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White Horse Hill Oxfordshire White Horse Hill Oxfordshire Archaeological Landscape Survey o a Oxford Archaeology October 2005 Client: National Trust, Thames Solent Region Issue No: Final OA Job No: 2530 NGR: SU 300 863 Oxford Archaeology White Horse Hill Estate, Oxfordshire. Archaeological Landscape Survey. UWHHTS> White Horse Hill, Oxfordshire, Archaeological Landscape Survey For National Trust Thames and Solent Region By M. Bradley, A. Ford and T.L. Evans with contributions by R. Latour, D. Bashford, and L. Lindsay-Gale September 2005 Oxford Archaeology White Horse Hill Estate, Oxfordshire. Archaeological Landscape Survey. UWHHTS> List of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................................. 1 2 OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY............................................................................................................ 1 2.1 INITIAL COMPILATION OF GIS RESOURCE ............................................................................................................. 1 2.2 LANDSCAPE AND TOPOGRAPHIC SURVEY.............................................................................................................. 1 2.3 INTEGRATING THE LANDSCAPE SURVEY WITH THE GIS ........................................................................................ 2 3 SOURCES CONSULTED .................................................................................................................................... 2 4 TOPOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL BASELINE.................................................................................. 3 4.1 GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY................................................................................................................................3 4.2 SOILS .................................................................................................................................................................... 3 4.3 MODERN LANDUSE ............................................................................................................................................... 4 5 MAPPING EXERCISE ........................................................................................................................................ 4 6 DOCUMENTARY SOURCES............................................................................................................................. 4 7 DESIGNATED SITES.......................................................................................................................................... 5 7.1 SCHEDULED MONUMENTS .................................................................................................................................... 5 8 PAST INVESTIGATIONS................................................................................................................................... 6 9 PREVIOUSLY IDENTIFIED ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES (FIG. 2)........................................................... 8 9.1 PRINCIPAL KNOWN SITES...................................................................................................................................... 8 9.2 THE UFFINGTON WHITE HORSE (157218)............................................................................................................. 9 9.3 UFFINGTON CASTLE (157219) ............................................................................................................................ 10 9.4 THE RIDGEWAY (157332) ................................................................................................................................... 11 9.5 THE LINEAR DITCH (157331).............................................................................................................................. 11 9.6 THE ENCLOSURE (157225).................................................................................................................................. 12 9.7 THE LONG MOUND (157213) .............................................................................................................................. 12 9.8 THE ROUND BARROWS AND RING DITCHES (157217 AND 157300 )................................................................... 12 10 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHIC EXERCISE........................................................................................................ 13 10.1 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 13 10.2 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS INTERPRETATION ...................................................................................................... 13 10.3 POTENTIAL BARROWS (FIG. 2) ....................................................................................................................... 13 10.4 ENCLOSURES AND TRACKWAYS (FIG. 2)........................................................................................................ 14 10.5 LYNCHETS AND BOUNDARIES (FIG. 2) ........................................................................................................... 14 10.6 FURTHER FIELD (FIG. 3)................................................................................................................................. 15 11 WALKOVER: FEBRUARY AND APRIL 2005. ............................................................................................. 15 11.1 WALKOVER: INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................... 15 11.2 WALKOVER RESULTS: WHITEHORSE HILL (FIG 2) ......................................................................................... 15 11.3 WALKOVER RESULTS. FURTHER FIELD (FIG. 3)............................................................................................. 16 12 WHITE HORSE HILL AND FURTHER FIELD IN THE WIDER LANDSCAPE (FIGS. 2-5)................. 16 12.1 PALAEOLITHIC PERIOD (500,000 BP-10,000 BP)........................................................................................... 16 12.2 MESOLITHIC (10,000 BP-4,000 BC) .............................................................................................................. 16 12.3 NEOLITHIC (4,000 BC-2,300 BC) .................................................................................................................. 17 12.4 BRONZE AGE (2,300 BC-700 BC).................................................................................................................. 18 12.5 IRON AGE (700 BC-AD 43) ........................................................................................................................... 19 12.6 ROMANO-BRITISH (AD 43-AD 410).............................................................................................................. 20 12.7 EARLY MEDIEVAL (AD 410-AD 1066).......................................................................................................... 21 12.8 LATE MEDIEVAL TO PRESENT (AD 1066 +)................................................................................................... 22 13 CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................................... 23 Oxford Archaeology White Horse Hill Estate, Oxfordshire. Archaeological Landscape Survey. UWHHTS> APPENDICES: Appendix One: Bibliography and Sources Consulted Appendix Two: Cartographic Sources Consulted Appendix Three: Archaeological Gazetteer LISTS OF FIGURES Figure 1 Site Location Figure 2 Archaeological Features Mapping, White Horse Hill Figure 3 Archaeological Features Mapping, Further Field Figure 4 Heritage environment in the wider vicinity of Uffington White Horse Figure 5 Hachure Plot of Survey Area Figure 6 Hachure Plot - detail of the Manger Figure 7 Hachure Plot - detail of quarrying around Dragon Hill Figure 8 Hachure Plot - detail of quarrying and trackways around Uffington Castle. Oxford Archaeology White Horse Hill Estate, Oxfordshire. Archaeological Landscape Survey. UWHHTS> 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1.1 The National Trust Thames and Solent Region (NT), have commissioned Oxford Archaeology (OA) to undertake an Archaeological Landscape Survey, Character Analysis and creation of a digital SMR and associated mapping for their estate at White Horse Hill, West Oxfordshire. The area comprises the land held by the National Trust on White Horse Hill and the parcel of land at Further Field, which lies at the foot of the Berkshire Down Scarp and within the Vale of White Horse (Figs. 1-3) 1.1.2 White Horse Hill has held a dominant place in the landscape from the later Prehistoric period through to the present day. The area is one of the best known, loved and most significant landscapes in the British Isles. The White Horse and its immediate environs have become steeped in History and Legend and have attracted much attention from antiquarians and more lately archaeologists. It has an extensive record of continuous use and reuse throughout its history, and as such represents one of the most important surviving sites in the study of cultural landscape development . 1.1.3 This report has been commissioned to provide a comprehensive inventory and survey of all the archaeological monuments and features on the National Trust Estate at White Horse Hill and Further Field. In addition this report seeks to place these features and monuments into context with the richly diverse relict landscape that surrounds them (Fig. 4) 1.1.4 This report
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