Sockburn Hall, Darlington: an archaeological ... - English Heritage

Figure 3. Sockburn Hall
stands alongside the
River Tees on the eastern
(right hand) side of the
loop, slightly to the north
of the ruined church
and the earthworks
which form the subject
of this survey (© English
Heritage 2007 NMR
20629-051)
. Geology, topography and land use
The modern parish and ancient township of Sockburn is defined by the sinuous course
of the River Tees where it carves a meandering passage across the lowlands between
the Pennines and the east coast. The geology of this section of the Tees, to the south
of Darlington, is dominated by sandstone and mudstone beds, overlain by superficial
deposits of glacial till (boulder clay),although the river margins are typically more varied,
with frequent gravel terraces and extensive alluvial deposits (Aalen 2006, 17-28).
To the south-west of Neasham the wandering course of the Tees defines a narrow
peninsula, some 4.5km in length. The parallel stretches of the river draw so closely
together near Sockburn Farm that the southern toe of this peninsula appears almost
to be an island (Figures 2 and 3). The farm sits in a prominent location on a sand and
gravel ridge straddling this narrow neck,some 20m above the river.Sockburn Hall,and
the adjacent ruins of All Saints’ Church, occupy the edge of a slightly lower terrace
overlooking the river to the east. From these relatively elevated locations the ground
falls away gradually and evenly over a broad alluvial floodplain encircled by the river.
The present course of the river itself is deeply incised, even alongside the traditional
fording point known as the ‘Sockburn Wath’ which crosses the river to the east of
the church. Far earlier and more extreme forces exerted by the post-glacial river are
evident around the southern,Yorkshire, side of the loop, where the steep wooded
edge of a 30m escarpment serves to enhance the local sense of insularity.
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries the low-lying meadows of the Sockburn loop
were renowned for the quality of their grass, which supported fine cattle and pedigree
short horn sheep (Surtees 1823, 246). In the late 1940s farming practices shifted
towards arable production, leading to the eventual removal of the majority of field
ENGLISH HERITAGE Sockburn