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Summary - not yet available

Monument Type(s):

• EARTHWORK (Medieval to 19th century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• REDOUBT? (English Civil Wars - 1642 AD to 1651 AD)

Associated Finds:

• SHERD (Medieval to 19th century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• VESSEL (Medieval to 19th century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Events:

• Surveys at Sawtry SAM 172
• Excavations at Toft Hill, Sawtry, 1965
• Fenland Survey Project, 1976-1989

Protected Status:

• Scheduled Monument () 1006817: Sawtry moat and shrunken medieval village

Full description

In a field called Hodges Close, enclosing the summit of Toft Hill. In 1939 a number of finds of the Roman period were made by Dr Garrood. Since then, pottery has been found in the W bank of this cutting. The earthwork itself comprises an approximately circular bank (the diameter varies from 84 to 100 feet) surrounding a hollow from which the soil to form the bank may well have come. From its prominent position on top of the hill it commands extensive views both to the N and S and over the fenland to the E. The circle is enclosed, at some distance, by a square bank and ditch, of which the SE corner was destroyed by the road cutting. Air photographs of the site show another small square ditched enclosure, outside the main enclosure, but attached to the W side of its N ditch and extending into the roadside hedge. A trial excavation was carried out in June 1965, and a few small sherds of Roman pottery were found in the turf core, (therefore not pre - Roman in date), Medieval glazed sherds and a jug were found in the enclosing bank.
O2, A sunken embanked rectangular embanked platform stands on a prominent rise at Toft Hill, Sawtry. It overlooks the Great North Road and Roman Ermine Street and is surrounded by a large outer embanked and ditched enclosure. A trial excavation in 1965 to test the theory that it might be a Roman signal station, revealed that the site was not earlier than C13. Field survey by Taylor showed the platform and enclosure overlie Medieval ridge and furrow. Moreover, the outer enclosure was part of a system of abandoned paddocks extending over a considerable area. The platform was not related to the enclosures and can be identified as mid C17 gun battery, built to control traffic on the Great Northern Road.
S2, Toft Hill. A circular earthwork 25m across with bank about 1mhigh. The interior appears to be lower than the surrounding land. The purpose of this earthwork is unclear although Mr. Dickinson considers it to be a Cromwellian gun point. Earthwork under pasture, dimensions as specified.
R3, Earthworks, circle, ridge and furrow. (R Palmer 1983).See also RN 01329 for all of site.
R4. Reported as a possible gun platform dating from the English Civil War, sited to cover the Great North Road.
5. Site was visited by the Fenland Survey, SAW S3

8. Although fieldwork in 1974 interpreted both the gun battery and enclosure as over-lying medieval ridge and furrow, it seems, from the current survey, that the 'enclosure' is in fact the remnants of a field system that may be considerably earlier in origin, possibly Roman. (see TL 18 SE 11).

9. That these two earthworks are not parts of the same feature was suggested by Taylor following field survey in 1974. He concluded that the outer enclosure was part of a system of abandoned paddocks extending over a considerable area and unrelated to the central embanked platform, which he interpreted as a mid-17th century Civil War gun battery built to control traffic on the Great North Road. Both platform and enclosure were recorded as over-lying, and therefore post-dating, medieval ridge-and-furrow.

1940, JRS 30, p. 171 (Article in serial). SCB6778.

1966, PCAS 29, p. 138(notes) (Article in serial). SCB11075.

Untitled Source (Aerial Photograph). SCB4229.

Osborne, M., 1990, Cromwellian Fortifications in Cambridgeshire, p.31-2 (Bibliographic reference). SCB9943.

<5> Hall, D.N., 1992, The Fenland Project, Number 6: The South-Western Cambridgeshire Fenlands, SAW S3 (Bibliographic reference). SCB16698.

<6> Untitled Source (Unspecified Type). SCB17291.

<7> RCHM, 1999, Surveys at Sawtry SAM172 (Unpublished report). SCB19343.

<8> David McOmish, Cathy Tuck/13-JAN-1999/English Heritage: SAMs Pilot Project (Verbal communication). SCB63221.

<9> Taylor, C.C., 1974, Fieldwork in Medieval Archaeology (Article in serial). SCB5724.

Sources and further reading

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