Pit alignments running NE and SW centring 320yds (300m) N of Wychnor Bridge

Summary

Pit alignments 300m north of Wychnor Bridges Farm.

Reasons for Designation

A pit alignment is a linear arrangement of fairly closely spaced pits which vary in shape from round, through to oval, to rectangular. Nearly all pit alignments have been discovered by aerial photography and sometimes occur as part of a more complex linear earthwork including linear ditches, slots, palisades and linear banks. Pit alignments are among a fairly wide range of monuments of later prehistoric date and although little is known about their function and significance, they are believed to be related to division of the agricultural and political landscape. Linear boundaries are of considerable importance for the analysis of land use in the later prehistoric period; all well preserved samples will normally merit statutory protection.

The pit alignments 300m north of Wychnor Bridges Farm survive as a series of buried archaeological deposits. They are spatially associated with other prehistoric remains in the area. Additional features associated with the alignment are likely to survive. The buried remains will also provide valuable information relating to the landscape within which they were originally excavated and will contribute to our understanding of land use in later prehistoric society.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 6 July 2015. 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 linear pit alignments situated approximately 1km north of the confluence of the rivers Trent and Tame. At least two pit alignments have been identified as cropmarks from aerial photographs. Both are defined as a single row of pits aligned approximately north east to south west. The monument is believed to represent a double-row alignment dating to the Iron Age period which marks off the Catholme Ceremonial Complex to the east. The river valleys of the Trent and Tame are known to have been an area of activity during the prehistoric period and north of the confluence of the two rivers appears to have been a focus for the development of a late Neolithic and early Bronze Age ceremonial landscape. One of the prominent features of the area is the existence of major Iron Age linear boundaries represented by pit alignments and continuous ditches. The Roman road of Ryknild Street ran on a similar alignment immediately to the east of the monument.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

ST 211

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

Sources

Websites
Where Rivers Meet: Landscape, Ritual, Settlement and the Archaeology of River Gravels, 2006, accessed 2009 from http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?where_rivers_meet_eh_2006

Other
Pastscape: 929447, HER: DST5594 & NMR: SK 11 NE 124

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