Summary
A Late Neolithic cursus and mini-henges, Early Bronze Age round barrows, and prehistoric field systems, enclosures and settlements, situated on level ground on the north side of the River Trent. The remains survive as a series of buried archaeological features including ditches, pits, gullies and slots with associated deposits, visible on aerial photographs as cropmarks.
Reasons for Designation
The cursus and associated mini-henges and round barrows, including the Iron Age/Romano-British settlement and agricultural remains, are scheduled for the following principal reasons:
Period:
* the cursus is a religious or ceremonial monument type from the Neolithic period which, as one of the oldest site types found in England, offers important insight into the beliefs and ritual practices of this period;
Rarity:
* cursus monuments are a rare Neolithic monument type with only around a hundred definite or likely examples recorded in England;
Survival:
* despite surviving as buried remains, aerial survey and excavation have demonstrated that significant archaeological remains survive in the form of ditches, pits, gullies and slots with associated deposits, including pottery, burials and paleo-environmental remains;
Potential:
* they have the potential to inform a range of questions about the nature, extent and longevity of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age ritual, ceremonial and funerary activity in England;
* they have paleo-environmental potential to provide information about the environment in which the Neolithic/Early Bronze Age structures were constructed and used;
* evidence for Iron Age/Romano-British settlement reflects a continued interest in the site during these later periods, and has the potential to add to our knowledge of such rural settlements in the region, and our understanding of their construction amid a pre-existing ritual landscape;
Group value:
* the cursus has a clear group value with the nearby scheduled cursus at Aston on Trent; taken together, and with a range of associated contemporary monuments, they will further our knowledge and understanding of these enigmatic monuments.
History
A Late Neolithic cursus monument, Neolithic mini-henges, Early Bronze Age round barrows, overlain and surrounded by a complex of later prehistoric fields, enclosures and settlement. The remains survive as a series of buried archaeological features including ditches, pits, gullies and slots with associated deposits, visible on aerial photographs as cropmarks.
A cursus is an elongated rectilinear earthwork, the length of which is normally greater than 250m and more than ten times its width. The sides are usually defined by a bank and external ditch, but occasionally by a line of closely set pits. The two long sides run roughly parallel and may incorporate earlier monuments of other classes. Access to the interior was restricted to a small number of entranceways, usually near the ends of the long sides. Cursus monuments vary enormously in length, from 250m at the lower end of the range up to 5.6km in the case of the Dorset Cursus. The width is normally in the range 20m to 60m. The greatest variations in the ground plan occur at the terminals, with a variety of both round ended and square ended examples recorded. Dateable finds from cursus monuments are few. Early Neolithic pottery has been found in the primary fill of some ditches, but there is also evidence of construction in the Late Neolithic period. There are indications of re-cutting or extending of the ditches at some sites and the distribution of monuments of later periods often respects cursus monuments demonstrating their continued recognition through time. They are considered to have had a ritual or ceremonial role.
Mini-henges (also referred to as hengiforms) are ritual or ceremonial centres closely connected with burial, and date to the Middle and Late Neolithic periods (3000-2000 BC). They were constructed as flat, roughly circular enclosures comprising an area of ground typically between 5m and 20m across enclosed by a ditch with external bank. One entrance or two opposing entrances through the earthwork provided access to the interior of the monument which often contained pits, cremations postholes and graves. Round barrows are funerary or ceremonial monuments dating from the Neolithic to Saxon times but many date generally to the Bronze Age. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds and are commonly surrounded by a ring-ditch. Many, but not all, barrows covered single or multiple burials or had burials inserted into them. Round barrows occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Later Iron Age and Romano-British occupation in Britain included a range of rural settlement types. Small-scale farmsteads formed the dwelling places of individual families or kinship groups usually engaged in mixed farming. They typically consist of clusters of roundhouses and rectangular timber structures within ditched enclosures, and the remains of ditched field systems.
The Potlock/Findern Cursus is one of only two cursus monuments known in Derbyshire, the other being the Aston Cursus. Neolithic pottery within the base of the Potlock/Findern ditches indicates a Late Neolithic date for its construction. Archaeological evidence from the surrounding area suggests that the cursus was constructed within an area of existing Mesolithic activity. The remains surrounding and related to the cursus indicate extensive ritual and domestic activity of several different phases, including Neolithic, Early Bronze Age and Iron Age/Romano-British, which represents activity relating to field systems, enclosures, settlement sites and funerary monuments representing the multi-phased use of the area.
Investigation History
The site was first identified on aerial photographs during the 1960s and part of it was scheduled in 1986. Cropmark plotting by RCHME (1990), Air Photo Services (2004) and Archaeological Research Services (2010 - Derbyshire and the Peak District Aggregates and Archaeology Resource Assessment), has extended the known alignment of the cursus substantially west of the current scheduling. It extends through the two fields west of the scheduling, past Potlock House Farm. The southern ditch then continues south of the road as far west as Wheatfield Court, with circular features including probable mini-henges just to the south.
Archaeological evaluation of the cursus and its surroundings was undertaken in 1970, with subsequent evaluations between 1985 and 1989 and in 1994 and in 2005. These investigations identified numerous sections of the cursus ditches between Frizams Lane and Willington Power Station (two of which contained Neolithic pottery) as well as two ditch termini at Frizams Lane and the stream between Frizams Lane and Potlock Farm. They also identified Iron Age/Romano-British settlements north of the cursus near Frizams Lane, and Iron Age and similar settlements surrounding the area of Potlock Farm. An evaluation in 2005 focussed on an area to the south of the cooling towers, either side of the A5132. The north cursus ditch was identified to the north of the A5132 with a ditch thought to represent the south ditch of the cursus to the south of the A5132. Other features noted here comprised a Late Bronze Age ditch, Iron Age ditch and potential Romano-British enclosure. The evaluations indicated that the cursus ditches and other features, varied in depth between 0.4m and 1.2m. Excavation also identified deposits with palaeo-environmental potential and pottery including Grimston and Peterborough ware as well as Iron Age and Romano-British material.
Details
PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: a late Neolithic cursus and mini-henges, Early Bronze Age round barrows, and prehistoric field systems, enclosures and settlements, situated on level ground on the north side of the River Trent. The remains survive as a series of buried archaeological features including ditches, pits, gullies and slots with associated deposits, visible on aerial photographs as cropmarks.
DESCRIPTION: the cursus has a straight course, and is visible as a pair of intermittent parallel buried ditches, oriented north-east to south-west. The north ditch is about 900m long, and extends west from within the current scheduled area through a further two fields and beyond Potlock House Farm. The south ditch also extends for about 900m, and then continues south of the road for a further 600m as far west as Wheatfield Court. It is intermittently visible south of the road, and is considered to survive in area between the visible cropmarks, that are unsuitable to cropmark formation such as a playing field. Overall the cursus is about 70m wide. Excavation has demonstrated that the north and south ditches survive to a maximum width of 3.5m and a maximum of 1.2m deep. There is no evidence of a bank, and burnt matter has been noted at the base of the ditches. The ditches terminate at two points, at Frizams Lane and at the stream between Frizams Lane and Potlock Farm. The terminal of the northern ditch at the stream contained evidence of flooding suggesting that the stream regularly burst over the ditch terminal during its use. Stratified finds from this terminal include two hammerstones, flint, and Romano-British pottery. Neolithic pottery identified in the area of Potlock Farm also suggests activity surrounding this part of the cursus. The western end of the southern cursus ditch, south of the A5132, appears to have been cut numerous times along a similar alignment.
The remains of about 10 curvilinear ditched features ranging in size from about 9m to 34m in diameter have been identified to the west of Frizams Lane. Two of these features at the extreme south-west, are double-ditched, and appear to conform morphologically to Neolithic mini-henges; a trackway runs north-south between the two. The remaining large circular ditched features are interpreted as the ring-ditches of several Bronze Age round barrows. Archaeological evaluation of two of these features, situated either side of the northern cursus ditch, revealed that they have V-shaped ditch profiles, a maximum of 1m deep. Prehistoric pottery was noted within one of the ditches and an elongate feature measuring 1.5m by 0.5m with a dark soil fill was identified in the centre of the other circular feature and interpreted as a burial.
To the north of the east end of the cursus there are the remains of an Iron Age/Romano-British settlement and field-system. The remains are visible as a complex of rectilinear and curvilinear features, varying from about 10m in diameter to about 90m by 170m. A number of these features are overlapping, suggesting the continuous use and changing layout of the settlement over time. Investigations adjacent to the north-western corner of the scheduled area identified an enclosure ditch with a U-shaped profile measuring 1.2m wide and 0.6m deep. This ditch was cut by a terrace that had been levelled artificially and its surface metalled with cobbles. Aerial photographs suggest that this is a pentagonal enclosure which extends westwards from within the currently scheduled monument, and further remains are superimposed over the cursus in the vicinity of Potlock Farm. To the west of Potlock Farm, archaeological investigations have positively identified Romano-British ditches and an enclosure cutting through the cursus ditch; the enclosure ditch was aligned north to south, was 1.25m wide and 0.2m deep with concave sides and a flat base. Two sherds of Roman pottery were located within its fill. A potential Romano-British enclosure was suggested by a ditch measuring 2.1m wide and 0.5m deep with a U-shaped profile. The ditch was aligned on an east-west axis before turning sharply to the north and contained a single sherd of Roman pottery in the fill.
EXTENT OF SCHEDULING: this has been defined to include the full extent of the cursus monument confirmed by aerial survey and evaluation. It includes areas unsuited to cropmark formation, but where the cursus remains are considered to survive. In addition to the cursus, it also includes ritual and funerary remains and Iron-Age/Romano-British settlement and agricultural remains north and south of the cursus. The extreme south-western fields contain evidence of significant mini-henges and associated features which, along with the surrounding archaeologically sensitive ground, are also included. At the eastern and western ends of the monument, where Twyford Road forms the boundary, the scheduling runs along the outer edge of the metalled road. Further cropmarks lie outside the scheduled area, but their nature and date is uncertain, and they are not included at this time.
EXCLUSIONS: all buildings and associated features, fence posts, street furniture, the metalled/paved surfaces of roads and paths, signage poles, telegraph poles, and pylons are excluded from the scheduling, but the ground benath these features is included.
