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The Society's AGM was successfully held on 17th April 2026, after an engrossing and very well received talk by Eric Jackson on the Pontefract Murder of 1918. It was sad to have to turn away (after a refreshment break) the guests and visitors who came for Eric's talk before the AGM could start!
The AGM was quorate and business was conducted routinely, with all decisions receiving unanimous agreement of all members present. No controversial items were raised. The main items to note were:
# a slight fall in membership numbers for 2025/26, though Society finances remain healthy
# annual membership fees to remain unchanged for 2026/27
# Dave Wilcox re-elected as Committee Member for Hermitage
# Wendy Jewitt re-elected as Committee Member
# the programme of talks for next season 2026/27 is almost complete - one slot remains to be filled
Fieldwork Spring/Summer 2026
PontArc members are once again invited to support South Leeds Archaeology with more fieldwork at Temple Newsam over the coming dig season. Members should initially email Phil Jones to express their interest in participating and then they'll be added to the SLA contacts list for the TN26 project. See below for the proposed work and an overview of the latest results, and further down the page for a sample of what's been done previously by us at Temple Newsam.
The resistivity results from 21st & 22nd April 2026...
6 x 10m grids were at least partially surveyed (among the trees and bushes!)
A trace of the Southern wall of the lost building can be seen continuing roughly East to West from our previous results before fading out. Other linear features may be later service trenches.
Excavations here are planned to run from 14th July 2026 for several weeks.
The resistivity results from 17th May 2026.
2 x 20m grids surveyed to south of area previously covered in May 2025.
The prominent blue low resistance linear feature is believed to be a pipe trench.
Excavations across the line of the drive are planned between 24th and 30th June 2026.
June 2026 Excavations on the Lost Road
Although we were hand-digging, the pipe trench was given a 5m wide safety exclusion zone, and two trenches were opened to try and find just the western edge of the lost road.
This was successfully done!
A 6 x 1m trench (T1) was opened to the north and a 3 x 1m trench (T2) to the south. T2 was widened slightly to examine a suspected wheel rut.
3D models of the final trenches can be seen on Phil's Sketchfab pages:
T1 showed the lost road surface to be compacted angular sandstone with a few finer chippings remaining visible as an old surface dressing. The road thickness was c. 25cm. There was no camber to the road profile, it was quite an abrupt edge. Modern levelling material had been deposited to the west of the old road. Orange-brown sandy soil and yellow sandstone (natural) were the lowest levels excavated.
T2 showed the same type of lost road surface, with a c.25cm wide wheel rut apparent. There was no modern levelling material in this area, it being higher ground than T1. A slight camber to the road edge and a potential deposit of washed-off chippings was visible when the road was sectioned.
Potential Research Group
Potential Research Group
PontArc were recently delighted to receive, through our "enquiries" webmail address, an article of research into the life of a Victorian dignitary of Pontefract - Dr. Henry Muscroft (1830-1884). The research had been carried out by Michael Tracy of Chicago, Illinois, USA, an Honorary Fellow of Edinburgh Medical School at the University of Edinburgh. Michael is a descendant of the Goodsir family, and one of his kinsmen - Professor John Goodsir (1814-1867) - had a distinguished teaching career at Edinburgh University and was responsible for training many notable surgeons and physicians, including Henry Muscroft. With Michael's agreement, his research paper on Henry Muscroft is being added to the Local Studies archive in Pontefract Library - thanks to Wendy's dual roles at PontArc and Wakefield Libraries!
We are very much indebted to Michael for his research into Henry Muscroft, but in our reply to him mentioning other Pontefract Muscrofts (including Edward, the wine and spirits merchant), we have potentially opened up a whole new area for interesting research. There were other generations of Muscroft surgeons, some of whom may also have studied at Edinburgh University. Michael has already further established that Edward Muscroft Taylor was likely trained there as a surgeon by John Goodsir's successor as Professor of Anatomy - Sir William Turner. There are also links between the Muscrofts and other notable Pontefract families such as the Dunhills, Colemans and the Bissetts - some featured in memorial windows at St. Giles church in Pontefract - visit the church or see the following link:
https://cofe-pontefract.co.uk/st-giles/about-us/history/memorials/
So...
...if any PontArc members are interested in forming a social research group, and/or can bring any other information or experience to bear, we do have some good potential areas of study. Besides the Muscrofts, the Leatham and Tew families (with Carleton Grange connections) would be worth studying further.
Please contact Phil, Wendy or Robert if you'd like to help establish a PontArc research group.
Fieldwork Updates
TEMPLE NEWSAM
In Summer and Autumn 2024, PontArc supported South Leeds Archaeology with their fieldwork at Temple Newsam, and our earth resistance geophysics equipment was used in April 2024 to survey the grassed area around the amphitheatre to the north of the House. It was hoped that evidence of a former gatehouse and driveway to the centre of the north wing might be found. Unfortunately, our results showed no conclusive targets for such structures. However, Sheffield University also conducted ground penetrating radar surveys there and interpretation of their results may be more informative.
A painting by James Chapman from c.1750 of the east facing side of Temple Newsam House shows near identical equestrian type buildings on either side of it. The northern stable block still stands (now the cafe, gift shop, offices etc.). However, the existence of the southern building - possibly a riding school - has been doubted. PontArc's resitivity equipment was again used to survey the area of the "lost building" in June and August 2024, and buried wall features matching the outline of the extant stable block were identified.
SLA conducted a small dig close to the north west corner of the House on September 14-15th 2024 to investigate a sub-circular high resistance target found in the April 2024 geophysics - the "red blob" in the adjoining image. Phil and Shirley attended from PontArc. An unexpected cable trench was safely found and navigated around and a quadrant of the high resistance feature was revealed. This turned out to be an area of cracked and de-laminating sandstone - now thought to be natural geology. The remains of a suspected wooden post that were found in situ may well be the remains instead of a tree from former ornamental gardens. These are shown in some old postcards of the North wing of the house. Phil's 3D model of the opened trench can be seen on Sketchfab here: https://skfb.ly/pqSVV
2025
A new SusTrans cycle path installed across the region of the "lost building" has confirmed the presence of some building footings (at least).
A resistivity survey was carried out near the north entrance to the estate on 13th May 2025 as a training exercise for new fieldworkers. The aim was to find evidence of a former driveway directly between the lodge gates and the main north entance to the house. The image of results shows definite features worthy of further investigation...
The excavations on parts of the "lost building" (a possible riding school from c.1740) which began in June 2025, revealed traces of walls, robber trenches and an angled drain - view 3D models of Trench 1 at the following Sketchfab links:
A new phase of excavations began on 14th July and finished on 11th August 2025. Various 3D models of the work in progress are available to view on Sketchfab.com (search for PontArc Phil), but the final two models can be seen from these links:
https://skfb.ly/pzWXH
https://skfb.ly/pzXLB
With Trenches 2 and 3, the full depth of the "lost building" wall foundations, internal and external walls, robbed wall lines and flooring levels were found below the much disturbed ground surfaces.
PontArc members Mark, Kathryn, Lotta and Phil have contributed greatly to SLA's project.
GREAT HECK
A small project team from PontArc was formed to help the South Yorkshire Boat Club at Heck Canal Basin investigate their site for traces of the Heck Bridge and Wentbridge Railway that was built and was briefly operational between 1826 and 1831.
Some initial geophysics (resistivity again) was conducted in May 2024 in an open grassy area of the site to see if any features from the construction phase or a later filled-in dock might remain. Further resistivity surveying was carried out on 25th July 2024, but this did not reveal any promising target features.
A "have a go" dig in the area of the second/missing dock over the weekend of 7th and 8th of September 2024 was planned to co-ordinate with the Boat Club's annual Open Days, and in support of this a talk/discussion on the Heck and Wentbridge Railway history was held at the Friends Meeting House in Pontefract on Thursday August 29th 2024 for the project team and interested PontArc members. Richard Hemsworth from the Boat Club gave a talk on the history of the canal basin and Phil went through some of the practical arrangements required for the dig and display event.
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The dig on the September 2024 Open Days went ahead as planned in the Paddock area and was enjoyed by all who participated.
A large 8 x 6 m area was de-turfed prior to the open days, but owing to the limited number of lead diggers and the heaviness of the ground, serious excavation was restricted mainly to a 3 x 2m area. Younger participants enjoyed removing the topsoil in some of the other pre-marked squares, and as all the finds were in this layer, they were quite happy with everything they got - including an old paint roller and a small plastic turtle toy! A keen Boat Club member got involved with their machine digger and speeded things along in the main area of interest. New member Charles and PontArc dependables Chris, Mark, Richard, Diana, Keith and Robert all proved their worth too though.
Under the topsoil (and much bonfire ash) we found alternating bands of clay and sand, all devoid of human-influenced artefacts, and all of which looked quite natural. However, a comparative test pit dug in undisturbed ground in the nearby wood looked markedly different, so it is possible that the clay in the Paddock area had been brought in deliberately for use in the construction of the second/missing dock.
The main excavation area was 3D modelled by Phil on 14/9/24 and the result can be seen on Sketchfab here: https://skfb.ly/pqSUV
Check back here regularly for further news and updates...
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