The Second Battle of Fulford (The first was in 1066)
On 7 April 2014 Charles Jones was given permission for a Judicial Review against English Heritage over their decision not to designate the 1066 battlesite of Fulford.
Fulford was the first of three battles in the autumn of 1066. King Harald ‘Hardrada’ beat the northern army although King Harold was heading north with reinforcements. King Harold defeated and killed King Harald at Stamford Bridge just five days after the battle at Fulford.
The destruction of the Viking invasion at Stamford Bridge might explain why several areas where weapons were apparently being recycled were abandoned and quickly covered by the tidal flooding.Part-made axe heads, arrows and other military items were found by a Lottery funded project (2001-2006) in these hearth areas.Sadly the developers Persimmon, who ironically have their national HQ in Fulford, incorporated this land into their plan for 600+ houses and refused permission for further investigations.
But following a presentation of this evidence in a talk at The Royal Armouries in 2011English Heritage invited Chas Jones to apply to have the site formally designated. In February 2012, their panel of independent experts recommended designation although under Freedom of Information it was subsequently discovered that the Battlefields Panel had been informed that English Heritage did not intend to designate the site!
However, a formal consultation process was undertaken before English Heritage duly announced that they would not designate the site. Internal documents reveal that English Heritage did not want to ‘raise the temperature’ given the planning permission that had been granted by the Secretary of State in 2007.
It is the way the designation process was conducted that is the subject of Judicial Review.
The fight to save the site of this unique piece of our heritage has scored another success when the planning authorities in York obliged the developers, who want to build a new access road along the full length of the ditch where the two armies fought in 1066,to undertake some relevant archaeology before work can begin. This happened following the intervention of several notable battlefield archaeologists.
The case was the first to be heard in the new ‘Planning Court’ before Mr JusticeLindblom, Lead Judge of the Planning Court.
Fulford Parish Council is currently seeking leave to challenge the City of York Council’s approval of reserved matters for the Germany Beck development citing several grounds relating to cultural heritage, flooding and other environmental issues.
“There is still a reasonable chance that we can save this remarkable piece of our heritage” said Chas Jones who coordinated the project to find the battle and wrote ‘Finding Fulford’.
For more information contact Chas Jones
There are several briefing documents available and many images.
19 April 2014
Related sites Facebook Twitter (@ helpsavefulford) Visiting Fulford Map York
The author of the content is Charles Jones - email@example.com Last updated April 2015
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