Speeton Moor Linear Earthwork

The Speeton Moor boundary belongs to a group of coastal earthworks recorded in the Reighton parish gazetteer of the 2008 Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment. Its line appears on Robert Knox’s map of 1821 and was later identified as a ditch cropmark extending east-north-east. Near the cliff edge, the survey recorded an upstanding section and possible traces of a bank on the southern side. Related records describe adjacent cropmarks and a branching dyke, demonstrating that the feature has been catalogued in several parts. The report discusses a possible Bronze Age or Iron Age origin, but its date is not securely established by excavation. These remains provide evidence of an earlier boundary across the coastal landscape. They should be distinguished from nearby medieval village earthworks and twentieth-century military structures. Period: Possible Bronze Age or Iron Age; dating unconfirmed Grid reference: TA 16500 74940 Protection: Not verified Source: Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment North Yorkshire (2008), https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-868-1/dissemination/pdf/RCZA_vol_4_Whitby_to_Reighton/RCZA1dgazeteer.pdf (Source report copyright Humber Field Archaeology 2008; narrative is an original factual summary). J. Buglass and T. Brigham / Humber Field Archaeology; English Heritage Project 3729; North Yorkshire HER Banner photo: "Linear earthwork on Speeton Moor - geograph.org.uk - 6541875" by Christine Johnstone, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 2.0.