Western Area of Stags Fell, North Yorkshire, Archaeological Survey

Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) was invited by Yorkshire Peat Partnership to undertake an archaeological landscape survey and an assessment of re-wetting on a portion of the western part of Stags Fell, North Yorkshire (SD 877 935). The work was undertaken in order to provide an assessment of the archaeological impact of a programme of grip (drain) blocking on the mossland. The survey was undertaken as an enhanced Level 1-type survey (EH 2007) over an area of 6.34km2.
In total, 81 features of archaeological interest were identified across the study area, although these were mainly confined to the hill slopes at the south and western edges of the study area, with very few sites being encountered within the core of the upland plateaux. Where sites were encountered within the latter, they tended to be distributed within areas of stone outcrops and escarpments, and were generally associated with stone or mineral extraction.