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| HER Number | MWB1350 |
|---|
| Record Type | Monument |
|---|
| Name | Grim's Bank - Little Heath (AWE) |
|---|
Summary
Scheduled Monument, well preserved linear earthwork now within Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment
Associated Legal Designations or Protected Status
- Scheduled Monument 1005375: GRIM'S BANK: SECTION EXTENDING 470YDS (430M) IN LITTLE HEATH
Other Statuses and Cross-References
- Berkshire SMR No. (pre 2000): 01015.01.000
- National Monuments Record No.: SU 66 NW 5
SU 62227 65237
Monument Type(s):
- LINEAR EARTHWORK (Iron Age - 800 BC? to 42 AD?)
- BANK (EARTHWORK) (Early Medieval/Dark Age - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
- DITCH (Early Medieval/Dark Age - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
Full Description
SM 51. GRIM'S BANK: SECTION EXTENDING 470YDS (430M) IN LITTLE HEATH. S SECTION OF DYKE HAS TWO BREAKS (THE CONTINUATION N OF MODERN ROAD = SM 50). DITCH TO NW. S TERMINAL FALLS SHORT OF RO ROAD- THIS AREA DISTURBED POST 1939. EXCAVATION ACROSS BANK AND DITCH PRODUCED NO EVIDENCE FOR REVETMENT OR BERM ETC, NOR DATING EVIDENCE.
This section of Grim's Bank is within the high security compound of AWE Aldermaston, and is extremely well preserved. A staged investigation sought to characterise the ditch and bank sequence, starting with an auger survey <4>. An excavation in 2005 revealed a complete section across the ditch and bank but failed to find any dating evidence <5>.
The south-western section of Grim's Bank in Little Heath was recorded from LiDAR imagery during the Silchester Iron Age Environs mapping project. The earthwork extends from SU 60896 63640 to SU 61149 63965 and consists of a bank with a ditch on its western side. The bank measures up to 10 m in width and the ditch measures up to 13 m in width.
Sources and further reading
| <01> | 1943. ANTIQUITY 1943 17. 17. p188-95 Grim's Bank, Padworth, Berkshire by B H StJ O'Neil. [Article in serial / SWB6835] |
| <02> | Berkshire Archaeological Society. 1954-5. Berkshire Archaeological Journal 1954-55 54. 54. In ADS Journals. 10.5284/1000017. p56-7 Grim's Bank, Little Heath, Berkshire by R Gilyard-Beer. [Article in serial / SWB6840]
http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/berks_bas_2007/journal.cfm?volume=54 (Accessed 31/08/2016) |
| <03> | RCHM(E) EXCAVATIONS INDEX NMR NO OS/SU66. [Unpublished document / SWB6841] |
| <04> | Oxford Archaeology. 2005. Grim's Bank, AWE Aldermaston, Berkshire - Geoarchaeological Report. OA Job No 2529. On OASIS. [Unpublished document / SWB147000] |
| <05> | Oxford Archaeology. 2006. Grim's Bank, AWE Aldermaston, Berkshire - Archaeological Investigation Report. OA Job No 2795. 2013 WBC Network. [Unpublished document / SWB14695] |
| <06> | Ordnance Survey. 1806. Ordnance Survey Drawing of Odiham; BL OSD 125, 19. Two inch to the mile. Marked 'Ancient Entrenchment'. [Map / SWB147896]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ordnance_Survey_Drawings_-_Odiham_(OSD_125).jpg (Accessed 24/08/2022) |
Related Monuments
| MWB16503 | Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) (Monument) |
| MWB1349 | Grim's Bank I (Monument) |
Associated Excavations and Fieldwork
| EWB1218 | Grim's Bank, Aldermaston (AWE), Geoarchaeological report (phase 1) (Ref: Site Code ALDGB 05) |
| EWB133 | Grim's Bank, AWRE, 1991 |
| EWB272 | WBHS Monitoring 2001-2002 |
| EWB749 | Grim's Bank, Little Heath, 1952 |
| EWB880 | Grim's Bank, Aldermaston (AWE), 2005 (phase 2) (Ref: Site Code ALDGB 05) |
| EWB935 | Grim's Bank - Management Plan (AWE) |
| EWB1507 | The Silchester Environs Iron Age Project - aerial photograph and LiDAR interpretation |
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