Here is a quick guide to the historical remains seen on the Heritage Trail.

I have divided the sites into five time periods. These are prehistoric, ancient, early medieval, late medieval and modern. Although it makes it easier to categorise the sites, the divisions between time periods are disputed and flexible, depending on your interpretation and focus. It’s just a rough guideline to help us navigate our way through the primary sources and archaeological remains.

Prehistoric roughly includes anything before the Roman arrived in Britain during the 1st Century AD. We have no surviving literature from those times so all we can do is study the remains.

Ancient is the classical term for the Greek and Roman worlds of Late Antiquity. In Britain, this is from the arrival of the Romans up until the early 5th Century with the settlement of Germanic warriors known as ‘Anglo Saxons’.

The early medieval period is sometimes known as The Dark Ages, and conventionally begins in the 5th Century, through to the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

The later medieval period runs from the Norman Conquest until the start of the Wars of the Roses (if we maintain our northern focus for a second) in 1485. This makes it a period of around 1000 years! If you take a broader, continental view, most historians would agree that the Middle Ages come to an end with the fall of Constantinople (modern Istanbul) with the Ottoman Siege of 1453, and the subsequent end of Medieval Christendom. The 15th Century, it seems, was a tumultuous one.

It marks the start of the Modern Period as well, which most would agree comes to an end in 1945. Historians now call our time period ‘contemporary’ but we shall see what future historians make of that. ‘Postmodern’ has been a term used but I’m sceptical it will stand the test of time.

Prehistoric Sites:

Bronze Age rock carvings: Section One

Stone Circle: Section One

Neolithic Hill Fort at Castle Hill: Section Eight

Ancient:

Roman Road (4th Century): Section Ten

Early Medieval:

Anglo Saxon crosses (9th Century): Section One

All Hallows Church (9th Century) Section Four

Wakefield Cathedral (10th Century): Section Five

Late Medieval:

All Saints Church (1410): Section Three

Anglo-Norman motte and Bailey (12th Century): Section Four

Yateholme Doorway (1086): Section Nine

Aiggin Stone (15th Century): Section Ten

Heptonstall Churchyard (12th Century): Section Eleven

Modern:

Salts Mill (1853): Section One

Ilkley Quarry (18th Century): Section Two

Puritan Chapel (1649): Section Three

Harewood House (1771): Section Three

Aire Calder Navigation (18th Century): Section Five

Leeds-Castleford-Pontefract Junction Railway (19th Century): Section Five

St. Aiden’s Nature Reserve (20th Century): Section Five

Horbury Hall (16th Century): Section Six

Kidcote Lock-Up (17th Century): Section Six

St Peter’s and St Leonard’s Church (18th Century): Section Six

Huddersfield Broad Canal (1776): Section Seven

Huddersfield Train Station (1850): Section Seven

Marketplace Column (1683): Section Eight

Top Withins (18th Century): Section Eleven

Leeds Liverpool Canal (1816): Section Twelve

Old Stocks (1853): Section Twelve

Keighley Worth Valley Railway (1867): Section Twelve

Dalton Mills (1869): Section Twelve

Word War One War Memorial (1923): Section Twelve