Rosedale Branch East Railway, North Yorkshire: Archaeological survey and investigation of a short section east of the Dale Head embankment
Author(s): Marcus Jecock, Rebecca Pullen
The Rosedale Branch East Railway opened in 1865 to serve the East Mines (ironstone) and roasting kilns of the Rosedale Mining Company at Low Baring; it was closed and the track lifted in 1929. The route of the mineral railway survives as a series of linear earthworks, comprising embankments and pronounced cuttings, which carry it across intermittent gills and steep hill slopes along its route from Blakey Junction to Low Baring. In 2019, Historic England carried out non-intrusive archaeological investigation of the 500m-long section of railway between the eastern end of the Dale Head embankment (at the head of Rosedale) and the embankment to the east of Castle Crag escarpment. Much of this section lies in a distinct cutting now flooded. The work was requested by the North York Moors National Park Authority, to advise on the archaeological implications of proposals to construct an engineered footpath along the line of the railway, intended to improve accessibility to this popular walking and cycling route. Although the footpath will follow the line of the track-bed as much as possible, deviations are necessary where the line is flooded or eroding. Localised analytical earthwork survey was undertaken in order to generate a record of the site prior to any disturbance or alteration resulting from the planned groundwork.
- Report Number:
- 62/2019
- Series:
- Research Report
- Pages:
- 29
- Keywords:
- Survey Analytical Landscape Survey Earthwork Railway
