Medieval mill to be excavated in county’s national park
LOTTERY funding of almost £10,000 has enabled a local archaeology group to plan a summer excavation of a site in Northumberland National Park.
Thanks to a grant of £9,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), members of the Coquetdale Community Archaeology group will lead a survey and excavation work in the River Coquet near Barrowburn, around 10 miles west of Ingram, from mid-July.
The object is to uncover more remnants of what is believed to be a medieval fulling mill operated by local monks.
Following erosion some remains were spotted in the bank and in the river by one of the group’s members last year.
Since then, further investigation work has been carried out, including consulting a timber specialist at the Museum of London who has agreed that the timber remains appear to date from the right period.
Documentary evidence from Newminster Abbey in Morpeth indicates that a fulling mill, which processed cloth, was operating at this location early in the 13th century
According to an account by local antiquarian David Dippie Dixon, some remains were still visible in the late 19th century, and now it is hoped to uncover more of them in case further erosion destroys the site altogether.
Chris Butterworth, chairman of Coquetdale Community Archaeology, said: “We are really pleased to have been awarded this grant by the Heritage Lottery Fund as this work must be carried out sooner rather than later.
“When we start will depend on river levels as we will have to work in the River Coquet itself.
“But, the whole group is very enthusiastic about the project and our volunteers will be coming from across Northumberland to take part.”
Local schools and universities will also be involved in project work and the group intends to set up a website with blogs to report regularly on the progress of the dig.
The volunteers will be led by archaeologist Richard Carlton, director of the Tyneside-based Archaeological Practice.
His participation as project director has been secured through the lottery grant funding.
He said: “It’ll be a challenging excavation for the group, depending on the weather and river levels. But by the end we’ll hope to know far more about how the monks operated this mill at Barrowburn by establishing the context of this structure and building an understanding of its role in the wider landscape.”
English Heritage is also a partner-funder in the project and has given the group an award of £2,500, while other grants have come from the Council for British Archaeology and the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Head of the HLF for the north east, Ivor Crowther, said: “This is a really fascinating project which will uncover the important medieval treasures that are currently lying beneath the River Coquet.
“Volunteers are a pivotal part of all Heritage Lottery Fund projects, so it is great to see this community group alongside local schools and universities getting hands on with their heritage and sharing the finds with local schools and universities.”
“We are looking forward to seeing the findings,” he added.
The Heritage Lottery Fund has supported more than 30,000 projects, allocating £4.5billion across the UK, including £214million in the north east alone.
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Weather for Berwick-Upon-Tweed
Thursday 24 May 2012
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