More information : NY 46002665. Early medieval structures have been identified north andwest of Dacre Church (See NY 42 NE 5) during excavations to
investigate the existence and extent of an early Anglo Saxon monastic
site referred to by Bede in the early 8th century.
North of the church excavation confined to two N-S trenches provided
evidence for structures of an early medieval date. Between the
trenches resistivity survey indicated an area of regularly defined
high resistance, probably corresponding to a structure aligned on the
church. Survey of earthworks to the north of the church revealed at
least 7 platforms which are possibly the sites of buildings.
West of the church excavation provided evidence for a series of
boundary features, possibly of the earlier churchyard or a monastic
precinct. South of the church a ditch and bank is possibly associated with an early medieval drain discovered in 1930. To the west of this feature is a large rectangular platform possibly for a building circa 20m in length, and aligned NW-SE.
At present there is insufficient evidence to establish with certainty
the existence of the monastery. However, evidence from excavations
within the churchyard extension show that to the north of the present
church a terrace was cut at least 1.8m into the hillside, within whichwas constructed a building at least 16m long, parallel to the church, and abandoned by the 14th century at the latest. (1)(2)
Excavation of a cemetery, probably dating from the 8th or 9th century,to the north of St Andrew's Church, has strengthened the theory that there was a monastery on the site, (see NY 42 NE 5). Hinges found on the coffins are similar to those found during recent excavations at monasteries at Jarrow and Monkwearmouth in Northumberland. (3)
Fourth and final season of excavations in 1985 north of the church and around the drain to the south, first examined in 1929. The excavations strongly suggest that Dacre was a substantial pre-Conquest religious site, probably the monastery referred to by Bede in AD 731.
The finds suggest that the drain, cemetery and possibly the west structures excavated in 1983-4 were extant in the C8th and C9th. A period of erosion followed, during which time the exact position of the cemetery was forgotton, before the medieval churchyard was laid out and a croft established immediately outside the consecrated ground.
The excavations suggest that any major buildings associated with the C8th-C10th activity lie beneath the medieval cemetery and the church. To be published in a monograph of the Trans Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquity and Archaeology Society series, with finds deposited in the Tullie House Museum, Carlisle. (4)(5)
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