Details

The monument includes a late prehistoric enclosed settlement, occupying a
natural terrace overlooking the River Aire in a prominent position in Crosley
Wood, Bingley.
The enclosure is an approximate oval, 80m long and 65m wide. It has a rubble
bank, of which some stretches are faced with orthostats. Other stretches may
also have originally been so faced, but the orthostats have been removed in
the past, leaving a low rubble bank. Excavation in 1964-65 showed that the
enclosure wall consisted of two lines of orthostats with a sandstone rubble
infill, forming a wall 3m wide. The wall survived to a height of 0.5m.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

The Pennine uplands of northern England contain a wide variety of prehistoric
remains, including cairns, enclosures, carved rocks, settlements and field
systems. These are evidence of the widespread exploitation of these uplands
throughout later prehistory. During the last millennium BC a variety of
different types of enclosed settlements developed. These include hillforts,
which have substantial earthworks and are usually located on hilltops. Other
types of enclosed settlement of this period are less obviously defensive, as
they have less substantial earthworks and are usually in less prominent
positions. In the Pennines a number of late prehistoric enclosed settlements
survive as upstanding monuments. Where upstanding earthworks survive, the
settlements are between 0.4ha and 10ha in area, and are usually located on
ridges or hillside terraces. The enclosing earthworks are usually slight, most
consisting of a ditch with an internal bank, or with an internal and external
bank, but examples with an internal ditch and with no ditch are known. They
are sub-circular, sub-rectangular, or oval in shape. Few of these enclosed
settlements have been subject to systematic excavation, but they are thought
to date from between the Late Bronze Age to the Romano-British period (c.1000
BC-AD 400). Examples which have been excavated have presented evidence of
settlement. Some appear to have developed from earlier palisaded enclosures.
Unexcavated examples occasionally have levelled areas which may have contained
buildings, but a proportion may have functioned primarily as stock enclosures.
Enclosed settlements are a distinctive feature of the late prehistory of the
Pennine uplands, and are important in illustrating the variety of enclosed
settlement types which developed in many areas of Britain at this time.
Examples where a substantial proportion of the enclosed settlement survives
are considered to be nationally important.

The late prehistoric enclosed settlement in Crosley Wood survives well. It
differs from other late prehistoric enclosed settlements in West Yorkshire in
having a perimeter wall rather than the more usual bank and ditch. It
illustrates the diversity of late prehistoric enclosed settlement, and will
contribute to the knowledge of late prehistoric land use and settlement in
northern England.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Mayes, P, 'Yorkshire Archaeological Journal' in Crosley Wood Enclosure, (1967), 19-23

Source: Historic England