The recording programme for the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site has continued with work on the internal and external faces of the curtain wall, Housesteads Roman Fort, and adjacent stretches of the Wall. Standing building analysis has been conducted at several sites. At Fountains Abbey, Ripon, North Yorkshire recording in advance of works has been completed on both the north and south walls of the presbytery. Monitoring during works revealed that a refacing of the west end of the north wall in the 1240's sealed an extensive area of applied masonry design decoration. Three dimensional survey has been used to address a problem of structural instability beginning to emerge in the Warming and Muniment rooms. The central pillar which supports the vault in the Warming room is beginning to show signs of movement through its web, vault, and springing point. A continuation of this central pillar is to be found in the room above (Muniment Room) supporting the vault of that room. It was considered possible that the pillar in the Muniment Room sprang eccentrically from the core of the Warming Room pillar. Three dimensional survey using reflectorless EDM was carried out to record the position of the 2 pillars in relation to each other. The survey revealed that the upper pillar does not rise from the centre of its lower counterpart, but was displaced several centimetres to the north.
At Jervaulx Abbey, East Witton, North Yorkshire limited excavation of a drain underneath the Lay Brothers Reredorter in advance of consolidation recovered coins, metal objects, window glass, lead kame, pottery, animal bone, and material for soil sampling. Assessment of the finds will begin in 1996-97. At Furness Abbey, Cumbria, the final elements of field work have now been completed (survey of the underground watercourses) and the database for this important project (and monument) is being indexed and cross-referenced in advance of assessment. At Whitby Abbey, North Yorkshire, the north presbytery walls (both the aisle wall and clerestory) have been thoroughly inspected and recorded. A considerable volume of information was recovered suggesting that a comprehensive programme of restoration was conducted in the second half of the 1800's by the owners. The recording and assessment of the Banqueting House has been completed and the contextual, photographic, and detail has been combined into a single 'intelligent' drawing using a relational database (this work was a collaborative project with Survey Services and the Whitby Headland Project, for whom it was undertaken).
Improvement to the storage of archaeological finds in the region continues with more collections brought into secure, controlled storage at Helmsley Archaeological Store in North Yorkshire. Major collections from Rivaulx Abbey and Helmsley Castle were repacked and catalogued. A catalogue of the artefacts from Aldborough Roman Town was published. Work on architectural fragments from Monk Bretton Priory in South Yorkshire has resulted in the production of reconstruction drawings of the syncopated cloister arcade and the nave aisle windows. Work on the Northern Medieval Tiles Survey continued and all fieldwork was completed in 1995. The future of a nationally important collection of monastic floor tiles was secured with the acquisition of Kenneth Beulah's Medieval tiles and associated archive. The tiles, which are now stored at Helmsley, come from properties in the guardianship of EH such as Rivaulx and Byland as well as other comparative sites such as Jervaulx, Kirkstall, and Meaux.
