Summary

Late Bronze Age Settlement at Runnymede Bridge, 122m south-east of The Runnymede Hotel.

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 11 December 2014. The 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.

The monument includes a Late Bronze Age settlement surviving as buried archaeological remains. It is situated on a floodplain on the south bank of the River Thames, opposite the confluence of the Thames and the Colne Brook. The site is located to the west of Runnymede Bridge on an area of flat ground, within a sequence of river channel sediments and layers of alluvial deposition.

Excavation has shown that the site includes a large number of post holes and a wattle and daub spread including a double row of in-situ pile driven timber uprights forming a river frontage. The finds recovered include part of a spearhead and socketed axe fragment, pins, ‘buttons’, rings, possible pommel, two pairs of tweezers, amber beads, spindle whorls, a loom weight and worked bone objects. This bronze assemblage was dated to the 9th-8th century BC.

The area to the east was partially excavated in advance of the construction of a new bridge for the M25 between 1972 and 1980. Later research excavations were carried out to the west, between Runnymede Hotel and the M25, by the British Museum between 1984 and 1989. It indicates that indigenous metalworking was carried out on the site and that the settlement also formed an important point of trade. The present site represents a continuation of Bronze Age settlement remains uncovered immediately to the east, prior to the construction of the M25. Climatic deterioration was probably responsible for the later abandonment of the riverside site. The excavations also yielded earlier evidence of Mesolithic and Neolithic occupation.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

The Late Bronze Age Settlement at Runnymede Bridge, 122m south-east of The Runnymede Hotel has been shown by partial excavation to contain in-situ archaeological and environmental information relating to the occupation of the site and its local landscape context. These include archaeological remains, which survive well within layers of alluvium. These show a demonstrable association of metalwork, pottery and organic artefacts in a settlement context as well as evidence for indigenous metalworking and trade.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Needham, S, Spence, T, Refuse and disposal at Area 16 East Runnymede. Runnymede Bridge Research Excavations, Volume 2, (1996)
Longley, D, 'Runnymede Bridge 1976: Excavations on the site of a Late Bronze Age settlement' in Research Volume of the Surrey Archaeological Society, , Vol. 6, (1980), 1-85
Other
Surrey HER 2307, 2645. NMR TQ07SW52. PastScape 394881

Source: Historic England