Our hidden history emerges from the dust
Archaeologists find 1,500 lost monuments, buildings and burial chambers as dry spell reveals outlines
TWO prehistoric villages are among 1,500 lost landmarks that have been discovered in Britain during the heatwave.
Historic England has been taking advantage of the exceptionally dry weather to send up reconnaissance planes to hunt for outlines of long-forgotten monuments, buildings and burial chambers, which normally lie hidden beneath vegetation.
Archaeologists said this summer had brought a bumper haul of “cropmarks”, which occur because grass or crops grow differently on top of old sites, causing ancient walls and enclaves to emerge like ghostly blueprints. The findings date from the Stone Age to Elizabethan England.
Among the discoveries were two Bronze or Iron Age settlements from Lansallos in Cornwall and Stoke-by-clare in Suffolk, in which the outlines of roundhouses, animal enclosures and burial mounds could be seen.
Two mysterious Neolithic “cursus” monuments, that may once have been used in processions during ancient rituals, have appeared near Clifton Reynes, Milton Keynes, Bucks. The long rectangular mounds are among the oldest megalithic structures in Britain and most of the 100-plus cursus monuments known in England were discovered through aerial survey as few survive above ground level.
Duncan Wilson, the Historic England chief executive, said: “This spell of very hot weather has provided the perfect conditions for our aerial archaeologists to ‘see beneath the soil’ as cropmarks are much better defined when the soil has less moisture. The discovery of ancient farms, settlements and Neolithic cursus monuments is exciting... It has been fascinating to see so many traces of our past graphically revealed.”
When archaeologists flew over Yorkshire, the outlines of four Iron Age square barrows, were spotted at Pocklington, near York. Previous square barrows found in the Yorkshire Wolds have contained exotic grave goods such as chariots. Meanwhile, four prehistoric farms were spotted in Stogumber, Somerset, and burial mounds from the Bronze Age were uncovered in Scropton, Derbyshire, overlain by evidence of medieval farming.
At Bicton in Devon, a Roman farm was found, while in St Ives in Cornwall an Iron Age settlement and Bronze Age barrow were seen from the air.
Meanwhile, at Tixall Hall, near Stafford, details of lost Elizabethan buildings and gardens dating from the mansion’s construction in 1555 are now visible.
“This is the first potential bumper year in what feels like a long time,” said Helen Winton, the Historic England aerial investigation and mapping manager.
“It is very exciting to have hot weather for this long. 2011 was the last time we had an exceptional year when we discovered over 1,500 sites.”
The aerial survey also rediscovered outlines which had not been seen for decades, including a prehistoric ceremonial landscape near Eynsham, Oxfordshire. Cropmarks revealed buried remains of funerary monuments dating from 4,000BC-700BC, together with a settlement. The site is already protected as a scheduled monument.