Of course Grim is not the archaeology or, at most times, the site conditions, but the name of a significant prehistoric boundary crossing this area of West Yorkshire.

Gav Robinson will be summarising 16 years of archaeological works associated with the Thorpe Park project at a talk for the East Riding Archaeological Society on Wednesday 19th December at 07:30 PM in the Wilberforce LT2 room at the University of Hull.

The archaeological works associated with the Thorpe Park project investigated evidence spanning approximately 8,000 years and represent a significant addition to the understanding of West Yorkshire's past. Regionally significant remains were recorded including a rare example of an unenclosed roundhouse, likely of Early Iron Age date, and a developing later Iron Age and Romano-British landscape of fields, trackways, enclosures and settlements. An assemblage of Mesolithic worked flint and a Middle Neolithic deposit of burnt stone and charcoal were also encountered. Furthermore, dating of material sealed beneath the bank associated with Grim’s Ditch via Optically Stimulated Luminescence dating suggested a Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age date for the construction of this nationally important monument.

Of special importance were coal-mining remains spanning at least the 18th (but possibly the 17th) to late 19th centuries investigated during the project. These included early bell pits, shafts and galleries, and a later 19th-century shaft (Ellen Pit) and its associated structures, drainage and railway. Also recorded were a variety of early drainage measures including culverts that encircled some shafts, as well as railway embankments, a bridge and a building associated with Brown Moor Colliery.

For more information about the talk and a link to the East Riding of Yorkshire Society events page click here.