BroomField - A Walk Through Time And Place

While researching prehistoric sites in the local area I came across the following abstract from an article written by Debora Moretti and David Williams published in the Yorkshire Archaeological Journal in June 2023 - 

Archaeological excavations west of Broomfield Farm, Whitby, and subsequent radiocarbon dating have provided evidence of a mid-Iron Age settlement comprising up to seven roundhouses. Evidence from the roundhouses, including pottery, suggests the settlement was primarily agricultural with evidence of metal working also present. The settlement has similarities to a Late Iron Age settlement identified in 1999, 500 m to the northwest, and provides firm evidence of prehistoric activity around Whitby which until now has been elusive. A later system of enclosure overlay the settlement.

I have spent years wandering the fields surrounding Broomfield Farm knowing that the area had a long historical association with farming, especially with regards to the abbey and the medieval manor of Whitby Laithes, but I had no idea that these agricultural roots ran so deep. So it was with this newly discovered information that I decided to explore the area afresh.

The Farm

For over two hundred years the Georgian farm house of Broomfield has stood isolated upon the landscape occupying a space between the small village of Stainsacre on it's eastern flank and the town of Whitby two miles to the west. But after years of town planning and expansion the farm now finds it's self on the boundaries of Whitby, with only the farm's track separating it from being completely enveloped by the town. 

First Settlement

In 1999 a new water treatment plant was built on a site adjacent to Broomfield Farm. This was a huge project for the town that also included a new pump station at Dock End and the installation of a new sewerage system to replace the town's aging Victorian works. The above extract mentions a previous dig that took place in the same year 500m to the north west of the farm, this date and the approximate position of the treatment plant seems to correspond with the dig taking place on the site probably before construction began. Evidence from the dig dates the site as been occupied in the Late Iron Age (100BC -50BC), but the subsequent dig would reveal a much older settlement in very close proximity, which would suggest that this site was occupied for longer and is larger than was first thought.

Second Settlement

As far as I can ascertain the more recent dig was conducted prior to the construction of a new housing estate, as it appears to be standard practice to undertake an investigative dig on land that has been earmarked for major development, especially in this case when considering the findings from the previous nearby dig. The fact that seven round houses were discovered as well as evidence of metal work would suggest that this mid Iron Age (400BC - 100BC) settlement would have been substantial enough to be of some importance and it is safe to assume that the land surrounding the settlement would have been cultivated for crops. Also taking into account evidence of a later system of enclosures lends to the idea that animal husbandry was practiced on the site too.

Environment

For centuries the land surrounding the town of Whitby has been farmed - to this day much of the headland is still given over to arable farming -  this means that any significant signs of prehistory has long since been destroyed by the plough, but there is still evidence of  more ancient cultures to be seen on the landscape however slim. About a mile to the north of Broomfield Farm there is a road known as Hawsker Lane. Running parallel with coastline it is an old highway and monk's trod that leads to the Abbey on the east cliff. Along this road there a couple of tell tale signs which suggest more evidence of a prehistoric culture. One being Beacon Hill that sits just beyond the medieval manor of Whitby Laithes. Warning beacons were often placed on top of ancient barrows as it was usual that these sites occupied the highest ground in the area ( two examples in the local area are Danby Beacon and Beacon Hill at Hinderwell ). A little further on there is a cliff top campsite known as Haggit / Highgate Howe and as the name suggests there was probably another barrow situated there, although nothing exists now. And of course there is the Abbey itself. During the Gregorian mission, which began in 596 AD, Pope Gregory The Great pointedly directed his emissary Augustine to not destroy pagan sites, instead he was told to assimilate and adapt these sacred places giving them a Christian veneer. So it could be speculated that the land that surrounds Broomfield Farm may have been of some sacred importance to the Iron Age people that lived there. It is also worth considering too that tumuli and barrows tend to date back to the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, which would also imply that the area has been occupied for longer than the excavations suggest.  

This map dated 1915 shows Hawsker Lane is relation to Broomfield Farm - which is highlighted in red. 

The Walk

Heading west from the village of Stainsacre I walked along the disused railway line known as the Cinder Track. In the distance and central to the image can be seen the roof top of Broomfield Farm.

Leaving the Cinder Track behind I headed north along a public footpath, which is incidentally a continuation of an old monk's trod that passes through Cock Mill Wood to the south, I eventually reached the top of a steady incline where I was confronted by rows of camping pods ( it should be noted that  Broomfield is no longer a working farm, instead it is now a animal rescue centre and camp site ). Seeing these pods nestling the landscape reminded me of a more recent era in Whitby's history.

 Between the years of 1752 and 1833 the port of Whitby was the capital of the whaling industry. The fleets' catch would be landed and processed in the town and having an excess of whale bones the people of the town would sometimes use them as building material, specifically the whale's jaw bones ( click on OUT ON YE! to read more ).

Just a little further to the west of the farm is the water treatment plant that was built in 1999. I have long been intrigued with these hidden municipal sites. Discrete and secluded they are usually found on the edge of towns and cities. Although functional in there design I have always found them architecturally fascinating. The probable reason for this is that as a child in the 1970's I was fed on diet of television created by the late great Terry Nation, and often because of  programming and budgetary constraints these places would feature as a stand in for either alien landscapes or post-apocalyptic worlds. Whether it was an abandoned quarry such as Betchworth in Surrey or a concrete edifice lost in the woods or even a sewage processing plant, the shows gave these remote places an odd sense of otherworldliness. 

Survivors - Betchworth Quarry

Dr Who - Betchworth Quarry

Waterloo Tower - Quex Park, Birchington. Featured in the Blake's 7 episode Bounty

Here's a list of Blake's 7 film locations for a more comprehensive look at this 'phenomenon'.

This road leading north from the farm and sewage works is all that now stands in the way of the land surrounding Broomfield being swallowed up by the town.

The new estate known as Abbey View has over one hundred plots, but this is probably just the first phase of development, knowing that the nearby secondary school is due to close and the land it stands on will be put up for sale.

There is nothing remarkable about the estate itself. The unimaginative architectural design that is seemingly ubiquitous across modern housing developments is also apparent here. I wonder if in years to come, when the estate has settled and feels more lived in, will we get artists such as George Shaw wanting to capture the mundane and sometimes unsettling beauty of a street corner, a row of shops or the estate pub. I'd like to thinks so, but these estates feels transient in nature, often seen as a first step upon the housing ladder, or like elsewhere in the town, the properties will be  bought with the intention of letting as holiday accommodation. I think that is the difference. George Shaw captures a place that feels lived in. The deep roots are apparent in his painting. You get the sense people have been born, lived and died in these places and more importantly community exists. Modern housing estates are no longer built with community in mind, they feel more like the outer bastions of  Middle England. A place where you can begin to raise the draw bridge.

Scenes from the Passion : Ten Shilling Wood, 2002. George Shaw 

The only point of real interest I found amongst the Osprey Ways and Guillemot Drives was the road named Merlin Lane. Although in keeping the Aves theme, I didn't realise at the time the Merlin in question was the small bird of prey and not the Arthurian wizard. In my defence I am currently reading Mythology Of The British Isles by Geoffrey Ashe and so have a head full of ancient legends of gods, kings and giants. But it did feel like a nice coincidence that I was drawn to this road whilst reading up on the myth of Merlin. 

It is thought that the character of Merlin is an amalgamation of two earlier Romano-British Celts the bard Myrddin and the warlord Ambrosius. In the 12th century the pseudo-historian Geoffrey Of Monmouth would combine these two mythical figures to create Merlinus Ambrosius, but it was in the 6th century when the prototype Merlin would first appear and where he would be used as tool for propaganda by the likes of Gildas The Wise.

Britain at the time had recently been abandoned by Rome and faced numerous incursions both internally and from abroad. It was during this tumultuous period that the British people desperately sought a hero to rally round. So out of the shadows of the likes of Vortigern and Maximus stepped the characters of Merlin and Arthur to consolidate a national identity. 

Although the idea of Merlin is a Romano-British construct these myth making roots run much deeper and can be seen in older forms of story telling, such as the myth of Brân the Blessed from the Welsh bardic tradition, which in turn has roots that can be traced back to the Iron Age cult of the Druids. So it could be said that these saviour architype that Merlin represents have been with us throughout the ages and more pointedly seems to still be present today.

   

Leaving behind the Harris fenced boundaries of  Abbey View ( it should be noted that you cannot actually see the Abbey from the housing development, just the sprawl of a retail park and industrial estate on the opposite side of the A171) I head back towards the village of Stainsacre via a waterlogged public footpath. As I crossed the three fields that are now all that stand between the village becoming the town,  I was struck by the juxtaposition between the ancient and the modern. Surrounded by land that had been exposed to human activity for thousands of years, and how for the vast tract of that time the people that have populated this land have lived a subsistence lifestyle. Knowing that where once stood seven roundhouses with a probable population of one hundred, there now sits a new estate that could easily house over five  hundred people. The thought that those ancient farmers would have been subject to the mercies and rigors of cultivating and farming the land in a effort to maintain a continuous supply of food, while now on the very same plot of land people can just cross the road and enter a place where there is a surplus of requirement. It is an irony that a place where our ancestors would once have propagated a deep and profound understanding of this land, there is now such an excess of produce that we as a society give very little thought or concern for it's provenance and sustainability.

The Finds

I didn't for one minute expect to find any artifacts relating to the Iron Age settlement, but still I kept my eyes open, because the excavation of the new estate would have disturbed a lot of earth in preparation for the construction of the footings, drainage and roads.

I found both the clay pipe and the twenty pence piece on the road that divides the farm from the estate. Clay pipes have been in and out of fashion since the late 17th century, until they finally completely disappeared in the 1930's. So this piece of pipe could ostensibly be over three hundred years old, but more than likely it dates from the turn of the last century. The twenty pence piece is dated 2005, which is not old, but my eldest child is the same age, which makes me feel old. The glass bottle bottom was found in a ploughed field as I made my way home, I imagine it is probably a couple of hundred years old or so. Nothing worth notifying the authorities over, but it was a nice to see that even with these small finds and through the discoveries of the two larger excavations that the land is still telling it's story.  

Overview

999 saw massive project for Whitby & for Yrkshire Water, which would see a treatment plant built and set

This is a Google map image of the area that I explored. Centred at the bottom of the map is The Windmill Inn located in the small village of Stainsacre. To the west and in the bottom left corner is the site of Broomfield Farm and just to the left of that the sewage works. Abbey View sits just above the farm with the supermarkets located across the road to the north of the housing estate. At the top of the map just to the right of centre is Highgate Howe which sits adjacent to the road known as  Hawsker Lane that leads directly to the Abbey. Below the caravan park is Poverty Cottage which is the location of the medieval manor Whitby Laithes. To the east of the manor is the farm owned by J A Collinson where Beacon Hill is located.