Latest news with #parchmarks
New York Times
5 days ago
- Science
- New York Times
Echoes of Old Walls Appear, Briefly, in Britain's Arid Soil
On a grassy expanse at the largest monastic ruins in Britain, a dry scar emerged just days ago in the earth. And at a historic home and ancient priory more than 200 miles to the southwest, patches of brown became visible through grass, as if the ground was trying to recall a half-forgotten memory. But these patches are not paths, past or present. Instead, the lines recall ancient buildings, whose old foundations form these 'parchmarks,' which emerge in dry periods when the grass growing over buried ruins dries at a different rate than in other areas. 'It's almost like a photograph within the landscape itself,' said Chris Gosden, an emeritus professor of European archaeology at the University of Oxford. These parchmarks, which lace across grass like veins on a forearm, have appeared in two British historical sites in recent days, the National Trust, which manages the sites, said on Thursday. They appeared after Britain endured one of its driest springs on record, and are a sign of how the climate crisis is affecting the region. The frequency with which the parchmarks are visible has 'noticeably increased' in recent years, as 'climate change increases the likelihood of hotter, drier weather in spring and summer,' Tom Dommett, the National Trust's head of historic environment, said in a statement. The marks are one sign of how climate change is radically affecting the landscape around the world and, in some cases, revealing hidden history. Melting glaciers in Peru and Nepal have revealed the lost bodies of mountain climbers. Floods in Egypt are corroding the stones of ancient temples. And droughts in Spain, Italy and elsewhere in Europe have brought flooded villages and old ruins back, briefly, into the sunshine. But even as changing weather forces the land to cough up secrets, the climate crisis is also threatening the past that the dirt has protected for generations. 'Overall, climate change is a bad thing for archaeology — even though it may have temporary benefits,' said Dr. Gosden, who partly attributed the increasing visibility of parchmarks to the availability of drones. 'There are things revealed, but the cost to the archaeological evidence, overall, is really considerable.' The marks are useful for archaeologists, even though they reveal the potential dangers to the sites that climate change could continue to bring. The parchmarks at Mottisfont, a historic home and ancient priory in southwestern England, revealed the presence of monastery buildings. Those at Fountains Abbey, which was founded in 1132 by Benedictine monks, showed the outlines of a guest hall. 'It is an exciting and positive aspect to something that's got some quite worrying undertones,' said Mark Newman, an archaeologist at the National Trust, who advises on the abbey in North Yorkshire. At Fountains, the marks were last visible in 2019, he said, and appeared a few other times since 2010. Before that, he said, they emerged in the late 1990s and 1989, but only rarely. And the accelerating frequency of their visibility worries him. That's because climate change can bring periods of extreme heat and also extreme flooding or rains, which can change the actual structure of the soil and cause ruins to shift. 'Should we be horrified? Should we be elated?' he asked, referring to the increasing frequency. 'Probably the answer is a mixture of the two.' The marks show part of a building that was removed in the 1770s. They also show what experts believe was a large guest hall divided into aisles by columns, the National Trust said. Mr. Newman said the guest hall complicates the idea of monks living a secluded, cloistered life. He noted that the monastery would have 'needed accommodation on that sort of scale,' possibly for hundreds of people at a time. The UNESCO world heritage site offers insights into similar communities in Britain, especially because the rapid, bloody rise of Protestantism in the 1500s forced British Catholics underground for generations, Mr. Newman said. Mr. Newman said the climate crisis is forcing some archaeologists to reassess a deep belief that old things are safest when left in the ground. 'If you can no longer be certain that the archaeology is safe, then you need to start thinking about that again,' he said, 'and whether you're better digging it now before you lose it.' Nazaneen Ghaffar, a reporter on the weather team, contributed reporting from London.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Daily Mail
Heatwave reveals 'ghost' buildings at historic properties: Parch marks of long lost hall and buried wall show up in grounds of abbey and manor house
The ghostly remnants of long-since-demolished structures at historic properties around the country have been revealed by the hot weather. As new pictures show, parch marks have appeared at popular visitor destinations managed by the National Trust. They are formed when grass growing over buried walls or other archaeology dries out at a different rate compared to the surrounding area. The new marks in the grounds of Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire and Mottisfont in Hampshire give a clear view of both the foundations of a long lost hall and the remains of buried walls that date back as far as the 13th century. Tom Dommett, the National Trust's head of historic environment, said: 'Parchmark visibility varies from year to year, historically only showing well every 15 years or so. 'This year parchmarks are showing more clearly, and have also been recorded earlier in the year, after an exceptionally dry spring. At Fountains Abbey, traces of lost buildings are visible on the West Green. The largest structure is an aisled hall that experts believe once accommodated guests. The interior was divided into aisles by rows of columns, which show up in the parch marks. The base of one column also survives above ground. Also now visible, closer to the abbey, is the Lay Brothers' Cloister, a colonnaded building. The remains of this were removed by William Aislabie in the 1770s to make the west façade of the abbey look more impressive. National Trust archaeologist Mark Newman said: 'The parchmarks are showing really well this year. 'We have a good clear view of the Guest Hall – a building which shows the importance of the abbey's "hospitality", one of the monastic duties following Christ's example. 'It would have had the capacity, with medieval lifestyles, to have accommodated hundreds of people. 'It shows that Fountains Abbey has welcomed visitors in large numbers for hundreds of years.' At Mottisfont, which was among the monasteries dissolved by King Henry VIII in the 16th century, the remains of buried 13th and 16th century wall foundations have appeared as parch marks. They are what is left of monastery buildings including a cloister and various other structures, as well as later Tudor alterations. Henry VIII later gave Mottisfont to a favoured statesman, Sir William Sandys, who turned the entire priory buildings into a Tudor house. It remained until remodelled in the 1700s into its present form, when some of the remains of the former priory as well as Tudor buildings would have been buried under the lawn. The original priory was founded in 1201 by William Briwere, who was a key figure in the royal courts of five Plantagenet kings. National Trust Archaeologist James Brown said: 'These are intriguing glimpses into the oldest history of buildings known here at Mottisfont. 'We have carried out some geophysical surveys but the buildings have never been dug so their secrets remain hidden except for these rare moments when their outlines appear in the lawns.'
