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Enclosure
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I read about this site in ‘The Archaeology of Hounslow’ by Gillian Clegg (1991 – ISBN 0951831901) which says “A small henge monument dating to the Neolithic period was found during excavations at Mayfield Farm in East Bedfont.” Later the book continues “On the same site as the Neolithic henge monument but some distance away, two concentric ditches which had shown up in aerial photographs proved to be a double ditched enclosure dating to the late bronze Age. A substantially defended settlement, it must have dominated this part of the Thames Valley. It may have been an important regional center controlling a large territory, perhaps including the waterside settlement at Brantford and the similar and important Bronze Age waterside settlements at Runnymede/Egham, only three or four miles away.” Later still the book adds that “Occupation on the Site at Mayfield Farm in East Bedfont…continued into the Iron Age. Gulleys found probably surrounded circular huts, and pits nearby were probably dug for the extraction of gravel.”
‘Prehistoric London’ by Nick Merriman (1990 – ISBN 0112904475) says this “Another, even larger, site has recently been identified by aerial photography at Mayfield Farm just to the South of Heathrow Airport, and 6.5kms away from Runnymede. It consists of two concentric ditches with a maximum diameter of 200m enclosing an area of 3.14 hectares (7.75 acres), and trial trenches cut into it reveal its date as some time in the Late Bronze Age (1200 – 700 BC). It is the largest such enclosure of this period in the Lower Thames valley, and if it is fully excavated it may prove to have been a very important regional center which controlled a large territory.”
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Posted by pure joy
28th July 2003ce
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