Hook 2023

We are delighted that we have received grant funding from the Goole Fields Wind Farm fund, and permission from the landowner and the Government to do a small excavation on the moated site at Hook, which is a scheduled ancient monument. The dig will start in April 2023. 

Everything has to come to an end ...

Well, our excavations at Hook Manor have come to an end for this year. However, we might return at some time to do some work outside of the scheduled monument.  

In the meantime, grateful thanks to Phil for kindly creating and sharing this brilliant 3D image of Trench 2:

The last couple of visits to the site have involved pretty much finalising and clearing up.  Here is a selection of pics of some of our fantastic volunteers who have braved the weather (well, it's mostly been rather good, actually!) over the past few months to try to unearth the story of the medieval moated site at Hook.

Here are some close-ups of the trenches and a pic of just some of the many finds:

Day 27

Well, trench 2 was mostly having its sections drawn today. But we decided to remove the rest of the stone from structure 1 foundations. Right at the limit of our SMC depth allowance. And we found more substantial stone in a clay bonding. Better foundations for structure 1 than the larger structure 2. Photos showing us about to be rained off half an hour early! Trench 3 is frustratingly less obviously an earlier excavation trench apparently undertaken by a school some years ago.

We also planned the roughly 30m x 30m rectangle of poor grass growth / better growth of docks and nettles on the northern platform. This plant growth is is more commonly associated with disturbed ground but can also be caused by higher nitrate levels, sometimes caused by animal waste ( even after 400 odd years). So is this area a courtyard with buildings around it? Or the result of modern activity? Interesting!

Day 26

Nearing completion of trench 2. Two phases of structure. Two demolition phases and interesting different dumping patches / layers in the creation of the two phases of the platform. Phase 2 involves demolition, addition of about 50cm of warp as the moat is enlarged and then the building of a larger building ( possibly) with less substantial foundations.

Day 25

That was a hard day! Coring a transect across the shallow inner moat. Quite a lot of material had slumped down the sides of the inner moat as the larger moat material was used to build up the platform either side. We located the organic deposits in the moat though. Looking forward to drawing the transect.

Day 24

We have taken another look at the geophysics of the moat platforms. Here is a tentative interpretation of the north east corner facing the church. We have located the foundation / damp proofing for the north wall of a building. We have also observed poor grass growth on the platform in a roughly rectangular patch that matches the geophys (apart from a red splodge of dumping). This may be a courtyard around which the buildings may have stood. Our trenches here did not have so much domestic pottery as the demolition deposits on the south platform. But some of the buildings to the north must have been accommodation to be able to house baby Margaret Despenser and her 'large retinue' in the early 1300s.

Day 23

A pleasantly dry but cool summers day at Hook today. We finished Trench 1 and 1a, apart from some recording. This located the stone foundation / damp proof  course to a building on the platform in the North East corner. Going back to the geophys, and observing the grass growth, we wonder if we have a courtyard building here. Maybe giving the site more accommodation, or even taking on the role of hall from the more southerly platform.

On the Southern platform we had some really interesting developments. The strange pile of stone was further revealed and it became evident that it is rectangular, disappearing north under the side of the trench. So maybe we have the foundation of the earlier hall on this platform. I say earlier because there was a post hole above it. We also finished defining a tree root bowl, that shows how many small trees and shrubs grew on the site some 20 years ago.

During the course of the day, Jon took time out to audition for Strictly Come Dancing :-)  Thank you to Jane and Anthony for these brilliant photographs!

Day 22

A warm ( well hot) day, quite muggy, but the weather didn't break while we were there. Here we are looking more deeply at the construction of the moat platforms. Thanks again to Jane for the images!

Day 21

Well that was a very rainy day at Hook - but we didn't let rain stop play!  After a good chat about when we might finish, I am going to carry on (as long as there is something to learn) until 18th July. If anything still needs doing we can use a few days in August.

Not every day in community archaeology is sunny, but you can still dance 😁

Thanks for bringing an umbrella supply Barry 😁.  And thanks, Jane, for another great selection of photographs!

Day 20

A rather humid day at Hook today, but we made good progress. Trying to work out what was going on on the top north east corner of the site, where we have a wall foundation, but it's not clear which way a building went, north or south of the foundation. In the south east corner of trench two we have taken most of the trench down below the level of the two post holes and possible foundation to look for the stone based feature.  This seems to be part of an earlier version of the hall on this 'domestic / hall' platform.

Day 19

We returned to look in a bit more detail at the geophys on Tuesday. Here are the results taking as much data as we can. It still doesn't show any obvious linear features. I suggest the reds are demolition spreads like we have already encountered in trench 2. You can now see our trenches on Google Earth!  Rather blurry though. We are thinking about where we can ask about excavating our last 3m x 3m (or combination of that area). Do we seek to confirm the wall of a building on the platform near trench 2? Look for more of the wall in trench 1? Re-excavate the spot where we think a school dig took place, finding edge on tiles? Interpreted by the school as a floor, suspected by Jon to be a hearth.

Day 16

Another fun day at Hook Manor!

Day 15

Another great day at Hook Garth. Thanks again to the teams in trenches 1 & 2 and to the finds team. 

In trench 1 we think we have identified the north east corner of a building. We are locating the remains of the clay lower fill of the foundation trench and a little of the stone foundation on the darker clay fill. Interestingly the house isn't lined up square with the moat, or of course with our trenches (which are lined up with the moat). It seems that the building is placed to face the bridge onto the moat platform to look impressive as you come in. This would suggest that the bridge was situated to the north on the church side or to the east on the village side. We also found a stone fragment that might have a slot in it. This may be part of a door hinge arrangement and possibly part of a stone threshold.

In trench 2 we still hold out hopes that we have the foundation of the building that was the actual east end of the Manorial Hall. What we initially interpreted as a large post hole with stone at the bottom may actually be the hole containing a cistern, maybe of wood or lead, that was cut into the ground. This probably contained water or was for undertaking activities like those which would be carried out in the pantry. The cistern hole appears to have collapsed in on the removal of the tank or barrel, making the original cut for the hole difficult to locate. The other feature still seems like a post hole. Part of the back fill is a strange deposit of interleaved clay and fine sand (see the closeup image)...

Such a cistern would suggest that the pantry end of the hall is to the east, making the accommodation at the west end of the moat platform.

Day 14

Puzzles stayed puzzling today. But it's all fascinating stuff. The feature with stone at the bottom is a bit too big for a post hole now. Wonder whether it is still structural. We need to work out its edges, which is proving difficult in the clay rich soils.  However, Rosemary had a great idea - we damped down the clay at the east end of trench 2 and covered it with tarpaulins.  Hopefully that will make it easier for us on Tuesday!

Day 13

We had a visit from a drone today!  Check out some of the pictures here!

Another hot sunny day. 

Trench 1 continued to be interesting, Phil did a great job of excavating down into the foundation trench, we clearly have a foundation fill below the stone consisting of more pure clay. Very nice, sadly we may not be able to bottom the trench unless it stops within 10cm 🤣...

In the extension to Trench 1 (Trench 1a, I suppose), we have plenty of interesting stone and some pottery. But we are not seeing the foundation core yet.

In Trench two the large post hole saga continues. One of the posts has a pad of limestone fragments at its base. We had a glimpse of what looks like the bottom and conveniently it is at our limit of 80cm. More to look out for, if the posts are part of an aisled hall, can we find the wall foundation to the east?

Day 12

Here we are getting plenty of sun investigating possible large post holes (pits) and searching for the foundation or foundation trench at the east end of a building. Also looking for the east side of a building in trench 1 (new bit)...

Also in Trench 1, we have taken the end off the remaining foundation. It may have revealed a clay base. We need to investigate to see if we can find the bottom of the construction cut for the foundation trench.

Day 11

We are busily extending trench 2 in the hope that we will find the east wall of a building on the south platform of the site. Also excavating a large pit or post hole. It shows as a lighter coloured soil in the picture ( before Gary started to excavate it). In trench 1 we have just taken off the top soil from a second trench. We have separated the trench on the big north platform in two, to try to find the corner of the building wall / foundation we found earlier. Although the structure we have found seems to be a foundation, we have found some limestone that has been near a fire and other fragments with plaster (possibly painted) which must have formed part of a building. So at least some of the building above ground was using stone and brick. We have only found a small amount of broken brick, suggesting a lot was recycled on demolition and that only certain parts of the building were in brick and or stone. Probably chimneys and fire breasts.

Here are a few of today's exciting finds.  Thank you to Jane for the use of her pics!

It is possible that the ewer handle, below, may be Humberware.  Harold Garside also mentioned finding pieces of Humberware during his dig on the site in the 1960's.

Humberware is a type of Medieval pottery produced in West Yorkshire (now the East Riding) in the late 13th to early 16th Centuries.  Two of the best known production sites are at West Cowick and Holme-on-Spalding-Moor.

The glaze on Humberware is usually olive or brownish green. Decoration is usually limited to bands of horizontal grooving on the shoulders or neck, with occasional patterns of wavy combing, rouletting, or stamping.  Finger or thumb prints of the potters are often found on the pieces - as may be seen on the upper lefthand corner of the ewer handle found at the site.

Day 9(a)

Another busy day at Hook. Jane and Carol did stirling work sorting out the finds. The collection of Medieval pottery is growing. Nothing post modern, no slip ware or tobacco pipe or the like at all. 

In Trench 1 we were busy recording the wall (foundation or core) and also checking out the potential path of the wall to the east by probing the ground. It certainly carries on west, but does it turn south before reaching the moat?

In Trench 2 we started to extend east towards the moat, hoping to find a wall that way. Fingers crossed. Big thanks to the team today.

Day 8

A other good day on site at Hook today.  A huge thankyou to everyone who got stuck in during a hard day's work.

In trench 1 We removed most of the deposit that covers the stone wall "core" or foundation. We did it in 5 different chunks, but it really does look like a single thick deposit. Clay rich but possibly ploughed after the demolition of the house, moving fragments of the stone wall around and having a very few finds (pottery and animal bone) mixed in. The ploughing / initial cultivation after demolition makes it difficult to see a medieval ground level on this part of the site. We now need to record our wall and then open out the trench to see what else remains of the wall, is it part of a building?

In trench 2 we got through the demolition deposit and didn't reveal a wall or floor that we hoped for. It's not clear whether this too was ploughed soon after demolition. All the roof tile and a little brick suggests a building, but we need to extend the trench to look for a wall here to match trench 1.

Day 7

Another pleasant Sunday ay Hook. Fewer people than usual as it's a Bank Holiday Sunday. Big thanks to the team in trench 2 who carried on painstakingly toweling through the demolition deposits, hopefully overlying foundations.

In Trench 1 we just had two people. Taking down sections through the 'stripe' of stone, where I was clinging on to the hope that we would find evidence for  a foundation. Poor Mike excavated his slot down and found absolutely nothing! (See the first image.) Then went home to watch Leeds Utd play Bournemouth. Sorry Mike all in all a bad day... But next door to Mike, Andy found what looks very much like a stone foundation, or the core of a wall with the outer faced stone stripped away. Which is great!

Day 6

This Tuesday we pressed on cleaning up lots of finds. Mostly stone chips from trench 1, but a few nails and some medieval pot too. And lots of Building Material from trench 2, ceramic roof tile, a few brick fragments and a scatter of mortar. We also have medieval pottery and nails here too.

We are not sure what we have in trench 1 yet, a foundation (getting less likely), or demolition, or the making up of the platform on a corner with no building. The stone chips might then be construction waste rather than demolition. The pottery from trench 1 may give us a date for the final rebuilding of the triple platform version of the site!

In trench 2 we are still painstakingly picking our way trough demolition deposits. This is already giving us evidence that what ever was demolished had a tile roof and utilised some bricks (probably for chimneys and chimney breasts.

So plenty more to discover yet!

Day 5

Another busy day at Hook. Steadily working our way through the demolition deposits in trench 2. Investigating the stone 'stripe' in trench 1. We started the day hoping the 'stripe' was a stone filled foundation trench. But in most parts it didn't have the depth for that. So the day ended with the sun breaking through and trench 1 being enigmatic.

Day 4

Trench 1 on the platform to the north of the site may have come down directly onto medieval archaeology. We need to investigate whether we are looking at demolition dumping or the top of a foundation deposit. 

The second image shows further progress excavating through the demolition deposits on the southern platform, trench 2. This is where we hope we are seeing evidence for the demolished homestead on this platform.

Day 3

A good morning at Hook Manor, we managed to recover enough components to rebuild the tent. This time staked down at all four corners and the damaged door section is at the back. While we were putting things together we also got plenty of finds washed and both trenches recorded by drawings and 3D photography ( thanks to Phil).

Trench 1 is looking interesting and Jon is wondering whether we are on an occupation layer already. We will investigate those circular features amongst the stones tomorrow.

Trench 2 looks to still be liberally covered with demolition material. Plenty of roof tile and a smattering of medieval pot. So we will carry on taking that down to see how deep it is.

We opened two trenches measuring 5 x 3 meters. We have permission for 10 x 3 but we want to see what we are finding before opening up fully. We have sought to avoid modern dumping on both trenches and we seem to have done so. A few modern finds but mostly fragments of earlier/ probably medieval demolition material mixed up into a horticultural soil dumped on the site to make it useful for pasture or growing crops. Below the horticultural soil we are revealing a demolition 'horizon'. Time to clean and record, before applying for permission to go ahead to remove the demolition. Trench 1, to the north of the site seems to have a clay layer containing limestone fragments. Trench 2 the top of a thicker demolition deposit containing brick and tile and a medieval dish rim.

Prologue

On Sunday 2nd April, Jon (our community archaeologist) presented a brilliant workshop at St Mary's Church, Hook, about what we've done so far, what we're hoping to find and what's involved. 

The weather was very kind to us and we had a lovely day putting up the Marquee, discussing the excavation and finding out what to expect during the dig.

We now can't wait to get started!

We're keen to provide opportunities for interested local people to volunteer to be involved in the excavation. We will be working on Sundays to make it accessible for those with weekday commitments. 

We can welcome a small number of children if their parent or a carer is with them. 

Any questions, drop Liz an email:  liz@jkcomarc.co.uk.