Projects

Researching religion

During the BitNE project, much survey and excavation work was completed. Reports on all this work will be available here. In future, we aim to continue with this work, enabling local volunteers to work alongside professional archaeologists to investigate various aspects of the North East’s religious heritage using a range of different techniques. During 2024, some survey projects will be ongoing, and attempts will be made to secure funding for further small-scale excavations. Summaries of all this work, followed in due course by detailed reports, will be made available here.

Frosterley marble altar dating from about 1900, All Saints Church, Helmsley (North Yorkshire).

Frosterley Marble

Medieval

Exploring the use of Frosterley Marble in churches and other buildings in North-East England and beyond.

Allendale Henge

Neolithic – Early Bronze Age

In 2015, during a Lidar Landscapes survey of the Allen Valleys undertaken as part of the Altogether Archaeology project, a very curious earthwork was recorded just west of Allendale Town.

Stone Crosses

Medieval

Stone crosses once formed an important part of the religious landscape of NE England. They could be found in market squares and churchyard, as well as marking paths and routeways, often in remote locations.

Church graffiti

Medieval

As well as being the sites of formal monuments and memorials, the extent of informal writing, carving and drawing in the form of graffiti surviving in our parish churches is becoming increasingly apparent.

Rock Art

Neolithic – Early Bronze Age

Arguably the most enigmatic archaeological sites in the region, the panels of ‘cup-and-ring’ rock art that litter some upland landscapes