Medieval Activity at Mill Lane, Leeming, North Yorkshire

Abstract

Abstract Two phases of medieval activity were identified during excavation within three fields at Mill Lane, Leeming (centred at SE 290 890) in 2009 in advance of widening works during upgrading of the A1 to motorway status.The earlier phase, dating probably to the later eleventh or twelfth century, included an area containing truncated remains of a series of pits, gullies, and ditches containing large, unabraded sherds of pottery and carbonised plant assemblages considered indicative of domestic activity. Although no structures were identified, the evidence suggests the presence of a small farmstead undertaking mixed arable cultivation and possibly dairying. Nearby was a large ditched enclosure containing a series of smaller enclosures possibly associated with stock-handling. In the thirteenth century, perhaps in association with a new settlement at Leeming first documented in c. AD 1200, the whole area was divided by ditches into a series of strip-fields containing ridge-and-furrow. These cut across the features of the earlier settlement, indicating either that these had already been abandoned or were cleared for the new agricultural regime. The large enclosure was retained but converted to arable use.