2.10 Archaeological Potential

2.10 ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL There have been few recorded archaeological discoveries within the Park and surrounding area. A Neolithic polished stone axe (4,000–2,400 BC), however, was discovered in the nineteenth century in Raby Park. Said to have been 7 inches (17.8cm) in length, the exact location of its discovery is unknown.07 Polished stone axes may represent casual losses or may have been symbols of power or ritual deposits.08

Further tantalizing evidence of prehistoric settlement and of the treatment of the dead within the area comes from aerial photography; a round crop mark, thought to be evidence of either a Bronze Age or Iron Age (2,400 –43AD) burial mound, known as a barrow, was identified in 2013, approximately 560m west of Park Clump. This feature still remains to be investigated and verified.

Evidence of activity during the Roman occupation (AD 43- 410) comes in the form of a Roman road which ran between Bowes (Lavatrae) and Binchester (Vinovium). Although its exact location has not been confirmed, it is believed to have traversed the Park from the north-east to south-west, south of the Ponds and through Bath Wood. This raises the potential of an early settlement from that period either in the location of Raby Castle or within the wider landscape. However, no evidence has yet been recorded of either Romano-British finds or of a road surface.

It is likely that a settlement, perhaps in the form of a small farmstead, was constructed at Raby during the Danish occupation of the area (AD 866–1066). The name ‘Raby’, is derive from the Old Danish name of ‘Rabi’: ‘Ra’, meaning boundary, and ‘bi’, meaning settlement.

07 Monument 22053, William Page (ed), 1905, The Victoria history of the county of Durham, volume 1, p199 : https://www.pastscape.org. uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=22053 08 James Dyer,1995, Ancient Britain, p40 The church at Staindrop, located just over 1km to the south of Raby Castle, has Anglo-Saxon origins (AD 410–1066). The village of Staindrop is likely to have developed during the later-Saxon period around the church, as early fabric including a sundial and the remains of small arch-headed windows date to this period. Staindrop is recorded in historical documents along with Raby, when the English King Canute (101631) gave Staindropshire and associated lands to the monks of Durham Cathedral.

Raby Castle has been a fortified manor house since at least 1130. An earlier building may have preceded it in the early medieval period. The present structure dates from the fourteenth century, with many later additions and alterations. As such ground beneath the present building and around the castle have high potential for the recovery of evidence relating to the castle’s development and occupation, associated ancillary structures, and evidence of an earlier manor house.

During the medieval period much of the surrounding landscape consisted of deer parks and wooded areas, providing game. Deer parks – Middle Park, East Park and West Park – have been recorded. The remainder of the land would have been farmed as open fields. Evidence of farming in the form of ridge and furrow can be seen in Raby Park (HER ref D7966). Also preserved as earthworks within the park is the line of the earlier road from Raby to Staindrop. Still visible on aerial imagery, the former turnpike road, can be traced from where it enters the park at the South Lodge, heading north across Raby Park where it merged with another road from Staindrop, passing the east side of Raby Castle and entering old Raby village either across the present cricket ground, or after joining the access drive to the Castle. The boundary stones (listed Grade II) which exist within the Park evidence the earlier Park boundary before the parkland was reunited in 1775. Evidence of earlier park boundaries may also be preserved as earthworks or as below ground features. Another ‘lost’ road is that of the Raby to Cockfield road (HER ref D1718) which ran from the west side of the stables area north towards Burnt Houses Lane and was diverted by an Act of Parliament in 1774. The line of the road may still exist as earthworks within the Park landscape.

There are a number of medieval settlements which have since been lost in the immediate locality, including that of Keverstone (Monument id 22100). However, it may be that Keverstone Grange, approximately 130m to the north-east of Raby Castle, now occupies the site of the former village.09

The town of Raby (or Old Raby) is known to have been located roughly where the Walled Gardens and stables area is today (HER ref D60036). A number of the houses, including that of Byre House, are thought to be remains of this settlement and the course of the roadway through the settlement is believed to be preserved by the line of ‘Duchess’ Walk’, north of the stables. Historical documents indicate that the settlement developed during the medieval period; the funnel-shaped green and narrow linear plots to the rear of houses are shown on the 1729 estate plan held in the Raby Castle archives. The 1729 and 1770s (assumed, n.d) plans have overlaid with the current aerial map to give an indication of the location of Old Raby. Scaling from the shape of the Walled Gardens (which matches field 20), the settlement existed between the coach house and the southern boundary of the North Pasture. Routes north and south can be accurately aligned, as can the route to the Castle, although the precise location of the dwellings are contradictory between the two historic plans. There is the possibility that archaeological remains, features in the form of building foundations, yard surfaces and artefacts may still lie beneath the present ground surface. A Quaker Meeting house and burial ground are also recorded at Raby. The burial ground (HER ref D1715) was in use in the seventeenth century and is now believed to lie in woodland east of Kennel House. The former settlement of Raby was moved to a new site around 1780 and relocated approximately 440m east of the A688. The track to the village can be seen opposite the main entrance to Raby Castle. The clump of trees now known as New Raby Wood evidence the location of the settlement. Ordnance Survey Maps indicate the presence of a crescent of buildings within the woodland as late as the 1970s.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL

High Potential: Site of Old Raby, the Castle and medieval routes

Medium Potential: Possible Roman road route (extent unknown)

Low Potential: Inner parkland. No previous investigation buy largely arable landscape

01 Boundary Stone (Grade II Listed) 02 Possible Bronze Age or Iron Age barrow 03 Quaker burial ground

This plan is not to scale

03 N

02 01

01