Tanton Grove Southerly Plantation

This morning, the air on Great Ayton Moor was crystal clear, but away in the south-west, a low mist crept up the Vale of Cleveland, making the wind turbines at Seamer look like they’re levitating. That white house yonder caught my eye. Turns out, it’s Howe Hill. Now, I can therefore take a brief detour into a tale about the Saxon Battle of Stokesley that supposedly went down in the 5th century at that very spot. The battle has also been called the Battle of Seamer Caves and was fought between the Saxons and the Danes. Word is, it was Prince Arthur himself who gave the Saxons this thrashing in 492 A.D. It seems the Saxons were keen on taking over this land, but the Britons stood their ground, causing hefty casualties. The Saxon commanders, Osca and Otha, were both slain, along with thousands of from both sides. In the decades before the battle, the Britons, no longer under the protection of the Romans, took many a beating from the Saxons, who were being relieved by their kin from Germany. The triumph at Howe Hill, though, was short-lived. Despite the Britons’ victory, the Saxons kept pushing till they had carved out seven kingdoms known as the Heptarchy. They say there was a stone marking the spot, but it’s sunken deep into the earth and doesn’t, in any case, have any inscription on it. Now, that’s the legend, but what’s the facts? In the fields by the farm, 19th century reports mention a trench and how ploughs kept unearthing armour, swords, and human bones. In 1926, the Cleveland Naturalists’ Field Club found “part of the unburnt remains of a short round-headed man” in the tumulus at the farm. But, as far as I can maintain, all these finds seem to have now disappeared. Much more recently, in summer 2020, a section through a ditch was excavated by local archaeologists and was found to contain pottery and other artefacts. The pottery suggests that the site was occupied by Saxons in the 5th to 6th centuries, but there was also evidence of earlier Roman and British activity in the area. It is speculated that the ditch may have been a boundary marker or a defensive ditch. For sources see my journal Link

Field paths here are well used by dog walkers from nearby Stokesley. This is path 10.140/1 heading from that town towards Seamer.

Fields and conifers to the north-west of Stokesley. The path here is not a right of way, but is probably used by dog walkers from a nearby housing estate.

Path across rough grassland on the edge of the town. This is path number 10.140/1.

Unusual named road in a modern housing development on the edge of town.

Almost a suburb of Stokesley with just one field width between the two settlements. Tame Bridge refers to the tiny River Tame which passes under this road just by the lamp post on the right. The watercourse is flowing south-west, seemingly away from the Tees and the sea, but then there are several streams and rivers in this area with convoluted courses.

Minor road, but one which carries a fair amount of traffic between Stokesley and Seamer.

County Bridge Marker on the parapet of Kirby Bridge over Eller Beck, on the east side of Station Road. Stokesley parish. Milestone Society National ID: YN_STOKES01br

Mainly a car park flanked by historic properties

The willow trees betray the presence of water.

On the left, the conical shape which looks like a huge slag heap distantly from this direction is the natural (apart from some quarrying) Roseberry Topping.

Watsons Executive Travel, but with a school bus sign in the window.