Coate Stone Circle

I travelled past Coate the other day;

As part of the Development of the huge tract of land to the imediatley to the east of the stone circle, it seems that a range of prehistoric archaeology has been discovered.

A local who had talked with the commercial archaeolgoists told me that finds included a concentration of very early hunter-gatherer stone tools, neolithic ceremonial ditches (hendge/enclosure?, cursus), bronze age cremations, and barrows.

Sounded very interesting, but worryingly it seems that there have been concerns raised about the standards of the work carried out – non of the site is to be preserved apparently, and other local archaeolgoists have critiscised the investigations carried out (by a company bassed in Scotland?!).

There is a public footpath through the site, and although it is not easy to see much, it certainly looks half finished ...

I have come across this kind of thing before – it is a real shame that our Planning System can allow important sites to be destroyed with only the most minimal scrutiny of the standards of work carried out by archaeological contractors.

It also seems the county archaeologist who has not pulled up the contractors on standards and signed off the work, was previously employed in the private sector, and managed the intial survey work for teh coate/common head development.....

.....the plot thickens.

It might see what else i can find out – i thought some people here might find this site of interest. I am also annoyed that minimal standards of work seem to have been followed...