High Life in the Uplands: The Duddon Dig Project

Duddon forms an important area historically in the south-west part of the Lake District National Park. The western side of the valley is dominated by Harter Fell, while the east is overlooked by the Troutal and Seathwaite fells, with the Coniston range beyond. Rugged outcrops and ravines in the north give way to flat, arable field systems in the south. The valley head contains the junction of the Hardknott and Wrynose Passes, from where the River Duddon carves its way for about 18km in a south-westerly direction until it reaches the estuary into the Irish Sea. An ambitious survey project examined 84km 2 of the Duddon and Lickle Valleys and was completed in 2006-8, during which time 60 volunteers were trained in archaeological survey methods. Much of this survey entailed basic reconnaissance, mapping, and description, and, in all, over 3000 previously unrecorded sites were documented. Moreover, there was a huge range of different sites, from Neolithic standing stones and Bronze Age ring cairns to nineteenth-century shepherds' huts.