Summary

Good surviving section of engineered trackway believed to have originally been constructed for Rievaulx Abbey in the late C12 or C13. This well preserved 400m long section of trod (a particularly characteristic style of track way for the North York Moors) retains a good range of features.

Source: Historic England

Details

The known surviving, flagged section forming Kirby Bank Trod, which forms the monument, extends from a point just east of The Warren, southwards uphill for just over 400m to a gateway onto the open moorland of the upper part of Kirby Bank. The route continues southwards up the hill, but appears to have been disturbed by later sledgeways and quarrying activity and so this southwards continuation of the route is not included in the scheduling. From the north end of the flagged section of Kirby Bank Trod, the route continues downhill (northwards) as a meandering hollow way, with a new, modern trackway to the west. Again the route of the trod beyond the known extent of the flagged path is not included in the scheduling.

The 400m long section of trod that forms the scheduled monument retains a nearly continuous run of exposed flagstones. A couple of sections have been left buried to prevent erosion by tractors and there is a section where a culvert cuts through the line of the trod; these sections are also included in the scheduling. For most of the length, the flagged path forming the trod lies on the western edge of a distinct, broad bank which stands up to 1.5m high and about 4-6m wide. This bank is included in the scheduled monument and varies in height, serving to even out the gradient up the hill, and raises the trod above periodically boggy ground to either side. At intervals along the trod there are small, low, stone pillars that are interpreted as guide posts or waymarkers, forming at least six waymarked points along the 0.4km long section. The three most southerly (and uphill) waymarks are formed by pairs of stones, one on each side of the trod, the other waymarks are single stones, one of which has been reused as an Ordnance Survey bench marker. Immediately adjacent to the trod on its west side, about 240m south of The Warren and lower down the hill from the waymarks with paired stones, there is a raised platform formed by one substantial and one smaller slab of horizontally placed rock. This has been interpreted as a loading platform and may be related to the C17 alum house which was sited just over 100m to the east of the monument, at about the same distance up the hill. Downhill from this possible loading bay there are at least a couple of sections where the paving of the trod is widened with the addition of parallel flagstones, generally on the west side. These have been proposed as being former passing places; however they do not appear to be wide enough for two packhorses to pass, so their interpretation is uncertain.

Extent of Scheduling: the scheduling is focused on the exposed flagstones of the trod and the raised bank upon which the trod and associated features sit. The area thus forms a strip 10m wide, including a 2m margin around the archaeological feature for the support and protection of the monument, extending between the gateway onto the unenclosed moor of Kirby Bank northwards to just east of The Warren. Although the more extensive archaeological remains related to quarrying, mining and the alum works are clearly related to the later use of the trod, these remains are not so clearly understood and are not included in the monument. Modern fence, sign and gateposts are excluded from the scheduling, but the ground beneath is included.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Kirby Bank Trod is designated for the following principal reasons:
* Period: believed to have originally been constructed in the late C12 or C13 by Rievaulx Abbey. The reuse of the trod in the post-medieval period in connection with the alum and stone quarrying industries adds to the importance.
* Diversity of features: this trod is not merely a path of flagstones, but is set on an embankment to even out the hill slope and also retains other related features interpreted as guide posts or waymarkers.
* Survival: the trod is well preserved with a nearly continuous run of paving stones over 400m up the hillside.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Evans, CP , Trods of the North York Moors: A Gazeteer of Flagged Paths, (2008)
Hayes, R H, Old Roads and Pannierways in North East Yorkshire, (1988)
Waites, B, Monasteries and Landscape of the North York Moors and Wolds, (2007), 51-53
Fleming, A, 'Landscapes' in The Making Of A Medieval Road: The Monk's Trod Routeway, Mid Wales, (2009)

Source: Historic England