Beadlam Roman Villa: Assessment of the Landscape Setting. Aerial Investigation and Mapping Project
Author(s): David Knight, Andrew J Roberts
The site of Beadlam Roman Villa, which includes building footings and buried remains, is an English Heritage Trust guardianship site and a scheduled monument – National Heritage List for England no. 1011365. Due to its location in the middle of farmland, the villa is currently inaccessible to the public. In 2022, English Heritage Trust, with support from the North York Moor National Park authority -led Ryevitalise Landscape Partnership Scheme, are organising regular guided events and providing online content to enable visitors to engage with the site. In order to better understand the landscape setting of the villa, Historic England’s Aerial Investigation and Mapping team undertook a survey of 20sq km surrounding the site. Aerial photographs from the Historic England Archive, the local authority Historic Environment Records and the A L Pacitto collection as well as Environment Agency lidar data were analysed. Additionally, an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) survey was also undertaken of the scheduled area incorporating the villa. Archaeological features visible on these aerial sources were mapped to produce a spatially accurate archaeological map. The aerial mapping survey transcribed and recorded numerous archaeological features visible as earthworks, cropmarks, soilmarks and structures. These remains ranged in date from the later prehistoric period to the Second World War. The earliest sites recorded were several small Bronze Age round barrow cemeteries and the latest related to ancillary accommodation camps for RAF Wombleton. There was no direct evidence for Roman activity associated with the villa on the aerial sources, but the overall results illustrate a landscape that has undergone great transition over the last several millennia.
- Report Number:
- 36/2022
- Series:
- Research Report
- Pages:
- 46
- Keywords:
- Iron Age Medieval Post Medieval Roman Settlement Aerial Photograph Interpretation Aerial Photography Lidar Survey Enclosure Round Barrow Ridge and Furrow Second World War Moat
