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Summary

Possible prehistoric to medieval causeway running underneath part of what is now Short Ferry Road.

Full description

There is conjectural evidence that a prehistoric causeway ran underneath part of what is now Short Ferry Road, which linked the extreme eastern part of Fiskerton with the higher ground to the east. It is thought that this causeway formed part of a ritual and symbolic landscape in the Witham Valley, possibly dating as far back as the Bronze Age, and extending into the 16th century. The rituals probably focused on water features, including the River Witham itself.
In the vicinity there is a large group of early-mid Bronze Age barrows (see PRN 50187 - the Barlings and Stainfield barrow cemetery), which are thought to be associated with the causeway. It seems that the rituals changed from inhumation to deposition from the late Bronze Age, and some high status finds have come from this area, which are thought to be votive. These finds date from the later prehistoric to the medieval periods.
During the early medieval period it is suggested that Bardney Abbey was the Christian 'guardian' of the causeway and the wider ritual and symbolic landscape.
It seems that in the later medieval period Stainfield Nunnery were the guardians of the causeway, through the fishery grange at the junction of the Witham and Barlings Eau (see PRN 52906 - Barleymouth Grange). It may be that Bardney Abbey retained much of the control, however, including ceremonial fishing rights, perpetuating the pre-Christian ritual connection with the river. It is suggested that there were other early churches in the area subordinate to Bardney Abbey. {1}

<1> David Stocker and Paul Everson, 2003, ‘The Straight and Narrow Way: Fenland Causeways and the Conversion of the Landscape in the Witham Valley, Lincolnshire’, in The Cross Goes North: Processes of Conversion in Northern Europe, AD300-1300, pp.271-88 (Article in Monograph). SLI8111.

Monument Types

• CAUSEWAY (Early Bronze Age to Medieval - 2200 BC to 1539 AD)

Sources and further reading

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