Danes Dyke: Archaeologists find Iron Age farm with evidence of Whitby jet workings beneath holiday park on the Yorkshire coast

An excavation was carried out on land close to Bridlington Links Golf Club and the Danes Dyke Inn at Sewerby as part of a new phase in a development of holiday cabins by Pure Leisure Ltd.

York-based contractors LS Archaeology were invited onto the site as part of planning conditions for the scheme, and discovered remains of pastoral land management dating from the Iron Age to the Romano-British period (750BC-43AD). Nearby is Danes Dyke itself, a defensive earthwork built to protect the Flamborough headland that is now a Prehistoric Scheduled Monument.

They found a large rectangle-shaped enclosure near a trackway with visible wheel ruts that was exposed for 68 metres. The path appeared to lead from the shore towards Danes Dyke, though its start and end points could not be conclusively determined.

The enclosure would have had banks on either site of its ditch to create a secure holding space. There was evidence of a wooden entrance or gateway, and although the experts do not believe people ever lived in the space, fragments of Whitby jet were found within it, suggesting the famous stone was being used to manufacture other items.

Archaeologists also found stone tools, pottery fragments, and flint working waste that was dated to the earlier Mesolithic and Neolithic eras.

There were also the remains of animal control features, including crescent-shaped ditch shelters that would have formed the foundations of wooden pens. These buildings would have likely been used for raising sheep or by craftsmen.

LS Archaeology project manager Donna Signorelli said: “The results from these excavations enhance our knowledge of prehistoric human activity in and around Danes Dyke. A talk showcasing the results was recently held at Bridlington Links Golf Club. Many of those who attended had purchased cabins at the site and were keen to hear about the past that is buried benath under their holiday home.”

Danes Dyke, which runs north to south and encloses the North and South Landings where boats were launched from, is thought to date from the Bronze Age, though it was later named in honour of Viking invaders.