Prehistoric pit alignment and associated features on Lawford Heath, adjacent to the northernmost Blue Boar Farm

Overview

Location

Reasons for Designation

A pit alignment is a linear arrangement of fairly closely spaced pits which vary in shape from round, through 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 the 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 double pit alignment and associated features adjacent to the northernmost Blue Boar Farm at Lawford Heath survive well as a series of buried deposits. They are spatially associated with other prehistoric remains in the area. Archaeological excavation nearby has demonstrated that additional buried 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.

Details

The monument includes the buried remains of a prehistoric pit alignment and associated features adjacent to the northernmost Blue Boar Farm on a gravel plateau known as Lawford Heath. The pit alignment is part of a more extensive alignment which has been recorded, intermittently, over a distance of about 2.5km. Immediately to the north east of the monument the pit alignment has been destroyed by modern quarrying and to the south west, where the course of the projected alignment is marked by a field boundary, the level of archaeological survival is unknown. These areas therefore are not included in the scheduling.

The pit alignment is visible on aerial photographs as two parallel lines of sub-rectangular or circular cropmarks (areas of enhanced plant growth over buried archaeological features) aligned north east-south west. The principal line of pits is visible over a distance of approximately 220m as a series of fairly regularly spaced cropmarks with a second line of pits represented by smaller cropmarks lying immediately to the south. In addition two parallel linear cropmarks, aligned north west-south east and measuring about 50m in length, are visible approximately 50m to the south east of the double pit alignment.

Archaeological investigations to the north and east of the monument, undertaken during the 1990s prior to quarrying, revealed evidence of an extensive complex of buried remains, including a series of pit alignments, postholes and enclosures, dating from the Early Iron Age through to the Romano-British period. These investigations indicate that the double pit alignment dates to the Early to Middle Iron Age and represents a major land division. The excavations also established the presence of additional archaeological features, not visible on aerial photographs, indicating that further buried remains will survive in association with the double pit alignment and linear feature.

All fence posts, timber stores, waste containers and concrete runways are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

33140

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Gethin, B, Palmer, S, Archaeological observations at Lawford Heath Lane, Warwicks, (1997)
Webster, G, Hobley, B, 'The Archaeological Journal' in Aerial Reconnaissance Over the Warwickshire Avon, , Vol. 121, (1964)
Other
aerial photographs, Baker, A, 2333, 2334, 2337, (1962)
Palmer, S, (2000)
Palmer, S, Evaluation at Ling Hall: interim report, 1994,
Warwickshire SMR , WA7139, (1999)
Warwickshire SMR, WA7170, (1999)
Warwickshire SMR, WA7291, (1999)

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.