More information : [SE 27666745, SE 27846774 & SE 27906736]
Intrenchment [G.T.] [In three places] [SE 27786762] Fish Pond
[G.T.] (Site of) [T.I.] (1)
On the east of How Hill near Fountains Abbey are traces of
entrenchments, probably the abode of a Celtic tribe, one earthwork
is a deep trench and double vallum, 1650 ft. from north to south.
The vallum in some places is 6ft. high and 20 ft. across. The other
entrenchment is about 1100 ft. long running east to west. (2)
A grant dated 1259 refers to a dispute between the Abbot [of
Fountains Abbey] and William de Merkynfeld concerning the enclosure
at their grange of High Marker. Several other undated grants also
refer to the fosse at Morker. (3)
The published survey (O.S.25" 1912) has been revised.
The earthworks comprise a well defined earth and stone bank with
external ditch, forming two sides of a large sub-rectangular
enclosure. This enclosed area includes high ground along the
western side, shelving to marsh in the east. A shapeless break in
both bank and ditch at SE 27686768 cannot now be identified as
an original entrance; although a sunken grass track traceable from
Fountains Abbey appears to be directed towards the enclosure at
this point.
To the west, and centred at SE 27366762, a linear earthwork of
similar proportions partly encloses an area roughly semi-circular
in shape. This additional bank and ditch has indications of a
connection with the main enclosure at SE 27586755 suggesting a
coeval purpose.
The enclosures are poorly sited, and are undoubtedly non-defensive.
The enclosed ground is pastoral, and has no signs of rig and furrow
within its banks. The remains of a fish pond, now drained by a
modern ditch, and slight traces of crofts in the northern portion
of the main earthwork probably comprise the site of the former
grange and outbuildings; as the existing farmhouse of High Morker
is modern.
There is no evidence that the entrenchment pre-dates the monastic
grange, and it is therefore likely to be contemporary with it. (4)
Minor changes only to published depiction. (5)
The remains of a monastic grange belonging to Fountains Abbey at Ninevah Farm. It is believed that the grange was founded in the mid-13th century on the site of the medieval settlement of Herleshow (see SE 26 NE 6) and continued in use as an extramural farm up to the Dissolution of the Monastries in 1539. The construction of the grange involved the destruction of some of the village and the erection of some new buildings. The most prominent earthwork associated with the grange is an enclosing bank and ditch. They survive on the western side as a low bank 0.3 metres high with a partly infilled outer ditch 0.5 metres wide. Along the northern and western sides of the field the earthworks are more sunstantial with the bank being up to 6 metres wide and 2 metres high. The enclosing earthwork was constructed to form a stock control as well as to define the area both physically and symbolically. The remains in the field to the south of Ninevah include along the western side a substantial bank and external ditch surviving to the west of the top of the slope. The bank is up to 1 metre high and 6 metres wide and the ditch is 0.6 metres deep and 5.5 metres wide. At the southern end the bank and ditch turns and extends eastward down the slope to enclose the southern end of a hollow. At the eastern side the bank and ditch no longer survive but their line is preserved in the field boundary which extends north at the top of the rise to the east of the hollow. At the south western end of the field are at least two building platforms built on terraces cut into the sheltered lower slope. These are the remains of buildings associated with animal husbandry. Scheduled. (6)
Earthworks pertaining to the remains of Morker Grange are visible on air photos and lidar imagery in the two fields that lie to the north and south of the farmstead now known as Ninevah (previously High Morker). As described above one of the main features are is the enclosing ditch and bank arrangement. Authority 4 above describes a “large sub-rectangular enclosure†and another to the west “roughly semi-circular in shape The latter is now recorded in UID1588162 and is thought to be part of the boundary ditch and perhaps associated with Fountain’s Park.
In so far as it can be traced from the air photos and lidar imagery the Morker Grange enclosure appears to comprise of two parts, one in the field to the north and the other in the field to the south of Ninevah. In the north, the west, north and eastern boundaries define an elongated rectangular area oriented near east to west and are represented by straight and regular ditches and banks. In the south field the enclosure is defined by less regular banks, and double banks in part and is near rectangular in plan on a north to south alignment. As such the overall area enclosed by these boundaries is T-shaped rather than sub-rectangular. However the extant boundary that runs between the north and south portions and through Ninevah may in fact mark an original division between two conjoined enclosure.
The northern part contains some distinctive features. The western end of the enclosed ground is separated from land to the east by a broad ditch and bank boundary and may be divided into small rectilinear enclosure by two low scarp slopes (SE2757 6759). Two the immediate east (and north of Ninevah) is an area of complex earthworks that appear to be the remains of conjoined building platforms and buildings (centred at SE2764 6764), which as authority 4 suggests, may be the site of the grange and outbuildings. The eastern half of this part of the enclosure is drained by a substantial water channel though it is not clear if this is a contemporary or later feature. To the east of Ninevah and largely obscured by trees on the air photos, the lidar imagery suggests a well-defined building platform surrounded by a small moat (SE2776 6758), and other small poorly-defined mounds.
Historical Ordnance Survey maps indicate “Fish Pond (Site of)†at SE2775 6761. Scarps and banks around this area may have marked the edges of this feature but there is also an amorphous hollow at SE2781 6762 which may have been the remains of a later and degraded form of the pond.
Turning to the southern part of the overall enclosed area. Here the ground is more undulating than the north and there are areas of fairly low-lying land especially along the eastern boundary. South of Ninevah there are a series of earthworks that may have been enclosures or crofts (SE2773 6748). These may be the remains of the village that stood on the site before the grange was established (see authority 6 above). Similarly the line of possible building platforms aligned near east to west on the south-east side of Ninevah may be pre-grange settlement remains (SE2783 6752).
The more southerly part of the enclosure contains fewer earthworks, with the exceptions of two internal boundaries, aligned east to west and traces of post medieval ridge and furrow (see UID 1588066). Though how much of this absence is due to the lack of lidar coverage in this area is not clear. Intriguingly some recent photography suggests a group of narrow earthwork banks on an area of flat ground near the southern boundary SE2781 6728. These may be indicative a building complex.
Overall these feature survive as earthworks with apparently little change from the date of the earliest air photos although arable cultivation has encroached on the south-eastern corner of the boundary at SE2792 6725. (7-15)
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