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Summary

Martin to Kirkstead causeway

Full description

There is conjectural evidence that a causeway, dating as far back as the Bronze Age runs along what is now known as Martin South Drove. It was documented during the medieval period, and was the location of a dispute in 1323. It has been altered at its eastern end, where it kinks northwards, but if it had continued straight its eastern end would have been just to the north of Kirkstead Abbey. What are believed to be votive offerings have been recovered from the area, although most of these are medieval. It seems that the focus of ritual may have shifted from the more southerly causeway at Billinghay/Tattershall to this causeway at some time between the later prehistoric/Roman and the medieval periods. The locations of monastic establishments in relation to the causeways, and in many cases the fact that the causeways were controlled by these establishments, are thought to represent the 'conversion' of the important spiritual and ritual significance of the area to the Christian tradition. {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)
• CAUSEWAY (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Sources and further reading

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