Recent Projects

Geophysical Survey

The Friends of St Ives, with Bradford City Council are to create woodland containing British native trees, but realised that it is important to find out if there was anything of archaeological important around the site before creating the new woodland.

Geophysicists from Bradford University led by Dr John Gater, using technology used on television's Time Team programme, carried out the painstaking electronic survey to create a subterranean view of the field on St Ives Estate. The survey had revealed a mysterious curved ditch with interruptions. Experts say it could be the first hard evidence of the Fairfax Entrenchment, a military base high above Bingley headed by General Fairfax a top-ranking Roundhead general. The Fairfax Entrenchment is marked on maps, but not in this area of the Estate, although signs of its existence are not easy to recognise.

Dr Angela Redmond, of Bradford University's archaeology department, has been working with the Friends of St Ives on the Estate for several months now collecting information. She say's "We understand from local legend, that during the Civil War, there was a camp on Harden Moor and General Fairfax stayed in Harden village" and that many of the skirmishes that actually took place weren't recorded. "We also understand, again through hearsay, that there were also a number of burials near the camp".

We are now waiting for the full results from John Gater, but the survey shows that we need to do a much bigger survey of the site and that a new plan of just where to plant the trees must be undertaken, so as not to loose this site of archaeological interest.

Further information on the Telegraph and Argus website

http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/videonews/index.var.1136.0.0.php