activity are minimal. At times like this, during the Iron Age or Anglian period, the placement of the dead in landscape and their juxtaposition with the visible past was an important part of the negotiation of social relationships and identities, which may have also been connected to claims on land. During the Late Iron Age/Romano-British and indeed the Middle Ages, such claims were made by means of the physical definition of boundaries which did not directly involve the dead of the community.

containing horse burials but no human remains. Again, the consistently unusual character of the Iron Age graves in this area is emphasised. If this area was seen as liminal in the Iron Age then it was probably a recent interpretation of the place. The presence of relics from the past was not lost on the users of square barrows but the most important feature in the location of cemeteries here would appear to have been the valley bottom trackway/linear or indeed the stream (see Bevan 1999). The scattered isolated square barrows here are more readily identified with the round barrows than the nucleated cemeteries; they are also located amongst them. A crucial part of the history of this place is the significance placed on it during the Anglian centuries. At this time at least four cemeteries were placed within former monuments. Two separate groups of inhumations were inserted into the linear earthwork at Garton Gatehouse (Mortimer 1905), another group was placed within the Iron Age barrows and enclosures of the Garton Station site (Stead 1991) (fig 112; 72) and other smaller groups or individual burials were placed into the round barrows around the Green Lane (Mortimer’s 112 and C46). There were also Anglian inhumations in Stead’s ‘Neolithic’ enclosure at Kirkburn two (Stead 1991). Mortimer’s excavations of round barrows in this area consistently uncovered unprovenanced Anglian pottery and therefore there may have been secondary inhumations in some of the other round barrows as well. Further east around Driffield, several round barrows were used in this way, some of which contained whole inhumation cemeteries (see chapter six). Most of the burials from this area seem to date from the seventh century although the eastern cemetery at Gatehouse and that from barrow 112 were unfurnished. The grave goods from Gatehouse westerly cemetery were part of ‘indigenous’ material culture containing many penannular brooches and even a piece of metalwork, or work-box, very similar to the Iron Age “bean can” from Wetwang Slack.

KEMP HOWE AND BURROW (fig 133) In chapter six we discussed the phenomenon of small discrete territories that existed within the patchwork of the medieval township structure and were recorded in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Burrow is one such area and was recognised as a township in the nineteenth century. However it did not contain any centre of population nor its own agricultural structure. We suggested that it was a remnant of ancient pasture created at a time of the fragmentation and renegotiation of land holding during the Anglo-Scandinavian period. This is another place that was persistently treated as special by local communities over many centuries before this time. The multi-period concentration of monuments here is remarkable and there are several cases of reference and respect to relics from the past. The continued importance of this place for monumentality and burial also reflects the special topographic character of the place. Here lies another long-lasting and very ancient trackway that follows the ridge on the southern watershed of the Great Wold Valley. Its course is now more or less followed by an eighteenth century coach road, the High Street. As such the concentration of monuments occupies one of the most commanding locations on the Wolds with unbroken views extending out in all directions. Again the sequence begins here with Neolithic monuments, in this case a pair of long barrows, both investigated by Mortimer (Mortimer 1905; Manby 1988). The pair now sit at an important crossroads and remained prominent landmarks until recent times. The southerly barrow became known as Kemp Howe and provided the

Significantly, there are very few similar concentrations of Anglian burial further up the valley, although another (unfurnished) cemetery may exist at Blealands Nook. It was the area around Craike Hill and Garton Station that was chosen in this period for special attention and specific engagement with relics of the past (fig 110). This may be because it was here that barrows and earthworks remained upstanding and visible. Further up the valley towards Wetwang Slack there were no upstanding barrows recorded in the nineteenth century, compared to many around Garton Station and those at Wetwang may have already been obliterated by the end of the Roman period. The concentration of secondary Anglian inhumations here could also have been respecting the route way along the valley floor, at a point that marked the transition from ‘settled’ wold-edge to more open and less managed wold interior. They are located on either side of the Green Lane, which was probably a pre-Norman long distance trackway and was later followed by a township boundary. The emerging sense of this feature as a boundary is possibly what these Anglian burials are reflecting (see chapter six) in an area away from permanent settlement but at a time when claims to these open lands required negotiation. This was done through the association of the recent dead with traces of the distant past. 122

There are several other places on the Wolds where monuments from many different periods are found together in one place. Most of the Anglian burials on the Wolds for instance are found in places which had already been recognised as special and had been enhanced with either a burial monument or a multiple linear earthwork in prehistory (fig 110). Many of them are situated in commanding topographic locations or else in low-lying positions close to streams, springs or ponds. Furthermore they are often found close to long distance trackways which have been an unchanging feature of this landscape for many centuries (fig 127).

vessel for an Anglian cemetery of secondary inhumations, excavated by Mortimer (1905) and then Brewster (Manby 1988). Much later, it was probably the site of Cowlam beacon, which in the sixteenth century was seen to be “taking light from Staxton and Bridlington and geveth light to Settrington” (quoted in Nicholson 1887:33). The prominence of the location as well as the Neolithic barrows and the ridgeway probably prompted the concentration of early Bronze Age barrows here. Many remained upstanding into the early twentiethth century and were investigated by Greenwell and Mortimer but most have now been levelled by the plough. The RCHM plots have identified many more examples, in particular a cluster of small ring ditches which seem to congregate around two much larger barrows, to the north of Burrow (Stoertz 1997). Several barrows lie alongside the High Street supporting the antiquity of its line. The ridge following late Bronze Age linear, the Great Wold Dyke, runs to the north of the ridgeway and it is not clear whether this line was in fact the original course of the track. The linear was upstanding well into the present century and remains, in places as a line of triple bank and ditch. In several instances it has incorporated round barrows into its line, a phenomenon repeated in many other cases on the Wolds (see chapter three).

FIMBER At Fimber the natural knoll, situated alongside two ponds, has formed a focus for monuments and burial at least since the early Bronze Age when a barrow was built here. The linears seem to enclose the barrow and ponds rather than incorporate them (fig 44;68). No Iron Age burials have been found but there is evidence of an Anglian cemetery around the barrow (Eagles 1979; Lucy 1998). The barrow was later used for the site of the village church which may have preNorman origins (Mortimer 1888) (fig 100).

BLEALANDS NOOK

Some of the earliest square barrows are found at Burrow and were excavated by Stead in the late 1960s (Stead 1986). Five of the six barrows had already been excavated by Greenwell (Greenwell and Rolleston 1877) and the southernmost three were apparently upstanding in the nineteenth century as they appear on the OS six inch map. It is significant that the earliest of the square barrows tend to occupy such prominent locations, whilst later ones form close clusters in low-lying sites. An important feature of Stead’s excavation was the identification of a linear double ditch which cuts one of the square barrows, indicating unquestionably a date of construction for the linear after or during the middle Iron Age. Equally significant is the way the linear cuts the barrow and bisects the overall group, suggesting a deliberate engagement with these visible relics. It is possible that this linear helped to physically define the territory of Burrow, recorded later by township boundaries (fig 133). Such a territory may well be related to the late Anglian site at Cottam which has yielded so much metalwork (Haldenby 1990;1992;1994; Richards 1994; 1999).

The group of inhumations from Blealands Nook were originally interpreted by Mortimer as Romano-British in date, as they were found within the series of enclosures belonging to the Romano-British ladder site here (fig 110; 80). Lucy and Eagles have both considered them to be Anglian (Lucy 1998; Eagles 1979). They are found at the crossing of two already ancient long distance trackways, one of which is subsequently followed by a township boundary. Their position here is no accident and was clearly responding to the historical significance of the place as well as the cultural character of the crossroads as a liminal location in the post Roman landscape.

ARRAS The Iron Age cemetery at Arras occupies a commanding location on the main Wolds watershed. It probably lay alongside or close to the ridgeway running north-south along the spine of the Wolds. Here too are found a series of converging linear earthworks and later township boundaries but no proximal round barrows or secondary Anglian inhumations, despite the survival of many of the Iron Age barrows into the nineteenth century.

The secondary Anglian inhumations at Kemp Howe have already been mentioned. They are largely unfurnished and are seen as seventh or eighth century AD in date. They lie alongside the High Street, another pre-Norman long distance trackway also followed by a township boundary. A little to the southeast lies the site of recently discovered eighth and ninth century settlement which appears to have had high status associations at least during the ninth century. These two sites may also share a common relationship with the past as they both were situated close to if not within prehistoric monuments. Again, the presence of upstanding monuments in a special topographic location provides the arena for many centuries of persistent, albeit intermittent, monument building and burial. In choosing this location these communities were drawing on the potency of the place lent by the concentrated presence of the past.

ALDRO At Aldro there are many early Bronze Age barrows scattered along the ridge which overlooks the northern wold escarpment and carries another ridgeway of probable prehistoric origin. In several cases here the linears incorporate these barrows into their line and there are some examples of secondary Anglian inhumations within the linears. None of the round barrows carry such secondaries however, nor are there any Iron Age burials. It is easy to emphasise the long term continuities and connections across very long periods of time implied by the recurrent use made of these sites and areas. It will be clear from the above that there is no pattern to the persistent use of these places. Some groups of prominent barrows for instance, 123

a degree of re-interpretation of their original meaning for people. Furthermore there are signs that these places were once associated with meeting places and festivals, again possibly during the pre-christian period.

crucially significant during the early Bronze Age were never again respected or referred to by later monuments, despite their having remained intact and visible. The Iron Age cemeteries at Wetwang Slack were never used for Anglian secondary burial which instead focused further down the valley on a prominent and visible group of monuments. The gap in occupation of Thwing is so long that its original late Bronze Age meaning must have lapsed by the eighth or ninth century. In this way the past was being selectively drawn upon and re-interpreted during the Anglian period. It could be argued for Thwing that the former significance of this place had nothing to do with the Anglian reuse which was only reacting to what was visible above ground. However, the repetitive character of the history of reuse at places like Burrow and Craike would suggest that a strong and enduring mythic tradition had built up around these monumental complexes. The strength of tradition associated with the place would have grown in stature with every regular gathering or new story that was told about it. In fact it must have been the congregations, festivals and trials that acted as the motors for the continuities of place. There were links to the distant past, as the same places were repeatedly and persistently respected. However, the role of these places in the present and the meaning they held for communities was consistently re-interpreted.

PREHISTORIC MONUMENTS HISTORIC LANDSCAPE

IN

His combination of recent folk loric evidence with archaeological data is important and is only hampered by the recent date for the recording of the folk evidence. If we are to talk about the existence of a mythic landscape in the past we have to address the cultural vehicles through which these myths are traditionally recorded and transmitted. This is done through naming, song and storytelling, as Gosden and Lock indicate when they quote Rumsey, as follows, “Stories, songs, dance and paintings are all means of retrieving memories and meanings from the country, working together as social memory and showing the paradoxical combination of extreme long term continuity and considerable negotiability.” (Rumsey 1994:127-8, quoted in Gosden and Lock 1998). We could add to this the naming of prominent landscape features and ancient monuments as well as the persistant use of places for gatherings and meetings. The earliest survivals of folk tales, local to the archaeological sites in which we are interested are the closest we can get to the oral meanings originally attached to them. As we discuss the phenomenon of the perpetual reuse and gradual reworking of meanings attached to features from the past we have to acknowledge that people in the past were themselves responding to existing folk loric and mythic associations. The transmission of these names, stories, songs and rituals is lost to us, apart from the way in which activity at these sites is reflected and visible materially in the archaeological record.

THE

Roymans long term study of the ‘cultural biography’ of the landscapes of the Meuse-Demer-Scheldt region has considered the afterlife of monuments and places, in particular the urnfield barrow cemeteries (1995). He has outlined their continuing role as locales laden with mythic associations for many centuries after the late Bronze Age/early Iron Age period when the cemeteries were first constructed and used. “In popular culture, the cemeteries were probably interpreted as liminal places which took up an important position in the mythical geography of the landscape, and which may have been associated with the former inhabitants of the land. They housed ghosts and demons, towards whom one had to behave in a correct way.” (1995:10). These cemeteries were respected and referenced in the landscape throughout the Roman Iron Age and continued to form part of its mythological fabric into the middle ages. His study revolves around the survival of folk loric references to these places, recorded in the nineteenth century. He argues that because these folk tales preserve some mythic elements of the pre-christian sagas, the urnfields had existed as the abode of mythical figures since this time. The original stories have been christianised to some degree and altered to fit the ideological agenda of the political christianity of the medieval period. Changes in the landscape during the twelth and thirteenth centuries involved the destruction of many urnfields, which had been hitherto respected and this he equates with the increasing dominance of a purely Christian ideology. The only cemeteries that survive throughout the middle ages exist in the marginal zones of the heathlands away from churches and villages. It is these liminal areas which are now equated with the supernatural ‘evil’ of the christian devil and other ‘dark forces’. The folk tales reveal that the barrows were seen as dwellings of goblins and spirits and not as tombs, suggesting

Roymans study is welcome because it illustrates a ‘grassroots’ attitude towards the past that surrounds a community within the local landscape. This is very different from the ideas of direct political manipulation of the past, on the part of an elite group discussed by Bradley and to some extent Lucy. Bradley’s case studies were deliberately chosen for their elite political spin. It could be argued that in the medieval Low Countries the christian church was cynically manipulating the meaningful understanding of the urnfields by local people in order to underwrite the ‘truth’ of their ideological propaganda. In a way this was most definitely the case. However, the impression gained from Roymans case study is that the urnfields were consistently venerated by local people in a sensitive manner and often in a way that directly opposed the dominant spiritual world view, reinforced every Sunday in church. The urnfields and their myths were vehicles of subversion and the only real honest connection between these communities and their pre-christian heritage. Amidst the continuities in the features of the Wolds landscape and the generalised sequence of political changes, peoples’ connection to a perceived past remains and is manifest through engagement with the relics of that past. The situation on the Wolds in the persistent reuse of the same special places has perhaps more in common with the MDS region and Roymans’ approach than it does with Bradley’s ideas of elite political manipulation at Yeavering. The Wolds examples we have so far described are rarely the result of the manipulation of the past on behalf of a political elite group. Instead they involve claims being made to areas of pasture away from the settlements on the part of individual communities. Echoes of the mythic open landscape of the post Roman centuries are heard quietly into the medieval 124

that there could easily have been a long-standing tradition of popular assembly at this place, because of its Romano-British credentials. In this example the centre of the wapentake was placed in the heart of the inhabited landscape close to an existing settlement or estate centre. Very different considerations for meeting place selection appear to have been current on the Wolds.

period but here too the occasional reference to the past is made. It seems likely there were many more examples that did not get historically recorded.

FOLK MOOTS AND FOLK MEMORY The meeting place of the hundred or wapentake was an integral part of the institution and one which survived into the later middle ages here and throughout England (Smith 1937; Stenton 1971; Sawyer 1978). More than anything it was the regular open air meetings of the hundreds that lent their existence a contemporary reality and so the places chosen for such gatherings must have held a particularly strong resonance. Here were held the court hearings of the hundred and according to Stenton these meetings "..had all the features of an ancient popular assembly" (ibid). The law administered and considered here represented a common stratum of rights, a check against the manorial land-locked feudal system and so what better place for it to be heard than away from the settlements and fields that symbolised these social bonds (Stenton 1971). We find most of these meeting places "..in a sort of no-man's-land as far away from the settlements of the community it served and on the boundary between two or more estates, but often near a road or river crossing." (Gelling 1978:209). Anderson pointed out in 1934 that meeting places were often found close to roads or fords and regularly found on commons or heaths (Anderson 1934). The strength of the connection between the hundred/wapentake and these gatherings is shown by the fact that many were named after their meeting places. As Gelling says, "..hundred names preserve rich evidence for the siting of the outdoor assemblies which met to settle matters of local administration and justice." (Gelling 1978:209). Even those which are seemingly named after settlements are likely to have had their original (meeting place) name changed.

It is not possible to identify all the meeting places of the East Yorkshire hundreds and wapentakes but there are strong indications for many, all of which lie on the open high Wolds. The three Wolds wapentakes are all certainly named after their meeting places. In the case of Buckrose it is a cross, possibly by the former Roman road between Wharram le Street and Wetwang. Harthill is probably named after a now lost topographic feature by the road between Market Weighton and Pocklington (Anderson 1934; Smith 1937; VCH 1974;1976). The name Dickering may be derived from OE for ‘dike circle’ or ‘ring of dykes’, a reference no doubt to the re-use of a prehistoric earthwork for the meeting place (Smith 1937). There are records of the hundred meetings taking place at both Rudston and Burton Fleming in the twelth and thirteenth century and even one at the Rudston monolith in the fifteenth century (ibid). Notably the meeting here is recorded as having taken place at the monolith rather than by the church even though the standing stone lay in the churchyard. The location of the original ‘dyke-ring’ has been suggested at Rudston Beacon as well as at Maiden's Grave to south and north of Rudston village respectively, both places with heavy concentrations of prehistoric monuments in commanding locations. The selection of Rudston for the wapentake court can have in no small way been down to continuing mythic significance of the place. The site of Rudston Beacon is also likely to have been the meeting place of the hundred of Burton, probably focused on one of the barrows found here, alongside the ridgeway of Woldgate (Smith 1937; VCH 1974;1976).

The places chosen for hundred courts were topographic features that were already potent mythic elements of an old landscape. In the main these are barrows, trees, prominent stones and sometimes crosses although the latter are likely to represent a deliberate attempt to christianise an existing site. These places came to symbolise the hundredal institution and the commonality of its law. They are highly likely to have already held similar significance because of regular gatherings and festivals or because of particular mythical association. In fact the ancestral resonance of a place would have lent the proceedings and the institution itself a legitimacy rooted in folk lore and folk landscape. This would not have been as potent for grassroots popular culture had it been based in the manorial centre. The meeting places were tapping into the logic of the open mythic landscape on the Wolds in the post Roman period and so the record of their importance in the eleventh century is likely to testify to centuries of existing veneration at these places. In the twelth and thirteenth century records of wapentake courts and meetings are preserved glimpses of the former character of the Wolds in general, something which had otherwise been obliterated by the changes associated with the foundation of township, village and open field.

Unlike Burton several other local hundreds were indeed named after their meeting places indicating that a range of topographic features were used for this purpose. Warter probably denotes a ‘gnarled tree’ or possibly a ‘gallows tree’; Acklam is referring to a ‘group of oaks’ and Scard is likely to be making reference to a ‘ravine’ or maybe a dry valley. The hundred of Sneculfcros was no doubt identified with a free standing cross of some kind. Three others seem to have been named after barrows, two of which are associated with the Norse god, Thor: Turbar and Thoreshowe. The hundred of Huntow has been mentioned before and was certainly later the name of a common pasture. In origin though it may well have been the name of a barrow. The term still survives in minor names which may help to locate the meeting place that probably lay within the common, high up on the Wold (chapter six). The closest village, Speeton, was probably named after the site and derives from OE for ‘speech enclosure’. Two other probable hundred meeting places are identifiable through names using this same element. Spell Howe on the top of the northern escarpment, in Folkton is a barrow which is likely to have been the focus of Turbar hundred. Likewise, several names in Spellow including Spellowgate have survived in Driffield and Elmswell, providing an approximate location for the meeting place of the Driffield hundred, again high up on the Wold land of these townships. An earlier meeting place for this hundred

Detailed work carried out in Bulmer wapentake (North Yorks) suggested that the centre was originally located at Bolesford, a site chosen for very practical considerations of access and visibility (Swan et al 1990). It was also conceived 125

strong and clearly understood historical credentials. It is with this in mind that we now move on to consider some of the persistent tracks and boundaries of the Wolds, many of which endure in this landscape for many centuries.

may have existed in the centre of what is now Driffield town, where a large mound is known as Moot Hill. We can see in the vague documentary references to medieval meeting places that they are often associated with ancient monuments or prominent features of the Wolds landscape, such as trees or standing crosses. Some of the names of hundreds or wapentakes preserve the names given to the barrows which associate them with deities from the Scandinavian pantheon. The attachment to such places seems to be drawing on their existing mythic significance and suggests that they had acted as gathering places for some time before the twelth or thirteenth century. The power of the ancient places was being harnessed by the creators of the administrative system, represented by the wapentake. As we mentioned above, these documentary references belong to a time when the open Wolds of the Anglian period were being colonised, appropriated and cultivated. However some sense of its former character is preserved in popular mythic culture represented by the use of certain ancient places for congregation and justice.

PERSISTENT TRACKS Many of the places where Anglian secondary inhumations are found are also those which were elaborated in the late Bronze Age with multiple linear ditches. This monumentalization is an indication of the existing cultural significance of these places linked to their topographic character, as most of them lie at the heads of valleys or across shoulders of land between valley heads. The convergence of routeways at these strategic locations had given them a cultural importance by the late Bronze Age. These same long distance trackways were in use throughout prehistory and they became crucial structuring features of the Iron Age and Anglian Wolds (fig 127). By this time these tracks, often marked by massive linear earthworks, had become part of the mythic landscape. They were in fact relics of the past themselves and this antiquity may have been drawn upon through the placement of burials along their line (fig 110; 123; 127). We have seen that the location of burials alongside the tracks was an engagement, not only with the past that the track may have represented but also with the contemporary world. It expressed the claims to pasture land, areas identified by the tracks which led to them. The Anglian cemeteries at Sykes monument are a good example but there is a further Anglian inhumation at Huggate Dykes on the western end of this track and in a similar topographic location.

TRACKS AND BOUNDARIES Gosden and Lock have discussed the different kinds of history and perceptions of the past, in the past. They emphasise how history, in a prehistoric context, was inscribed into the landscape so that “creating marks on the landscape, or reusing old marks, was an important set of actions which may have been highly formalised and ritualised” (Gosden and Lock 1998:11). As a result the significance and meaning of these marks and monuments remained in the landscape often being respected for many centuries. They make the distinction between two different kinds of past reference and reuse in the landscape. “ The first comes from repeated use and maintenance of features with known antecedents, to which a group (or parts of it) return on a regular basis to carry out actions of a prescribed type. The second aspect of reuse derives from actions at ancient features of the landscape, given new values within the contemporary setting.” (Gosden and Lock 1998:4). They relate these two different forms of engagement to the creation of different histories. “Sites and features of the landscape can be seen as engines for the creation of time, through the repetition at them of ritualised acts. These acts may have been aimed at the maintenance and reworking of elements in the landscape with known antecedents, these falling within the scope of genealogical history. More ancient features could allow for more latitude in evoking the past in the present. This we call mythical history.” (ibid: 6).

The use of these tracks as long stretches of township boundary, probably originating during the AngloScandinavian period, was another engagement with the past where again the ancient traditions surrounding these lines were drawn upon to enhance the legitimacy of the boundaries and the land units they defined. This would be a good example of the re-interpretation of the past to forcibly fit it into a new and changing contemporary setting. We saw the same thing taking place during the later Iron Age when the Green Lane earthwork and the Great Wold Dyke were respected and connected to newly dug ditches, representing the increasing division and enclosure of land at this time. The tracks were drawn into new schemes of land division and gradually treated as boundaries. They were already recognised as structuring elements within the territorial system, as burials had been deliberately placed along their line. Their power in this role was being drawn upon by those who choose to use them now as boundaries. The developments of the Anglo-Scandinavian period and indeed the late Iron Age are analogous to the late Bronze Age when the tracks that already dominated the territorial landscape were re-defined as boundaries.

So far we have dealt with the very obvious archaeological examples, involving the direct engagement with an often distant past, most clearly evident in the insertion of a secondary burial into an already very ancient barrow. Here though, the authors are acknowledging that throughout prehistory, the past was consistently being engaged in less spectacular ways through repeated often ritualised action at certain features and sites. The regular maintenance or cleaning out of ditches for instance would keep the ditch in a “socially active state” and at the same time reinforce the historical character of the ditch (ibid: 6). In this kind of way features of the landscape such as tracks and boundaries would continue to play a part in the present but also enjoy

The long distance trackways have survived over many centuries. They have served as major long term structures in this landscape and were physical representations of the ancient rumbling traditions that existed in the relationship between community, landscape and history. They have also significantly changed their role and have been fitted and incorporated into social and cultural schemes which were historically specific. Over the whole of the period under study these changing roles tend to oscillate between trackway 126

it represented. The preservation of these linears in this landscape for such long periods of time reflects the continual and growing significance they enjoyed within the cultural perception of history within this locality. The township boundaries that followed the linears were drawing upon their acknowledged antiquity. North of Fimber crossroads, for instance, the boundary traces a vicious dog-leg in order to incorporate a short stretch of double ditch and bank (fig 134). In this case it would have been much more convenient if the boundary had carried on in a straight line. The symbolic properties of this stretch of earthwork (which had also been used for secondary Anglian inhumation) were such that it was important to subsume it within the boundary.

and boundary.

PERSISTENT LINEARS An illustration of the ubiquitous presence and influence of the past in this landscape is the survival of many of the prehistoric linear earthworks. Although most of them have been obliterated physically their influence lives on as they have often formed the basis for the line of boundaries and tracks in the later prehistoric, Romano-British and medieval landscape. The linears of the Fimber area were all still prominent physical features in the nineteenth century, as they are recorded clearly on the 1854 OS six inch map and also by Mortimer (1905) (fig 134 and appendix one). Some of them survived until recently as triple arrangements of ditch and bank, standing up to 1.5m high (Wiltshire 1862). Short stretches still remain upstanding today. These linears were consistently followed by boundaries and tracks of the later prehistoric and historic landscape. The Green Lane linear is late Bronze Age in origin but formed a significant boundary within the late Iron Age and Romano-British landscape, marking the distinction between the enclosed and managed slopes of Wetwang Slack and the open area on Life Hill to the north (chapter four). Many of the linears around Fimber were found by Mortimer to contain Romano-British pottery in their upper silts and this may suggest that they too were respected and used as boundaries at this time. This is difficult to demonstrate without knowledge of the Romano-British system of land division here.

These linears have survived as structural (and symbolic) elements in this landscape for nearly two thousand years in spite of the considerable changes and transformations. This did not apparently involve the continuity of permanent population in this area but the intermittent use as extensive pasture (or perhaps during the Romano-British, as a more intensively managed mixed arable landscape). They meant something to the people who used this landscape and so were deliberately incorporated into new schemes of land division not because of their physical presence but for their cultural significance. As with the barrows and other relics of the past they may have been associated with mythic properties, particularly in the phases of open Wolds when the area was not permanently settled. At times when permanent settlements existed close by, the linears are more likely to have been understood in different ways, perhaps with reference to a more recent genealogical history (Gosden and Lock, 1998). Through the repeated (perhaps ritualised) action involving cleaning the ditch or maintaining the track it was consistently incorporated into the contemporary world, whilst its history and tradition was also acknowledged. It is difficult to explain how these physical features remained structural parts of the Wolds landscape for so long without such repeated maintenance. The placement of burials along or close to these linears or tracks may have been an unusual aspect to this ritual activity but one which served the same purpose and drew them into the genealogical histories of the recent dead.

Several in this area, including the Green Lane, are followed by township boundaries, often over long stretches. Those that do not carry township boundaries, to the north and south of Fimber village respectively, are likely to have formed the edge of open field although the exact location of Fimber’s open fields is not known (see chapter five) (fig 87). The northern multiple linear seems to have been used as the line for a trackway at least in the early modern period and probably also throughout the middle ages. This road was superseded by a coach road in the eighteenth century and then by the enclosure road that now approaches the village from the east. The field boundaries associated with parliamentary enclosure followed the linears that lie north and south of the village and obviously also those which carry township boundaries.

The reuse of prehistoric barrows on the other hand is more likely to have fallen within the scope of mythical history, whereby monuments associated with mythic properties and the more distant past were drawn upon. Anglian cemeteries alongside settlements may not have had much connection to a mythic past, except one traced through the genealogy of the dead. It is likely that during the Anglian period both kinds of history were in play at the same time but there may have been a distinction between the Wolds, which contained more mythic properties and the settled wold-edge where the recent genealogical past was situated. We have also seen how the re-use of ancient monuments and places on the Wolds may have been part of a way of dealing with malevolent deaths. In this way the differences in the treatment of the dead between the Wolds and the wold-edge provides an insight into the more general perception of the open Wolds at this time as an area of mystery beyond the familiar settled lands. Both mythic and genealogical histories may have sometimes been present at the same sites, as many multi-period concentrations of monuments lay alongside tracks and boundaries of long

The sceptic would interpret the endurance of these features in purely rational, practical terms. It is of course far more convenient to reuse a substantial bank and ditch than to erase it and create a boundary somewhere else. Therefore these massive monuments were respected and reused until recently, when ploughing technology was sufficiently advanced to disregard them. However, it is perfectly clear that in many other parts of the Wolds linears of similar proportions were eradicated and erased at an early date. For instance the multiple earthworks southeast of Fridaythorpe were not selected for reuse as boundaries and instead were ploughed out. The late Iron Age communities drew upon the power of the boundary represented by the Green Lane linear and incorporated it into the system of land division here. So too, during the Anglian period burials were placed into the banks of these earthworks in a deliberate engagement with the past 127

that are empty of cropmarks. As we have seen, not all townships were provided with extensive common pastures as many allowed for pasturage within the rotation system of the open fields. In some cases however, extensive areas of pasture are recorded for certain townships and they appear to have been originally carved out of much larger pasture zones that characterised the open Wolds of the Anglian period. This is an example of the apportionment of once large common areas amongst separate township communities (see also Fleming 1998).

standing. In some cases the trackways seem to have actually been as ancient as some of the barrows. Their consistent habitual use over this period brought them into the present. Even so their associations with visible traces of the very distant past may too have given a mythic spin to the trackway itself, again illustrating the juxtaposition of different perceptions of history within the same feature. Crucially, the trackways had probably never fallen out of use and so were treated primarily as old elements within the contemporary world. The number of years that had elapsed since their first usage was irrelevant and even though they were probably older than the barrows that lay around them they were likely to have been perceived as part of the recent/ genealogical as well as the distant mythic past.

The extensive zone along the upper slopes of the Great Wold valley is defined by linears on the southern side and free of all cropmarks, except a few isolated barrows. It forms the area of pasture divided up amongst the strip townships of the valley in the middle ages, an area once probably known as Hornhouwald (chapter six). Similarly the cropmark void north of Tibthorpe is recorded on the nineteenth century tithe map of Tibthorpe as Tibthorpe Wold; an area of specialist pasture, entirely within Tibthorpe township. It is crossed by the old Roman road from Malton and the traces of this feature are the only cropmarks visible here (chapter five and six).

The mythic and supernatural associations of tracks and routes of movement, so well known from the Australian aboriginal experience, may be of use here in appreciating the special character of the trackway in the symbolic landscape (i.e. Chatwin 1988; Tilley 1994; Devereux 1991). On the Wolds the history of trackways reflects many juxtapositions: very long term continuities against short term change; the remote past and the present; the symbolic and mythical alongside the practical and everyday. This also shows that the attitudes towards the landscape traditionally associated with mobile hunter-gatherers and pastoralists may not be restricted to prehistory. The mobile landscapes of the Wolds during the Anglian period for instance could have contained many of the same kind of physical and metaphorical elements, centred around trackways and places that are present in the Neolithic and early Bronze Age (Ingold 1990; Bradley 1993; Barrett 1994).

The persistent endurance of these areas of pasture should not be taken to suggest the unchanging character of land-use practice and organisation over the period involved. On the contrary we have seen how the social and economic fabric of these communities went through a number of significant changes during this period. Nonetheless these areas of pasture have remained apparently unoccupied and their boundaries respected. Within these changes there may well lie locally based structures of continuity and traditional respect to certain areas and features. By continually respecting these areas the local communities were engaging consciously with their past, especially as the social and economic conditions of the present may well have been under stress. Most of the areas of Iron Age pasture do become occupied in later centuries and equally most of the designated zones of early medieval pasture were not always empty of settlement. These kind of continuities are the exception rather than the rule, reinforcing the selectivity of past reuse and emphasising the reworking of the landscape over timeless stability.

GREEN SPACES The RCHM plots revealed certain areas which were free of cropmarks (fig 80-2). In a region as conducive to cropmark formation as this and one where the density of archaeological sites is so high, this emptiness is likely to be significant. Stoertz acknowledges that there is no geological or pedological reason why these areas should show up cropmarks less well than others (1997) (see chapter four). In two cases these areas are actually bounded by linear earthworks (the area known as Life Hill and that north of the Great Wold Dyke). In these two cases the linears which are probably of late Bronze Age origin, neatly define the edges of the empty zone. These bounded empty spaces are respected throughout the Romano-British period as areas of open pasture, alongside adjacent zones of settlement and localised land division. They are remnants of the formerly more extensive pastures of the Iron Age and were originally defined by linears of the late Bronze Age. The strength of the boundaries that define them was consistently respected and they remained empty zones, apparently free of permanent settlement for a very long time. Their use as pastures would have provided the mechanism for this long term continuity, through the habitual and regular use by a number of local communities. The antiquity of the visible monumental boundaries would have added immovability to the pastures and blunted any attempt to encroach onto them with habitation.

In Sledmere township the location of pasture on Life Hill during the middle ages is more difficult to demonstrate than the other empty zones, as much of the area appears to have formed part of an open field at least by the eighteenth century (chapter five). There is an unusually high provision of meadow land in Sledmere, recorded in Domesday Book and this may have been located on Life Hill. On the other hand it seems more likely that the Life Hill area is an example of a pasture that survived until the post Roman period but was then converted into arable land for the nascent community of Sledmere, a settlement which had grown up around the pond. Similarly there are many other areas which did apparently form part of extensive early medieval pastures, which had already been occupied and enclosed in earlier times. The cropmark plots reveal them to be crossed by ditches and scattered with settlements, dating presumably from the late Iron Age and Romano-British periods. The long term survival of the two empty zones is exceptional in this fluctuating landscape and probably created by highly specific

It is highly significant that it is those areas, which appear to have also been used as specialist pastures in the mddle ages 128

which alters.

local considerations.

TRADITIONS OF CONTINUITY The importance of this concluding discussion is that we can stand back from the chronologically limited studies of individual chapters and consider some very long term continuities in this landscape. The full significance of these persistent places, areas and features has already been partially appreciated for the role they play in specific periods. Traditionally such long term connections between different periods have been interpreted as evidence of social and economic continuity. What is often implied by this term is a timeless stasis, whereby the survival of one aspect of the landscape often implies the associated continuity of other spheres of life as well. Hayfield has recognised continuities of settlement location in the Wharram area and has interpreted them as the essential agrarian stability of the landscape inhabited by these communities. “...the overall picture of these settlements is one of continuity of location from the Iron Age to the Saxon period. Neither Roman nor Saxon invasions would at first appear to have had any major impact on settlement patterns in this part of the Yorkshire Wolds.” (Hayfield 1987:181). The survival of settlement location and the identification of some historical boundaries which follow earlier linears has led Hayfield to reconstruct an unchanging agrarian landscape in the Wharram area throughout this period. The position of settlements may not have changed but the social and economic system of which they were part, certainly did.

THE PAST IN THE WOLDS LANDSCAPE The Wolds has always been laden with its own historical baggage. We have illustrated how the landscape here has been used for the ‘inscription of history’ and has acted as the arena for engagement between local communities and their past, in many different ways over a long period of time. This relationship with the past has involved the deliberate reinvention of tradition at certain places, containing monumental relics of the distant past. Such places seem to have been repeatedly and consistently venerated but with significant gaps in the sequence. The origins of these places are ancient but their use does not seem to have been continuous. Other features of the Wolds landscape have endured an unbroken continuity for many centuries. Some of the long distance trackways in particular seem to have remained in use since the Neolithic or Bronze Age. They have acted as both tracks and boundaries over this period and existed as strong structural elements of the cultural landscape rooting habitual/seasonal action with the remote past. Linear earthworks too have remained as permanent fixtures, their physical presence and their historical or mythic associations being drawn upon and incorporated into successive schemes of land division and territorial organisation. We have also discussed the long term endurance of certain ‘green spaces’. These are areas of archaeological emptiness, which have persisted as un-occupied zones throughout prehistory and into the Middle Ages when they emerge as zones of pasture.

Alison (1976), Ramm (1978) and Watkin (1983) have also observed the continued use of linear earthworks into the Romano-British and early medieval period and have extended this to the continuity of the land unit, settlement and population. The use of linears for parish boundaries in the Rudston area for instance has led to suggestions that this survival represents the continuity of territories, originally based around Romano-British villa estates (Alison 1976). We have already shown how such a view is unhelpful and may understate the complexity of the actual situation. A much fuller understanding of the development of the cultural landscape is necessary before such interpretations are made. It is the reuse of features from the past and their re-working into new cultural schemes that may lie behind the endurance of features such as these linears. Their long term survival may suggest continuity but it conceals a process of change.

The sequences of continuity and change, associated with each of these features is different and exposes the complexity of the changing landscape. Traditional landscape studies have tended towards a model of timeless stability at least from the later Iron Age in the countryside. The manipulation of traces of the past, in the past, has emphasised the reworking of tradition. Nonetheless, studies of past reuse, which restrict themselves to one specific period perhaps across a wide area (i.e. Williams 1998), may end up at a disadvantage. If they do not appreciate the sequence of development that leads up to this reuse within local landscapes and features a full understanding of the character of the reuse is not possible. It is something which involves reinvention but which remains closely connected to local history, the local landscape and the local ancestral past. A good understanding of the specific circumstance and characteristics of this past is essential. What is required is the detailed, long term, intimate regional understanding which we introduced in chapter one.

The persistence of a track or boundary cannot be extended to interpretations of continuity of social life and the cultural character of the landscape, without detailed qualification. The many examples of the re-working of these features into new schemes and the deliberate reuse of the past highlights the flaw in this seemingly logical argument. The physical survival of the linear earthwork for instance does not imply the unbroken continuity of the land unit that it may once have bounded, nor the land-use practices with which it was once associated. The Wolds landscapes go through a very different sequence of development than those on the wold-edge. At the risk of over generalising, one is a landscape of continuity whilst the other undergoes a series of clear transformations (see also Everitt 1986). However, there remains a mutual dependence between the two areas in both economic and social life and it is the character of this interdependent system

We are dealing here with the gradual reworking of tradition but with continual reference to the same persistent places and features. Mythic traditions surrounding the features of this landscape are continually drawn upon and manoeuvred. Some places of mythic significance survive for very long periods of time, whilst others were presumably erased or forgotten. Alongside re-interpretations are very long term continuities and it may be precisely because of the process of re-interpretation that features such as the long distance tracks are able to endure for so long. The important aspect about the history of the relationship 129

with the past here is that, in terms of its archaeological visibility, it is an intermittent phenomenon. The character of the respect to past monuments and the use of the landscape to inscribe history in other ways changes throughout prehistory but never really disappears. There is a significant gap during the Romano-British period when no overt signs of this reference are evident. This is obviously in stark contrast to the explosion of references to the past in the landscape of the Anglian era. Again though this overt spatial modelling of history and its physical incorporation into cultural and topographic architecture, does not continue as such into the middle ages. Here, there are vague traces of an awareness of the past in the landscape but this seems to operate at a grassroots level. It is part of the vernacular version of history rather than the official doctrine.

130

The changes are not just about the intensity of settlement or the exploitation of the landscape, nor simply about its location or density. They reflect the changing character of the Wolds landscape and the nature of social and cultural formations. The very media for architectural expression alter along with the relationship between people, the land and the past, for these are all seamlessly intertwined. In some periods burial rites are important and used as in the reproduction of social identity and relationships. At other times this is done through the demarcation of land with ditches and the enclosure of settlements or through the construction of buildings. Importantly these different modes of social expression are mutually exclusive. The close connections between social structure, land-use/settlement, identity and the past in the landscape means that its changing character has wide implications for the social life of the communities living here.

CHAPTER EIGHT FOREVER CHANGES “Jose Arcadio Segundo was still reading the parchments. The only thing visible in the intricate tangle of hair was the teeth striped with green slime and his motionless eyes. When he recognised his great-grandmother’s voice he turned his head towards the door, tried to smile, and without knowing it repeated an old phrase of Ursula’s. ‘What did you expect?’ he murmured. ‘Time passes.’ ‘That’s how it goes,’ Ursula said, ‘but not so much.’ When she said it she realised that she was giving the same reply that Colonel Aureliano Buendia had given in his death cell, and once again she shuddered with the evidence that time was not passing, as she had just admitted, but that it was turning in a circle.”

The long term perspective allows for the changes to be set within a wider chronological framework. When viewed together as part of a two thousand year period they appear to conform to a predictable rhythmic pattern. These changes are part of a cyclical process which is more visible on the Wolds than the surrounding vales. Many characteristics of equivalent phases in the cycle are shared by periods separated by several centuries. They are not identical as they exist in different historical epochs but their similarities are striking enough to require some scrutiny. We will begin the chapter by illustrating the overall development of the landscape through the changes and continuities of a single landscape feature.

(Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude)

THE LONG TERM VIEW The long-term perspective has made it possible to dismantle the artificial diachronic barriers which order our compartmentalised history into specific periods. These barriers prevent us from seeing real historical processes. They are derived from the ‘mega-histories’ of the nation as a whole, which may not have had such an effect on this one locality. Nonetheless most attempts to write landscape history are invariably set within the restrictive parameters of these cultural periods. Very often these histories do not fit. There are clearly some wider changes in material culture, ethnicity, language, political organisation and social formation which affected the communities of the Wolds. However, these communities retained a form of allegiance to a mythic or ancestral past throughout it all. The physical remains of monuments in the landscape as well as the topography itself were relics and repeatedly the communities of the Wolds responded to these memories, either respecting them or incorporating them into a new scheme. The repeated persistence of this respect to certain features and places has only been visible through this long term lens. As such it has reinforced the groundedness of local people to their landscape and to their past. It has also suggested the strength of oral folk tradition surrounding these places and pasts which must have operated over very long time scales.

THE SLEDMERE GREEN LANE Alongside the long term structures of change and reorientation are echoes of long term continuity. Certain features of the landscape are ever present throughout this whole period and act as indices of change and transformation. Their antiquity was not always acknowledged by these communities but it often was appreciated and drawn upon. The Sledmere Green Lane has appeared in every chapter and has often fulfilled a different role. The sequence of changes through which it passes are a microcosm of the wider pattern of landscape development. At any given time in this two thousand year period, the particular role it is playing, acts as an index to the character of the surrounding landscape (fig 135-6; 125-6). The origins of this trackway lie in prehistory, as it is defined for much of its course by a multiple linear earthwork dated in one location to the late Bronze Age. It seems as though this linear followed an existing track. Traces of the linear survive in the modern landscape but most of its physical presence has now been lost to the naked eye as its course is only visible on aerial photographs. However it has had no small influence on the local landscape remaining as a significant permanent fixture for centuries. During this time the exact course of the original feature has been re-aligned but the main length between Sledmere Monument and Blealands Nook has remained in place. The role of the Green Lane has fluctuated between trackway and boundary, something which mirrors the wider rhythmic fluctuation of the surrounding landscape between states of openness and enclosure.

As well as continuities however, the preceding chapters have also stressed changes. We have seen how a series of episodes of fundamental transformation and re-orientation took place. These are visible in the configurations of land division and settlement and were clearly bound up with changes in social and economic organisation. Their timing is significant as it does not generally coincide with the horizons of change at the beginning and end of traditional cultural periods. The relationship with the past is a complex one. It involves the endurance of ancient rumbling traditions on the one hand whilst on the other are specific acts which subvert these traditions to legitimate change.

In the modern landscape, between Blealands and Sykes 131

the linear which seems to have run in a more southerly course west of Blealands than is later taken by the township boundary and coach road. We have suggested that this linear itself followed an earlier track which gave access from the western Wolds and Millington to the Rudston area and beyond. In most areas east of Blealands the township boundary follows the linear. We have also suggested that the feature performs the dual role of boundary and trackway during the Iron Age and significantly the large cemetery at Danes Graves lies alongside its course, east of Cottam Warren.

Monument, the Green Lane is a wider than average unmetalled track which carries a right of way for much of its original course. It presents itself as an anomaly lying between intensively managed arable fields, its neutral tenure and rights of access give rise to shrubs and wild grasses. Clearly the rights attached to this lane were strong enough to avoid its obliteration by parliamentary enclosure. Its practical use as a road had been superseded by this time, so it remained an un-metalled oddity; a relic of former times from a different landscape. The width and wooded nature of this bridleway is paralleled to the south in another ancient trackway, the Craike Hill/Tibthorpe Green Lane. Most other rights of way in this landscape are narrow strips of grass along the edge of an arable field. The stretch of preserved trackway around Holm Field is another wooded linear oasis and when seen on a map the sinuous line of its course contrasts markedly with the adjacent regularity of enclosure fields. Some stretches however were not treated so reverentially and they have been ploughed into the arable. In the nineteenth century the spot where it meets the Garton-Sledmere road was chosen as the location for the massive architectural folly which is the memorial to Sir Tatton Sykes.

Every distinctive phase in the summarised history of the Wolds landscape is represented in the development of this monument. As such it can act as a reflection of the changes taking place in the wider landscape as well as the endurance of certain ancient traditions which provide the basic framework for action. Now and again its antiquity is deliberately drawn upon as an act of physical engagement with the past. Such instances reinforce the legitimacy of this feature by drawing its ancient line into the present day as well as rooting present day alterations and changes in the past.

RHYTHMIC CYCLES LANDSCAPE (fig 137)

Several eighteenth century maps mark its line as the course of a major long distance coach road running between Bridlington and York. For this reason it is known in some places as the York Road. In this manifestation it followed the existing line of tracks but in some places adopted a new straight course to avoid detours around steep-sided winding dale bottoms. For this reason the eighteenth century line leaves the original course of linear and township boundary at Warren Dale and continues directly across Cottam Warren. Further east it again lines up with the township boundary to join Woldgate south of Rudston. Additionally to the south of Fridaythorpe, a short stretch of track called Cowpasture Lane was added to divert the coach road away from the original winding course. Here it connects with the existing main road across Garrowby Hill.

OF

LIFE

AND

Over the course of the two millennia covered by this study there are certain episodes when the landscape of the Wolds was significantly transformed. These transformations have been characterised by the increasing scale of land division and normally an expansion of settlement from the wold-edge into the wold interior. Landscape changes were associated with alterations in both land-use practice and social formation and they were also related to the re-evaluation of the relationship between these communities and their past. The long term perspective has shown that this sequence of change is not a lineal progression but a series of broad cycles, repeating themselves over and over again. As we saw in chapter three, during the later Bronze Age the Wolds were crossed by long distance monumental linear earthworks. They divided the open landscape into large swathes, often related to enclosed settlements situated in commanding locations and at the junctions of these linears. The location of dykes responded sensitively to special places and features of the ceremonial landscape of the earlier Bronze Age. They may have formalised an existing organic sense of territorial organisation represented by features of the landscape and by barrows. In some cases the linears seem to have followed existing trackways which may have already begun to take on the role of boundaries. It has been argued elsewhere that this late Bronze Age horizon of land division represented a fundamental break with the past and indicates a shift in the dominant world view of prehistoric communities (Barrett 1994). On the Wolds, the radical character of the changes is tempered somewhat by the links that the new land divisions have to the past ceremonial landscape. Nonetheless they represent an important transformation in the relationship between people and the land. The appearance of enclosed settlements in association with many of the linears affirms the significance of the changes at this time.

Throughout the middle ages the Green Lane performed the role of township boundary for many adjacent territories, a line still traceable through the nineteenth century records of these features and their place in the modern landscape. It has been suggested in chapters five and six that this line followed an existing trackway giving access across the Wolds during the post Roman period. It is likely that this line remained as a track throughout the middle ages with later alterations to the line taking place. The provision of a track along the township boundary was important for these heavily arable townships to channel travellers away from the open fields. In many cases these would have abutted the edges of the track. The importance of this pre-Norman track is emphasised by the presence of several Anglian burials along its course. As well as the cemetery inserted into the linear at Sykes monument there are other inhumations at Blealands Nook (crossroads) and a cremation urn inserted into the bank of Huggate Dykes, at the western end of the route. As the RCHM plots show the linear between Blealands and Sykes Monument served as a boundary during the later Iron Age and Romano-British between the settled and divided slopes of the valley and the open unenclosed land to the north on Life Hill. The earliest course of the feature is defined by

The construction of linears is restricted to the chalk Wolds and seems to represent a fairly sudden and large scale transformation in the organisation of land in this area. It is an 132

a more distant mythical past. In this way their incorporation into the new schemes of land division should be seen as a deliberate manipulation of a past which had been largely forgotten, or at least one that was seen as subsidiary to the genealogical histories of the cemeteries.

area which previously had been used for ceremonial activities as well as hunting and pasture but was distant from the more settled lands on the wold-edge (cf Barrett and Bradley 1991). We may be able to see here the beginning of the fluctuating symbiotic relationship that exists between the Wolds and the wold-edges throughout the later prehistoric and the early historic period. However, the clarity of this distinction is blurred by the change in archaeological evidence across time whereby settlements of the Neolithic and Bronze Age are largely invisible.

These changes pre-date the Roman conquest by a couple of centuries although they seem to lay the foundations for the character of the Romano-British landscape here. In this way the expansion of settlement on to the Wolds and differences in the Wolds landscape between the Romano-British and early/mid Iron Age should not be seen as a function of the Roman presence. Compared to the radical nature of changes during the later Iron Age the centuries of Roman occupation present a fairly conservative picture. Whilst there is a good deal more permanent settlement on the Wolds the most significant concentrations of settlement continue to be found around the wold-edge. Significantly many of the open spaces defined during the late Bronze Age are respected by Romano-British farmers. The appearance of many villas during the third century has given rise to suggestions that this period saw a marked intensification of agriculture. This may well have been the time when romanisation of these communities really began to take effect alongside an increasingly intensive and larger scale of agricultural production. Therefore the third century represents the culmination of a gradual ongoing process of increasing intensification rather than a significant break with the past. All in all the Wolds of the Romano-British period appears to have been a very different place to the open mobile landscapes of the Iron Age. Instead of trackways there were boundaries; instead of pasture, arable; instead of communal rights, division and enclosure.

The settlement record of the Iron Age is notoriously difficult to reconstruct for this area as we have already seen in chapter four. The enclosures of Staple Howe and Devil’s Hill are the latest examples of the kind of settlement sites which originated in the late Bronze Age but they appear to have been abandoned by the sixth to seventh century BC. The following period is characterised archaeologically by the square barrow burial rite, which begins during the fifth century BC. The landscape associated with these burials was largely open and unenclosed. Although the late Bronze Age linears were still respected, many were probably treated equally as both trackway and boundary and no new ditches for land division were constructed largely until the second century BC. The interior of the Wolds at this time was probably not settled on a permanent basis but instead used as extensive grazing grounds for large flocks of sheep. It is likely that the animals were seasonally driven up onto the Wolds from the settled areas on the wold-edge and along the major valleys of the eastern dip-slope: a practice which had probably been active since at least the late Bronze Age. The Iron Age barrows and cemeteries, often situated alongside the tracks that lay between the wold and the wold-edge, may have been used by these communities as a means of affirming their communal rights to these areas of pasture. The cemeteries also probably served as regular gathering places for dispersed communities; meetings organised alongside the seasonal rhythms of transhumance.

The post Roman period witnessed changes in the character of the Wolds landscape although the quality of the archaeological evidence leaves a lot to be desired (see chapter six). There are several sites with traces of both late Romano-British and early Anglian activity but there are no cases where continuity of settlement can be demonstrated on one site. Significant transformations in the settlement and landscape of the Wolds appear to have taken place around the fifth century AD at the end of effective Roman control but may have begun earlier. There was a gradual reorientation of settlement patterns with the wold-edge containing the post Roman concentrations of population. Although the evidence for Anglian settlement is very poor there are signs that during these centuries the Wolds was again an open landscape. Anglian presence on the Wolds appears only in the form of burials and these are often placed within early Bronze Age barrows or other monumental relics of the past. It is argued that these burials did not lie adjacent to settlements but acted as a different form of burial related to claims being made on the open Wolds through linkages to the local past. These references are clearly working very old monuments into the contemporary landscape and perhaps inventing a place for them in the pseudohistorical/genealogical claims to land here (i.e. Lucy 1992; Williams 1998). The special character of many of the Wolds burials in this period suggests that they might represent the disposal of bad deaths associated with executions or those killed in conflict. There is ample evidence of contemporary cemeteries lying off the Wolds and close by permanent settlements (Powlesland 1986; Lucy 1998). Many of the

The later Iron Age witnessed another significant episode of change in the landscape here which was equally bound up with changes in social and economic organisation. From as early as the second century BC the open spaces of land between the late Bronze Age linears began to be divided up with further ditched boundaries. So too were settlements surrounded by ditches as they spread up onto the Wolds from the wold-edge. Areas which had hitherto been used for pasture became occupied and gradually the cemeteries were abandoned. A landscape of wide open spaces, probably dominated by tracks, gave way to one which was increasingly divided by ditched boundaries. The scale of social organisation seems to have altered; intensified demarcation of land and of settlements suggest that the local household became more important than before. The organisation of agriculture too appears to have shifted to a more localised scale. Whereas previously the herding of sheep on the Wolds had been organised on a community level these socioeconomic links seem to have been gradually broken. It is more likely that by the first century AD agricultural practice was integrated and practised closer to the home settlement. It seems that the relationship between these communities and the past also changes at this time. As the cemeteries fall out of use they cease to exist as locales of ancestral presence. Instead the linears become much more important as relics of 133

boundaries continued into the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

Wolds burials lie alongside the long distance trackways which crossed the Wolds at this time and which later form the basis for the township boundaries. They are also found in certain special places which had for centuries acted as foci for monumental activity. Many of these places had not been apparently venerated since the Iron Age but may have endured as meeting places or the focus for festivals throughout the Romano-British centuries. The Anglian communities are responding to a mythic memory of the significance of these places but may be manipulating it to suit contemporary needs (Gosden and Lock 1998; Bradley 1987). This may not be connected to the positive force of those historical memories however but to their more malevolent associations. The open Wolds of the post Roman period seems to have been perceived as a wild and unfriendly place scattered as it was with numerous visible relics of a remote and perhaps hostile past. This stands in marked contrast to the Iron Age perception of the open Wolds as an ancestral homeland to which the dead of the community should return.

Significant episodes of settlement expansion and intensified land division can be identified during the late Bronze Age, the later Iron Age and the Anglo-Scandinavian period. These eras, though, do not form part of a linear progression of change, each one adding more enclosure. They instead tend to be separated by periods of openness and each enclosure period repeats the same pattern. During the fifth century AD there was a retraction of settlement when the busy managed Wolds reverted to a more open and mobile landscape. The changes have many things in common and a number of relationships continually emerge. The dynamic between the wold-edge and wold interior; that between trackway and boundary; between open and enclosed Wolds; between burial rites and the landscape; between community and pasturage; and between the present and the past. These common elements in the process of change come together to create a cyclical diachronic pattern that ebbs and flows across the entire period.

From about the ninth century AD there begin a series of changes which again see the transformation of the Wolds landscape. Archaeological evidence for this period is not very helpful and most insight has come from documentary sources or the pattern of the landscape itself. The glimpses of the pre-Norman landscape through documents are vague, testament to the pervasive dominance of the medieval system compounded by the radical changes of parliamentary enclosure. Although the evidence is sparse and late in date there are consistent suggestions that at this time the communities settled around the wold-edge began to manage the Wolds more closely. This probably involved the increased definition and formalisation of land units and territorial claims to pasture. Some areas may have been physically divided by linear earthworks, others may already have been claimed through the insertion of burials into ageold linear boundaries. The long distance trackways also began to act as boundaries between the rival claims of neighbouring communities. Settlements were established amidst the formerly open common pastures. These may have begun as temporary shielings or satellite settlements linked to communities based on the wold-edge. Their territorial ties to the wold-edge remained to some extent in the parochial linkages of the medieval period. The township territories allotted to the newly found permanent settlements were fitted in between the long distance tracks which retained a great deal of tenurial significance. Again the once extensive common pastures were gradually appropriated by incoming encroacher settlements, something which also contributed to the fragmentation of wider community links. The changes in the landscape reflect the re-drawing of the social and political map at this time. At some point between the ninth and twelth centuries AD, there are signs that certain changes were imposed upon the landscape which reflected the transformations in the character of communities. The layout of many villages was planned as were the open fields that surrounded them. Again therefore, there was a period of fundamental alteration in the Wolds landscape involving intensified land division, the transformation of tracks into boundaries, the encroachment of settlement onto the Wolds and the localisation of social groupings and organisation of agriculture. These changes laid the basis for the medieval landscape although encroachment and final fixing of

There are clearly differences between the landscapes of the Iron Age and Anglian periods. They are separated by a millennium of transformation in every imaginable sphere of human existence and experience. However these two phases of landscape development also hold very many similarities, especially when compared with the periods that follow them. We have argued above that, in both periods, the Wolds is largely un-occupied by permanent settlement, as most concentrations of population occur on the wold-edges and in the major valleys. Likewise the area is used mainly for extensive pasturage variously claimed and grazed by these wold-edge communities. In both periods the trackways that cross the Wolds from west to east and north-south provide access to these pastures. In most cases they are the same tracks that have survived over the intervening centuries. These ancient features must also have taken on tenurial attributes in the absence of any obvious concern with boundaries. The tracks probably articulated the claims to large pasture areas through their relationship with burials and linear earthworks which sometimes bounded these zones. In both chronological cases the tracks are used as fixed boundaries once the land begins to be more physically and intensively demarcated and appropriated. In that sense the tenurial logic that resided in the open Wolds was more akin to the track and place tenure of earlier prehistory than to the spatial logic of land division and enclosure, first evident during the late Bronze Age. Another important common aspect here, between both periods is the way that the integrity of the communities based on the wold-edges was primarily expressed through the common appropriation of areas of extensive pasture on the Wolds. The fact that this belonging is expressed through relationships between the dead and the landscape, in both periods, is also significant. The burial rites of the RomanoBritish and medieval periods were not performing the same social role. At these times land was claimed and appropriated through the definition of boundaries, often fixed in the landscape. The Romano-British and medieval burials on the other hand were found within the settlement. In these periods burials were not being placed within the landscape as a direct and active means of affirming claims to land, nor were they 134

used to articulate relationships between the present and the past in the landscape.

THE OPEN WOLDS The Anglian period saw a phenomenal awareness of the relics of the past on the Wolds and this is something that is seen far more acutely on the Wolds than elsewhere. The strongest features of this landscape are the trackways which cross it giving access from the settled edges to the dry interior. Such a landscape of wide open views, expansive scrub wastes, stands of woodland, would stand in marked contrast to the managed, farmed and peopled countryside of the wold-edge. Up on the Wolds away from everyday familiarity the imagination could conjure other worlds and spirits from the past allowed to exist in the freedom of the semi-wilderness. The ubiquitous presence of mounds, banks and relics of an unknown past added to the scene providing rich arena for local myth; especially as they regularly lay beside the tracks which crossed the Wolds, used by travellers and shepherds alike. Adopting these mounds as places for burial was a means of appropriating these mythic places and linking those long dead, who may have played a part in the stories, with the recent dead and the living. In this way, both mythic and genealogical histories were being juxtaposed. It is the landscape which unites the present with the past and here up on the Wolds the past was more present than anywhere else. The open Wolds landscape was the arena for these myths to become more real as here the stories are set, the otherness of the contemporary agrarian landscape providing a way in to the other world of the mythic past.

A further similarity is the manner in which the landscape changes, both during the later Iron Age and the centuries surrounding the Norman Conquest. In both transitional periods the open communally grazed landscape gradually becomes increasingly enclosed and appropriated. At the same time, the old media of articulation with the past and the landscape become superseded by other forms of negotiation. Alongside this, the community bonds expressed by land-use are fragmented. The land is crucial to the changes at both periods, as it is apportioned and claimed specifically for well defined groups, where as before it was probably held more in common. The process is linked to the encroachment of permanent settlement onto the Wolds from the wold-edge, in both periods. This appropriation was marked physically in the later Iron Age, by the digging of ditches and their association with more ancient linears. In the early medieval period these claims were made by encroacher settlements onto the Wolds. Their boundaries were laid out along existing features like trackways and barrows and sometimes linear earthworks too. Changes in land division and tenure were mirrored, in both cases, by an expansion of arable cultivation. The evidence for this is stronger from the early medieval period, where each township territory was furnished with newly laid out open fields. The integration of arable and pastoral strategies was now committed within the confines of the township territory, where as previously some aspects had been much more connected to the wider community. A similar situation has been suggested for the later Iron Age.

The topographic character of the Wolds is different from the surrounding vales. The drama of the dry valley slopes and the openness of the Wold top and dip slope; the lack of surface water but occasional and inexplicable bursting forth of water from the ground; the sheer definition of the western and northern scarp; the stark whiteness of the chalk. All these aspects combine to create a variety of features that are both predictable and unexpected. We have seen how the history of the cultural landscape of the Wolds has also differed consistently from the surrounding flatlands. In some periods these distinctions are less marked but in others they are stark (Iron Age and Anglian). The Wolds at these times exists as an open un-claimed and un-occupied expanse, a place for pasture and burial, crossed by trackways and scattered with relics of the ancient past. It seems clear that the landscape of the Wolds was mythologized from an early date. A mythic lexicon which wrapped legendary association around features of the natural landscape and especially those of dramatic or unique character. Here this would apply to the heads of valleys where concealment met with panorama. It would also apply to springs and streams and to the steep scarp slope. The tracks too that ran across the Wolds may have possessed mythic potency as they served to connect these places and their antiquity was plain to see. We can perhaps assume that these mythic properties were also applied to visible relics of the distant past whose original meaning had been long lost. It is not clear whether any objective distinction would have clearly been made between ancient monuments, ancient tracks and topography and they all may have been part of the same distant past. For these periods of openness the Wolds was an arena for the engagement with mythic history whilst the settled wold-edge provided a grounding in traces of the more recent past. The drawing in of ancient places and features on the Wolds in the middle ages to be used as meeting places may be harking back to the memory of a time

It is on the Wolds rather than the wold-edge that change was felt. A rhythmic fluctuation of a whole series of economic, social and cultural structures took place and was etched into the landscape. The very spirit or character of the Wolds landscape went through considerable transformation, often during fairly sudden periods of change. On the wold-edge however there is the likelihood of a continually settled landscape throughout. We are not simply dealing with the ebb and flow of settlement and agricultural exploitation, nor even the more fundamental alterations in the scale of social organisation of land-use and its link with the landscape. We are dealing with periods, in which there is a fundamental difference in the character of territorial organisation and the media used for expressing claims to land. The distinction between the mobile, ceremonial landscapes of the Neolithic and Bronze Age and the agricultural, bounded landscapes of later prehistory is here present across space, between the wold and wold-edge. This kind of territorial organisation based on trackways and places, rather than boundaries and enclosed areas has echoes in the character of the Iron Age landscape on the Wolds and that of the Anglian period. Here too, the dominant structuring elements in the understanding of claims to land are the trackways that cross the Wolds and the places to which they lead. The mobile landscape exists away from the settled heartland. Here, claims to land are made through the location of the dead alongside trackways and within monuments from the past, rather than through the use of boundaries and enclosure.

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decades in Britain. There is a multitude of agendas, theoretical stances and approaches, creating a wide variety of reconstructed landscapes in the past. Traditional and deepseated barriers between disciplines have made it difficult for inter-disciplinary studies to exist. Compartmentalisation is also present between chronological periods, where prehistoric landscapes have been reconstructed in very different ways to those from historical periods. The long-held emphasis on change between cultural periods (especially Roman and Anglo-Saxon) and crucially between prehistoric and historic ages has hampered any attempt to draw out a long-term sequence that straddles this crucial threshold. A multi-disciplinary landscape based approach was championed, which was set within a well-defined region. In this way, the balance between continuity and change could be more clearly defined. The traditional picture had been one of unbroken continuity on the one hand set against a sequence punctuated by radical and deep-rooted change on the other. The only way that these two opposites have so far been married has been through the idea of a changing political and cultural scheme operating alongside the stability of agrarian practice and settlement.

when the Wolds was differently perceived. The open pastoral Wolds may here be glimpsed through the transformations of the ninth to the twelth century. Against the backdrop of a series of dramatic transformations in the cultural landscape, the visible traces of the past remained and were continually re-incorporated into these new schemes. At times when the Wolds was an open landscape of extensive pasture, the distinction between it and the settled wold-edge were clear and starkly obvious. However, during the Romano-British and throughout the middle ages the distinction between the two landscapes was less obvious. At these times the Wolds was itself settled and intensively farmed, divided up by boundaries. Despite the apparent similarities between the Anglian and Iron Age periods however there appear to be differences in the particular way in which the open Wolds was perceived. For the Iron Age there is a sense that the burial of the dead on the Wolds away from the settled lands was an accepted and normal routine. The journeys to the cemeteries were common place and bound up with the seasonal rhythms of transhumance. In this respect the Wolds may have been seen as an ancestral homeland to which the dead should return. After all it was littered with the relics of the distant past even at that time.

What we have presented is a series of period-based reconstructions, which apply a consistent agenda to the same area throughout this period. The character of the evidence may differ but we have tried to adopt a consistently similar approach. The scales of analysis have allowed this investigation to move freely between the very local and specific features of the landscape and the more generalised structures of settlement and land division, as well as monumentality and burial over the whole of the Wolds. To this end, the reconstructions have been set within the same study area. Here we have become intimately familiar with the intricacies of the local topography. The steep-sided and winding valleys; the open and broad valleys; the ponds and springs. Past communities ignored none of these natural features but each generation drew them into their mental world making their own interpretation. Alongside these topographic meanders were traces of the past, visible as barrows, ditches, and banks and woven into consciousness through memory, storytelling and ancestral presence. These too, which themselves enhanced the significance of the topography, became part of each community’s use of the landscape to make sense of the world around them. At times the visible relics were engaged with, at others they were largely ignored. Alongside such gradual changes in the character of the past certain landscape features remained consistently used and respected. At times, tracks and at others boundaries, the same lines were drawn into each different historically specific landscape. Many persisted for over two thousand years. Faced with such a bewildering and overlapping series of sequences it becomes fatuous to talk simply of a toss up between continuity and change. Both are here interwoven into sequences of different duration and gravity. Much of this development is more about a local sense of past which is rooted in the landscape than it is to do with pan national cultural schemes or power tripping invasions and conquests. Time does not pass by this landscape, nor does it pass through time. For the communities of the Wolds, the landscape was time.

The burial patterns of the Anglian period on the Wolds are very different. The vast majority of burials are placed in cemeteries alongside the settlements on the wold-edges. It is only exceptional deaths that are marked by their insertion into barrows and earthworks and these are at some distance from settlements in the open areas of the Wolds. Others were placed by trackways or at crossroads. As Semple has shown the perception of ancient monuments in the Anglo-Saxon mind may be more about fear than respect and it might only be the unwanted dead that are placed in such contexts. The tradition of criminals or enemies being buried at crossroads may be present here and it says a lot about the general perception of the Wolds at this time. There are several examples of place-names associated with trials and judgement (Wetwang: trials place and Warter: gallows tree) and many place-names that associate the whole area directly with the presence of barrows (Houwald, Hornhouwald). It seems reasonable to assume that the Wolds was perceived as mysterious and perhaps even hostile at this time. It was an unfamiliar place away from the settled area and not, as in the Iron Age, associated with the benevolent mythic heartland of the ancestors.

ABOUT TIME “In Britain today the idea that the land surface should be regarded as the private property of those who happen to ‘own’ it comes so naturally that alternative arrangements are hard to conceive. However, it need not be so and it was not always. The present disposition of our land is the outcome of a struggle between those who have sought to own and those they have thereby dispossessed.” (Marion Shoard, This Land is Our Land) In chapter one we considered some of the main approaches to landscape studies adopted by historians, archaeologists, anthropologists and geographers over the last couple of

The chalk Wolds have been used as the focus for study and the landscapes of the Wolds have shown a different character 136

to those of the surrounding vales. This is not about the Wolds acting as the focus for prehistoric and early historic settlement, as the quality of the archaeology might suggest. Archaeological sites are prominently visible but people were not always living here, instead concentrating more permanent settlement along the wold-edges. At times the character of the Wolds landscape is highly distinctive from the edges and vales, whilst at others the comparisons are more striking. This cyclical sequence between open mobile Wolds and a settled divided Wolds is one we have already recognised for the late prehistoric and early historic period up to the twelth century. It may even be possible to continue the trend into the late medieval and post medieval period. After the high water mark of settlement, population and cultivation in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, there are a series of economic developments, which contribute towards the desertion of some villages and contraction of others. Large areas of the Wolds become unpopulated open pasture, although this is not operating under common right of access and use. Following this, in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, is the period of parliamentary enclosure, when large areas of the Wolds become enclosed into fields, reflecting the loss of any common right in the land that once existed. Another distinct and radical threshold of change had been reached and again it was one that involved the wholesale partition of the landscape and increased commodification of land. This is not to say of course that the same processes were involved in the eleventh or twelth century as in the nineteenth. The important similarity is not the historically specific economic, political and social pressures involved but the fact that these changes were felt most acutely and suddenly on the Wolds, in contrast to the surrounding vales and wold-edges. In this sense the characteristic ‘pays’ that is the Wolds in the post-medieval period, equally exists as a separate and distinctive cultural region right back into later prehistory. An understanding of the development of landscape allows us to examine its present day character in the light of its history. The sequence has been about change and reworking but one which has retained a strong connection with its past and woven perceived pasts into contemporary worldviews, themselves set in the local landscape. The landscape itself has been venerated and respected, mythologized and interpreted and brought into people’s everyday lives. The creeping commodification of the land in modern times has contributed towards the loss of this landscape as mystical arena and place of identity. The Wolds today is an empty place; a cultural wilderness. It is farmed more intensively but owned and controlled by fewer individuals than ever before. The villages are occupied but the landscape surrounding them is hardly inhabited. Most traces of the past are invisible and with this loss has also gone the ancient spirit of the place, which had endured for many centuries. The mysterious textures of history have been physically and intellectually erased so it has lost its heart, body and soul. It is for this reason that we should never forget its past.

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145

Sledmere Green Lane, Sykes Monument and Life Hill

APPENDIX ONE

The Great Wold Dyke and Cowlam

LOCAL DESCRIPTIONS OF WOLDS LINEARS

HUGGATE DYKES AND GREENWICK (fig 35-38)

There is a great deal of information about the character, form, context and condition of linears which is essential to compile but difficult to do so in the main body of the text. Here the approach taken will be similar to that in chapters five and six. Chapter five stands as the descriptive account of the historic landscape in the study area where as chapter six builds on these foundations and endeavours to draw interpretation and explanation from them. The study area is again here the spatial unit of investigation, but it will not be ordered by township as is the case with chapter five. Instead the area will be divided into parts dictated by the density and distribution of linears found within. The purpose of this section is to provide a compilation of information regarding the following:

“ It may be confidently affirmed that they are, with the exception of the so-called Danes Dike, the most remarkable entrenchments on the Wolds” (Cole 1888:48) So remarked Rev.E.Maule-Cole in one of several articles which touched on the series of dykes between the villages of Huggate and Fridaythorpe, known as Huggate Dykes. A stretch of two hundred metres still survives in grassland at the head of Tun Dale, which leads westward, draining towards Millington and the Wold-edge. The earthwork has been fortuitously preserved because it lay in glebe land, under the jurisdiction of the Rector of Huggate (Cole 1888) (fig 36-8 and fig 29). A further four hundred metres however had been levelled by Cole’s day but were described by Drake in the 18th century (ibid.). These are now visible only as cropmarks, save for a single ditch and bank on the north side now followed by a made-up farm track. The monument originally comprised a series of six ditches and five banks stretching about six to seven hundred metres across the water parting between the two major valley systems. This watershed connected the head of Tun Dale to that of Horse Dale. Both dry valleys are very steep and deeply incised and the ditches would have effectively continued this incision artificially across the watershed. Varley’s excavated section has not been published in its own right but is referred to by Challis and Harding, including a drawn section (1975). His findings revealed that this ditch had a shallow profile but was two metres below the level of the top of the adjacent bank. There is still 1.5m today from bank top to ditch bottom, in those that survive. A gap in the course of the parallel ditches occurs and was seen by Cole as an original entrance. It is perhaps more likely to be a later trackway forced through the earthworks. Early records (including 1854 OS) and the aerial photographic plot show that the southernmost ditch/bank bulges out slightly which may well have been to incorporate an existing barrow into the line, although no trace of any barrow survives.

Character of monuments: Form (size, number of. ditches/banks) Condition (current and 19C) Visibility (earthwork, crop/soil mark). Context Relationship with other archaeological features; Local topographic context Influence on later landscape Rrespect by later features; Secondary function as boundary, road, cemetery, etc. Previous investigation

Sources used include the relatively recent discussions of post war archaeologists but also feature the many antiquarian descriptions. These are principally by Rev. Cole and the Mortimer brothers but with other notable additions such as Thomas Wiltshire and Robert Knox. Mapped sources are also an invaluable source for reconstructing now lost stretches of linear and include the first edition OS 1854 6” and 1910 25” series. In addition several unpublished maps in the Mortimer archive of Hull Museum have been consulted as well as many 19th century enclosure and tithe maps. These latter rarely make it explicit whether a field boundary is marked by a ditch and bank and there are very few cases of earthworks and other archaeological sites marked on these maps. In some cases it is possible to equate the lines of preenclosure field boundaries with linears and in these instances the medieval origin of these earthworks is possible but not proven (i.e. Life Hill and Wetwang Rakes). As well as these historical documentary records the value of the RCHM plots has been inestimable.

Challis and Harding refer also to the RCHM survey carried out by Herman Ramm and suggest it revealed five phases of construction at Huggate Dykes, beginning with a ‘hollowway’ and followed by the U-shape ditch and chalk bank sectioned by Varley. A single later Bronze Age sherd was found in the primary silts and an intrusive Anglian cremation urn had been inserted into the bank (Challis and Harding 1975). Based on this work and the unusuall multiple arrangement of ditches here both Dent and Halkon see the monument as having undergone several periods of enhancement, beginning as “a simple earthwork across the watershed” (Dent 1995:35) and becoming more complex with time. Halkon places the final monumentalising modifications in the early Iron Age (1991), but there remains very little dating evidence to which this suspected chronology can be anchored.

AREAS FOR DESCRIPTION (see fig 34) Huggate Dykes and Greenwick Harper Dale, Horse Dale, Middleham Dale Fimber Westfield and Burdale

Just as the local topography seems to focus attention on this neck of land, so other linear ditches converge on the multiple parallel dykes here. On the west there are three single ditches

Fimber Nab, Cross-roads and Triplescore Dale 146

seems to have continued northeast to join the Green Lane dyke at Blealands Nook as its line is extended by a series of cropmarks (Stoertz 1997). Its southern counterpart also continues northeast towards the ditches along the bottom of Wetwang Slack, although its line is lost in the vicinity of Wetwang village.

and banks which connect with the main concentration of dykes. One runs south along the upper slopes of Frendal Dale and extends for 3km defining the ridge that here marks the western edge of the Wolds. A second heads down the dale-side and then north along the dale bottom to define the western side of a large enclosure, known as Greenwick (see below). A third single ditch runs down the slopes westwards and is generally taken to represent the earliest phase of ditch building here, one of Mortimer’s ‘hollow-ways’. It may well have originally connected with another similar ditch to the east in Horse Dale.

At the head of Holm Dale a further series of multiple ditches have been recorded on the aerial photographic plots. They run across the raised land between the heads of valleys at this strategic location. Mortimer records these linears as ephemeral but continuous, yet they only appear on plots as short disconnected stretches, albeit of up to six ditches in width (fig 43). As this series of linears connects northwards with the dyke along Rain Dale (below) together they form the western side of a large enclosure, defined by dales on south, east and north. The eastern side of this enclosure is a crossridge dyke recorded by Mortimer but not plotted by RCHM because it is followed by township boundaries and trackways. Township boundaries also follow the dale-top linear along Holm Dale.

To the north of Huggate Dykes, a spur of land, defined on three sides by steep dry valleys, is enclosed by dykes on four sides. They are single ditches and banks and run along the dale bottoms on the east side but cross ridges on the south and west. The western boundary survives as a bank along the side of the modern road north to Fridaythorpe. This enclosure forms the southern part of a discrete territory known historically as Greenwick and recorded in 19th century as a detached portion of Bishop Wilton parish (see chapter 5). Its boundaries follow the linears in most cases and there is a possibility that these earthworks were constructed in the early medieval period (along with others to the west around Millington Lings which also serve to enclose historically attested units of detached pasture) (see chapter 5-6). At the northeast corner of the enclosure was probably a spring as the name Waterman Hole appears here on 1854 OS.

FIMBER WESTFIELD (fig 44-46) The two dales called Rain Dale and Wan Dale run northeast from Fridaythorpe towards the village of Fimber. They feed into the larger Burdale, north of the village, which then extends eastward where it joins York Dale (from the north) and turns southwards as Bessingdale to become the main Wetwang Slack. Increasingly along this short journey the valleys become broader and more shallow, opening out towards the eastern Wolds. The convergence of dales found in the vicinity of Fimber has been elaborated with a complex network of linears, mostly following the steep dale-sides. Significantly, however the most massive example cuts across several of these dales in an arc. It dominates the area to the south focusing attention down the valley towards Wetwang and enhancing special nodal points with more complex arrangements. This main linear is found in both the Westfield complex and that called Fimber Nab and serves to unite the two.

HOLM DALE, HORSE DALE, HARPER DALE AND MIDDLEHAM DALE (fig 38-40; 42-44) About 2 km east of Huggate Dykes the steep dry valley of Horse Dale connects with two others, Harper and Holm Dales. The nomenclature suggests the presence of three separate valleys here when strictly speaking there are only two. At the junction of dales is a complex series of earthworks described and investigated by Mortimer (1905) and recorded on early OS maps. Several linears still survive here on the steep unploughed dale-sides. The top of the dale slopes were defined by large ditch and bank linears which in places are recorded as double-ditched. One runs continuously along the southern side of the valleys extending westward to join Huggate Dykes and east to emerge as the surviving double ditch earthwork along the south of Middleham Dale. Likewise, the eastern slopes of Holm Dale are defined by another double ditch which forms the southwestern side of an enclosure, lying to the east of Fridaythorpe. In contrast, the dale-sides are criss-crossed by smaller single ditches, described by Mortimer as ‘hollow-ways’ and seen by him as forming the earliest phases of ditches here. He sectioned the three main examples and found them all to be V-shaped ditches from 2 to 2.5 feet in depth (Mortimer 1905). Two of these single ditches extend along the slopes of Horse Dale and Holm Dale respectively and in both cases were overlain by the larger dykes which follow similar courses (ibid.). At the junction of valleys the web of interlocking ditches is complex and confused by fairly recent tracks and hedge-lines.

Today this earthwork survives on both steep sides of Rain Dale, as three large banks running down the slopes. It appears again further northeast on the side of Big Dale as three degraded banks. Elsewhere it was extant during the 19th century, to be recorded by Mortimer and the OS 1854, but now can only be seen as a series of soil marks and hedgelines. Mortimer sectioned it where it meets the road from Fimber to Burdale, a gap which he saw as an original entrance through the dykes. Here the outer ditch was found to be seven feet in depth “measured from the natural surface of the land” (1905:374) and of this stretch he remarks that “When I was a boy these ramparts were unmolested and of a considerable height” (ibid.). At Westfield, Mortimer’s excavations discovered a pit dug into the most easterly bank containing what turned out to be later Bronze Age moulds (Mortimer 1905; Manby 1980) (fig 26). Following this up, Caple and Ehrenberg carried out two seasons of excavations here in 1982 and 1983 with the main purpose of retrieving further material related to Late Bronze Age metalworking (Caple and Ehrenberg 1983;1985). Their excavations were restricted to the northern dale-side where the banks are less well preserved and showed that the monument here consisted

The double ditch along Middleham Dale lies parallel to another similarly multiple earthwork along Cow Dale to the south. The two are joined across the contour by a cross ridge dyke again of double ditch and bank. The Middleham linear 147

series of spurs have been created by the steeply sloping sides of the interlocking valleys, spurs of land known locally as ‘nabs’. It is these steep sided noses of land that jut out into the flat valley bottom, which are furnished with linear ditches and banks. In some cases, as with Fimber Nab, the linears follow the sides of the valleys but others are sites where linears come together. This is the case with the spur overlooking Fimber cross-roads that faces southwards down the valley towards Wetwang. This lump of land contained a multiplicity of parallel ditches and banks into the 19th century but they are now flattened and only visible as cropmarks (Stoertz 1997). In 1854 the ground was covered by a plantation known as Old Dike Plantation, which had been planted a century previously, according to Mortimer. The trees had already been cut down by 1861 when Thomas Wiltshire investigated the upstanding banks, producing a profile drawing depicting two large ditches flanked by two banks. One of these was much flattened and appeared to Wiltshire to contain a ‘made way’ along its length (Wiltshire 1862). This same feature was recognised by Mortimer who described it as a berm, deliberately placed inside the outer bank as a defensive measure. The later modification of the bank as a road would fit the historical evidence which suggests that this line was used both during the 18th century as a coach road and possibly as the medieval road along the linears to the west. Across this spur ran three banks and two ditches, probably about seven feet (c. two metres) deep, according to Mortimer’s section (1905). According to both Mortimer and Wiltshire, the size of these earthworks in the 19th century was considerable, the southern bank measuring five feet (1.5m) in height. The width of the whole arrangement was recorded by Wiltshire as about forty yards. They are followed by township boundaries which doubleback to define a thin strip of land occupied by the linears and may indicate their later usage as a road, its borders influencing the later definition of township boundaries (see chapters five and six). These short but massive stretches of dyke extended down onto the bottom of the adjacent Triplescore Dale where they have been degraded by ploughing activity and buried under hillwash (fig 134). This whole complex served to connect the major linear to the west with further ditches running north, east, southwest and south from this point. However, due to a combination of road modification and centuries of hillwash there is very little left of the earthworks down in the bottom of the valleys.

of three ditches and four intervening banks. The profile of some of the ditches was suggestive of re-cutting and the central ditch had seemingly begun life as a series of pits. The outer ditches measured 1.3 m below the old land surface whilst the central ditch was narrower and more shallow in profile. A section cut along the dale bottom found the monument to have originally continued across here but was severely degraded and buried under 1-2 metres of hillwash (Caple and Ehrenberg 1983;1985). There appears to be at least two phases of construction, represented by the earthworks visible on the southern dale-side, as two of the banks begin half way down the slope, the larger one further up. Incorporated into this stretch of massive multiple linear are other ditches which tend to follow the dale-sides. A single ditch for instance is clearly overlain by the longest bank on the southern side of the dale. This was sectioned by Mortimer and found to be another single V-cut ditch just over a metre deep with very little upcast banking on the downslope side. This ditch runs along the slope of the dale to the south until it is incorporated into a larger double ditch and bank running along the top of the dale-side here. It is this linear that continues southwards down Rain Dale to join with the Fridaythorpe multiples at the head of this dale. This same linear continues east and then south as the cross ridge dyke mentioned above, followed by township boundary and track which eventually connects with the Middleham Dale linear (fig 27). To the west of the Westfield complex runs Wan Dale which is followed by a single ditch extending along the upper dale-side. Mortimer’s section here reveals a larger ditch with more rounded profile than the usual single ditches. The compacted small grit in the lower fills may suggest it was used as a trackway. Extending northward from this line is a double ditch which crosses the ridge here at Lady Graves and lies parallel to the multiple linear, two hundred metres to the east. It is now visible only as cropmark and seems to have formed the basis for two later chalk pits located along its line. Mortimer records a further single V-shape ditch or ‘hollowway’ that ran along the slopes of Burdale connecting this area with the spring-fed pond at Burdale. He observed that it too had been cut by the larger multiple dykes here as was also the case at Big Dale where another single ditch was crossed by the multiple enclosing linear (1905). The major linear that connects this zone with Fimber crossroads to the east may have been used as a road-line during the Middle Ages. The modern road into Fimber village from the east appears to date from the post-medieval period, as does the coach road from Sledmere, so it may be that this earthwork formed the basic line for a road. (see chapter 5). Given that it survived into the 19th century suggests it escaped plough damage throughout the middle ages and thus probably did function as a balk or furlong boundary within the open field east of Fimber village. Its line fits in well with the road running west to Burdale and it is followed by hedgeline along both its north and south sides (see also fig 134).

FIMBER NAB, TRIPLESCORE BESSINGDALE (fig 44;47-52)

To the north runs a double ditch and bank along the upper slopes of York Dale, which is still visible in the plantation on York Bank. It extends for a distance of four kilometres to Sledmere where it connects with the Great Wold Dyke (see below). The southern slopes of Triplescore Dale are furnished with a single ditch and small upcast bank in the same way as other single ditches elsewhere. Sectioned in 1991, this proved to be a V-shape ditch of 1.5m in depth (Buckland et al 1993). It extends northwards and defines an ovoid enclosure whose built boundaries augment and follow the steep slopes of York Dale and Triplescore Dale. Bessingdale too is marked by the construction of a linear along its upper slopes, comprising at least a single bank and ditch and surviving in places as a broad infilled ditch and low bank. It connects with the Green Lane earthwork at Blealands Nook to the south, at the point where the valley begins to turn eastwards.

DALE,

At the eastern end of the above mentioned linear is the convergence of two major valleys. They continue southwards as Bessingdale to become Wetwang and Garton Slack. Here a 148

and continues eastwards for about three hundred metres. At a distance of five hundred metres east of Sykes monument, the original linear arrived at the head of Warren Dale, here a sharply defined dry valley. At this point there is a series of elaborated triple earthworks which form a significant dog-leg and sharply deviate from the long sweeping line of the earthwork so far traced. The short existing gap, between these two short stretches of bank and ditch, may be original. There are linear cropmarks which make for it from both north and south, seen by Dent as existing pre-linear tracks (1984). These are perhaps more likely to be later than the linear but still belong to a period when the linear provided a barrier to movement, as they undoubtedly take advantage of the gap.

A further linear feature is recorded on OS 1854 and by Mortimer lying to the south of Fimber village. It seems to complete the enclosure of the low hill on which the village stands and occupies a commanding position above the village to the south. Known historically as Croom Dikes it is now largely destroyed and in part followed by hedge-lines. It was a single ditch and bank which cut across the contours. Sectioned by Wiltshire in the mid 19th century its ditch was broad and shallow (1862).

SLEDMERE GREEN LANE, SYKES MONUMENT AND LIFE HILL (fig 52-60) The Middleham Dale linear (see above) is today preserved as a triple bank earthwork in Middleham Plantation 1.5 km southwest of Wetwang village. A cropmark continues its course from here northwest across the long cultivated lands of the broad valley bottom. At Blealands Nook this cropmark connects to the Green Lane which extends from here for four kilometres to the Sykes monument. The linear that is followed by this stretch of the Green Lane had, until recently, been well preserved and it is recorded on the 1854 OS map. It was a monumental construction and in the 19th century existed as a series of three banks and ditches alongside the Green Lane. At High Bitings, the later lane adopted a more direct course than the original earthwork and here both township boundary and triple bank/ditch curve slightly to the north away from the road. The OS 25” (1910) map records this stretch clearly but it has since been ploughed out and is now only visible as a cropmark (Stoertz 1997). Further along the Green Lane, at Black Wood, the linear is still preserved as double ditch and bank within the modern plantation (fig 54-55).

East of here the side of Warren Dale is furnished with a much less substantial single ditch earthwork, reminiscent of Mortimer’s so called ‘hollow-ways’. It lies two thirds of the way up the slope and follows the contour, until the valley becomes much broader and shallower at Garton Bottom. Here it becomes a triple bank and ditch earthwork once more (fig 40; 60-61). Until the last century, the triple bank and ditch monument ran from Warren Dale to Blealands Nook. Originally this linear continued southwest as a similarly multiple earthwork along Middleham Dale, Harper Dale and Horse Dale until it reached the neck of land at Huggate Dykes. This represents an overall distance of about 18km, of a monument which appears to have been originally made up of continuous triple bank and ditch. To the north of the Green Lane is Life Hill, a broadly sloping flat topped hill overlooking the Wetwang-Garton Slack, to the south. It is crossed by a series of earthworks which are often today preserved in the plantations and hedge-lines. These lead off the Green Lane earthwork at right angles and often connect up with the head of dry valleys which border Life Hill. The Triplescore earthwork, mentioned above, connects with one of these for instance. Another, which survives today as a double bank and single ditch, extends from the Green Lane and connects with the head of School House Dale to the north. They divide up the land of Life Hill into blocks and would appear to belong to a phase of land division later than the long distance broad swathes cut by the Green Lane and Great Wold Dyke, to the south and north.

A substantial stretch of the central bank of this earthwork was excavated by Mortimer in 1866 (1905). The construction of the memorial monument to Sir Tatton Sykes had recently levelled a portion of the earthwork and in so doing had uncovered skeletons, part of the Anglian cemetery which reused this part of the linear. Mortimer describes a monument here made up of three banks with two central ditches. The central bank was between thirty and forty two feet (10-13m) wide and its flanking ditches between 6.5 and 7.5 feet (c.2m) deep (1905). He recognised that the make-up of the bank was carried out in two separate operations with the up-cast from either ditch recognisably different. The Anglian burials had been mostly inserted into the bank (ibid.) (fig 56-58).

These Life Hill linears are some of the very few which appear on 18th century estate maps. They do so, not as ancient monuments, but as contemporary field boundaries, probably marking the furlong boundaries within the open field at this time which was about to be enclosed. Therefore, these are either prehistoric earthworks which have been successfully reused or else they were later constructions, possibly contemporary with the creation of open fields.

Further excavations on this earthwork took place in 1959, when ploughing activity began to threaten the survival of the monument, two hundred metres to the east of Mortimer’s initial excavations. Here, on the other side of the north-south road between Garton and Sledmere, the Granthams carried out excavations along the southerly bank of the linear (Grantham C and E 1965). They discovered the continuation of the Anglian cemetery which could be dated to the 8th century AD. They also recovered a complete, yet broken early Iron Age pot, of the type later identified as later Bronze Age by Manby (1980). This was contained within the makeup of the bank along with several more fragmentary sherds of collared urn and food vessel, assumed to have derived from a nearby barrow. The skeleton of a child lay on the old ground surface, below the bank.

Life Hill is a good example of a naturally defined block of high ground (fig 50). The western margins are marked by steep dale sides of Bessingdale, Broad Dale and York Dale. Along all of these valleys runs a series of linear earthworks usually along the upper slopes. Their position is augmenting the natural topography and enhancing physically the natural margins of the upland block. The southern edge of Life Hill is not marked by a natural prominent feature as the slopes are gradual. The Green Lane earthwork provides such a boundary which loosely follows the contours about half way

The central bank of the monument remains upstanding here 149

down the slope. The eastern boundary is less well defined but could be marked by a combination of linear earthwork and the dry valleys of Cow Dale and Wood Dale, along which linears run (see below).

GREAT WOLD DYKE AND COWLAM (fig 6163) Leaving the village of Sledmere along the Bridlington road, heading northeast, a once massive triple bank and ditch earthwork follows the road for several hundred metres. It is part of the Great Wold Dyke that ran originally from the complex of earthworks at Fimber roundabout for over twenty kilometres to the later Bronze Age enclosure at Thwing. Between Sledmere and Fimber much of its course has been lost in the emparkment alterations of the 18th and 19th centuries (see chapter 5). However, it does appear as multiple bank and ditch running along the upper slopes of York Dale, southwest of Sledmere Park. Two kilometres northeast of Sledmere, the modern road (and 18th century turnpike) diverts off the line of the linear, at Collingwood Plantation. It is the High Street that adopts the true course of the ridgeway here, the linear running parallel to the north, a little downslope. The fact that this situation is only visible from the north, lower down in the Great Wold Valley, might suggest that this monument is deliberately dominating the land of the valley to the north. In places today along this direct course, its triple banks are preserved in plantations or pasture land. Its dimensions were similarly monumental to the Green Lane linear and that which borders Fimber village on the north. It was further up its course to the northeast that Manby obtained several sections across its ditches and banks. Here, he found several later Bronze Age sherds in the primary silts (1980; 1993)

150

Fig 1: The geomorphological and geological regions in Eastern Yorkshire. (from Manby 1988). 151

Fig 2: Water sources in the central Wolds. Ponds and springs are shown, as are streams. The stream between Burdale and Fimber is recorded historically but no longer runs on the surface. 152

Fig 3: Location of the study area within the Yorkshire Wolds and East Yorkshire. The edge of the Wolds is marked by the 60 metre contour (AOD). 153

Fig 4: Distribution of modern settlement on the Wolds and surrounding area. The dense concentrations of villages around the wold-edge is clear as is the linear arrangement of settlements along spring lines and the Gypsey Race. 154

Fig 5(above): Fimber pond, looking southeast, in the centre of Fimber village. This is the pond known as the ‘lower mere’ in the 19th century. An earlier adjacent pond has now dried up. Fig 6(below): Burdale pond, looking west towards Thixendale. This spring-fed pond lies at the junction of dry valleys and associated linear earthworks. 155

Fig 7(above): Dry valley of Warren Dale, between Garton and Sledmere. Looking east to the spire of Sykes monument on the horizon. Steep un-ploughed dale-sides are scattered with gorse. The flat dale bottom made up of colluvium is clearly more fertile soil. Fig 8(below): Dry valley at Cob Dale, Millinton, on the western Wolds. The gorse displays its April flower and a hawthorn boundary bisects the lush dale bottom. 156

Fig 9(above): Square fields of parliamentary enclosure on the valley slopes east of Fimber. Reverse ‘S’-shape soilmarks reveal traces of the former open field strips. Fig 10(below): Dew pond in the dale bottom at Cow Dale, Sledmere. It is probably 18th century in date and part of the radical agricultural changes that took place alongside parliamentary enclosure. 157

Fig 11: Towns of East Yorkshire. They are concentrated around the Wolds on rivers and coast. The steep scarp slope is marked with a thick line. 158

Fig 12(above): The main road to Malton. B1248 carries a part of the Wolds scenic drive, here looking north from Wetwang to Blealands Nook and Fimber crossroads. Fig 13(below): The bleakness of the dale bottom, here at Frendal Dale, Millington. 159

Fig 14(above): A private road to Huggate Wold, with footpath signs. Fig 15(below): Hawthorn hedge-line along township boundary between Warter and North Dalton. The hedge dates from the period of parliamentary enclosure but its line is much more ancient. 160

Fig 16: Well known archaeological sites from the Wolds mentioned in chapter 2. 161

Fig 17: Changing settlement patterns before and after parliamentary enclosure, showing change from nucleated villages to the introduction of scattered farms. In 1771, most of these areas were un-enclosed (from Harris 1969). 162

Fig 18: Map showing the contrasting enclosure history of the Wolds and the lowlands. The open circles indicate parishes enclosed after 1750, their diameter being proportional to the acres involved in each case (from Harris 1969). 163

Fig 19: Medieval open fields in the dry Wolds, showing the wide extent of arable within each township (from Alison 1976). 164

Fig 20: J.R.Mortimer and Rev.E.Maule Cole, antiquarians (from Sheppard 1911). 165

Fig 21: Villages of the central Wolds study area. See figure 3 for general location. 166

Fig 22: Dry valleys of the central Wolds study area. Villages are marked with dots (see fig 21). The dales are here picked out by the steepness of their slopes, not by any absolute height. The western scarp is marked by hachures and the distinction between dissected western Wolds and the more gently rolling eastern dip slope is clear. 167

Fig 23: (above)The western Wolds at Burdale. Looking northwest along the large Thixendale-Burdale valley. Here the colluvial deposits on the dale bottom are cultivated. Fig 24: (below) The rolling harvest landscape of the eastern Wolds. Wetwang village sits amongst the trees in the centre background of the picture, taken from the Sledmere Green Lane. 168

Fig 25: Main concentrations of linear ditches in Britain (from Bradley et al 1994). 169

Fig 26(below): Earthworks on the dale-side of Rain Dale at Fimber Westfield. There are 4 main banks running down the slope of the valley side. The largest, on the left of the group overlays a single ditch running along the contour towards the top of the slope. There are several phases of construction here. Mortimer’s excavations were to the left of this picture on the opposite side of the dale. Ehrenberg and Caple excavated in the dale bottom and found degraded traces of the linear under several metres of ploughwash. Fig 27(above): Soilmarks of the major linear that dominates the village of Fimber, on its northern side, which originally connected to the earthworks at Westfield. They run from left to right beyond the wooded abandoned railway line.Looking north from the village. 170

Fig 28: Linear earthworks and villages in the central Wolds study area. Based on Mortimer’s map of 1905 and RCHM cropmark plots. Some of Mortimer’s earthworks are not included. 171

Fig 29(above): Multiple earthworks at Huggate Dykes, looking east towards Millington Wood. Fig 30(below): Single ditch and bank along top of dale-side at Cow Dale, Sledmere. Such a position is characteristic of this form of linear on the Wolds. 172

Fig 31: Sections through single ditches, all situated along the upper dale-sides, following the contour. All examples were excavated by Mortimer in the vicinity of Fimber (from Mortimer 1905).

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Fig 32: Linears and dry valleys in the Central Wolds. The close relationship between the pattern of linears and the topography of valleys is clear. 1.Middleham Dale; 2.Great Wold Dyke; 3.Green Lane; 4.Huggate Dykes; 5.Warren Dale. 174

Figure 33: Linears in the central Wolds, showing sites of excavations alongside form of monument. 1.Huggate Dykes; 2.Fimber Westfield; 3.Sykes monument; 4.Wetwang Slack; 5.Cowlam. 175

Figure 34: Linears in the central Wolds showing areas featured in detailed maps along with their appropriate figure number. 176

Figure 35: Huggate Dykes and Greenwick area showing linears and relief. Black dots represent barrows of the early Bronze Age, which in this case, are not directly associated with the linears. The multiple ditches and banks of Huggate Dykes crossed the neck of land between Horse Dale and Tun Dale, both deeply incised dry valleys. 177

Figure 36: Huggate Dykes: extract from OS 25”map of 1910 edition. 178

Figure 37: Section through bank at Huggate Dykes by Varley, showing Anglian cremation urn insertted into bank (from Challis and Harding 1975). 179

Figure 38: Horse, Holm and Harper Dale area showing linears and relief. Both single and multiple ditches here closely follow the upper sides of the steep dry valleys. 180

Figure 39: (above) Horse Dale from the west, showing degraded ditch of linear along top of dale-side, running left to right across foreground of picture. The trees in the dale bottom are large Ash and give a sense of the scale of the valley slopes here. Figure 40: (below) Warren Dale, Sledmere, looking east. The winding course of the single ditched linear is visible on the dale-side, crossed at right angles by later plough furrows. 181

Figure 41(below): Holm Dale looking south along the dale bottom, a view dwarfed by the massive jutting grassed slopes. Figure 42(above): Holm Dale head, looking south into the bottom of the valley. 182

Figure 43: Fridaythorpe area showing linears and relief. The multiple ditches that run between the heads of Holm Dale and Rain Dale are only visible as cropmarks. At the extreme north is Fimber Westfield complex of linears. 183

Figure 44: Fimber area showing linears and relief. See fig 27 for photo of soilmarks from linear in centre, to north of Fimber village. 184

Figure 45: Fimber Westfield: extract from OS 25” map 1910 edition, showing earthworks at Westfield, in bottom of frame. Fimber House is now Westfield farm. 185

Figure 46: Fimber crossroads: extract from OS 25” map 1910 edition. The railway is now abandoned and levelled. Multiple earthworks are also now levelled and visible only as cropmarks (see figs49 and 51). Fimber village lies to the west of this map. 186

Figure 47(above): Section through earthworks above Fimber crossroads by Thomas Wiltshire, showing degraded hollow at point D, where the bank has been used as a trackway (from Wiltshire 1851). Figure 48(below): Section through the same earthworks above Fimber crossroads by Mortimer. He identifies the levelled section as a berm and may have exaggerated the regularity of the feature in this case (from Mortimer 1905). 187

Figure 49(above): Fimber crossroads, looking northeast to the field where cropmarks of multiple erthworks are visible from the air and where upstanding banks were recorded in 1910. Figure 50(below): Bessingdale and Triplescore Dale, looking southeast from field pictured in fig 49.The course of the linears along both dales are visible and clearly demarcate the block of raised ground behind. 188

Figure 51: Aerial photograph of Fimber crossroads, showing cropmarks of linear ditches, in the field to the north of the roundabout (with permission from English Heritage). 189

Figure 52: Middleham Dale area, showing linears and relief. 190

Figure 53: Sledmere Green Lane and Life Hill, showing linears and relief. Here the head of Warren Dale is furnished with triple linears which deviate for short lengths off the course of the main linear. See fig 55. 191

Figure 54: The Green Lane at High Bitings. Extract from OS 25” 1910 edition. Dotted line shows township boundary following linear rather than the straighter and later highway. 192

Figure 55: Aerial photograph of Green Lane at High Bitings, showing cropmark ditches to the north of the Green Lane. Ridge and furrow clearly abuts the linear, reinforcing its chronological primacy over the road and its use as an open field boundary (with permission from English Heritage). 193

Figure 56: Sykes monument, Sledmere. Extract from OS 25” map 1910 edition. The linear is partially preserved at this time and the triples at the head of Warren Dale are clear. 194

Figure 57: Sections through bank of linear at Sykes monument, excavated by Mortimer (from Mortimer 1905). 195

Figure 58: Plan of excavations showing Anglian inhumations aligned along the linear (from Mortimer 1905). 196

Figure 59: Warren Dale: Extract from OS 25”map 1910 edition. Single ditch follows the curving line of the dale-side and takes a multiple form towards the bottom of the valley. See also fig 40. 197

Figure 60: Aerial photograph of triple linears at the head of Warren Dale. Cropmark ditch aligns on the gap between the earthworks (with permission from English Heritage). 198

Figure 61: Great Wold Dyke and Cowlam area, showing linears and relief. 199

Figure 62: Cowlam DMV. Extract from OS 25”map 1910 edition. The linear ditch mapped in fig 61 can clearly be seen passing through the village. It emerges to both the north and west as a cropmark. If it is prehistoric in date, it seems to have been reused as toft and croft boundary or trackway, in the same way as the Iron Age ditches at Wharram Percy. 200

Figure 63(above): Plan of linear incorporating barrow (C76) at Aldro Rath (from Mortimer 1905). Figure 64(below): Plan of linear cutting through the centre of barrow at Vessey Pasture. An Anglian inhumation was inserted into the bank at this point (from Mortimer 1905). 201

Figure 65(above): Linears incorporating barrow 256 at Aldro (from Mortimer 1905). Figure 66 (below): Linears incorporating barrow 88 at Aldro (from Mortimer 1905). 202

Figure 67: Dry valleys and trackways across the Wolds. These tracks seem to have been followed by the earliest long distance linear ditches. 1.Blealands Nook; 2.Green Lane; 3.Towthorpe ridgeway; 4.Huggate Dykes; 5.Vessey ponds; 6.Warren Dale. 203

Figure 68: Linears and water sources on the central Wolds. The linear ditches seem to enclose or connect to ponds. Equally, at Aldro in the northwest Wolds, the linears relate closely to springs at the base of the scarp slope.

204

Figure 69: Some of the Iron Age funerary sites in East Yorkshire.

205

Figure 70: Iron Age cemetery at Wetwang Slack. Excavation plan showing the linear ditch cutting existing barrows and acting as boundary for later cemetery (from Dent 1982). 206

Figure 71: Iron Age settlement at Wetwang Slack. Excavated area revealed roundhouses and square barrow cemetery. The linear ditch formed a large enclosure on the valley side abutting the Green Lane linear to the north (from Dent 1982). 207

Figure 72: Garton Station Iron Age cemetery. Excavation plan showing square barrows and graves of both Iron Age and Anglian date (from Stead 1991). 208

Figure 73: Iron Age cemeteries in the northern Wolds. Most barrow groups are known only from the air as cropmarks. They concentrate in the valleys that encroach into the Wolds from the vale of Holderness and the Hull Valley. Data from Stoertz 1997 and Stead 1979. 209

Figure 74: Later prehistoric settlement in East Yorkshire. Sites of recent excavations or surveys.

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Figure 75: Excavation phases at Wetwang-Garton Slack. Late Iron Age and RB enclosures overlie earlier barrows and roundhouses (from Dent 1983a).

211

Figure 76: Late Iron Age and RB enclosures at Wetwang Slack. Note the presence of the Green Lane earthwork to the north (from Dent 1983b). 212

Figure 77: Later Iron Age and RB ladder sites or similar enclosures in the central Wolds. They are found only in certain areas, in a way that suggests that their distribution is influenced by the existence and continued meaning of linear earthworks as boundaries. Information from Stoertz 1997. 213

Figure 78: Ladder sites as cropmark plots. Typical examples from Stoertz 1997. 214

Figure 79: Romano-British sites in East Yorkshire. Squares represent towns, triangles forts and circles villas or other rural sites. Open circles are the modern towns of Driffield and Beverley where some RB evidence has come to light. Roman roads are either likely (solid line) or more tentative (dashed line). The western Wolds are clearly more favoured than the east, where Romanisation seems to have been less apparent. 215

Figure 80: Cropmarks between Huggate and Elmswell. The central Wolds study area as mapped by the RCHM, showing simplified cropmark plot (after Stoertz 1997). 216

Figure 81: Cropmarks surrounding the Great Wold Dyke (after Stoertz 1997).

217

Figure 82: Cropmarks around the Sledmere Green Lane, showing enclosures of Wetwang Slack and the respect given to the exisitng earthwork as well as the empty unenclosed area of Life Hill (after Stoertz 1997).

218

Figure 83: Extract from Haynes map of 1744, around Huggate, showing upstanding earthworks at Huggate Dykes (YAS 95D15). 219

Figure 84: Extract from Jeffreys map of 1772, showing Green Lane running north of Wetwang as a main long distance highway (DDX/16/335). 220

Figure 85: Warburton’s map of the Wolds (mid 18th century), showing Wolds villages and roads (DDSY/106/8). 221

Figure 86: East Yorkshire townships showing the outline of the study area in the central Wolds (after Smith 1937). 222

Figure 87: Townships of the study area showing boundaries that have reused linear earthworks. 223

Figure 88: Study area townships against dry valleys. Numbers refer to township profiles in chapter 5. 1.Wetwang; 2.Sledmere; 3.Croom; 4.Huggate; 5.Fridaythorpe; 6.Fimber; 7.Towthorpe; 8.Cowlam; 9.Cottam; 10.Burrow; 11.Garton; 12.Warter; 13.North Dalton; 14.Tibthorpe; 15.Bainton; 16.Neswick; 17.Kirkburn; 18.Eastburn; 19.Southburn; 20.Driffield; 21.Elmswell; 22.Kelleythorpe. 224

Figure 89: Key to following maps of townships. The style of these maps is based partly on those in Neave 1990. 225

Figure 90: Wetwang township showing land-use and landscape immediately prior to enclosure. 226

Figure 91. Wetwang Rakes, copy of map from 1760 of detached pasture, now found in Bishop Wilton parish, but originally allotted to Wetwang (DDCV179/22). 227

Figure 92:Sledmere and Croom townships. 228

Figure 93: The Tatton Sykes monument. Figure 94: Inscription on memorial plaque to Sir Tatton Sykes of Sledmere, located in Sledmere church. See text for transcription of the sentiment. 229

Figure 95: Aerial photograph of Sledmere Park from the southwest (with permission from English Heritage). 230

Figure 96: Huggate township map. 231

Figure 97: Fridaythorpe township map. 232

Figure 98: Fimber and Towthorpe townships. 233

Figure 99: (above)Fimber Grange, showing ridge and furrow crossed by coach road soilmark. The main road in foreground can also be seen to have overlain the ridge and furrow, which is also visible in the grass field as earthworks. This road, therefore cannot be of Roman date, as was believed by Margary. Fig 100:(below) Fimber church is of Victorian date, but it is the third church to have occupied this position on top of an early Bronze Age barrow. There are also Anglian burials from here. The second of the two Fimber ponds was originally located in the foreground of this picture. 234

Figure 101: Cottam and Cowlam township maps. 235

Figure 102: Garton township map. 236

Figure 103: Warter township map. 237

Figure 104: North Dalton township map. 238

Figure 105: Tibthorpe township map. 239

Figure 106: Bainton and Neswick township maps 240

Figure 107: Kirkburn, Eastbuurn and Southburn township maps. 241

Figure 108: Driffield and Elmswell township maps. 242

Figure 109: Anglian burials in the Wolds and wold-edge. Secondary burials tend to concentrate on the Wolds with those in flat cemeteries lying in the settled zones of the wold-edge. Three main concentrations occur along the western scarp-base, the area around Kilham-Nafferton and that around Rudston. Information from Eagles 1979 and Lucy 1998. 243

Figure 110: Anglian archaeology in the central Wolds study area. Primary burials concentrate around Driffield with secondaries found in both barrows and linear earthworks on the Wolds. Those found in linear earthworks are marked with mini hachures. Evidence which may come from settlements concentrates in the main valleys. Information from Eagles 1979; Hayfield 1987; Lucy 1998. 244

Figure 111: Anglian inhumations inserted into an early Bronze Age barrow at Driffield C38 (from Mortimer 1905). 245

Figure 112: Anglian inhumations inserted into ditch of linear earthwork at Garton gatehouse (from Mortimer 1905). 246

Figure 113: Multi-period settlement evidence from Wharram fieldwalking project, showing predominance of RB sites over those of other periods (from Hayfield 1987). 247

Figure 114: East Yorkshire hundreds, as recorded in Domesday Book. Detached dependencies are denoted with arrows. Information from Faull and Stinson 1987. 248

Figure 115: Towards a sense of region in the Middle Ages. Some villages are given the suffix, ‘on the Wolds’ between the 13th and 16th century (large dots); Others are described as lying ‘in Cranedale’ between 12th and 14th century (triangles); Others have the suffix ‘in Hertfordlyth’ and are marked with smaller dots. Their distribution gives the impression of 2 disitnct regions (along north escarpment and Gypsey Race) at this time, but which ceased to exist by the 15th or 16th century. Information from Smith 1937. 249

Figure 116: Distribution of references to wold in land grants of 11th -13th century. Also marked are places with the wald element in their place-name. Information from Smith 1937. 250

Figure 117: The estate centres recorded in Domesday Book, to which are attached subsidiary sokelands and berewicks. This may suggest the former existence of more widespread estates in the pre-conquest period (but see text). They tend to concentrate arouond the edges of the Wolds and correlate closely with the locations of major churches and places with earlier significance in the Anglian centuries. 251

Figure 118: Townships and relief in the central Wolds. See figs 87 and 88 for names of townships. The regular strip townships of the Great Wold Valley are visible in the top of the frame and the distinction between blocky townships of the dry Wolds and the smaller and more intricate township plans of the springheads of the river Hull, is also clear. 252

Figure 119: Townships of the northern Wolds mapped against relief. Groups of strip townships are highlighted: 1.northern escarpment and Vale of Pickering; 2.Great Wold Valley; 3.Carnaby to Elmswell; 4.Upper Hull Valley; 5.Eastern dip slope between the Wolds ridgeway and the spring-line. Contours are at 50m and 150m. 253

Figure 120: Townships in the central Wolds. Areas of designated pasture are mapped and seen to form discrete areas that cut across township boundaries. This suggests that these pasture zones may have pre-dated the foundation of the townships. 254

Figure 121: Trackways across the Wolds which pre-date the foundation of townships as their lines are used as lengths of boundary. They pass through the pasture zones mapped on fig 120. 255

Figure 122: Areas of wold land that are named in land grants of the 11th - 13th century. All contain howe and/or wald elements and may refer to pre-Norman areas of pasture, high up on the open Wolds. Contours are at 50m and 150m. 256

Figure 123: Early medieval trackways (suggested) and dry valleys. The long distance outlook of these routes is clear from the way they adopt the easiest route across the Wolds. It is suggested that they form part of a Wolds landscape, which was open and used mainly for pasture in the pre-Norman centuries. Significantly they remain important features in the later, medieval landscape of townships and boundaries. Compare this with fig 67. 257

Figure 124: Trackways across the Wolds and their relationship with large pasture zones in the early medieval period. 258

Figure 125: The Sledmere Green Lane, today preserved as a wide grass bridleway. Looking southwest from Blealands Nook towards Fridaythorpe. 259

Figure 126: The Green Lane again as wide grass track, here at the head of Holm Dale. 260

Figure 127: Anglian burials alongside township boundaries and trackways. Many of these burials are found close to the trackways argued above to be important structuring features of the pre-Norman landscape. 261

Figure 128: Early Old English names on the Wolds and wold-edge. Names in ham are open circles, those topographic names deemed to be early by Gelling are solid dots. These include the burn names around Kirkburn as well as Fimber and Sledmere. Information from Gelling (forthcoming) and Smith (1937). 262

Figure 129: Scandinavian habitative names on the northern Wolds and margins. Place-names in by and thorpe are marked.. Information from Gelling (forthcoming) and Smith (1937). 263

Figure 130: Place-names which contain the element tun on the northern Wolds and its margins. The majority are seen to be Old English rather than Sandinavian in origin. Information from Gelling (forthcoming) and Smith (1937). 264

Figure 131: Scandinavian topographic names (open circles) and dative plurals (solid dots). These are seen to occupy more positions on the Wolds than the settlement names in fig 129 and 130. They may have been names given to natural features or temporary sites on the open Wolds, which later were given to permanent settlements around the time of the Norman conquest (see text). Information from Gelling (forthcominng) and Smith (1937). 265

Figure 132: Craike Hill and Garton Station multi-period monuments. Burial monuments of many periods congregate here along the former stream and Green Lane trackway. In the Anglian period, especially, the significance of earlier monuments was expressed through the insertion of Anglian burials into barrows and linear earthworks. Anglian secondaries are marked with triangles, Hachured areas are Iron Age cemeteries, Other mouments are round barrows of both Neolithic and early Bronze Age date. Those in solid black were relict in the 19th century, others are cropmarks. Lineas and hachures are linear earthworks, now reduced to cropmarks. Information from Stead (1991), Mortimer (1905), Stoertz (1997) and Dent (1983a). 266

Figure 133: Kemp Howe and Cowlam multi-period mouments. This ridge top position was furnished with monuments throughout prehistory, both barrows and linear earthworks. Anglian secondary inhumations were inserted into the round barrow of Kemp Howe, which was later used as a beacon. Information from Stoertz (1997), Mortimer (1905), OS 6”1854 series. 267

Figure 134: Linear earthworks and the historic landscape around Fimber. Although most of these earthworks are now levelled they were extant in the 19th century, Many formed the basis for field boundaries and township boundaries of the historic period. 268

Figure 135: Sledmere Green Lane in the modern landscape. Its line is visible as a continuous field boundary and trackway as well as township boundary (dotted). 269

Figure 136: Sledmere Green Lane: The many phases of the line of this track-cum-boundary can be seen as a microcosmic index of the changing character of the Wolds landscape in general, fluctuating between open and enclosed. Its origins lie in a cross wold trackway which is followed by a late Bronze Age linear earthwork. This remains a strong feature of the late prehistoric landscape and is used as a cross wold trackway in the Anglian centuries then followed by township boundary around the Norman conquest. Later, in the 18th century it forms the basis for a coach road (see text). 270

Figure 137: Table summarising the generalised sequence of landscape change on the Wolds between the late Bronze Age and medieval period. Changes in settlement pattern and location as well as land division and burial practice are described. The cyclical pattern of change from open to enclosed, on the Wolds is evident. 271