York Historic Environment Record

This section of the Enviromnental Statement deals with the historic landscape of the area of the development site, to: a. locate and describe the landscape in which the battle took place b. assess the extent to which development down to the present day has impinged on and prejudiced a visual and conceptual understanding of that landscape. c. assess the extent to which proposed developments may further prejudice the visual and conceptual understanding of the landscape There is no disputing that a battle took place in the vicinity of Fulford in 1066, but its exact location remains uncertain; there are several plausible possibilities. What is certain is that a battle of the size described would have left evidence in the form of objects and human remains. This would suggest that the battle did not take place on the area of land around Germany Beck as field investigations have revealed no traces whatsoever for it. A more plausible location would suggest the area towards Water Fulford and the River Ouse. The 20th century expansion of Fulford into a suburb of York and the construction of the ring road has not provided the evidence for the battle. Even the modem cemetery, which is constantly being excavated, has not produced any evidence; neither did the construction of the Fordlands Road and neighbouring housing estate. However, Roman remains in the form of a sarcophagus were located with the insertion of the two new roundabouts on the A 19 in 1996. MAP's excavations located both Prehistoric and Roman remains at around 1 metre below the present surface (10. 90m AOD) 7.2 The development of Fulford has obviously prejudiced a visual and conceptual understanding of the landscape. No finds have been located to state whether development has impinged on the battle site, as its exact location is still unknown. 7.3 The modem day landscape is greatly changed from the landscape of 1066. The natural watercourse of the Ouse has been altered by the insertion of locks at Naburn preventing the tidal surge. The profile of Germany Beck, which was apparently created to mark a boundary in the 15"' century, has been altered by dredging throughout the 20'h century. 7.4 The vistas south of Fulford have been altered by the reclamation of low lying swampy areas into large arable fields where the natural woodland species, and even many of the hedges have been removed. The insertion of housing estates , on the higher ground has dramatically changed the appearance of the landscape. The --location and expansion of the cemetery along the southem bank of Germany Beck has also changed the natural topography of the area, as has the recreation ground. The construction of the A64 ring road and the up grade of the A19 also alters the perception of the landscape. One naturally needs an area of open, undeveloped land to provide a visual impression of a battlefield, but unfortunately the entire locale of Fulford has been the subject of wholesale remodeling since 1066. 7.5 The proposed development would appear not to impact on the battlefield location due to the total lack of evidence to support the battle having taken place on the Germany Beck site. Earlier large scale developments have had an impact on identifying the battle site location. The fact that the locality does not fully satisfy English Heritage's criteria so as to justify its inclusion on the Battlefield's Register (Stamper pers. comm.) argues against its significance. 7.6 Whilst some individuals are desperate to give an exact location for the site of the battle of Fulford, the lack of physical evidence on the proposed development area does not support the theory that this area was actual site of the battle. It is hoped that the above document gives a reasoned and acceptable argument in discounting the proposed development site as the location for the battle of Fulford.