Dry weather exposes archaeological secrets at National Trust monasteries

With sweltering temperatures and four heatwaves, this year’s summer season is set to go down as one of the hottest on record.

But aside from family days on the beach and evening gatherings around the barbecue, the warm weather has brought, perhaps, a surprise benefit.

At two National Trust estates, the dry conditions are revealing parch marks in the lawns and parkland that show up tantalising maps of previously lost underground structures.

As the grass over buried walls dries quicker than the surrounding areas, it exposes the remains of historic building going back centuries.

At the former Augustinian Priory of Mottisfont, near Romsey in Hampshire, archaeologists can now see the remains of lost monastery buildings that were abandoned during a remodelling of the site in the 1700s.

The structures, that include a cloister, date between the 13th and 16th century.

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The former priory, founded in 1201, was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1536 and passed into the hands of Sir William Sandys, who turned it into a Tudor house.

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.”

At Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire, parch marks have also revealed lost buildings of the abbey, including a large guest hall. The hall was divided into aisles by rows of columns, which also show up in the dry marks on the ground.

Archaeologist Mark Newman said: “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.

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“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.”

The Met Office said both June and July delivered consistently above-average temperatures, with England experiencing its hottest June on record.

Rainfall is also tracking below average, with the UK’s National Drought Group declaring a “nationally significant incident” earlier this month.

Tom Dommett, the National Trust’s head of historic environment, said: “This year parch marks are showing more clearly, and have also been recorded earlier in the year, after an exceptionally dry spring.

“While we have seen parch marks at our places for many years, in more recent years the frequency has noticeably increased, including in 2018 and 2022, as climate change increases the likelihood of hotter, drier weather in spring and summer.”