MORTIMER: HABITATION TERRACES OF THE EAST RIDING. 
221 
ON THE HABITATION TERRACES OF THE EAST RIDING. 
BY J. R. MORTIMER, ESQ., F.G.S. 
These terraces must not be confounded with the cultivated 
terraces which are so common in the immediate vicinity of old 
villages, and are undoubtedly the work of the Roman and mediaeval 
plough. 
The lance-pointed terraces or platforms, which form the subject 
of this paper, are visible on many of the steep hill-sides of the 
Yorkshire Wold valleys, and many others which have once existed 
have now been erased by natural or artificial causes. They are 
quite distinct from any other form of earthworks or hill-side ledges, 
and where they remain perfect in outline, are remarkably alike both 
in shape and in size. They are generally found on that side of the 
valley which faces the morning or the mid-day sun, at about one- 
third the distance from the foot of the slope, and run parallel with 
the course of the valley. They are found in some cases as single 
platforms, in others as double platforms, whilst sometimes there are 
three or even more terraces running parallel one above another. One 
end of each terrace is always of full width, while the other end runs 
out to a fine point; and it is also worthy of note, that when two or 
more of these ledges are found lying like steps, one above the other, 
they always have their wide ends in the same direction. When well- 
preserved, they are found to have a breadth varying from fifteen to 
twenty-one feet, and a length of one hundred to two hundred yards. 
I know of no written allusion to this pecuHar form of teiTace, which 
is seldom found mapped even on the ordnance sheets. From 1863 to 
1865 I took the measurements of several of the most perfect of these 
terraces; but could not, for a long time, determine their purpose. I 
hope that the following descriptions may enable other observers to 
recognize similar terraces in other parts of the country. 
No. 1. This terrace was 135 yards in leng-th, with an average 
width of about 6 yards, except at the pointed east end. It is found 
in Rain Dale, near Fimber, and is situated a little distance above the 
foot of the hill-side, facing N.W. 
