Flats Hill mound is approximately 30 meters in diameter and stands about 3.6 meters high. It has never been excavated, Read more
Black Dike - OS Series 1 - National Library of Scotland
Black Dike - 1m LiDAR - National Library of Scotland
Black Dike
Black Dike is the diminutive counterpart to the great Tor Dike, rising from its western arm and climbing to the watershed between Great and Little Whernside. Beginning at roughly SD 988 756—where Tor Dike cleaves the LimestoneScarp—the Black Dike pursues a steep, sinuous course uphill for nearly 0.6 km, finally spilling onto the ridge crest at about 675 m above sea level (swaag.org).
Unlike Tor Dike’s substantial bank-and-ditch monument, Black Dike is primarily a narrow, rock-cut trench, often little more than 1–2 m wide, with only slight spoil-heaps on its downslope edge. In places the cut is hewn directly into the Great Scar Limestone, exploiting natural weaknesses in the rock; elsewhere it is simply scarped into the turf. The feature was once more prominent—straight sections now survive as shadowed hollows beneath the modern dry-stone boundary wall that often aligns with its course (swaag.org).
Field observation and aerial LiDAR imagery reveal that small, sub-rectangular enclosures and turf-lined hut circles flank Black Dike both above and below the trench. These shieling-style structures, visible as low platforms a few metres across, suggest that the dyke was more than a territorial barricade: it formed the focus for seasonal grazing and community gatherings at this juncture of upland pastures (swaag.org).
Its form and relationship to Tor Dike point to a broadly comparable date. While Tor Dike itself has been variously ascribed to the late Iron Age or early medieval (5th–9th century AD) boundary of the kingdom of Craven, Black Dike seems to be a secondary phase—an infill or re-cutting of an earlier frontier line. No direct radiocarbon dates exist for the trench, but the associated hut circles yielded sherds of South Pennine “Decorated Ware” in surface collection surveys, which typically date to the 4th–1st century BC (swaag.org). It seems likely that Black Dike began life as an Iron-Age land boundary, then continued in use—perhaps with periodic re-profiling—through the early medieval period.
Incomplete post-medieval copper alloy spoon, with most of the round-sectioned stem and the distal end of the bowl missing (non-recent breaks). The bowl is oval with a rat tail on the underside. Weight 3.51g. Extant length 34.1mm. [...]
Post-medieval copper alloy button consisting of a solid plano-convex head with a central nipple and an integral non-drilled loop. Cf. Read 2010 no. 228. Weight 1.66g. Diameter 9.6mm. Length 12.4mm. 16th century.Finder's no. HK6F45 [...]
Fragment of a probably kidney-shaped medieval copper alloy buckle consisting of part of the widened and angled outside edge, one side and one end of an iron bar within the rolled over end of the [...]
Rim sherd of a medieval to post-medieval cast copper alloy cooking vessel with old breaks. A copper alloy sheet repair patch is folded over the top and secured with one rolled sheet rivet. Only a [...]
A copper alloy fragment of a Roman hair pin dating to the Roman period (c. AD 100-200). The remains of the object consist of the head and partial shaft. The head is dome-shaped with a flat [...]
Post-medieval copper alloy finger ring with the D-sectioned hoop complete but quite recently broken and distorted. The bezel is in the form of a circular buckle frame, the pin of which is missing. Rather obscure [...]
A Gallo Belgic import broad-flan gold stater (22.23mm, 7.24g), left type, attributed to the Bellovaci (from the region of Oise, Picardy). Obverse: flamboyant wreathed bust, left. Reverse: horse, left, with charioteer. As ABC 4. [...]
Just over half of a post-medieval copper alloy double-looped buckle frame, both loops oval, with a pin groove on a pronounced knop on the extant edge. There are traces of white-metal coating. The breaks are [...]
A complete lead alloy musket shot dating to the Post Medieval period (c. AD 1600-1800). The object is sub-spherical in shape with a pitted surface. The shot has a light grey patina and does not appear to have impacted. As stated by [...]
Post-medieval iron spherical object, probably shot, with a heavily pitted surface. Very close in dimensions and weight to LVPL-FFB98B and NMS-02C1E8. Diameter 22 - 23mm, weight 38.15g. 17th - 19th century.Rather than being a martial [...]
Complete early post-medieval hooked tag of Read’s (2008) class E, type 8. The plate is scallop-shaped and the loop is square. The hook projects from the plate opposite the loop and tapers in width to [...]
Basal sherd with foot-ring of Oxfordshire-type red-slipped pottery bowl. Not a mortarium: although the central part of the interior surface is highly abraded and has lost all its slip, the upper and outer parts are [...]
Incomplete early post-medieval copper-alloy hooked strap or belt fitting. It consists of a relatively long plate, flat on both faces, with an incomplete circular or oval loop at one end and a narrowed strip, folded [...]
A complete copper alloy strap loop, of Medieval dating (AD 1200 to AD 1400).The strap loop is square in shape, with an attachment spike located centrally at the base. The top edge is slightly rounded, [...]
An incomplete copper alloy belt or strap mount dating to the Post Medieval period (c. AD 1500-1700). The object is formed of a flat octofoil plate: four wide lobes interspersed with four narrow lobes. One [...]
Two copper alloy Roman nummi of uncertain emperors (c. AD 300-402). The reverses of each are fused together with only the bust of each coin facing outwards. mints uncertain. Coins are bent out of shape. Overall [...]
An incomplete copper alloy Roman sestertius or as of an uncertain emperor (c. AD 43-260). [...] Reverse type depicting figure standing to right with cornucopia and second figure standing to left. Mint uncertain. The edge is heavily [...]
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An incomplete copper alloy Roman nummus of an uncertain emperor (c. AD 296-402). [...] Reverse type depicting figure standing left. Mint uncertain. Coin is heavily chipped around the edge. Overall dimensions: 18.6mm in diameter, 2.6mm in [...]
An incomplete copper alloy Roman sestertius or as of an uncertain emperor (c. AD 43-260). [...] Reverse type depicting figure standing. Mint uncertain. The edge is heavily chipped. Overall dimensions: 31.2mm in diameter, 3.7mm in thickness [...]
