Wetwang Slack

Wetwang Slack is a dry valley in the Yorkshire Wolds that from 1963 to 1990 was the scene of a large-scale gravel quarry, which progressed along more than a mile of the valley floor. The quarry workings revealed extensive prehistoric and Romano-British remains and these were the subject of long-term excavations under the direction of the late Tony Brewster and I continued his work after his retirement form the field in 1975 until quarrying had more or less ceased in 1989. As work progressed the importance of the remains gradually became clear and the site is now recognised to be of international archaeological significance.

The key features of the site were an extensive barrow cemetery of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age date, an Iron Age settlement with its cemetery – one of the largest so far excavated in Europe – and Romano-British settlements with origins in the earlier Iron Age settlement. Most spectacular of the finds were four Iron Age graves containing chariot burials with decorated grave goods.

The interval since excavations were completed in the valley has seen notable technical improvements in the sort of information that is now obtainable, particularly from human and animal remains. New light has already been shed on the excavated material by research students at Bradford University and Professor Ian Armit of the University of York is coordinating a post-excavation programme to publish all the archaeological work carried out between 1963 and 1989 in a single volume. A programme of digitisation of most of the site records has already been completed and a costed programme of work has been submitted to Historic England as the basis of future funding.