On the Track Again
Three weeks have now been completed of our archaeological survey of Bethecar Moor and the general theme of post medieval trackways and walls continues to dominate the survey. As we move further away from the settlements that are gathered around the southern end of the moor, fewer and fewer features are being identified. This is likely because large sections of this area are covered in sizeable bogs which make the land difficult to travel across, they certainly made it difficult to keep our transects in straight lines!
The historic trackways that wind their way across the moorland can be difficult to record as they look very similar to each other and their routes are often long but rarely linear. Despite these difficulties, the volunteers meticulously trace the route of any trackways that cannot be identified on historic mapping and record their locations with the use of handheld GPS devices. The earthworks that form the remains of the trackways are often subtle and difficult to photograph so volunteers mark out the route of the track, as seen in the image to the left.
The purpose of these tracks has been the cause of heated debate among the attendees of the survey, but it is difficult to be sure without them leading to a specific site. It is likely that they were used for a variety of reasons from accessing quarries and peat cutting to connecting the many woodlands surrounding the moorland to the numerous bloomeries that were scattered around it.
Several quarries have also been
identified, and whilst we cannot be
certain of the date of their usage,
it is likely that many of them were used in construction of the walls that form intakes on the moor, and the walls that surround it. Dressing floors were also recorded in a variety of sizes, suggesting that people would have worked on the stone at the site of the quarry before taking it to the construction site.
One not so archaeological feature was happily found by exhausted volunteers at the end of one of our survey days. After three weeks of tiring terrain, everyone was very excited to find a bench! There's only one more week left of this season of the survey, but there's still time to sign up. If you'd like to join our survey go to: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rusland-horizons-bethecar-moor-archaeological-survey-registration-48867752764
The purpose of these tracks has been the cause of heated debate among the attendees of the survey, but it is difficult to be sure without them leading to a specific site. It is likely that they were used for a variety of reasons from accessing quarries and peat cutting to connecting the many woodlands surrounding the moorland to the numerous bloomeries that were scattered around it.
Several quarries have also been
identified, and whilst we cannot be
certain of the date of their usage,
it is likely that many of them were used in construction of the walls that form intakes on the moor, and the walls that surround it. Dressing floors were also recorded in a variety of sizes, suggesting that people would have worked on the stone at the site of the quarry before taking it to the construction site.
One not so archaeological feature was happily found by exhausted volunteers at the end of one of our survey days. After three weeks of tiring terrain, everyone was very excited to find a bench! There's only one more week left of this season of the survey, but there's still time to sign up. If you'd like to join our survey go to: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rusland-horizons-bethecar-moor-archaeological-survey-registration-48867752764
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