Feature Assessment: Cultural landscapes / Prehistoric and Romano-British settlements
# Prehistoric and Romano-British settlements, field systems and cairnfields
Overall vulnerability |
# Feature(s) assessed:
- Prehistoric and Romano-British settlements, field systems and cairnfields Special qualities:
- Landscapes that tell a story of thousands of years of people, farming and industry
# Feature description:
Prehistoric and Romano-British settlements, field systems and cairnfields give us an insight into what life and agriculture were like in the distant past. These archaeological features have been revealed through the National Mapping Programme (NMP) and extensive archaeological survey over decades within the PDNP. Arable cultivation, particularly in areas with free-draining soils, has revealed pre-medieval settlements and land uses. The PDNPA has completed a large amount of survey work to discover further examples of these archaeological features. This includes 36 records of prehistoric settlements, 36 records of Romano-British settlements, and 65 records of prehistoric cairnfields. In Northern England some of the largest and best preserved prehistoric settlement, field system and cairnfield sites are found on the Eastern Moors of the PDNP.
# How vulnerable are prehistoric and Romano-British settlements, field systems and cairnfields?
Prehistoric and Romano-British settlements, field systems and cairnfields in the PDNP have been rated ‘moderate’ on our vulnerability scale. This score is due to moderate sensitivity and exposure to climate change variables, coupled with a varying current condition, and a moderate adaptive capacity.
The current condition of all features is unknown as many have yet to be discovered, but of those that are known only 13% are in poor condition. Sites may be vulnerable to climate change following changes in farming practices, direct erosion and erosion of the soils around the features, and further growth of nuisance plant species. There are appropriate management and conservation actions to help these features adapt to climate change, however it is expected that a significant proportion of these sites have not been formally designated and therefore adaptations are less likely be put in place.
Overall potential impact rating | |
Overall adaptive capacity rating |
# Current condition:
Of the sites that the PDNPA has noted, detailed above, 16% have been excavated and 23% are of uncertain provenance or function. 13% have been damaged, destroyed or lost. Thus far, human activities have had the most significant detrimental impact on these features. Farmers and landowners have often destroyed or damaged sites if their significance was not recognised. The ploughing of fields in recent centuries has led to the destruction of this surface evidence of human activity.
Past changes in climate have helped to protect some sites from human interference. Upland settlements which were abandoned when the climate became inhospitable may not been intensively farmed since and archaeological evidence has therefore survived.
Growth of nuisance and invasive species and animal burrowing have already had harmful effects on some prehistoric and Romano-British settlements, field systems and cairnfields. At time of writing, the Heritage at Risk register shows there are two ‘at risk’ sites in the PDNP. One is the Callow prehistoric settlement and field system on Carr Head Moor where bracken, scrub and trees are putting the feature at risk due to under grazing. The North Lees Countryside Stewardship Scheme is now addressing this. The other ‘at risk’ site is Cowell Flat, which is a prehistoric field system that faces similar plant growth issues. Other similar sites in the PDNP are known to face the same problem.