Summary

Enclosed Iron Age farmstead and part of its associated field system 820m north west of Home Farm.

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 11 February 2016. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

This monument includes an enclosed Iron Age farmstead and part of its associated track ways and field system situated on the east facing slopes of the prominent Bell Hill overlooking a dry valley. The farmstead survives as an oval enclosure measuring approximately 45m long by 33m wide and defined by a bank standing up to 5m wide and 1.2m high with an outer ditch best preserved to the west where it measures 2m wide and 0.3m deep. There are traces of a second outer bank to the north and north east and the entrance is to the east and this appears to have a small outwork. Within the interior are a number of level scoops interpreted as possible building platforms. Beyond the enclosure and preserved as a series of earthworks is part of the associated regular aggregate field system. This includes rectangular fields linked by track ways and defined by mounds of various sizes, banks and ditches.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

The size and form of Iron Age enclosed settlements vary considerably from single farmsteads up to large semi-urban oppida. Farmsteads are generally represented by curvilinear enclosures containing evidence of a small group of circular domestic buildings and associated agricultural structures. Where excavated, these sites are also found to contain pits or rectangular post- built structures for the storage of grain and other produce, evidence of an organised and efficient farming system. The surrounding enclosures would have provided protection against cattle rustling and tribal raiding. In central and southern England, most enclosed Iron Age farmsteads are situated in areas which are now under intensive arable cultivation. As a result, although some examples survive with upstanding earthworks, the majority have been recorded as crop- and soil-marks appearing on aerial photographs. The enclosed Iron Age farmstead and part of its associated field system 820m north west of Home Farm represents such a site more rarely preserved as upstanding features and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the construction, longevity, development, social organisation, agricultural practices, domestic arrangements and overall landscape context of the settlement and its field system.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
PastScape 205558

Source: Historic England