tour de yorkshire 2014: stage two (addingham to holmfirth)
DESCRIPTION
A brief tour of West Yorkshire's archaeological and historic highlights located along the Stage Two route of the Tour de Yorkshire 2014TRANSCRIPT
ON YER BIKE! West Yorkshire Heritage along the Yorkshire Grand Depart 2014
Stage Two: Addingham to Holmfirth
As the Tour de France winds its way through Yorkshire’s beautiful landscape this summer we thought we
would take the opportunity to highlight some of the fascinating, yet sometimes hidden, archaeological gems
of West Yorkshire. Why not explore our historic landscape whilst cheering on the cyclists?
To find out more information about West Yorkshire’s heritage please visit www.archaeology.wyjs.org.uk or
search www.heritagegateway.org.uk.
West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service
Registry of Deeds, Newstead Road,
Wakefield, WF1 2DE
A: ADDINGHAM LOW MOOR
PREHISTORIC ENCLOSURES
The moorland which stretches down the
western side of West Yorkshire is well known
for its prehistoric archaeology, and two late
prehistoric enclosed settlements are known
to still survive on the slopes of Counter Hill,
near Addingham.
The first is Woofa Bank (top) and consists of
an enclosure, measuring over 100m in length,
with a surrounding earthwork bank. The
smaller, but better defined, Round Dikes
Camp (bottom) lies almost half a mile away to
the north-east.
These earthwork enclosures would have de-
fined small settlements, and are likely to con-
tain archaeological remains of roundhouses,
hearths, rubbish pits , and other domestic
features.
C: NUTCLOUGH MILL, HEBDEN BRIDGE
West Yorkshire is known for its textile production and much of its
landscape is still characterised by former mill buildings, chimneys
and workers’ housing.
Nutclough Mill (below) dates to the 18th and 19th centuries and
originally was a cotton spinning mill. By the 1870s it had been
purchased by the Hebden Bridge Fustian Manufacturing Society
and was producing corduroy and moleskin textiles via a co-
operative of workers.
The mill provided work for many in Hebden Bridge and a number
of Victorian millworkers’ houses still survive, set into the incline
behind the mill.
B: BRONTE PARSONAGE, HAWORTH
The parsonage was built in 1779 and was the Bronte
family house from 1820 onwards. It is now a museum,
and open to visitors daily.
Many of the sisters’ novels were written at Haworth,
and were inspired by the surrounding West Yorkshire
houses, towns and moorland: Thornton, Mirfield,
Dewsbury, Stanbury, Gomersal and Halifax are just
some of the nearby towns associated with the Brontes’
literary world.
D: BLACKSTONE EDGE
The Blackstone Edge road is a long gritstone path
which cuts across the south Pennine uplands
between Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire.
Although its origins have been long debated, the
most recent archaeological survey of the route
concluded that, while the visible paving of
Blackstone Edge dates from the 18th century
(when the path was a well documented turnpike
road), it is likely that it lies on top of an earlier
medieval route way - which in turn follows the
course of a Roman road that was originally built
to connect the settlements of York and Chester.
Other stretches of Roman road have been
excavated nearby at Bingley, Addingham, Lindley
and Slaithwaite, and a Roman fort, and separate
Roman pottery kiln site have also been
extensively excavated near Huddersfield.
The West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service holds and curates the West Yorkshire Historic Environment Record
(HER), which is a publicly accessible record of the region’s archaeology and built heritage. It holds records on a range of
archaeological sites, historic buildings, artefacts, and historic landscapes ranging from the Prehistoric period right through
to the 20th century.
This leaflet only highlights a select few of the historic buildings/archaeological sites that we have recorded in the HER. To
find out more about any of the sites shown, or to do any further research into the archaeology of the area, please contact
West Yorkshire HER via 01924 306797 or [email protected]. Alternatively, you can also search our records online via
Heritage Gateway (www.heritagegateway.org.uk/gateway), or follow what we are up to on Facebook
(www.facebook.com/WestYorkshireHER).
Please note: some of the sites featured on this leaflet may be located within private property and so may not be fully
accessible to the public. Please adhere to public rights of way and access at all times when visiting any archaeological site.
E: CASTLE HILL, ALMONDBURY
Castle Hill, dominates the landscape to the south of Huddersfield
and consists of the remains of an Iron Age hillfort and a later
12th-century motte and bailey castle. The site is protected as a
scheduled ancient monument and has been partially excavated
several times during the 20th century.
The fortifications of the hillfort were modified in a number of
stages throughout its history and consisted of a mixture of earth-
built banks and ditches, with drystone revetments and timber
palisades. Archaeological excavations within the fortifications
have revealed the remains of timber buildings, along with a well
which preserved a fantastic range of organic material dating
from the medieval period, as well as pottery and metalwork.
Finds from the excavations are on display at the Tolson Museum,
Huddersfield.
After the medieval period, Castle Hill remained unoccupied until
the 19th century when a public house was built on the top (now
demolished). In the interim it was used as a beacon hill, with a
fire being lit at the time of the Spanish Armada (1588 AD). The
stone tower at its summit was built in 1897 to celebrate Queen
Victoria’s 60 year reign of England.