A roundup of new additions to the Historic England Research Reports database from March 2024 to September 2024 arranged by heritage theme.
Climate Change and Heritage: A Review of Recent, Current and Planned Research
Authors: JBA Consulting
The report focused on understanding the ongoing research that directly relates to improving adaptation options or relates to threats and risks to heritage from climate change and from our responses to climate change. The project aimed to identify gaps in the research landscape, novel approaches, and potential partner organisations for Historic England.
Read the report on recent climate change research
Identification of Climate Hazard and Climate Change Adaptation Resources
Author: JBA Consulting
This report outlines findings related to identifying climate hazard resources relevant to safeguarding heritage sites against the impacts of climate change.
Read the report on climate change hazard resources
Climate Change Programme: Sector to Net Zero Consultation Report
Author: Dan Miles
This report outlines the process, results and analysis of a consultation to understand the current situation of where heritage organisations are on their journeys to Net Zero.
Read the Sector to Net Zero consultation report
Creating a Vocabulary of Climate Change Hazards for Heritage
Authors: Helen Thomas, Philip Carlisle, Scott Orr
This project addresses gaps in consistency and understanding of terminology by creating a standardised vocabulary of climate hazards for heritage. It adapts the methods and definitions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), aligning cultural heritage with international climate change science.
Read the climate hazards vocabulary report
The Contribution of Designated Heritage Assets to Biodiversity and Natural Capital in England: An Approach to Integrated Conservation
Authors: Kate Jeffreys, Simon Ford, Alex Woolcock, Phil Collins, Brendan Cooper
This project looks at how heritage assets can support biodiversity conservation, and at the relationships between wildlife, geodiversity, heritage and natural capital through a series of case studies.
69 Newgate Street, Bishop Auckland, Durham: Tree-ring Analysis and Radiocarbon Wiggle-matching of Pine Timbers
Authors: Alison Arnold, Robert Howard, Cathy Tyers, Dana Challinor, Bisserka Gaydarska, Michael Dee.
Allowing for missing sapwood, it is possible to suggest that the 9 dated timbers used in the roof were felled in the latter half of the eighteenth century or possibly in the early nineteenth century.
Read the report on 69 Newgate Street, Bishop Auckland
The Radiocarbon Database for England: Structures and Definitions
Authors: Edrich Gonsalves, A Bayliss, Bisserka Gaydarska, Peter Marshall.
This document details the design and content of the Radiocarbon Database for England, which is hosted by Historic England.
Read the report on the radiocarbon database
Sea View, Mersea Island, Essex: Radiocarbon Dating of Waterlogged Timbers
Authors: Peter Marshall, Oliver Hutchinson, Danielle Newman, Zoë Hazell, Sanne Palstra, Irka Hajdas.
Radiocarbon dating of two linear features recorded by CITiZAN at Sea View, Mersea Island, Essex has demonstrated that they were constructed from timbers felled in the late 7th–8th centuries AD.
Read the report on the Mersea Island waterlogged timbers
Point Clear, River Colne, Essex: Radiocarbon Dating of Waterlogged Timbers
Authors: Peter Marshall, Oliver Hutchinson, Danielle Newman, Gill Campbell, Sanne Palstra, Lukas Wacker.
Radiocarbon dating and chronological modelling estimates that the three dated features groups of worked wood were constructed in the second half of the sixth century AD. The function of the structures is unclear, although possibly linked to the extensive fishing industry operational at the time in the Blackwater estuary.
Read the report on the Point Clear waterlogged timbers
Dorchester Palisaded Enclosure, Greyhound Yard and Church Street, Dorchester, Dorset: Radiocarbon Dating and Chronological Modelling
Authors: Peter Marshall, A Bayliss, Michael Dee, Irka Hajdas, Susan Greaney.
Results of radiocarbon dating and chronological modelling of samples from the Dorchester palisaded enclosure, suggest that the enclosure was constructed in 2470–2430 cal BC (95% probability) and probably in 2490–2360 cal BC (68% probability).
Read the report on Dorchester palisaded enclosure
Priory House, 33 High Street South, Dunstable, Bedfordshire: Radiocarbon Dating of Twigs from the Undercroft
Authors: A Bayliss, Michael Dee, Lucy Allot, Diccon Hart, Maggie Henderson.
Radiocarbon dating and chronological modelling suggest that organic material recovered from above the vault cones of the undercroft of Priory House, Dunstable, was deposited in cal AD 1217–1269 (95% probability). This provides independent confirmation of the early/mid-13th century date for the undercroft suggested on stylistic grounds.
Read the report on Priory House
Exeter, The Old Deanery, Great Chamber, Devon: Dendrochronology and Radiocarbon Wiggle-matching of Oak Timbers
Authors: Cathy Tyers, Robert Howard, A Bayliss, Bisserka Gaydarska, Michael Dee, Sanne Palstra.
The report covers re-analysis of timbers sampled in the 1990s. One group of timbers from roof/floor joists were probability felled at a similar time in the 1410s or 1420s AD. Examination of a further 8 timbers from floor joists clearly indicates that they were imported from Northern France, and as such they are the first structural timbers identified as being imported from this source into Medieval England. These timbers are likely to have been felled as part of a single felling event between the early AD 1120s and the mid-AD 1130s.
Read the report on the Old Deanery
1 High Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire: Tree-Ring Dating of Oak Timbers
Authors: Dr Martin Bridge, Cathy Tyers.
Dating of 7 timbers shows it is likely that the present building was constructed in late AD 1441, or within a year or two after this date, using timber of local origin.
Read the report on 1 High Street
Garrick Inn, 25 High Street, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire: Tree-ring Analysis of Oak and Elm Timbers
Authors: Dr Martin Bridge, Cathy Tyers.
3 oak timbers from the first-floor front range were dated, giving a likely felling date range spanning the late-16th to early 17th centuries, in line with the expected date of about AD 1596.
Read the report on the Garrick Inn
Must Farm. Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire: Dendrochronological and Radiocarbon Dating
Authors: Ian Tyers, Peter Marshall, Bronk Ramsey, Elaine Dunbar, Irka Hajdas, Sanne Palstra, Paula Reimer, Lukas Wacker.
The Must Farm pile-dwelling site is an extraordinarily well-preserved Late Bronze Age settlement in Cambridgeshire built over a freshwater palaeochannel that was destroyed by a catastrophic fire shortly after its construction. Predating the settlement was a double-alignment of massive oak piles. This technical archive report on the tree-ring and radiocarbon analysis of samples from the site provides full details of the dendrochronological and radiocarbon dating programmes.
Read the report about Must Farm
Gigi Bottega, Flying Horse Walk, The Poultry, Nottingham: Tree-ring Analysis of Oak Timbers
Authors: Alison Arnold, Robert Howard, Cathy Tyers
Dendrochronological analysis showed that the first floor contains at least 3 timbers felled in AD 1647 and two others, which were probably felled at this date too, plus 3 timbers, which were felled in AD 1655. The cellar also contains 1 and probably 2 timbers felled in AD 1655, plus 3 others, probably cut as part of either the AD 1647 felling or that of AD 1655.
Read the report on Gigi Bottega
1 and 3 Market Place, Snaith, Snaith and Cowick, East Riding of Yorkshire: Tree-Ring Analysis and Radiocarbon Wiggle-Matching of Oak Timbers
Authors: Alison Arnold, Robert Howard, Cathy Tyers, Bisserka Gaydarska, Michael Dee, Sanne Palstra, Peter Marshall.
Wiggle-matching suggests that the final ring of this site master chronology formed in cal AD 1729–1746 (95% probability) or cal AD 1732–1739 (68% probability). This is compatible with the tentative dating produced for the site master chronology by ring-width dendrochronology, which suggests that it spans 1669–1732 AD. Interpretation of the sapwood on these samples indicates the timbers represented were all felled in 1732 AD.
Read the report on 1 and 3 Market Place, Snaith
Flag Fen, Cambridgeshire: Tree-ring Analysis of Oak Timbers
Author: Ian Tyers
The dated timbers were from the late Bronze Age and replicate tree-ring chronologies originally constructed in the 1990’s. This report archives the newest dendrochronological results and integrates them with previous studies on this important site.
Higher Uppacott, Widecombe on the Moor, Devon: Dendrochronological and Radiocarbon Analysis of Oak Timbers
Authors: Ian Tyers, Michael Dee, Peter Marshall.
The results demonstrated that the only original raised cruck truss from the roof of the longhouse was constructed from timber felled in either the mid- 14th or early 15th centuries. The hall roof contains timbers felled at the beginning and end of the 16th century.
Read the report on High Uppacott
Dovecote, South-West of the Manor House, Village Street, Naunton, Gloucestershire: Tree-Ring Investigation of Oak Timbers
Authors: Daniel Miles, Dr Martin Bridge.
8 timbers, 6 lintels and 2 purlins, were sampled from the dovecote. Although three pairs of timbers were cross-matched, all the timbers showed abrupt growth-rate changes, and none were dated.
Read the report on the dovecote, Naunton
Outbuilding to Watton Abbey, Church Lane, Watton, East Riding of Yorkshire Tree-ring analysis of oak timbers
Authors: Alison Arnold, Robert Howard, Cathy Tyers.
Neither of the site sequences nor any of the ungrouped samples could be dated by ring-width dendrochronology.
Read the report on Watton Abbey outbuilding
Church Tower, 100 Metres North of the Church of St John, Shenstone, Lichfield, Staffordshire: Tree-ring Dating of Oak Timbers
Authors: Alison Arnold, Robert Howard, Cathy Tyers.
The project resulted in the dating of 21 timbers, ranging from 15th to 17th century dates.
Blood Hill, Thetford, Norfolk: Report on Geophysical Surveys, May 2024
Authors: Megan Clements, Neil Linford, Paul Linford, Andy Payne, Nathalie Barrett.
The geophysical surveys suggest the current monument covers an original, circular barrow mound and some anomalies suggest the encircling barrow ditch has been infilled. The earth resistance and Electrical Resistivity Tomography results also support a tentative interpretation that the barrow was originally higher and has been flattened either through deliberate landscape re-shaping, erosion associated with the ride and movement across the mound, or through excavation into the monument.
White Hill, Brandon, Suffolk: Report on Geophysical Surveys, May 2024
Authors: Megan Clements, Neil Linford, Paul Linford, Andy Payne, Nathalie Barrett.
The geophysical results suggest the underlying monument at White Hill has a more diamond-like form, and a clear distinction between the mound, berm and the surrounding ditch can be seen on the north-eastern side of the monument.
Leominster Priory, Leominster, Herefordshire: Report on Geophysical Surveys, October 2023
Authors: Megan Clements, Neil Linford, Paul Linford, Andy Payne, Nathalie Barrett.
The vehicle towed caesium magnetometer survey was conducted over a large area of recreational space, known as The Grange, found to the south of the priory and produced evidence for evidence for medieval ridge and furrow cultivation. Earth resistance survey confirmed the survival of the double apsidal end to the east of the priory together with evidence to support a possible north building range of the priory cloister in Pinsley Mead.
Read the report on Leominster Priory
Ravenglass Roman Bath House, Muncaster, Cumbria: Report on Geophysical Surveys, January 2024
Authors: Megan Clements, Neil Linford.
A Ground Penetrating Radar survey was conducted at the Ravenglass Roman Bath House to support English Heritage management of the site. It aimed to determine whether overhanging masonry at the site had been subject to previous reinforcement to mitigate against collapse.
Read the report on Ravenglass.
Old Wardour Castle, Tisbury, Wiltshire: Report on Geophysical Survey, March 2024
Authors: Megan Clements, Neil Linford.
The aim of the survey was to provide a better understanding of the site of any limitations or risks relating to buried archaeology and to estimate its depth, to inform the location of temporary structures and transport of heavy equipment required for events held at the site. The results have confirmed the survival of formal garden features known from a previous earth resistance survey and suggest polygonal wall-footings of the castle may have extended further beyond the standing remains than has previously been recognised.
Read the report on Old Wardour Castle
Wroxeter Farm, Wroxeter and Uppington, Shropshire: Report on Geophysical Surveys, April and May 2024
Authors: Megan Clements, Neil Linford, Andy Payne.
The aim of the survey was to determine the location of any archaeological remains within the farmyard and extend previous geophysical coverage within the adjacent paddock in advance of possible invasive investigation.
Read the report on Wroxeter Farm
Wigmore Castle, Wigmore, Herefordshire: Report on Geophysical Survey, February 2024
Authors: Andy Payne, Megan Clements.
An earth resistance survey was conducted within the lower inner bailey to identify any significant sub-surface remains of the castle. The survey was requested by the English Heritage Trust to inform the reinstatement of visitor footpath routes to the upper shell keep.
Read the report on Wigmore Castle
Mount Grace Priory, East Harlsey, North Yorkshire: Report on Geophysical Surveys, November 2023
Authors: Megan Clements, Andy Payne.
A magnetometer and earth resistance survey were conducted at Mount Grace Priory, Staddlebridge House, Mount Bank, Northallerton, at the request of the English Heritage Trust in anticipation of planning application for a car park extension and to investigate the possible location of the medieval manor of Bordelbi. The surveys have mainly found evidence of former agricultural activity in the form of ridge and furrow cultivation.
Read the report on Mount Grace Priory
Costing Models for the Transfer of Archaeological Archives
Authors: Samantha Paul, Manda Forster.
The main aim of the project is to inform the development of a charging system for the deposition of archaeological archives that is fair, proportionate, easily understood and calculated. The purpose of the document is to outline the results of the study, providing background information, cost model options and consultation results, and to outline the recommendations of the project team.
Read the report on costing models
National Collection of Archaeological Archives Operating Model: Museum and Research Institution Needs
Authors: Manda Forster, Samantha Paul, Jenny Durrant.
The main aim of the project is to assist with the testing of the business model for a national store and collection of archaeological archives, focusing on the requirements of museum and research institutions. The purpose of the document is to outline the results of the study, providing background information and context, an outline of possible operational models, and to present consultation results and outline the recommendations of the project team.
Read the report on the National Collection of Archaeological Archives
Archaeological Sensitivity Pilot Projects
Author: Jonathan Last
Sensitivity mapping aims to assist planners and land managers to understand the potential impact of large-scale development or other landscape change on the historic environment. It indicates the likelihood of encountering significant archaeological remains in a given area, providing more upfront information for local plans and allocations than is usually available at present. The report covers Historic England’s vision for sensitivity mapping, a review of previous approaches and the components of the model.
Read the report on sensitivity mapping
Tonedale Mill and Tone Works, Wellington, Somerset: an archaeological landscape assessment of the water management system
Authors: Nicky Smith, Fiona Small, Rebecca Pullen.
The report clarifies the nature, extent and importance of the water management features, charts their development and examines the interconnections between them. This information will inform Historic England’s advice on regeneration proposals and help to underpin future site interpretation.
Read the report on Tonedale Mill and Tone Works
Flag Fen: investigating the survival and preservation of the archaeological remains to inform a management strategy
Author: Mark Knight.
This report presents the results of the Autumn 2021 condition assessment of the internationally significant Bronze Age post-alignment at Flag Fen. There is a risk of significant loss of preserved archaeology following the lowering of groundwater levels due to the draining of the surrounding fens for agriculture. The report provides new detail concerning the contextual and topographical setting of the monument and will inform the development a management plan for the site.
Excavations at West Amesbury Farm: Medieval and Post-Medieval Charred Plant Remains
Authors: Ruth Pelling.
Excavations focused on the prehistoric landscape of the south-eastern corner of the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site. An unexpected find of a sizable post medieval grain deposit within a ditch and pit provides evidence for the more recent arable activity within the landscape. Scattered medieval and post medieval arable crop remains were also encountered in several of the prehistoric feature fills.
Rutland Roman Villa Environs Aerial Mapping Project
Author: Fiona Small.
This report summarises the results of the assessment and mapping of aerial photographs and lidar data undertaken for the Rutland Roman Villa Project. As part of this project Historic England carried out an aerial investigation and mapping survey of the contextual area of 30 square kilometres around the villa.
Read the Rutland Roman villa environs report
Warbrook House, Eversley, Hampshire: Aerial Survey of the Garden and Parkland
Authors: Edward Carpenter.
Warbrook House, Eversley, Hampshire is a Grade I listed early 18th-century Palladian villa that sits within a Grade II* Registered Park and Garden that is on the Heritage at Risk Register. The house, formal garden and wider formal landscape were designed and constructed by the architect John James. This aerial survey has identified low earthworks within the formal garden and across the wider park, most of which have only been seen in lidar. Some of these appear to be the remains of the original early 18th-century garden design and allow a tentative outline of James’s original design to be suggested. The results of this survey will help in the creation of a sustainable management plan to remove Warbrook from the Heritage at Risk Register.
Read the report on Warbrook House gardens and parkland
Scunthorpe and its Environs: Air Photo and Lidar Mapping and Interpretation
Author: Alison Deegan.
This report covers known and possible Neolithic and Bronze Age burial and ritual monuments; the distribution and visibility of Iron Age and Roman landscapes; medieval and post medieval sites and landscapes and 20th-century military installations. Particular attention is given to the physical remains that survive from warping and the iron and steel industry. Warping was a process of land improvement practised in the Trent Valley in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Conserving Stained Glass Windows Using Tracery and Partial Environmental Protective Glazing: A comparative study on the efficacy of tracery, partial and full environmental protective glazing
Authors: Tobit Curteis, Domenico D’Alessandro, Stephen Clare, Jack Clare.
The research demonstrates that, although there were some minor performance variations, in general the tracery and partial environmental protective glazing performed in a similar way to full environmental protective glazing, improving thermal buffering and significantly reducing the risk of condensation on the historic glass surfaces.
Read the report on conserving stained glass windows
Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire: Historic Area Assessment
Authors: Chris Curtis, Clare Howard, Lucy Jessop.
The Sowerby Bridge Historic Area Assessment was undertaken in support of the Sowerby Bridge High Street Heritage Action Zone, a government-backed scheme aimed at using the historic environment to drive growth in historic places. This report focuses on the main thoroughfare and historic town core, including the historic County Bridge, the south-east end of Hollins Mill Lane, the southern end of Tower Hill, Town Hall Street, Wharf Street and Old Cawsey, as far as the canal basin. It provides an overview of the town’s history, development, character and value to inform key decisions about its future.
Read the report about Sowerby Bridge
The Tudor House Hotel, 52-3 High Street, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire: Historic Building Assessment
Author: Johanna Roethe.
The Tudor House Hotel is a large, timber-framed house dating probably from the 16th century, with significant 17th-century extensions. It is associated with several important figures, including Archbishop Thomas Secker (1693-1768) who studied at a Nonconformist Academy in the building and the local writer John Moore (1907-67) who spent part of his childhood there. The building has been in use as a hotel since 1929. This report sets out its history and the phases of its development.
Read the report on the Tudor House Hotel
39-41 Westgate Street, Gloucester. Historic Building Assessment
Author: Rebecca Lane.
This report presents the findings of the investigation undertaken on 39-41 Westgate Street, Gloucester. Included within the report are the results of the measured survey and photographic survey undertaken during recent works to stabilise and restore both buildings. Documentary research was also carried out to support the analysis of the two plots.
Read the report about 39-41 Westgate Street
Evaluation Report: Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings Construction Phase
Author: Historic England.
This document provides an overview of the evaluation of the Construction Phase of the Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings project. An in-depth project report has also been drafted detailing the Construction Phase of the intervention from start to finish. The preliminary findings of this evaluation report will form the basis for the final impact evaluation in 2025 which will include long-term operational findings.
Read the report about Shrewsbury Flaxmill maltings
Northumberland Square, North Shields: History, Investigation and Landscape Assessment
Authors: Lucy Jessop, Chris Curtis.
Northumberland Square was built at the start of the 19th century as part of the expansion of North Shields. The houses on the north side of the square were completed by the 1810s, whilst development around the other sides continued piecemeal over the following decades.
Read the report on Northumberland Square
81-2 Barton Street and 1-3 Mason’s Court, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire: Historic Building Investigation
Authors: Rebecca Lane, Johanna Roethe.
The buildings at 81-2 Barton Street and 1-3 Mason’s Court comprise an early 14th-century cruck-framed hall to the rear and a front range which probably dates from between 1450 and 1500. The hall is the earliest, upstanding domestic building in Tewkesbury and the town’s only cruck building. This report details the history and development of the building, based on fabric analysis and documentary research. It also discusses the findings of a previous investigation by Stanley Jones and the results of dendrochronological dating.
Read the report on 81-82 Barton Street and 1-3 Mason's Court
Cultural Heritage Capital and Wellbeing: Examining the Relationship Between Heritage Density and Life Satisfaction
Authors: Thomas Collwill.
This study investigates the impact of local cultural heritage density on individual wellbeing in England. The research estimates the average individual benefit of cultural heritage near individual residences to be £515, with a collective WELLBY (Wellbeing Adjusted Life Year) value of £29 billion across England. This quantification illustrates the significant aggregate economic and wellbeing benefits of cultural heritage. These results offer insights for policymakers on the significance of heritage conservation and its potential to improve quality of life, highlighting the intrinsic value of cultural heritage in contributing to societal wellbeing and providing a compelling argument for its preservation and integration into society development and wellbeing strategies.
Machinery for Harvesting and Processing Cereal Straw for Thatching Phase 1 Report
Author: Andy Scarlett.
The production of thatching straw is a complex, time-consuming and very weather dependent process. Many thatching straw producers use unreliable or outdated machinery and labour-intensive working systems. These potentially threaten the efficiency and long-term viability of straw production. This report details the findings of Phase 1 of research into the mechanical and operational challenges faced by those harvesting and processing thatching straw.
Explore our research reports with this map which is an on-going project that allows access to the majority of research reports produced for place-based projects. It covers most types of non-invasive surveys, including scientific analysis, such as tree ring dating and archaeobotany.
You can download this article and the other articles in this issue as a PDF format magazine.
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