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	Next IAG event - Monday 23 May 2022 High Bentham village tour 26 April 2022 The next event for the Ingleborough Archaeology Group will start at 7pm on Monday, 23rd of May. The tour will be led by John Wilson, local resident and secretary of the Ewecross Historical Society. Meeting at Lairgill Car Park at the foot of Butts Lane, High Bentham at 6.45pm. Full details here.

	Latest update from the Sleights Cairn survey 16 May 2022 Click here for the latest news and photos from the Sleights Cairn survey blog.

	Jorvik Viking Festival This year's Jorvik Viking Festival takes place from 28th May - 1st June. For details click here

	Many thanks to John Zant 25 April 2022 John Zant of Oxford Archaeology North gave the IAG an excellent presentation on an excavation of the Roman vicus outside the fort at Maryport. He showed us how the buildings of the vicus had been laid out, and repeatedly renewed. John also showed us how graffito found in 2013 might point towards a local warrior deity. Image copyright John Zant

	The Clapdale excavation A day-to-day record of the Clapdale excavation is available here Day 1: Set-up, mark-up and deturf Day 2: Small horses or big boots? Day 3: Misty and damp Day 4: A beautiful, tiny arrowhead Day 5: A busy finish

	Updates from the Sleights Cairn blog More news from Yvonne Luke's Sleights Cairn Blog - click here.

	Reports addded to 'Publications' Please see two new reports from David Johnson on the 'Publications' page: 'The Sow Kiln Project, an Excavation of Clamp Kilns in the Yorkshire Dales - a report on the excavation of early modern lime kilns' and 'Stone settings: an investigation into enigmatic vertically-set slabs on limestone pavements around Ingleborough and in the Westmorland Dales'.

	Thanks to Dan Elsworth 21 March 2022 A big thank you to Dan Elsworth who presented 'Bronze Age burials in limestone country, Allithwaite, Cumbria'. Dan showed how 'rescue archaeology' - survey or excavation carried out in advance of a construction project - can sometimes hit lucky (for the archaeologist, not necessarily for the developer). He showed us the discovery of a Bronze Age cremation cemetery, with some remains held inside burial pots and some without such protection. Some pots had been partly destroyed by modern farming, but, fortunately, some remained intact. Oddly, some were placed upside-down - noone appears to know why this is the case. A most enjoyable evening with a knowledgable speaker.

	Lancaster University - Annual Archaeology Forum Booking now open for our rescheduled Study Event with Dr Alan Crosby Last call for bookings for our 49th Annual Archaeology Forum - plus your chance to submit ideas for the 50th anniversary AF programme Our rescheduled excursion to Roman Vindolanda still has a few places, so book now The Elizabeth Roberts Working Class Oral History Archive gets a fan letter from an appreciative researcher A classic volume of local history gets a re-print - the Economic History of Rossendale by G.H. Tupling is once again available A new podcast series on Ethel Carnie Holdsworth, the ground breaking author featured in the RHC publication Breaking the Bonds of Capitalism: the political vision of a Lancashire mill girl	Click here for details

	Thanks to Dr David Johnson 21 February 2022 A round of applause for David Johnson: not only did he brave the storms to present in person to the Group, but he also gave IAG's first 'hybrid' presentation - a combination of face-to-face delivery at Settle Victoria Hall with a simultaneous Zoom broadcast. On 21 February 2022, David Johnson gave a talk on 'Selside to the Hill Inn via Ribblehead: results of an archaeological survey in 2021'. Whilst most of us were getting our food from Morrison or Tesco delivery vans, watching day-time TV, or working from home, David was out on the Eastern flanks of Ingleborough surveying the archaeological evidence and comparing it with evidence recorded in print. This fascinating survey found new sites of interest which David showed us through aerial photography, LIDAR images and photos he had taken. At least one of the new sites he has discovered will form part of an IAG excavation in future..

	Thanks to Professor Peter Rowley-Conwy 17 January 2022 Our thanks go to Prof. Peter Rowley-Conwy, who provided the IAG with an excellent presentation on: 'Britain’s First Farmers: How Primitive Were They?' Peter showed how the traditional view of Britain's first farmers had changed in the light of recent discoveries. Rather than 'primitive', the farmers have been shown to practice quite complex animal husbandry. They also lived on cultivated foodstuffs rather than wild varieties. Peter also showed how the scope of archaeology is being widened through the use of modern technology.

	The CBA look back at 2021 Click here to see some of the Council for British Archaeology highlights from 2021.

	New program and activities for 2022 Click here to see the new IAG program of talks, walks and visits for 2022. Click here to see the excavations for 2022.

	Thanks to Prof. Angus Winchester Our thanks go to Prof. Angus Winchester of Lancaster University, who gave an excellent talk to the Group on 'Dry Stone Walls and Landscape History'. As we were faced, yet again, with Covid uncertainties, Angus agreed to give his presentation via Zoom. He showed us how the 'dry stone wall' has developed through history and how its characteristics can be spotted and used to infer its age, its original purpose and how it has been modified over time.

	Updates from the Cairn Survey Yvonne Luke has just released the latest update of the Cairn Survey Report - available here - and a set of research questions for the Sleights Pasture Round Cairn complex - available here.

	Blog update: More from Yvonne Luke's Cairn Survey blog here

	The Buildings and Monuments of Lady Anne Clifford Many thanks to Dr Adam White who gave a fascinating presentation on the life of Lady Anne Clifford (Monday 15 November 2021). He explained how she fought against the gender prejudice of the day to overcome legal decisions which went against her, and how she then maintained and improved the buildings which were rightfully hers.

	Milestones, Boundary Stones and Wayside Crosses Many thaks to David Garside who gave an excellent talk to the IAG on Monday, 18 October 2021. The wealth of material he presented showed a dedication to a fascinating subject.

	The Sleights Pasture Round Cairn Friday the 3rd of September saw the start of the survey of the Sleights Pasture Round Cairn. Yvonne Luke has started a blog of the process, which can be found here.

	Chasing pavements 23 July 2021 Members of IAG working on phase 2 of David Johnson's 'Placed Stones' project up on White Scars and Lead Mine Moss limestone pavements. Photo by Maurice White

	An afternoon at Holy Ascension Church, Settle 19 July 2021 The Ingleborough Archaeology Group spent a sunny afternoon in the company of Sarah Lister. She followed up her entertaining talk from January 2020 with a history of the church, a tour of the graveyard and an in-depth look at some of the local characters buried there.

	An evening out in Austwick 21 June 2021 IAG enjoyed a most unusual event: an evening out in each other's company. David Johnson led a group of IAG members around the Ribblesdale village of Austwick. Not only did we learn about the history of individual buildings, we also saw how the land around had been used in the past. We also looked (from the outside) at a couple of houses owned by current members. The evening was blessed with fine weather and was made all the more enjoyable by being able to discuss details in person with our knowledgeable guide. Hopefuly, this is the start of getting back to some kind of normality for the Group.

	Excavations at Ribblehead June 2021 The Group once again visited the moors near to the Ribblehead viaduct to investigate a site identified a few years ago. More news to follow once analysis of the results are known.


	Dr David Johnson's new book June 2021 David Johnson's new book: 'Brickmaking, History and Heritage' is now out. Across much of the country buildings have been made of brick, rather than stone, from the Roman period onwards. High status buildings of the Tudor and Stuart eras were often made of clay brick, but it was only in the nineteenth century that the use of brick in rapid industrial and urban development saw a massive increase in brick production. Mechanisation of the various processes, along with the development of new kiln technologies, enabled this increase in output. Age-old clamp kilns were replaced by kilns capable of turning out thousands of bricks per week. Because bricks had a very low individual unit cost, and because so many were needed for each new building, brickmaking was always a localised industry: wherever suitable raw materials occured close to the intended market, brickworks would spring up. The thousands of sites that existed at one time or another have mostly been swept away and brickmaking now is concentrated in relatively few sites. This book explores the history of the brickmaking industry and looks at production sites from the past and the present.

	Anglo-Saxon Settlement in North Craven April 2021 Many thanks to Dr David Johnson for his presentation to the Group on 19 April 2021. The received wisdom used to be: "There is no evidence of Anglo-Saxon settlement in the North West". We all appreciated the satisfaction David took in proving, once again, that this is demonstrably untrue.

	Excavations at the Later Mesolithic Site of Cow Green March 2021 Many thanks to Dr Rob Young for the presentation he gave to the IAG on March 25th. The report from the excavation at Cow Green can be downloaded from the Altogether Archaeology website. Click on the image to the right to access the report - CTRL click to launch in a new window.

	Current Archaeology Live 2021 March 2021 Presentations for the Current Archaeology Live 2021 series are still available on YouTube - click on the image

	A Scottish Stone Circle in Craven February 2021 Many thanks to Roger Martlew for his online talk on A Scottish Stone Circle in Craven, delivered on February 15th.

	Ingleborough's Placed Stones January 2021 See Dr David Johnson's presention on Ingleborough's Placed Stones - stone settings on the hill's limestone pavements by clicking on the image to the right. (Ctrl - click if you want it to start in a new window).

	IAG Committee - update The makeup of the new IAG Committee was decided by postal ballot this year. The new Chair of the Committee is Bob Moore. The new Treasurer is John Cuthbert.

	Ingleton Christmas Fair On 24 November 2019, the IAG display included a selection of historic documents kindly donated by the Ingleborough Community Centre. There is a wide range of material, covering a significant part of the village's recent history. The Group plans to investigate these documents over the coming year to aid research into the local history of the area.



Surveying in Ingleborough One of the important tasks for members of the Group is to record sites in and around Ingleborough before they disappear from view. Although we have not the resources to excavate every interesting site, we can survey and add them to the historical record for future investigation. We regularly survey using Total Station and Tape & Offset methods.


IAG visit to view Rock Art on Baildon Moor On 15 September, members enjoyed an afternoon on Baildon Moor viewing Rock Art. The visit was led by an IAG member, Mike Short.


IAG visit to the village of Wray On 14 July, members spent a most enjoyable afternoon touring the streets of Wray and learning about its history. Our leader was Mike Winstanley, who has an extensive knowledge of the village. In addition to the walk he had prepared for us, he was also able to show the group the residence of George Smith, the land agent whose diary the IAG Documentary Group are investigating.

Sunrise over High Brae Colleagues investigating the position of the cairn field on High Brae in relation to the mid-summer sunrise took photos on the early morning of 19 June. More photos here.

Surveying on High Brae A team of IAG colleagues completed a survey of a cairn field on High Brae (on the eastern slopes of Ingleborough). Some 22 cairns were identified and recorded, the vast majority with some sandstone showing amongst the limestone. Further investigation will be needed to decide whether these are simply clearance cairns, or have some greater importance. More photos here.

	Visit to Whalley Abbey Members and guests made an excellent visit to Whalley Abbey on 21 May. The visit was led by Nigel Neil, an expert on the Abbey. He guided us inside and outside of the site, adding detail and context to the talk he gave earlier to the Group in April.

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