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Apr 2022

Last Updated: 13/04/2022

Environment

Calls for archeological survey into Knaresborough's Roman past

by Alex Noonan

| 13 Apr, 2022

Knaresborough Museum Association says an archaeological survey should be carried out before plans to build a home on a historic site on Abbey Road are approved.

Plans to develop a site in Knaresborough could provide an opportunity to conduct an archeological survey into the town's Roman past.

An application was submitted to Harrogate Borough Council on March 22 to build a four-bedroom house on Abbey Road.

There was pre-Roman and Roman occupation on the site prior to a Trinitarian Priory being founded.

Kathy Allday, chair of the Knaresborough Museum Association, said the planning application provided a rare opportunity to carry out an archaeological survey prior to any development,

She added the survey could reveal key details about Romano-British life in the area and also whether a nunnery, which is known to have existed in the vicinity, was on the site.

The association has been undertaking its own research in the vicinity of the former Trinitarian Priory and has found a Roman brooch and a medieval coin.

Ms Allday said:

"Antiquarian records and archive material suggest there was also a nunnery and outbuildings which were part of the Priory precinct in the vicinity. As such an archaeological survey of the site. should be a condition of any planning approval for this development.

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"Archaeological excavations in Abbey Road have been few and far between in the last few decades, so this is an opportunity that should not be missed. Otherwise the chance to learn more about medieval and Roman occupation in Knaresborough may be lost for a few more decades."

There have been objections to the property being built. Knaresborough Town Council's submission to the planning consultation says:

"We object to this development as it is within the Knaresborough Conservation Area and would not preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the conservation area."