Went out last week with Charles onto the big field. Measured the angle that the centre-line of the road makes with respect to North: 22 degrees E (approx NNE). This will allow us to draw the direction of the road on a map and estimate where to survey next. Our best guess is the paddock behind the bungalow on the corner of Sheriff Hutton Road and Pottery Lane, "Springfield".


We also measured-in the centre-line of the road on the fences at the top and bottom of the field - this will make it easier to locate the road in the future without having to construct the survey base lines.


A new survey base line was set up and measured-in so we can make a start with the survey of the ridge & furrow to the east of the road towards the river. We may have to wait until after the grass has been cut, as currently it's like walking through a thin layer of treacle (and will get thicker, again!).

Field survey update

  

This is the final survey plot of our road in the big field using earth resistance equipment. The two linear features are clear from top to bottom of the field if a bit wobbly in the middle (due to slight mis-alignment of the survey grids - well, that's my story). Overall length of the survey about 324m. Total no. of grids in the plot = 40. Each grid needed 400m of data collection. So between us, we've walked at least 16 kilometres or 10 miles! I get tired just thinking about that!

Next up is the survey of the ridge & furrow to the east/right of the road. Would someone care to do a sun dance?

Field survey update

The final 6 grids of the road survey were completed today. Apart from when we were laying out the grids, we were lucky that the showers held off and the sun shone (on the righteous!). The left-hand North-South feature can be seen clearly and there is also no sign of any other road joining. The ridge & furrow features running East-West are prominent. Next up for survey are the ridge & furrow features seen on the earlier survey results. We'll get round to them later in the summer, perhaps, when the grass has been cut.

The full survey results will follow soon.

Field survey update

The survey plot (left) is the latest one available - it's taken a while to put together as there is a lot of data to process. It shows the two parallel linear features clearly, running North/South from one end of the field to the other, over a distance of 324m (it's a big field!). You can also see a series of horizontal lines running East/West, which are thought to be the remains of ridge and furrow.

I estimate that a further 6 grids will be needed to finish off the "Roman road" survey. To see if and how far the ridge and furrow remains extend, a large area of the field will have to be surveyed (maybe up to 40 grids!) but this depends on time, good weather, survey method and our enthusiasm for the task.

Andrew Hall isn't aware of these results yet. I hope to see him soon to bring him up to date. Maybe broach the subject of excavation?

Field survey update

Six & a bit grids surveyed today. The whole length of the road/track from top to bottom of the field has now been recorded. The filling-in detail has started to pick up the lefthand linear feature, which can be seen on the left of the survey plot.

Field survey update

The forecast rain held off. Yippee! Another 4 grids surveyed. Jon Kenny suggets that the horizontal features (left & in previous blog) could be the relicts of ridge and furrow. Further investigations required. Going out again tomorrow (Wednesday) to survey the last 4 grids to complete the survey from one end of the field to the other.

Field survey update

Six more grids completed - 8 to go. Six horizontal linear features identified - could be field drains? The vertical linear feature is a continuation of the righthand feature seen on the previous survey plots. The lefthand feature is just visible in the top left corner. Additional grids will be surveyed to the left of this area in order to pick this feature up again.