York Historic Environment Record

Summary The project 1.1 This report presents the results of a geophysical survey conducted on land at Hob Moor in York. The works comprised geomagnetic survey of the northeastern part of the moor, an ancient common. 1.2 The works were commissioned by On-Site Archaeology on behalf of the Friends of Hob Moor and conducted by Archaeological Services in accordance with instructions provided by On-Site Archaeology. Results 1.3 All the anomalies detected in the survey almost certainly reflect ferrous and/or fired materials, some incorporated within a man-made bank and others comprising near-surface litter. 1.4 No evidence for the former mill was identified in the survey. Concentrations of intense anomalies in the north-eastern part of the survey could possibly mask the presence of weaker anomalies associated with mill remains, or indeed the mill could lie outside the surveyed area, under existing gardens or to the south between the survey area and the railway line. Recommendations 1.5 A different geophysical technique, electrical resistance survey, could prove useful for locating any mill remains in this area (if stone footings survive) since it is not adversely affected by the presence of ferrous materials in the soil and any stone features will typically produce clear high resistance anomalies. 1.6 Further investigation by means of trial trenching would almost certainly confirm the nature of the anomalies detected in this survey and could also be used in areas where survey was either impracticable or the data inconclusive.