Important historic remains unearthed in Bridlington
Submitted by coldrum on Wednesday, 01 July 2009 Page Views: 2637
DiscoveriesRemains of some of the earliest houses ever found in the North of England have been unearthed in Bridlington.Archaeologists have discovered that buildings stood on the site of the current Cottage Farm development more than 5,000 years ago.
In a significant find, a team uncovered remains of houses, fields, kilns and people during excavations of the area, on the north side of town
The findings are detailed in a book A Place By The Sea which is due to be launched at North Bridlington Library this morning.
Author Chris Fenton-Thomas said: "This part of East Yorkshire, from Flamborough Head to Rudston and the Gypsey Race Valley, is famous for large ceremonial monuments from the Neolithic period, but it is very rare to find the houses where people were living.
"We found remains of at least three buildings, which were from between 3500 and 3000 BC.
"These are some of the first Neolithic houses ever to be discovered in the north of England, making them some of the earliest buildings ever found here."
The dig was carried out between 2000 and 2004, before Redrow built 380 new homes on the site.
The results provide some eye-opening information about Bridlington's history.
Mr Fenton-Thomas said: "We knew there was archaeology here but had no idea how much until we started digging. The geophysical survey had shown up a load of ditches and we thought they would be Iron Age or Roman.
"In one of the trenches by the farmhouse we found loads of broken flints and pottery and this we soon realised was Neolithic.
"This was 2,500 years older than expected. We then dug a bit deeper we found the remains of several houses. They had cobble floors and postholes.
"Neolithic houses are very rare in England. The only other one from the the north of England had been found in Driffield in the 1980s.
"Here we had at least three, the first group ever found in the north. We know very little about people lived in the Neolithic. Whether they stayed in one place or moved around, whether they grew crops or kept animals.
"Sites like this help us to find out a little bit more.
"After we found the houses we kept making the trench bigger and bigger as more remains came up. In the end we were digging there on and off for five years."
A Place By The Sea, which has 363 pages featuring 196 illustrations, costs £25, and a copy has been donated to North Bridlington Library.
A display of some of the discoveries found at the site will be on show at today's opening, which takes place at 11am.
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