Geoff Gaunt

This portrait of Geoff Gaunt is taken from Volume 6 of the Thorne & Hatfield Moors Papers and was prepared by Martin Limbert in 2003.

Geoff Gaunt was born in 1930 in Bradford but, as he puts it, he "left as soon as he could walk", living for a few years in Galloway and then for longer periods in Morecambe and Cleveleys. In these western coastal areas, within cycling distance of the Lake District and the Pennines, he developed a keen interest in landscapes, and an insatiable curiosity about their origins and influence on human settlement. This led to lifelong enthusiasms for geology, archaeology and history. Cricket was another great enthusiasm, but two disastrous trials for Lancashire convinced him that his future lay elsewhere! After National Service in the RAF Air Traffic Control Branch, much of it working in collaboration with the USAF during the Berlin Airlift, he went to Leeds University, gaining a first in geology in 1955.

Geoff then joined what is now known as the British Geological Survey, and was posted to Newcastle upon Tyne. Fieldwork in southern County Durham gave him his first experience of, and a strong interest in, Quaternary research, which was to become his specialist field in the years ahead. Some of this work is included in the relevant memoir (Smith & Francis 1967). There then followed several years in the northern Peak District, which much later resulted in an account of the fossiliferous rocks in Edale (Ramsbottom, Stevenson & Gaunt 1967) and the appropriate memoir (Stevenson & Gaunt 1971).

Meanwhile, early in 1962 and by then based in Leeds, Geoff was instructed to start work in the southern part of the Vale of York. Commencing in the south-west near Tickhill, he worked eastwards to just beyond the Trent and northwards to between Selby and South Cave. He was then detailed to continue eastwards along both sides of the Humber as far as Kingston upon Hull and Goxhill, and nearly as far south as Scunthorpe, completing the fieldwork in 1977. Geoff was on Hatfield Moors in the spring of 1963, and on Thorne Moors at various times in 1964-65. These years are recalled as the happiest of his geological career. The weather was much better than in the High Peak fieldwork was less exhausting than clambering over Kinder Scout and adjacent hills, and most of all (and despite the initially unpromising flattish topography), the region proved to be a veritable treasure house of (as Geoff puts it) "Quaternary goodies."

These years were also a time when Quaternary research in Britain was becoming a more integrated multidisciplinary study. During a Yorkshire Geological Society field meeting at a large ironstone quarry near Scunthorpe early in the 1960s, Geoff was part of a small group of Quaternary enthusiasts which split off from the main party and began studying the superficial deposits above the solid rocks. This was much to the mock disgust of Sir Peter Kent who was explaining the intricacies of Liassic biostratigraphy some 60 feet below. A lively correspondence between those in this splinter group ensued, and culminated in the first meeting of the Quaternary Field Studies Group at Birmingham University in 1964. This group, soon to change its name to the Quaternary Research Association, is now the authoritative body for Quaternary studies in Britain. Its meetings have provided the inspiration for much of the subsequent research in this field, particularly where interdisciplinary collaboration is beneficial.

In the meantime, Geoff was working northwards and eastwards. He encountered a plethora of Quaternary deposits, some glacial, others interglacial (Gaunt et al. 1972; Gaunt, Bartley & Harland 1974), and several associated with Lake Humber and its relationship to the Devensian ice limit in the region (Gaunt, Jarvis & Matthews 1971; Gaunt 1974, 1976a). He started to use periglacial phenomena as chronological indicators, and also to use some deposits to elucidate Flandrian (i.e. Holocene) sea-level changes (Gaunt & Tooley 1974). This 16-year mapping project culminated in a series of one inch and metric scale geological maps, a doctoral thesis (Gaunt 1976b), the Quaternary chapter in Sir Peter Kent's regional geological guide (Kent 1980), a regional Quaternary history (Gaunt 1981) and two memoirs (Gaunt, Fletcher & Wood 1992, Gaunt 1994 - wherein other relevant references are listed). Several Quaternary aspects outside the mapping region were also investigated, notably concerning the 'Oxbow' mammoth (Gaunt, Coope & Franks 1970) and the struggle to date the 'Leeds Hippopotamus' (Harkness, Gaunt & Nunney 1977).

Besides Quaternary deposits, there were also landscape historical features in the mapping region. Geoff soon became aware of warped ground and, although not part of his duties, he collected as much information as possible on it. The results are included in his thesis, in the two memoirs, and in a further account (Gaunt 1987). Geoff realised also on geological evidence that there had been artificial drainage alterations in the region long before those of Vermuyden, notably along the lowest stretch of the Derwent (Gaunt 1994) and along the Don north of Thorne (Gaunt 1975). Somehow, time was found also for an occasional look at solid rocks (Gaunt et al. 1980, Ivimey-Cook et al. 1980).

Geoff has many memories of his time in the region. He was twice arrested by RAF Police for allegedly "lurking in woods near RAF Finningley, on one occasion having my trousers slightly chewed by an RAF alsatian of vexed disposition." He had a happier relationship for about three weeks with Jack Lyon's dog, from Lindholme Hall, which insisted on accompanying him around Hatfield Moors. This was useful, too, for as Geoff says, "If I got lost the dog always knew its way home." Geoff eventually arranged to meet William Bunting at the latter's home in Thorne but, having been warned that Bunting was "agin the government'' he was, as a government employee, careful in what he said. It was perhaps just as well, as Bunting had recorded the entire conversation on a hidden tape recorder. Nevertheless, the two became good friends. At about the same time Geoff also made friends with another local character, Johnny Burtwistle, who lived at Limberlost Farm on the edge of Thorne Moors, and whose pride and joy was his collection of Rockingham Ware. Burtwistle was helpful and generous with his local knowledge, and they met on numerous occasions. Some years later Geoff went to interview Major A. Empson, who had carried out the last warping in the region in 1948-49, near Blacktoft (Ferro 1949). To Geoff's consternation the Major's manservant, described as "a big lad with a scowl", stood alongside the Major's chair with a large cosh in his hand, obviously suspecting that Geoff was "up to no good."

Following a heart attack, Geoff took early retirement from BGS in 1984, but has worked almost continuously since as a geoarchaeological consultant for projects and organisations such as Wharram Percy, Winterton Villa, West Yorkshire Archaeology Service and York Archaeological Trust (Anon. 1996), mainly on the lithology and provenance of stone artifacts and building stones. This work has resulted in contributions to a number of recent archaeological publications, such as Milne & Richards (1992), Stamper & Croft (2000), Mainman & Rogers (2000), Roberts, Burgess & Berg (2001), Roberts (2002) and Ottaway & Rogers (2002). Geoff holds an honorary research fellowship in the Archaeological Sciences Dept at the University of Bradford, where he has built up geologically related collections. A hallmark of Geoff's approach to his work has been a willingness to share his knowledge and experience at several different levels. For the Thorne & Hatfield Moors Conservation Forum, he contributed to Thorne Moors Papers (Gaunt 1987) and had significant input into the first Monograph (Smith 2002). More widely, he has contributed geological accounts to popular publications (e.g. Cory 1985, Taylor 1987, Garner 1997).

Geoff's wife Ann has provided a source of great support to him in his work, even perilously standing half way up a high sand-pit face as an appropriate photograph scale (Gaunt 1994, p.109, plate 3). They share an interest in archery, combining both shooting and historical research. Geoff was Yorkshire Champion in 1966, appropriately winning the title at Cantley near Doncaster. He is a member of several archery societies and clubs, including the Royal Toxophilite Society, and was archivist to the Society of Archer-Antiquaries for ten years. Geoff has advised the TV programme Trans World Sport on various worldwide aspects of archery history, and appeared on one of their programmes, shooting for the Scorton Arrow, one of the oldest sporting competitions in the world, having been continuously contested since 1673. Much to Geoff's delight, he adds that Kevin Costner and Laurence Olivier (as Robin Hood and Henry V respectively) were also featured on the programme, another example of multidisciplinary collaboration!

Anon. (1996) Meet the archaeologist. Interim 21(1): 35-37. York Archaeological Trust.

Cory, V. (1985) Hatfield and Axholme. An historical review. Ely: Providence Press.

Ferro, R.B. (1949) Warping at Blacktoft 1948. Journal of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society 100: 59-65.

Garner, S.R. (1997) A topographical study of the wetlands of Axholme. Privately published, High Burnham.

Gaunt, G.D. (1974) A radiocarbon date relating to Lake Humber. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 40: 195-197.

Gaunt, G.D. (1975) The artificial nature of the River Don north of Thorne Yorkshire.
Yorkshire Archaeological Journal 47: 15-21.

Gaunt, G.D. (1976a) The Devensian maximum ice limit in the Vale of York. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 40: 631-637.

Gaunt, G.D. (1976b) Quaternary geology of the southern part of the Vale of York. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Leeds.

Gaunt, G.D. (1981) Quaternary history of the southern part of the Vale of York. In: J. Neale & J. Flenley (editors) The Quaternary in Britain, pp. 82-97. Oxford: Pergamon Press.

Gaunt, G.D. (1987) The geology and landscape development of the region around Thorne Moors. Thorne Moors Papers 1: 5-30.

Gaunt, G.D. (1994) Geology of the country around Goole, Doncaster and the Isle of Axholme. Memoir of the British Geological Survey, sheets 79 and 88 (England and Wales). London: HMSO.

Gaunt, G.D., D.D. Bartley & R. Harland (1974) Two interglacial deposits proved in boreholes in the southern part of the Vale of York and their bearing on contemporaneous sea levels. Bulletin of the Geological Survey of Great Britain 48: 1-23.

Gaunt, G.D., G.R. Coope & J.W. Franks (1970) Quaternary deposits at Oxbow overcast coal site in the Aire Valley, Yorkshire. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 38: 175-200.

Gaunt, G.D., G.R. Coope, P.J. Osborne & J.W. Franks (1972) An interglacial deposit near Butterfield, southern Yorkshire. Report of the Institute of Geological Sciences No. 72/4.

Gaunt, G.D., T.P. Fletcher & C.J. Wood (1992) Geology of the country around Kingston upon Hull and Brigg. Memoir of the British Geological Survey, sheets 80 and 89 (England and Wales). London: HMSO.

Gaunt, G.D., H.C. Ivimey-Cook, I.E. Penn & B.M. Cox (1980) Mesozoic rocks proved by IGS boreholes in the Humber and Acklam areas. Report of the Institute of Geological Sciences No. 79/13.

Gaunt, G.D., R.A. Jarvis & B. Matthews (1971) The late Weichselian sequence in the Vale of York. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 38: 281-284.

Gaunt, G.D., & M.J. Tooley (1974) Evidence for Flandrian sea-level changes in the Humber estuary and adjacent areas. Bulletin of the Geological Survey of Great Britain 48: 25-41.

Harkness, D.D., G.D. Gaunt & J.H. Nunney (1977) Radiocarbon dating versus the Leeds Hippopotamus - a cautionary tale. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 41: 223- 230.

Ivimey-Cook, H.C., G.D. Gaunt, G.W. Green, A. Horton, G. Warrington & A. Whittaker
(1980) The Triassic-Jurassic boundary in Great Britain. Geological Magazine 117: 617--620.

Kent, Sir Peter, with contributions by G.D. Gaunt & C.J. Wood (1980) British Regional Geology: Eastern England from the Tees to The Wash. Second edition. London: HMSO.

Mainman, A.J. & N.S.H. Rogers (2000) Craft, industry and everyday life: finds from Anglo- Scandinavian York. The Archaeology of York volume 17, fascicule 14.

Milne, G. & J.D. Richards (1992) Two Anglo-saxon buildings and associated finds.
Wharram. A study of settlement on the Yorkshire Wolds, VII. York University Archaeological Publication No. 9.

Ottaway, P. & N. Rogers (2002) Craft industry and everyday life: finds from Medieval York. The Archaeology of York volume 17, fascicule 15.

Ramsbottom, W.H.C., I.P. Stevenson & G.D. Gaunt (1967) Fossiliferous localities in the Namurian rocks of Edale. In: R. Neves & C. Downie (editors) Geological excursions in the Sheffield region and the Peak District National Park, pp.75-81 . Sheffield: J.W. Northend.

Roberts, I. (2002) Pontefract Castle. Archaeological excavations 1982-86. Yorkshire Archaeology No. 8. West Yorkshire Archaeology Service.

Roberts, I., A. Burgess & D. Berg (2001) A new link to the past. The archaeological landscape of the M1-A1 linkroad. Yorkshire Archaeology No. 7. West Yorkshire Archaeology Service.

Smith, B.M. (2002) A palaeoecological study of raised mires in the Humberhead Levels.
BAR British Series 336; Thorne & Hatfield Moors Monograph No.1.

Smith, D.B. & E.A. Francis (1967) Geology of the country between Durham and West Hartlepool. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, sheet 27 (England and Wales). London: HMSO.

Stamper, P.A. and R.A. Croft (2000) The South Manor area. Wharram. A study of settlement on the Yorkshire Wolds, VIII. York University Archaeological Publication No. 10.

Stevenson, I.P. & G.D. Gaunt (1971) Geology of the country around Chapel en le Frith.
Memoir of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, sheet 99 (England and Wales). London: HMSO.

Taylor, M. (1987) Thorne Mere and the Old River Don. York: William Sessions.

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