21. Wednesday, 2 June 2010

Sensing the end in sight, some team members were especially keen to complete the survey today, and we certainly had the perfect weather for it.

On-site discussion © Jane Lunnon

While some took the opportunity to discuss on-site the implications of some recent work by the Documentary Research Group, others made the most of the low water levels of the reservoir to survey features revealed on the foreshore. They made excellent progress and by the end of the day were happy to declare their section done.

Surveying on the foreshore © Jane Lunnon

In the meantime, the other team, having enjoyed an interesting discussion about the site, tidied up a few loose ends on their part of the survey drawings. Some work still remains for David using the alidade, and of course, if the water levels go down any more there may be more features to plot in. Next winter, we will also need to finish off the moorside survey.

However, the documentary research continues, as does the botanical survey. The flowers are now beginning to flourish all over the site, and will need to be recorded on a weekly basis for a couple of months or more. We also look forward to the arrival next week of a Masters student who will conducting a geophysics survey on the site. So there is still plenty to do over the summer.

Jane Lunnon, UWHG Archivist

19. Wednesday 19 May 2010

It was a dull sky but warm and still today, with hardly any breeze. A perfect day for Alan’s flower photography and for the swirling flies which were attracted by our hi-vis jackets and bright white drawing boards. It’s quite distracting trying to work when flies are mating on your survey plans!

The botanical survey is taking up most of Alan’s time at the moment.

Alan preparing wild flowers for photography © Jane Lunnon

While Ruth tackled some particularly difficult hachuring, Jane and Vera spent some time plotting flower distribution patterns. We are surprised at the lack of a profusion of spring flowers compared to other places in the Dales, which leads us to wonder what this will tell us about the history of land use and management on the site.

We are now beginning to see the end of the survey almost in sight, at least for the reservoir side.

Jane recalls when her great grand uncle was in the 17th Lancers © Alan Williams

However, we do probably need one more session to tidy up some loose ends. Then we just need to wait for the water levels of the reservoir to go down so that we can survey any foundations of the mill which are currently under water. A small part of the old mill is already exposed although the water levels are still high. Pat, Phil and Peter gave this a priority to survey as we noticed some vandalism to the site has taken place very recently, certainly within the last few days. We shall be fervently wishing for a dry summer this year, so that the rest of the old mill’s foundations are exposed – and hopefully we can get there before the vandals.

In the meantime, Peter did his best to carry out some underwater archaeology.

Peter's version of underwater archaeology © Jane Lunnon

And there are still some bits to do on the moorside when the vegetation dies down in winter.

Jane Lunnon, UWHG Archvist

17. Wednesday, 5 May 2010

The day started off with our now well rehearsed routine of manhandling what appears to be an ever increasing amount of equipment, to our “base camp” on the west side of the mission building. Then setting out baselines and warning notices and covering the site with coloured flags.

Vera practices some line dancing - or is it break-dancing? - during the coffee break

©Jane Lunnon

We then split up into 3 (and a bit) teams with David, fresh from his Caribbean adventures, and Peter setting of to the sheep wash area with the trusty alidade.

Ruth, Jane and Vera then continued to survey the area around the lower mill pond and associated wheel pit.

Phil and Pat concentrated their efforts to the east of the mission building. Recording the building itself as well as the mounds to the east, one of which has a small wall or revetting at its base, so maybe this is more than just demolition material. They then moved down to nearer the water's edge and surveyed the wall with the intriguing door in it, visible from the shore footpath.

Spring has arrived at last - a dog violet in the old Mill wheel-pit

© Alan Williams

Alan continued to photograph both the archaeology and the increasing numbers of wild flowers as part of the botanical survey.

Another productive day and again the weather was kind to us.
Alan Williams, UWHG webmaster

14. Wednesday 14 April 2010

Another lovely spring day, but with a little too much wind for comfortable surveying! However 8 dedicated members set forth, on our last day working on the moorside to the north of the boundary wall. The nesting season is upon us, so from next week we must move to the reservoir side.
We were delighted to welcome Roger with the dGPS to plot in our marker points.

Roger at work ( © Alan Williams)

He and Alan set off up the hill-side, not to be seen again until the afternoon, when all points were recorded. Peter was delighted to see these very closely confirmed the recordings taken with his super- duper hand-held GPS!
Alison, as always, wandered off to closely inspect the walls and sledruns, joining us for lunch and very excited about her discoveries. We really look forward to her report in due course, which should throw a whole new light upon the landscape history of this area.

Checking a marker point ( © Alan Williams)

The remaining six volunteers divided into two teams – Pat, Phil and Peter took to the hills to finalise the area of the upper ponds and their tributaries. Jane, Vera and Ruth continued with the lower pond – what a challenging area this is! However we finished the area to the east which only leaves the western end for some future date, when the nesting season is over.

And this before the vegetation grows back! ( © Alan Williams)

The wind, as suspected was indeed a challenge, with the tapes resonating wildly, especially on the hillside, and drawing equipment scattering far and wide. We eventually found the ranging poles made an excellent barrier fence to hold the tapes in place!

Vera - new to surveying, enthusiastic - and still smiling! ( © Alan Williams)

Apart from the sheep-wash area and the western end of the ‘bog-bean ‘pond, we have now finished the northern area, as far as we wish to go at present. Next week we will make a start on the actual mill site itself, south of the wall.

Ruth Spencer, UWHG Chairman

11. Wednesday 23 March 2010

It was a bit of a murky morning, but that didn’t deter our newest UWHG member, Vera, who thoroughly enjoyed her first day out field surveying.

Despite the slightly grey day, spring is clearly on its way, as the frogs were very active in all the streams and ponds (as only frogs can be!), and there are an increasing number of walkers, who are naturally very curious about this little army of people wandering around in hi-vis jackets wielding tapes and clipboards.

We continued the measuring and drawing of the mill ponds and water systems on the moorside. There’s still a lot to do, but it’s starting to all come together.

Alan and Phil spent some time on the Embsay Reservoir side of the boundary wall in order to set up a base line for when we leave the moorside. We only have a short time left before the grouse nesting season begins, and we will need to leave the moorside in peace.

We had two finds today – a piece of a clay pipe bowl which was obviously made from a mould; and a rusty old car horn from the early 20th Century, which was blocking one of the culverted streams.

Jane Lunnon, UWHG Archivist

7. Field survey – 24 Feb

Whitfield Sike Mill lost in the cold February mist

It snowed last night so there was little point in starting our field drawings today – we took a day off and stayed warm!





Jane Lunnon, UWHG Archivist

6. Documentary Research Group – 17 Feb

This evening the Group met for their second meeting. The prospects for a long-term historical study of the parish are good, and individuals within the group are beginning to pool some interesting ideas on how the project can develop once the field survey is finished. We followed with a short introduction to palaeography. Jane ran a short workshop to help everyone “get their eye in” to reading old handwriting, and of course, set some homework!

Jane Lunnon, UWHG Archivist

5. Field survey - 17th Feb

Determined to complete the gazetteer that we started last week, our team of volunteers split into two groups – one went back onto the moorside to sort out some queries and make sure nothing had been missed.

The Moor side team in hi-vis jackets set off into the mist....

The other group kept to the Reservoir side of the site, where much of the Mill once stood. We compiled a similar gazetteer of features – walls, concrete floors, rubble mounds, the mill dam, the pit (possibly a sluice or wheel pit), and even a garden path.

The Mill side team survey remains of the old Mill at the side of the Reservoir

The weather was kinder to us this week. Nevertheless the freezing temperatures finally got the better of us and we adjourned again to the Elm Tree. Happily we had virtually finished on both sides of the wall and were pleased with our efforts.

Boz: "So when do we go on a PROPER walk, then?"

Jane lunnon, UWHG archivist

4. Field survey - 10 February 2010

Having been frustrated so many times by the cold weather conditions throughout January, at last the weather forecast promised today was a good day to start the field survey proper. Volunteers met in the car park at Embsay Reservoir, and despite the freezing cold we bravely set off up the bridle track towards the Mill site. A light dusting of snow on the ground made it all look rather pretty, and on a more practical level, helped to highlight the earthworks around the former mill ponds. We spent about 3 hours drawing up a gazetteer of man-made features we identified in the landscape on the Moor side, giving each a unique reference number, and roughly plotting them on a map of the area. The snow and the wind came and went – every now and then the skies cleared and the sun came out, and just as we thought it was turning out to be a nice day, back came the snow and grey skies. Eventually as Embsay Crag disappeared under a thick blanket of fog, we decided enough was enough, and made our way back to the Elm Tree pub to thaw out.

Jane Lunnon, UWHG Archivist

3. Documentary Research gets underway – December 2009

The Documentary Research group have already made several visits to archives and record offices across Yorkshire – documents relating to Embsay are scattered surprisingly widely, partly because the parish used to lie within the West Riding of Yorkshire, but was later incorporated into the county of North Yorkshire. So far we have found relevant documents in archives at Skipton, Leeds, Bradford, Northallerton, Halifax and Wakefield. In tracking down these documents we have found the A2A online catalogue the National Archives Access to Archives; see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/ ) extremely helpful as a starting point.

So far, the majority of the documents we have come across are from the early modern period – that is, the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries – although we have also come across printed transcripts of earlier sources such as the Poll Tax of 1379. For the most part, the primary sources are providing us with a mass of data on property owners through several centuries of Embsay’s history.

We are also working on the parish registers, a copy of the tithe map of 1847 and references to the parish in the local newspaper, The Craven Herald and Pioneer (which takes us back to 1855).

Jane Lunnon, UWHG Archivist

2. Setting up the Doc Research Group – September 2009

In order to inform the field survey which was planned to begin in the New Year 2010, the Documentary Research Group was established in the autumn of 2009. Local Embsay residents were invited to join us for this, and a small but enthusiastic group formed, which is now very actively engaged in gathering a wide range of primary sources which may help us to better understand the history of the Whitfield Mill, and the development of industrial activity within the village, as well as up on the moor above.

On 29 September 2009, the new group made an exploratory walk around the Whitfield Mill site. We found plenty to think about, and several questions and issues were raised about the Mill, the development of the village and the impact of human activity on the landscape.

Our interest lies in the history of this area before 1900. Ten years ago a very comprehensive project was carried out by another local group who produced a range of resources to celebrate the Millennium, in which they traced the history of the parish during the Twentieth century. The results of this fascinating work can be seen in copies of their files now held at the Skipton Public Reference Library, including Monika Butler’s detailed account of the building of Embsay Reservoir at the beginning of the century (1900-1910).

Jane Lunnon, UWHG Archivist

1. UWHG Whitfield Project launched

The first walk with Miles - June 2009

Way back in June 2008 the Upper Wharfedale Heritage Group (UWHG) invited Miles Johnson from the Yorkshire Dales National Park to lead one of our summer evening walks – he chose to take us on a tour around the site of the former cotton mill beside the Reservoir above Embsay, near Skipton. Lying just within the boundaries of the National Park, the village of Embsay is a large commuter village, but was once a thriving industrial centre with spinning mills and a tobacco mill (which was later a tannery).
As Miles guided us around the reservoir and over to where Whitfield Sike Mill used to stand, he dropped several heavy hints to the effect that it would be really great if someone would research the history of the Mill, and carry out an archaeological survey of the area. We all agreed that the surviving features around the site, including the old mill ponds on the moor land behind the reservoir, were all very interesting.


Encouraged by our interest, Miles continued dropping those hints throughout the rest of the tour, and by the time we returned to the car park at the end of the walk, we knew we should seriously consider the possibility of adopting Whitfield Sike Mill as a UWHG project!

Several months of negotiations and discussion followed, with some Committee forays to investigate the potential of the site. The industrial archaeology enthusiasts among us became increasingly excited by the idea of the project and so UWHG finally offered to launch a Phase 1 study, which would consist of two strands – documentary research and a field survey.

Phase 1 is to focus upon the area immediately around the Mill site, up to the former sheepwash to the east, and onto the moorside, to include the old mill dam ponds. The site is divided into two parts – to the south is the grassland around the Embsay Reservoir which was opened in 1910 and now belongs to Yorkshire Water Authority. It’s a popular place for locals to walk their dogs, and is dominated by the last remaining standing building from the former Mill.

This barn-like structure once acted as a storehouse for the cotton, but during the construction of the Reservoir was a base for the Navvy Mission Society, which aimed to provide a Christian ministry to the navvy workers. The more observant walkers will also notice that the boundary wall between the Reservoir area and the moor above, contains clear traces of the terrace of cottages that once stood here, built to house the mill workers. The houses themselves were demolished when the reservoir was built, but the blocked up windows can still be seen in the wall.

On the other side of the wall is the grouse moor belonging to the Bolton Abbey Estate. A popular bridleway lies nearby, heading up to Embsay Crag. It runs straight between three of the former mill ponds, which can be identified by their large embankments. A footpath branches off taking walkers down to the east end of the boundary wall and the site of a former sheepwash which now lies underneath a wooden footbridge.

Jane Lunnon, UWHG Archivist

For more information on UWHG see our website : http://www.uwhg.org.uk/