It is probable that 8000 years ago and over the following millenia groups of hunter-gatherers passed through the area we now call Ilton on a regular basis. They would have stayed near a source of fresh water for drinking, bathing and cooking; perhaps participating in ritual proceedings as suggested by the presence of a burnt mound near to the ruin of Lobley hall.

Before 6000 years ago most of the country was densely wooded but these people would have found or made a clearing in the woodland in order to drive and catch prey. Certain cleared areas would have become popular stopping off places for these nomadic people who eventually might have decided to stay! This is when cultivation of crops and livestock enclosures would be required to support a permanent community - perhaps the first Ilton. This period was called the Neolithic - the last period of the stone age when farming gradually developed.

By 4000 years ago it is likely that there were farming systems to produce wheat and barley for flour, bedding, straw, animal feed and brewing malt. Livestock would have consisted of cattle , sheep, goats and pigs. By this time much of the woodland had been cleared and farming extended even onto the moorland. A 50m diameter D-shaped enclosure is present on an elevated section of Ilton's moorland. Its precise purpose and age has not yet been determined but similar shaped enclosures elsewhere in the north of England are single household settlements attributed to the late bronze age/early iron age.

In many areas of Ilton there are fields containing terraces or lynchets which were a means of maximising the area of land available for crop growth usually utilising south facing hillsides of arable land. Ploughing and collecting of stones built up ridges on the hillside over the years to produce these substantial features. We do not have a date for these particular lynchets but such features have been around since the bronze age.

The iron age period was from 2700 years ago when, as now, sheep were a very important part of the economy for wool and meat. Farming revolved around farmsteads with rectilinear fields each having areas of pasture, arable and wood. Ploughing had become very efficient with the introduction of the iron share and a two field rotation was used, ie. crop one year followed by fallow the next that was grazed by livestock. Cereals were grown and ground using querns; one of which has been found in one of the fields of Quarry House Farm.

©Tees Archaeology

AD 43 and the Romans were in the country . Before long Roman camps and villas were close to Ilton and a roman road possibly passed through Ilton. It is suspected that a Roman signalling station may have been on a high spot in Ilton. It is likely that Ilton farm produce would have gone for Roman consumption! The actual layout of farms did not change much during Roman times but it is likely a few new crops were introduced such as cabbage, parsnips and carrots.

In the time following Roman rule farming became more disorganised with much land reverting to pasture, scrub and woodland. This was brought about by a general decrease in population due to war, disease, political upheaval and emigration. It is suggested that the site of Lobley hall was once a Saxon village but there is no proof of this and earthworks overlooking the Sole Beck fit in with the possibility of a Viking settlement with lynchets in the adjacent field. In the Norman period the less productive farms were abandoned but the well established and successful farms went from strength to strength . By the late 11th century there is mention of Morcar, Lord of Ilton of Scandinavian descent; we do not know where he lived.

Strip lynchets and ridge and furrow earthworks are features characteristic of the following medieval period and many good examples of these are readily visible throughout the Ilton area. As previously the valley bottoms and sides continued to be used for arable crops and hay whilst the higher land and moorland was used for grazing livestock , especially sheep. By the 12th and 13th centuries the monks of Fountains Abbey had acquired much land in Ilton donated to them by the rich landowners in exchange for their good works of teaching, looking after the poor and sick,and saying prayers for the rich and their families. The people who farmed the land had to pay tithes to the churches usually something of the order of one tenth of production of lambs, fleeces, crops etc. The mill at Ilton , owned by Sir Richard de Waxwand, was used by the monks of Fountains. The exact location of the mill is not yet known but could only have been along the Sole Beck probably beneath a dam. The last mention of the mill we have found is on the Jefferys map of 1771. By this time many of the strip fields were starting to be walled and less land was used for arable cultivation with hay production predominating. Livestock grazed throughout the area including the moorland.

In the 18th century it was common practice to 'sweeten' acid land by the addition of lime production of which is evident from the kiln along Sole Beck. The enclosures acts of the time would have caused problems for the local farmers who may have lost land in the procedure

Changes in farming practices in the 20th century meant that many of the earlier field boundaries were no longer relevant. Big farms took over the smaller ones , many walls and hedges were removed to make way for bigger fields and larger farm machinery.