Category: Lob In The Landscape

Information and pictures of mostly rural topics and activities.

Fonthill & Willoughby Hedge Ploughing Association

Fonthill & Willoughby Hedge Ploughing Association Millennium Match

Saturday 21 October 2000.

Held at Charnage Farm, Mere, courtesy of Messrs. J. & C. White.

ENTRIES

Class A, Conventional:
T. Stangle, Case tractor, Lemken plough.
Richard Osborne (G.H. Osborne & Son), Massey Ferguson tractor, Ransomes plough.
P. Gibbens, (J. & W. Collins), Ford tractor, Ransomes plough.
Steward: D. Pearce.

Class B, Reversible, 4 Furrows and under 12″/14″ Furrows:
Roger Garrett, Massey Ferguson tractor, Ransomes plough.
F. Allard, (Pertwood Manor Farm), Massey Ferguson tractor, Kverneland plough.
Andrew Elliott (R.J. Elliott & Son), Massey Ferguson tractor, Kverneland plough.
R. Pearce (D.J. & P.M. Pearce), Massey Ferguson tractor, Rabe plough.
Steward: H. Collins.

Class C, Reversible, 5 Furrows and over, fully mounted 12″/14″ Furrows:
I. Bowden, Valmet tractor, Overum plough.
Michael Booth (G.H. Drew Engineering Ltd.), Case International tractor, Overum plough.
Colin Beagley (J. & W. Collins), Ford New Holland tractor, Dowdeswell plough.
Graham Stevens (D. & G.J. Stevens), Ford tractor, Dowdeswell plough.
T. Owen (C. & O. Tractors), Ford New Holland tractor, Dowdeswell plough.
Martin Moore (W.G. Whatley), Massey Ferguson tractor, Dowdeswell plough.
Steward: C. MacLeod.

Class D, Reversible, 5 Furrows and over Semi Mounted 12/14″ Furrows:
G. Scott (North Kent Farms Ltd.), John Deere tractor, Kverneland plough.
John Hallett (Bapton Manor Farm Ltd.), Case International tractor, Kverneland plough.
Richard Ashley (G.H. Osborne & Son), Massey Ferguson tractor, Kverneland plough.
D. Rose (Bapton Manor Farm Ltd.), Fendt tractor, Kverneland plough.
S. Moore (R. & G. Moore), Fendt tractor, Kverneland plough.
E. Knight (Keysley Farm Partners), Ford New Holland tractor, Kverneland plough.
Steward: S. Carter.

Classes E & F, Vintage:
Robert Wood, Ferguson tractor, Ferguson plough.
George Mitchell, Nuffield tractor, Ransomes plough.
A Cleal, Fordson Major tractor, Ransome plough.
Ted Phillips, Ferguson tractor, Ferguson plough.
Michael Breach, International tractor, International plough.
V. Breach, International tractor, International plough.
Brian Scott, David Brown tractor, David Brown plough.
Robin Hawkins, Fordson Major tractor, Ransomes plough.
David Walter, International tractor, International plough.
Keith Stone, David Brown tractor, David Brown plough.
David Eyres, Caterpillar tractor, Ransomes plough.
Nigel Anstee, Fordson tractor, Ransomes plough.
Steward: Alan Nash.

Class G, Horse Ploughing:
Jack House, Wilton.
Allan Davis, Porton.
Terry Gough, Bristol.
R. Hiscock, Donhead St. Mary.
Steward: R. Carter.

Judges:
Frome Young Farmers Ploughing Association.
Avebury Ploughing Association.

President: Richard Stratton.
Chairman: R. Carter.
Vice Chairman: A. Fitzgerald.
Treasurer: J. White.
Assistant Treasurer: C. White.
Secretary: Brian Osborne.

Committee:
John Atterton.
D. Burridge.
S. Carter.
Henry Collins.
Andrew Elliott.
Robin Hawkins.
J. Hill.
C. MacLeod.
Alan Nash.
D. Pearce.

Subscribers to the Ploughing Match Fund:
Agriline.
Julian Algar.
Bapton Manor Farm Ltd.
Bourton Fencing.
Boyton Farms Co. Ltd.
I.J.W. Bristol.
Owen Brockway.
Cassels Farm Partnership.
Dalgety Arable Ltd.
David Bright Ltd.
Charnage Farms.
J. & W. Collins.
Cooper & Tanner.
Countrywide Farmers.
CYO Seeds West.
Jon Dare (Hurdcott House).
G.H. Drew Engineering Ltd.
John Easterbrooke & Partner.
P. Fineman.
Ford Fuel Oils.
4 x 4 Services.
Garston Vets.
G.W. Giddings & Co.
Gillingham & Shaftesbury Agricultural Society.
Grass Roots (D. Jones).
Grasstech.
Humberts.
E.M.M. Kenney-Herbert.
Kingsley Estate.
Knapman & Bament.
A. Knight (Fox & Hounds).
A.J. Legg & Son.
Longleat Estate.
J. & J. Longley.
A.J. Lush & Son.
Lloyds TSB.
Lord Margadale.
G.B. Matthews & Co. Ltd.
Mere Garage.
R.J. Moore & Son.
Newhouse Contractors.
Nickersons.
Norridge Farm Betreibs Ag.
North Kent Farms.
D. Offley.
G.H. Osborne & Son.
P.J. Parmiter.
D.J. & P.M. Pearce & Son.
C.H. Pile & Partners.
Stanley Pond Ltd.
J.W.F. Robins.
Smith & Williamson.
Kenneth Spencer Ltd.
Stourhead Western Estate.
J.M. Stratton.
R.F. Stratton.
Strutt & Parker.
Sydenhams Ltd.
R.J. Tincknell & Son Ltd.
United Oilseeds Ltd.
Valco Marketing.
Vaughan Agriculture.
Velcourt.
T.H. White Ltd.
Wilsons.
Woolley & Wallis.
N.H. Yeatman Biggs.

Flooding In Warminster – Support For The Solution

Wednesday 22nd September 1999

Warminster Open Space Protection Society (WOSPS)

Flooding In Warminster – Support For The Solution

Dear WOSP,

Since we formed a little over 3 years ago we have fought the development of Warminster Common, Bugley Barton, St Andrew’s Road, the National Trust site in Boreham Road, Grovelands Way, Warminster School hockey pitch, Home Farm (east of The Dene), Victoria Road (H12) and numerous other incursions proposed in the First Alteration of the District Plan. We have managed to bring planned new houses in Warminster down from about a thousand to approximately 200. After three years of continuous operations some of us are beginning to think that it can be left for someone else to carry on the good work.

Much of our strength is drawn from those who do not use the open spaces that we fight to protect but are members because they oppose development because of the flooding problems that it causes to them, their friends and neighbours. Flooding is a key reason for refusing development but it is also hell on earth for those who suffer the effects. This is an appeal for you to turn out to support the Hydrological Survey which has identified a need for up to £125,000 worth of work for the Fore Street area. Our Councillor members have put a great deal of work into this project but must now fight for the necessary money when £300,000 is to be slashed off the District Council budget next year. They must be seen to have strong local support.

As the First Alteration of the District Plan moves towards its Enquiry In Public (EIP) it is clear that Wren Close, St Andrew’s Road, Bugley Barton and many others are under a sustained threat from developers. Your immediate area of interest may be quiet at the moment but it will come under threat again.

Having attended many council meetings it is clear that when a group of complainants or supporters turn up and some are prepared to speak it has a very real effect on the Councillors.

Please attend the Local Area Committee meeting at Kingdown School on Thursday 30th September at 7pm (and bring a friend). If you wish to speak please book in by 6.30pm. If you need a lift please call me.

Nigel D. Linge, Chairman.
6 Swift Mead, Warminster, Wilts, BA12 8DT.
Telephone (01985) 213644. Fax 300977.

Records Of E.S. Beaven (1857-1941), Barley Breeder Of Boreham Road, Warminster, Gifted To Museum Of English Rural Life, Reading

March 1998

RECORDS OF E S BEAVEN (1857-1941)
Accession no: DX451
Catalogue mark: D BEAV
(See also TR GUI)

Introduction
Edwin Sloper Beaven (1857-1941) was one of the leading breeders of barley in the first half of the twentieth century. He was born near Heytesbury in Wiltshire and began working on his father’s farm there at the age of 13. Later Beaven became a maltster in Warminster, Wiltshire, and became interested in the quality of malting barley. In 1894 he purchased 4 acres of land at Boreham just outside Warminster and began to carry out experimental trials of barley. One outcome of his experiments was a new variety, Plumage-Archer, which was one of the principal types of malting barely until new hybrids, such as Proctor, were introduced after the Second World War. Beaven was associated with the brewers Arthur Guinness, Son & Co who took over his maltings and trial grounds after his death in 1941. Much of Beaven’s work was published posthumously in the book Barley (1947).

These records include some relating to work carried out by Beaven’s executors and trustees for the period 1942-1945.

Records deposited in January 1998 as a gift by John R. Young & Susan E. Oldham.

List compiled March 1998

Record Types
A1-5 Biographical and Personal
B1-3 Correspondence
C1-40 Research Material
D1-11 Reference Material
E1-15 Published Work
G1 Copy of Address

A BIOGRAPHICAL AND PERSONAL INFORMATION

A1 OBITUARY of E S Beaven in the twenty-second Report of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany. 1941.

A2 OBITUARY of E S Beaven by Herbert Hunter and published in the journal Nature (27 Dec). 1941.

A3 OBITUARY of E S Beaven reprinted from Journal of the Institute of Brewing. 1942. [2 copies].

A4 EXTRACT (hand-written) from Farmer & Stockbreeder which mentions Beaven and his pre-war tour of Herefordshire with Sir Daniel Hall and Prof. T B Wood. 1943.

A5 REPRINT of Herbert Hunter’s obituary of E S Beaven in The Journal of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany. 1944.

B CORRESPONDENCE

B1 CORRESPONDENCE between E S Beaven and the Board of Agriculture and fisheries. 1903-1916.

B2 CORRESPONDENCE between E S Beaven and W S Gosset. 1908-1914.

B3 CORRESPONDENCE relating to the sale and distribution of barley. 1911-1914.

C RESEARCH MATERIAL

C1-4 ANALYSES Experiments on Warminster Nursery barley crops
1 1907.
2 1909.
3 1910-11.
4 1912.

C5 FILE Analysis of Correlation, Biometrics, factors of production and “Chessboards”. c1912-c1934.

C6-31 ANALYSES BOOKS Experiments on Boreham Road barley crops carried out by E S Beaven
6 (unbound) 1913.
7 1914.
8 1915.
9 (unbound) 1916.
10 1919.
11 1920.
12 1921.
13 1922.
14 1923.
15 1924.
16 1925.
17 1926.
18 1927.
19 1928.
20 1929.
21 1930.
22 1931.
23 1932.
24 1933.
25 1934.
26 1935.
27 1936.
28 1937.
29 1938.
30 1939.
31 1940.

C32 ANALYSIS BOOK Boreham Road barley crops (including “Nitrogen Determinations”). 1919-1921.

C33-35 ANALYSES BOOKS Experiments on Boreham Road barley crop carried out by the executors and trustees of E S Beaven
33 1942.
34 1943.
35 1944-45.

C36 PLAN of Boreham Road field plots. 1938

C37 ANALYSIS BOOK Crop weight and migration. 1919

C38 ANALYSIS BOOK Effect of clipping field plots. 1921

C39 ANALYSIS BOOK Warminster field plots. 1921

C40 ANALYSIS of different varieties of barley. nd.

D REFERENCE MATERIAL

D1 REPORT of the Select Committee on Corn Averages. 1888.

D2 REPORT of the Select Committee on Corn Sales. 1891.

D3 REPORT of the Committee on Scottish Agricultural Prices 1901.

D4 PAMPHLET An Attempt to Find a Basis for the Improvement of the Barley Crop by R H Biffen. 1906.

D5 PAMPHLET On Testing Varieties of Cereals by “Student”. 1923.

D6 PAMPHLET Visit to Dr Beaven’s Barley Nursery and Field Plots at Warminster. 1930.

D7 FILE of articles by H M Lancaster entitled “The Maltster’s Materials and Methods” published in The Brewing Trade Review. 1933-1935.

D8 PAMPHLET Co-operation in Large-Scale Experiments. 1936.

D9 PAMPHLET Agricultural Research and the Work of the Agricultural Research Council by Sir William Dampier. 1938.

D10 PAMPHLET Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries “Growmore” Leaflet No 18 Cereal Varieties for Spring Sowing : with particular reference to Wales and the West Country. 1940.

D11 TYPESCRIPT Discussion on “Plot Technique”. nd.

E PUBLISHED WORK

E1 PAMPHLET Various Conditions Affecting the Malting Quality of Barley by John M H Munro & E S Beaven. 1900.

E2 PAMPHLET Fuel Consumption in Malt Kilns. 1904.

E3 PAMPHLET The Quality and Yield of English Malting Barley. 1905. [3 copies].

E4 PAMPHLET Pedigree Seed Corn. 1910.

E5 PAMPHLET Varieties of Barley. 1914.

E6 PAMPHLET Breeding Cereals for Increased Production, 1920. [4 copies].

E7 PAMPHLET Trials of New Varieties of Work. 1922.

E8 PAMPHLET “Beaven’s 1924” Plumage-Archer Barley. 1924.

E9 PAMPHLET Interpretations of Results of Field Trials. 1927. [3 copies].

E10 PAMPHLET A Physiological Study of Varietal Differences in Plants (Part I) by F G Gregory & Frank Crowther with an appendix by E S Beaven. 1928.

E11 LEAFLET Review of the Policy of the Institute (Institute of Brewing), 1929.

E12 PAMPHLET Boreham Road, Warminster; Barley Nursery and Field Plots, 1930 : Guide to the Various Cultures. 1930.

E13 PAMPHLET The Culture of Barley for Brewing. 1934.

E14 PAMPHLET Barley for Brewing Since 1886. 1936.

E15 PAMPHLET Boreham Road, Warminster; Barley Nursery and Field Plots. 1936.

G OTHER RECORDS

G1 ADDRESS Pure Races of Barley given by E S Beaven at the South Wilts Chamber of Agriculture. 1914. [2 copies]

Associated Material
Books in Rural History Centre Library by E S Beaven.
Barley : Fifty Years of Observation and Experiment (1947).

Meeting Of Residents Affected By Suggested Development At Home Farm

Thursday 23rd October 1997

Meeting of residents affected by suggested development east of The Dene (Home Farm). WAR/D/5037. The Way Forward.

Venue: Bishopstrow Hall.
Time: 7.30 p.m.
Date: Thursday 23rd October 1997.

To report all of the further developments of the Town Council Meeting (20/10/97), in order to gather information, formulate letter of opposition and plan our further efforts. Please try to attend. We need as many people and ideas as possible in order to fulfil our goals.

If you care about potential problems that this suggested development will incur, re: schools, traffic, drainage, right on your doorstep then please attend.

(If you came to the prelininary meeting on Sunday, please attend on Thursday also).

Meeting – Thursday 23rd October 1997 – Agenda

1) Welcome.

2) Results of Town Council Meeting on Monday 20th October 1997.

3) Speakers:
Rev. Denis Brett – Power of voices in unison. Contact with Councillors.
Danny Howell – Historical Perspective.
Astrid Elstow – Status of planning applications.

4) Appointment of Committee officers (Chairman, Secretary, Committee members).

5) Action to be taken – Letters of objection. Any other suggestions.

6) Date and time of next meeting.

The Real Meat Company

Some notes first published in the Heytesbury Extravaganza Souvenir Programme, Saturday 9 September 1995:

The award winning Real Meat Company offer an alternative product and service to that available from the dominant supermarket led retailing business.

The company was founded in 1986 by the husband and wife team: Richard Guy and Gilly Metherell, operating from East Hill Farm, Heytesbury. The guiding principles of the business are Quality, Purity and Welfare. These principles are maintained by adherence to a self imposed set of codes for the raising, transportation and slaughter of livestock.

The Real Meat Company Codes:

* Ban all growth promoters and reserve drug use to therapeutic use only.

* Ban all practices which affect the animal’s freedom and/or well being and which are performed solely to cheapen livestock production.

In order to monitor these strict codes on the home farm and other Company supply farms, random checks are carried out by the Bristol University School of Veterinary Science, a body independent from the Company and the meat industry in general. Additionally, members of the public are granted instant access to any of the supply farms upon request, and can see for themselves this unique farming practice,

The Company campaigns strongly against the practices of intensive factory farming and supermarket control by producing its own Real Meat News Letter which highlights some of the extreme practices and misleading wording common in certain quarters. They strongly believe that the best traditional farming methods not only benefit the livestock but offer the customer a product of the highest quality, food without unnatural additives,

Farming based upon such an ethos in today’s “fast, efficient” western world has its critics and problems. Cost is usually highlighted as the major problem. The Real Meat Company is a sustained commercial organisation which obviously needs to trade successfully. They do this by offering consumers a very high quality product of exceptional taste. The Company is now in its tenth year of operation, demonstrating that there is a long term market for the traditional meats no longer available in modern supermarkets.

Should you require further information about the Company then please telephone Warminster (01985) 840436 or write direct to them at East Hill Farm, Heytesbury, Wiltshire, BA12 0HR.

The Archaeology Of Cley Hill, Corsley

Some notes compiled by Danny Howell in 1990:

The remains of the original Iron Age hill fort defences are now very slight indeed. Only at the north-east and north-west corners is there any significant depression to mark the profile of an external ditch. On the west and north sides of the hill this feature consists of flat or even outward-sloping contoured terraces. On the particularly steep north-east side overlooking Little Cley Hill these traces are even more slight, the natural steepness of the slopes precluding any defensive construction other than, perhaps, a perimeter palisade. On the gentler south-east slope a wide, horizontal berm and a scarp nearly six feet high, with a slight tapering gap towards the north end, are probably parts of the original defences, the gap being possibly the original entrance. This lynchet was certainly re-used as a field boundary in the 19th century and might have been gradually modified by ploughing from an earlier date.

There are no traces of a defensive bank anywhere in the circuit of this hill fort but slight terraces above steep scarps might have carried palisades. These would have given the maximum advantage of view downhill from the shoulder of the slope. On such steep slopes as these with a well-marked shoulder, a bank was probably unnecessary.

A flight of strip lynchets, further down the south-east slope of the hill, quite probably incorporates an outer line of Iron Age defence, necessitated by the relatively gentle slope of the hill at this point. At its western end the main terrace is cut by a quarry. However, at this, the highest point, it reaches approximately the same height as the terrace forming the lowest part of the defences on the west side. It seems probable that this line once continued around and, that later, probably medieval ploughing modified the profiles of these earthworks.

It is also possible that the ramp linking this series of strip lynchets has fossilised an original entrance-way through the hill fort defences.

Another possible entrance to the hill fort exists in the north west corner, where there is a causeway across the surviving ditch and slight traces of a counterscarp bank. The slope at this corner of the hill would have presented a gentler incline to approach the entrance. Unfortunately any traces of an approach route have been obliterated by further quarrying on the lower slopes.

Within the hill fort there are many slight scoops, perhaps derived from shallow quarrying for the deposit of clay-with-flints which caps the hill, or possibly the remains of the hut sites of the Iron Age occupants.

Two Bronze Age bowl barrows are situated on the highest point of the hill. The largest is approximately 100 feet in diameter and 13 feet high. The smaller is 66 feet in diameter and 3 feet high. Both were excavated by Sir Richard Colt Hoare and William Cunnington in the early 19th century. They were unable to find any trace of a burial in the larger mound, although some carbonised cereal and fragments of pottery were found near the bottom. Charcoal and ashes were observed in the make-up of the barrow. The second, smaller, barrow had been disturbed prior to their excavation but had contained a cremation burial.

A36 Warminster Bypass ~ Soil Descriptions

Tuesday 1st May 1990:

The Warminster Bypass – Soil Descriptions

Three basic types of soil were encountered along the Warminster Bypass, and these are described below (Gault Clay is also present in the vicinity of the River Wylye, but was only encountered during piling for bridge foundations):-

Chalk
Chalk was encountered in the earthworks for the two western cuttings (Norridge Wood and Barton) and in Norton Cut. It was also present at Hazel Underpass, Sutton and Cotley Hill Bridges. The chalk is described as highly to moderately weathered, light greyish-brown, clayey, weak to moderately weak, becoming with depth slightly weathered (occasionally fresh) clayey moderately weak to moderately strong. Highly weathered chalk comprises fragments within a firm silty clay matrix.

Greensand
The Greensand is a silty, frequently very silty, sometimes clayey or very clayey, fine and medium sand, occasionally cemented to a weak to moderately weak sandstone. Bands of fractured, very strong chert and sandstone occur within the upper parts of the greensand beds, whilst very weak siltstone occurs in the lower parts. The clayey parts of the greensand appear random and occasionally occur in pockets; soft silty clay layers sometimes occur in thin (less than 0.5m thick) layers below chert bands.

Head/Alluvial Deposits
Head deposits are principally found overlying areas of chalk, where they comprise firm to stiff clays with flint and chalk gravel. Head deposits are also to be found on the floors and sides of valleys, although in these cases they are similar to the underlying greensand (though looser and possibly more segregated) and are less discernible.

Alluvial deposits comprise very soft to firm organic, occasionally peaty, silty clays, and are to be found mainly at the river crossings, the floor of the Cannimore Valley, and to the north of the Bypass in Buffage Wood. 

Background Information
The rocks over which the Warminster Bypass runs are of two main types: the Upper Greensand and the overlying Lower Chalk. These sediments were laid down in a sea that covered much of northern Europe about 90 million years ago, and they contain the fossilised remnants of animals that lived in those waters.

Upper (Younger)                                       Middle Chalk

Cretaceous   Lower Chalk (inc. Warminster beds)

_______________________

Lower (Older)                                       Upper Greensand

Cretaceous                                                       Gault Clay

During the course of building the Bypass, some of these fossil remains have been unearthed.

First published in Warminster & District Archive magazine, No.4, published Tuesday 1st May 1990. Archive gratefully acknowledges the co-operation and assistance of Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick & Partners (Consulting Engineers to the Warminster Bypass) in the preparation of this article.

The Archaeology Of Scratchbury

An Iron Age hill fort with traces of an earlier enclosure, in the parish of Norton Bavant, near Warminster.

Some notes compiled by Danny Howell in 1990:

Scratchbury (the name is probably derived from Scratch – an old West Country word for the Devil, and burh – meaning an ancient camp) has a bank and ditch enclosing 37 acres and includes several burial mounds or tumuli.

Two barrows lie inside the north eastern part and one of these covered a cremation burial. A bowl barrow in the south west part which was excavated by Colt Hoare produced no burial, only animal bones and several burnt stones. A fourth barrow, less than a metre high, in the centre of the hill at the highest point, covered a cremation with a small bronze dagger and a pin of the same metal, as well as a large amber ring and 50 amber beads. These finds are now in Devizes Museum.

William Cobbett (1762 – 1835) referred to Scratchbury and Middle Hill as Roman camps; the earthworks of Scratchbury include a Romano-British (or maybe later) ditch running from east to west but archaeologists have dated Scratchbury to be a predominantly Iron Age hill fort. The Romans were once nearby though as discovery of the sites of two Roman villas at Pitmeads, between Sutton Veny and Norton Bavant, about two miles away, proves.

Immediately east of Scratchbury is Cotley, another hill with extensive earthworks and a number of barrow mounds, notably two visible on the skyline.

Battlesbury Iron Age Hill Fort, Warminster

Battlesbury, Warminster. A fine example of an Iron Age hill fort. 

Some notes compiled by Danny Howell in 1990:

The Iron Age hill fort of Battlesbury is strongly defended by double ramparts and a ditch on its south west side, with triple ramparts on the less steep side to the west. These ramparts follow the kidney-shaped contours of the hill and encompass an area of nearly 25 acres. The upper rampart was topped by a wooden defensive wall, long since gone.

The settlement was entered by gates at the north west and east. Both of these have outworks, indicating structures to facilitate controlled entry and exit. The east entrance probably featured a barbican or overhead wooden fortification for the guarding of the passageway into the camp.

The eastern slopes of Battlesbury feature strip-lynchets: narrow strips of level land breaking up the hillside slope. These terraces are the result of soil accumulation from the ploughing of ancient fields. Iron Age in origin, these lynchets were also farmed in Saxon times, and are still cropped today.

A round mound between the ramparts on the brow of the southerly slope is marked on some maps as a barrow or burial mound but excavation in the early I800s by Sir Richard Colt Hoare revealed no burial. It could be the remains of a small castle motte.

Mrs. M.E. Cunnington found 11 storage pits within the fortifications in 1922. These contained late Iron Age pottery, the hub of a chariot wheel, an iron carpenter’s saw and a latch-lifter for a hut door. These finds, which are now at Devizes Museum, suggest that the hill was used as a permanently occupied site.

In May 1922 a trench was dug across the camp so a pipe could be laid from the west gate supplying water to a concrete tank situated on the east side of the hill. Victor Manley watched as the workmen uncovered Iron Age features. In his Regional Survey Of The Warminster District (several volumes, unpublished) he noted “I was able to measure line after line of shallow but straight depressions running across the hill top roughly in a north-south direction, and this in spite of centuries of ploughing over them. There seems to have been lines of streets, of houses or huts made of wattle and daub. Judging that the depressions indicate the rows of houses and the black earth spaces between where the waste was thrown, there would have been about 26 streets for the settlement.”

Excavation of a pit just outside the north west entrance yielded a number of burials, including the skeletons of men, women and children. This seems to indicate that a massacre took place there but whether this was due to inter-tribal warfare before the Roman Conquest or was the bloody result of a violent confrontation with the advancing Roman legions is not known.

The name “Battlesbury” is now associated with local folklore concerning a massacre on the hill, although the first part of the name “Battle” could be derived from “Pattel” – a personal name of someone long since forgotten. The second element of the name “bury” comes from “Burh,” meaning “an ancient camp.”

error: Content is protected !!