May/June 2004
Research

University Excavations at Ancient Monument

Work carried out by Huddersfield amateur archaeologists in revealing the mediaeval secrets of Myers Wood, near Kirkburton in West Yorkshire, has been praised by English Heritage inspectors.

English Heritage, the body responsible for classifying and protecting important archaeological sites, sent a top-level team to see for themselves the discoveries made in the wood. The work, which was funded by the Heritage Lottery Initiative, was carried out over a two-year period by members of the District Archaeological Society, in partnership with experts from the University.

After the two-hour inspection tour, Neil Redfern, the York-based Inspector of Ancient Monuments for West Yorkshire, had no hesitation in declaring Myers Wood to be a site of national importance.

The inspectors examined a 700-year-old iron-making site described by Dr Gerry McDonnell, an expert in ancient metallurgy at the University of Bradford, as the most complete site ever excavated in the north of England. Many unique features, including furnaces, charcoal platforms, ore-roasting areas and a raised smithing hearth, have been excavated and carefully recorded. Many pieces of mediaeval pottery have also been extracted and classified.

Who the iron-makers were, the technology they were using, and over what period, has been the subject of months of laboratory analysis at the University, and a research group has been searching historical archives. Evidence is pointing to monks of the Cistercian order who were renowned iron-makers and known to have land close to Myers Wood in mediaeval times.

Bonwell Spence, the Archaeological Society's joint director of the project, said: "We were able to show the inspectors evidence of mining, quarrying, ditch and wall building and a complex system of water management. The archaeology extends far beyond the iron-making site and has shaped the whole landscape."

Ancient metallurgy expert Dr Gerry McDonnell has been part of a team examining the work carried out on a mediaeval site in Myers Wood, near Kirkburton in West Yorkshire.

English Heritage and the landowners, the University of Huddersfield, will now agree a policy for the long-term protection of the wood and its archaeology, whilst continuing to allow public access to what is now accepted as a very important heritage site.

It is anticipated that the Archaeological Society and the University of Bradford will be allowed to continue their explorations, following a full landscape survey required by English Heritage.

22 June 2004

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