Environmental disaster yields prehistoric remains

A devastating moorland fire has exposed archaeological remains in North Yorkshire on an unprecedented scale. The six-day fire in September 2003 destroyed the plants and soil covering Fylingdales Moor to reveal over 100 rock art depictions and Bronze Age field boundaries. English Heritage will now make the area, which covers two-and-a-half square miles and was abandoned around 1000BC, open to the public. Stone Age flint tools, 18th century industrial tracks, Second World War training foxholes and 1950s artillery craters have all been uncovered so far. A £26,000 publication grant from English Heritage and local exhibition will now make the finds accessible. Graham Lee, senior archaeological conservation officer for the national park stated: ‘We have always known that this part of the world is very rich in prehistoric remains… The fire was environmentally disastrous. But it gave us access to a landscape which we could never have reached otherwise, on such a scale. What we have found as a result has altered perceptions of the period. It also raises questions about the scale of what else lies hidden over the rest of the North York Moors.’