Today, Sutton Bank is as peaceful and tranquil a spot as you might find anywhere, offering visitors what has been called “England’s finest view”. But could it also have an untold history involving rich German aristocrats and a Nazi spy?
A three-year archaeology project has begun to investigate the many histories of the landmark, near Thirsk in North Yorkshire.
It will explore prehistoric stories from the bronze and iron ages as well as an overlooked and bloody 14th-century battle, but one of the most intriguing strands is an investigation into Sutton Bank’s secret Nazi history.
“The sheer number of heritage sites within such a small area is quite unusual,” said Steve Collison, who is in charge of the Raiding the Bank project for the North York Moors National Park Authority.
Sutton Bank is the highest point in the Hambleton Hills and is well known for the steepness of the A170 that goes up and down it and amazing views over bucolic countryside.
It is also one of the best places for gliding and in the 1930s was a magnet for enthusiasts from across Europe. Some of those were German aristocrats who later flew for the Luftwaffe.
“All the various gliding clubs in Europe and the UK would train here,” said Collison.
There are also stories that a Nazi spy mingled with the gliders on what would have been a reconnaissance mission.
The truth of that is to be explored, but the military authorities were sufficiently concerned about a German attack that numerous defences including trenches were built, a dummy airfield constructed and the white horse cut into its southern edge was covered over.
“The Germans may have considered this place as a potential landing spot for paratroopers,” said the local historian Harry Pearson. “This would have been an ideal location, particularly with prior knowledge from before the war.”
Pearson will dig into local archives including the gliding club, which is still operational today. “Who knows what treasures we’re going to find,” he said.
Collison said it was early days in terms of what could be uncovered. “It’s a case of there is an archive, let’s take time going through it and see what stories are in there. It may be that we go off on a completely different route.”
The project will include archaeological excavations and community research and has been funded by a £280,000 grant from National Grid’s landscape enhancement initiative.
On a grey June morning when the Guardian visited, volunteers were pushing a large wooden frame on wheels up and down a field that contains a barely noticeable bronze age round barrow.
On the frame are sensors that detect changes in the magnetic field of the ground. It is labour-intensive, but hi-tech: Last of the Summer Wine if it was on a sci-fi channel.
The vet and local author James Herriot called Sutton Bank’s view the “finest in England”, an opinion probably not shared by Edward II’s English soldiers in what is the bloodiest date in the site’s history.
The Battle of Byland took place in October 1322 during the Scottish wars of independence and was a spectacular victory for Robert the Bruce’s Scottish army, given the English were defending a position at the top of the bank.
Pearson said the Scots had men from the Highlands who were used to fighting on steep, rough terrain. “It was a classic flanking manoeuvre on terrain the English thought they couldn’t be flanked,” he said.
Pearson is the author of a book on the battle and is excited by the prospect of an archaeological exploration of the site. “It’s much overlooked. In general history books if it gets mentioned at all it gets one or two sentences. It’s often dismissed as a skirmish.
“The Battle of Bannockburn tends to get all the headlines and yes it was one of the great pitched battles of the era but it didn’t bring anything to a conclusion. The war raged on for a further 14 years. It was Edward’s defeat at Byland which really put an end to his military ambitions against Scotland.”
There are other stories to be told as a result of the project, the national park hopes.
“This part of the country, this area around Sutton Bank is just dripping with history,” said Pearson. “You can feel it, it’s almost palpable.”
