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Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument () 26946: Section of Scots Dike Linear Boundary North of Kirklands Farm

Monument Type(s):

• DITCH (Unknown date)
• LINEAR EARTHWORK (Late Iron Age to 2nd CENTURY - 90 BC to 110 AD) + Sci.Date

Other References/Statuses

Full description

The site is scheduled. (1)
An archaeological assessment for the A66 upgrade in 1997 describes this section of Scots Dyke as an earthen bank 1.5m high and 10m high with a dit6ch 7m wide and 1 m deep to the east. To the east of the ditch is a low counterscarp bank up to 5m wide. The bank ends at the modern farm access and the ditch continues for a further 10m. (2)

A geophysical survey in 1999 for road improvements was carried out, Area S2 covered a section of Scots Dyke.The ditch was identifiedd measuring 4.5m wide. (3,4)

A trench excavated within the area of geophysical survey by authority (3,4) recorded a rock cut ditch 4m wide on the alignment of the ditch seen in the geophysics. Excavations were lmited to a depth of 0.5m, but geotechnical probing showed the ditch to be 1.48m deep and probably v-shaped. At right angles to the ditch was another rock-cut ditch, 3.1m wide x 0.42m of uncertain date or function. A third rock cut ditch linked the others together and may have been a length of roadside ditch. It was approximately 0.2m wide and 0.5m deep and traced for a length of 32m.No finds were recovered. (5,6)

Archaeomagnetic dating of sediment fills from Scots Dyke in 2006 provided results suggesting that the feature was starting to fill up in the period from the first century BC to the first century AD. (7)

Archeological monitoring during the replacement of an overhead transmission tower in 2008 recorded the course of Scots Dike, north-east to south-west . A single re-cut ditch was visible in the south and eastern sections of the trench. (8)

Archaeological Excavation carried out in 2006-7 prior to road improvements along the route of the A66 beween Scotch Corner and Greta Bridge, north of Kirklands Farm, examined a section of Scots Dyke 21 m long on the south side of the A66. The dyke was noted as an earthwork for 250 m to the south towards Kirklands Farm, a bank up to 1.5m high and 10m wide with a ditch 7m wide and 1m deep to the east. On the eastern side of the ditch traces could be seen of a second , counterscarp bank approximately 5m wide. Within the excavated area of the road scheme and to the north of the road, there was no trace of either of these features. The ditch was traced across the eastern end of the site on a north-east to south west alignment. A single trench 3m wide was excavated across the ditch to drainage construction for the new road. The ditch was 5.6 m wide and 1.27m deep with sloping sides and flat base, no other archaeological features were associated with the monument and no stratigraphic relationship could be demonstrated between the ditch and other earlier features found within the excavated area.(MNY36290, MNY36270) (9-10)

The dating evidence from archaeomagnetic dating and optically stimulated luminesence was subsequently integrated and analysed. This included recalculation of the archaeomagnetic measurements using more recent data, and the use of Bayesian statistical techniques. This provided a date range of 970-100 BC for the commencement of the filling of the ditch giving an early-middle Iron Age origin for this part of Scots Dyke. The upper part of the ditch seems to have remained open into the post-Roman period, being completely filled by the mid-fourteenth century at the latest, although potentially by the sixth century AD. See pp 41, 98-99 of (9) (9-10)

A student project on Scots Dike describes each section and studies the form and history of the Dike. The Dike is flattened and lost next to the Roman Road and no physical relationship is visible between them on the south side of the road. North of the road it is visible on air photographs curving across Gatherley Moor and eventually running paralell to the road to Melsonby. In 1849 there is a record that earthworks of double dikes had existed within living memory but which had been levelled by that time except for at crossing fence lines.(Smith, E) (11)

The Dike was mapped by the Yorkshire Dales National Mapping Project. (12)




<1> North Yorkshire County Council, 2001, SAM Working (Database File). SNY6921.

<2> Northern Archaeological Associates, 09/1997, A66 Upgrading to Dual Carriageway Area A Scotch Corner to Greta Bridge Stage 2 Archaeological Assessment (Report). SNY896.

<3> Geoquest Associates, 08/01/1999, Geophysical Survey for the A66 Scotch Corner to Melsonby Crossroards Road Improvements (Report). SNY8675.

<4> BHWB, 03/1999, A66 Melsonby Crossroads to Scotch Corner Improvements. Summary of Geophysical Survey & Recommendations for Further Archaeological Investigations. (Report). SNY829.

<5> Highways Agency, 09/2002, A66 Carkin Moor to Scotch Corner Improvement Environmental Statement Volume 2 Part 3 Cultural Heritage (Report). SNY8682.

<6> Northern Archaeological Associates, 03/2000, A66 Improvements, Archaeological Trial Trenching Carkin Moor to Scotch Corner, N. Yorks. Final Report (Report). SNY559.

<7> Centre for Environmental Magnetism and Palaeomagnetism, 09/2006, Report on the archaeomagnetic dating of a sediment fill from Scot's Dyke, Scotch Corner, North Yorkshire (Report). SNY15375.

<8> Northern Archaeological Associates, 02/2008, Scots Dike, Scheduled Monument 26946, A66 Trunk Road, Gilling West, North Yorkshire. Archaeological Monitoring Report. (Report). SNY12004.

<9> Oxford Archaeology North, 2013, Scots Dyke to Turnpike: The Archaeology of the A66. Greta Bridge to Scotch Corner (Monograph). SNY19902.

<10> Oxford Archaeology North, 11/2008, A66 (Package A) Road Improvement Scheme, Greta Bridge to Scotch Corner. Archaeological Post-Excavation Assessment. (Report). SNY18787.

<11> University of Durham, 1990, Project: Scots Dike Earthwork North Yorkshire (Manuscript). SNY7069.

<12> North Yorkshire County Council, 1995-1997, National Mapping Programme: Dales Survey Data (Geospatial Data). SNY1192.

Sources and further reading

<1>	SNY6921 - Database File: North Yorkshire County Council. 2001. SAM Working. Boldrini, N. Access 97.
<2>	SNY896 - Report: Northern Archaeological Associates. 09/1997. A66 Upgrading to Dual Carriageway Area A Scotch Corner to Greta Bridge Stage 2 Archaeological Assessment. Lakin, M. Photocopy.
<3>	SNY8675 - Report: Geoquest Associates. 08/01/1999. Geophysical Survey for the A66 Scotch Corner to Melsonby Crossroards Road Improvements. Hale, D.
<4>	SNY829 - Report: BHWB. 03/1999. A66 Melsonby Crossroads to Scotch Corner Improvements. Summary of Geophysical Survey & Recommendations for Further Archaeological Investigations.. Date. 1999/06.
<5>	SNY8682 - Report: Highways Agency. 09/2002. A66 Carkin Moor to Scotch Corner Improvement Environmental Statement Volume 2 Part 3 Cultural Heritage.
<6>	SNY559 - Report: Northern Archaeological Associates. 03/2000. A66 Improvements, Archaeological Trial Trenching Carkin Moor to Scotch Corner, N. Yorks. Final Report. Bishop, M C. 2000/06/02.
<7>	SNY15375 - Report: Centre for Environmental Magnetism and Palaeomagnetism. 09/2006. Report on the archaeomagnetic dating of a sediment fill from Scot's Dyke, Scotch Corner, North Yorkshire. Karloukovski, V; Hounslow, M W. 2006/11/07.
<8>	SNY12004 - Report: Northern Archaeological Associates. 02/2008. Scots Dike, Scheduled Monument 26946, A66 Trunk Road, Gilling West, North Yorkshire. Archaeological Monitoring Report.. Cooper, O & Knowles, D. 2008/06/13.
<9>	SNY19902 - Monograph: Oxford Archaeology North. 2013. Scots Dyke to Turnpike: The Archaeology of the A66. Greta Bridge to Scotch Corner. Zant, J; Howard-Davis, C. 2013/07/18.
<10>	SNY18787 - Report: Oxford Archaeology North. 11/2008. A66 (Package A) Road Improvement Scheme, Greta Bridge to Scotch Corner. Archaeological Post-Excavation Assessment.. Brown, F. 2009/02/26.
<11>	SNY7069 - Manuscript: University of Durham. 1990. Project: Scots Dike Earthwork North Yorkshire. Smith, E. Handwritten. 1993/06/28.
<12>	SNY1192 - Geospatial Data: North Yorkshire County Council. 1995-1997. National Mapping Programme: Dales Survey Data. Smith, L.

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