Double ditched enclosure N of Oakeys

Summary

Prehistoric and Roman settlement site 690m south east of the church of St Faith.

Reasons for Designation

Although they can frequently only be located through aerial photography. All homestead sites which survive substantially intact will normally be identified as nationally important. Romano-British aggregate villages are nucleated settlements formed by groups of five or more subsistence level farmsteads enclosed either individually or collectively, or with no formal boundary. Most enclosures, where they occur, are formed by curvilinear walls or banks, sometimes surrounded by ditches, and the dwellings are usually associated with pits, stock enclosures, cultivation plots and field systems, indicating a mixed farming economy. In use throughout the Roman period (c.43-450 AD), they often occupied sites of earlier agricultural settlements. In view of their rarity, all positively identified examples with surviving remains are considered to merit protection. The settlement site 690m south east of St Faiths Church has been ploughed and the archaeological remains survive exclusively as buried features or remains. The monument forms a part of the Iron Age and Roman settlement and land use pattern visible on the lower slopes of Bredon Hill. The enclosures, ring ditches and pits will have potential for remaining layers and deposits that will contain important archaeological information relating to the use, construction and occupation of the monument in addition to providing environmental evidence.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 21 May 2015. 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. As such they do not yet have the full descriptions of their modernised counterparts available. Please contact us if you would like further information.

This monument includes a prehistoric and Roman settlement located on the south side of Bredon Hill to the east of the River Avon. The monument is known from cropmarks visible on aerial photographs and survives as a double ditched rectangular enclosure with ring ditches and pits and a single ditched enclosure. The double ditched enclosure measures approximately 70m by 60m. The enclosure ditches are between 1m and 2m wide with the internal ditch slightly thinner. An entrance is situated on the western side. At the internal northern boundary of this enclosure are two ring ditches with pits. At the northern end of the site is a single ditched rectangular enclosure measuring approximately 75m by 60m.

The extent and character of the site is comparable with a site at Beckford (NGR: SO 9879 3650) that is dated to the Iron Age and Roman periods.

Further archaeological remains survive on Bredon Hill, but are not currently protected because they have not been formally assessed.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

WT 205

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
Pastscape Monument Nos:- 117825 & 117826
Hancox, E. & Russell, O. 2009, Recent Changes to Scheduled Monuments in Worcestershire. Worcestershire Historic Environment and Archaeology Service

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