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Saltburn Rutway Survey
From the late 17th century through to the early part of the 20th century the production of alum and the mining of ironstone were two of North Yorkshire’s most important coastal industries. Both industries were heavily reliant on sea-transport as the only practical and cost-effective method of bringing in raw materials and taking out the finished products. The small ships and boats used in the trade would commonly be beached at high tide and their cargoes off-loaded into horse-drawn carts when the vessel became ‘dry’. At the next high tide, the vessel would be refloated to continue its voyage. Large quantities of material were needed to sustain these industries, for example, nearly 1 ton of kelp (1 tonne), over 112 gallons of urine (509 litres), and 6 tons of coal (6 tonnes), were required to produce just 1 ton of alum. Given that between May 1790 and April 1791, the Yorkshire works between them shipped over 5000 tons of alum, some idea of the scale of this transport operation can be gained. Traditionally, two-wheeled Yorkshire carts were used to move these materials. To increase available working time, rutways were cut which “clearly served as forms of railway, permitting carters to carry on their work through the night and through the tides, confident that as long as the cart wheels remained in the ruts, the way ahead would be clear of boulders, shingle or faulted ground” (Owen, 1986, p.26). Large sections of these rutways still survive today, and are being surveyed by a team from Tees Archaeology, the Nautical Archaeology Society North-East, and the Teesside Archaeological Society. The results of the combined 2005 and 2006 surveys can be accessed on the reports page. |
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