HER 2460 DESCRIPTION:- Fairly substantial linear earthworks orientated SW-NE and traces of other earthworks visible on 1946 APs. {Source Work 862.} Traces also at SP18720714 (HER 2461). Field system. {pers comm S Brown} 'Celtic' fields disturbed by later ploughing and tracks, lynchets up to 3 feet high, though there are no complete fields, individual sides measure circa 50yards long. Other traces of lynchets occur at SO181068, SO1887-677 and SO191068 At the latter point scarps have been cut by a hollow way. 1975 field visit-no change. Area visible on OS composite Roman road (HER4156) clearly visible. But detail of 'Celtic' fields poor. {pers comm S Brown} NMR AP run SP190068 to SP178071.{Source Work 865.} Little detail of field system visible on these APs. Site is crossed form SW to NE by Akeman St. Banks indicative of an ancient field system survive in pasture on this S-facing slope overlooking river Leach. The visible remains do not form a coherent system.Fields disturbed by later ploughing and tracks. Lynchets are up to 3feet high on slopes of 13degrees at most. There are no complete fields, but individual sides are about 50yards long. there was probably at least one alteration from the original pattern during the 'Celtic' phase, when part of the S boundary of field 'a' was ploughed over. Subsequent prolonged ploughing has destroyed the remains which formerly extended down to the Roman road. it is possible that a protuberance at 'y', 50yards SW of Sheepbridge Copse, represents the corner of a 'Celtic' field cut by the road and that another field angle was cut 160yards further SW of the River Leach, between the river and the modern road, About SP18870677 and SP191068. {Source Work 403.} AREA MANAGEMENT :- Most Worth of preservation. 2009 Cotswold Hills/South Cotswold NMP Celtic fields disturbed by later ploughing and tracks are visible in the area SP 190070. Lynchets are up to 3 foot high, and though there are no complete fields, individual sides measure about 50 yards long. The terrace-way of the Roman Road (RR166) crosses the south edge of the group. Other traces of lynchets, probably Celtic, occur south of Hatherop Piece at SP 18750716, west of Sidelands Grove, SP 181068, and south of the River Leach at about SP 18870677 and SP 191068. At the latter point scarps have been cut by a hollow-way. A rapid examination of air photography suggests that earthworks of two lynchets (possibly strip lynchets) are visible at the foot of the north-facing slope between the line of Akeman Street and the modern road over Sheepbridge. A Later Prehistoric or Roman field system is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs. The site is centred on SP 1837 0714 and extends for 1.92 kilometres east-west and 1.02 kilometres north-south. The field boundaries are defined by lynchets or broad banks or scarps, and are arranged on both sides of the valley of the River Leach. The individual banks vary in length between 33 and 333 metres, and are typically 13 metres wide. The field boundaries are generally too scattered to indicate the sizes of the field which they define, but those arranged up slopes define fields which are 60 metres wide. The field system is situated on both sides of the Roman road Akeman Street (see SP 10 NE 59 / UID: 1489944). Some of the lynchets are located at the top of the slope, with the much more crisply defined scarps of a much later series of MD/PM cultivation terraces at the bottom of the slope. In some cases the Medieval or Post Medieval cultivation terraces appear to respect the Later Prehistoric or Roman field boundaries. The majority of these banks and lynchets are aligned on the contours, or across ridges on various orientations. A small number are oriented NNE-SSW, the primary orientation of the coaxial field system located circa 500 metres to the north (see SP 10 NE 11/UID: 329676 and SP 10 NE 12 / UID: 329679) {Source Work 4249.} |