Research News Issue 19: Spring 2013 | PDF - English Heritage

NEW DISCOVERIES AND INTERPRETATIONS
Chalk Lowlands and the
Hull Valley; a story of
levelling and survival
Using aerial investigation & mapping to assess
archaeological landscapes in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
Aerial view of the earthworks
of Rotsea medieval village,
against a background of arable
English Heritage’s Aerial Investigation &
Mapping team has recently completed
a project to map the chalk lowlands and
the Hull Valley in the East Riding of
Yorkshire. Analysis of vertical and oblique
aerial photographs ranging in date from
1935 to 2011 revealed many exciting new
archaeological discoveries but also confirmed
a worrying pattern of threat to the historic
resource. The project encompassed the valley
of the River Hull, from its source to the west
of Driffield into Kingston upon Hull, and
included the fringes of the Yorkshire Wolds to
the north and west.
One of the drivers for the project was the
relatively high number of sites that are
listed on English Heritage’s Heritage at
Risk register (which records Scheduled
Monuments that are under threat) when
compared to the national picture. For
example, the Heritage at Risk Register for
Dave MacLeod, © English Heritage
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