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<< Text Pages >> Norton Henge - Henge in England in Hertfordshire

Submitted by coldrum on Wednesday, 25 August 2010  Page Views: 10942

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Norton Henge Alternative Name: Stapleton’s Field
Country: England County: Hertfordshire Type: Henge
Nearest Town: Letchworth  Nearest Village: Norton
Map Ref: TL232341
Latitude: 51.991694N  Longitude: 0.207128W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 1 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 no data Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 no data Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 4

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JohnLindsay visited There is now a published article in Archaeology in Hertfordshire, Recent Research, 2015. Available in Welwyn Garden City Public Library, where there is a good local collection of material.

Newly discovered Henge on land in Norton, near Letchworth, Hertfordshire. Archaeologists have found a circular area about 50 metres wide surrounded by a bank at Stapleton's Field in Norton.

North Herts Archaeology Officer, Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews said: "Henges are quite rare with only 60 known in the UK, so this is a significant find. "It's interesting as the only other henge known locally is on Western Hills, which is visible from the site we are working on."

"Ariel photographs of the area showed this rather extensive ring of chalk. "There's nothing visible at ground level so we decided to put a trench through it. "Having done that we found the chalk bank just survives underneath the plough soil and we have massive ditches inside and out."

The archaeologists are able to date the henge because of pottery they found which is associated with the Bronze Age.

"Grooved ware products were found, which dates the henge back to the third millennium BC," explained Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews.

Source: BBC News

Note: "Henges are quite rare with only 60 known in the UK, so this is a significant find." There is an Open Day for the excavations, this Saturday 28th August
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Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
TL2334 : The Three Horseshoes public house, Norton by JThomas
by JThomas
©2017(licence)
TL2334 : Sign for the Three Horseshoes public house, Norton by JThomas
by JThomas
©2017(licence)
TL2334 : Norton, Hertfordshire, St Nicholas by Dave Kelly
by Dave Kelly
©2018(licence)
TL2334 : War memorial plaque in the lychgate by Humphrey Bolton
by Humphrey Bolton
©2014(licence)
TL2334 : Norton and the Three Horseshoes Pub by Bikeboy
by Bikeboy
©2014(licence)

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 760m ENE 68° Letchworth Cursus Cursus (TL239344)
 3.2km E 83° Barrows under A505 Barrow Cemetery (TL264346)
 3.3km SE 134° Weston Hill Henge* Henge (TL256319)
 3.4km WSW 243° Wilbury Hill* Hillfort (TL202325)
 4.8km ENE 68° Bygrave Barrows Barrow Cemetery (TL2759935981)
 5.1km E 86° Tree Barrow Round Barrow(s) (TL2831834612)
 5.4km NNE 31° Arbury Banks Barrow/hut circle Round Barrow(s) (TL2584638770)
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 6.4km SSW 195° Priory Well (Hertfordshire)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (TL217279)
 6.5km NE 56° Highley Hill Round Barrow(s) (TL2856637881)
 6.6km NNE 33° Ashwell Village Museum* Museum (TL2668539684)
 6.6km ENE 59° Odsey Round Barrow(s) (TL2880337659)
 6.8km NE 35° Seven Springs (Ashwell)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (TL270398)
 6.8km SW 226° North Herts Museum* Museum (TL18342926)
 6.9km ENE 66° Deadman's Hill Barrow Cemetery (TL294371)
 7.0km ENE 68° Galley Hill (Sandon) Misc. Earthwork (TL2961136893)
 7.8km ENE 62° Gallows Hill (Hertfordshire)* Round Barrow(s) (TL30023801)
 7.9km ESE 123° Cumberlow Green hoard Ancient Mine, Quarry or other Industry (TL3030)
 8.9km ENE 58° Morden Grange Round Barrow(s) (TL30653901)
 9.1km ENE 65° Coombe Farm Round Barrow(s) (TL313382)
 9.7km ENE 64° Lower Thrift Farm Barrow Round Barrow(s) (TL3184438531)
 9.8km ESE 121° Cottered Stones* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (TL318293)
 9.8km ENE 78° Orwellbury Holy Well or Sacred Spring (TL3279836387)
 10.2km ENE 60° The Thrift Round Barrow(s) (TL320394)
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"Norton Henge" | Login/Create an Account | 7 News and Comments
  
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The discovery of two hand-held 'palettes' in North Herts Museum by Andy B on Wednesday, 02 August 2017
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Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews writes: In 2014 Tom, a student from Letchworth Garden City, was volunteering, and spent some time looking at the finds from an 1997-99 excavation at the east end of Works Road in Letchworth Garden City, close to Norton Henge. The dig discovered important Late Neolithic features, dating from about 3000 to 2000 BC. These included a hengiform monument with the crouched skeleton of a teenager at its centre, some deep shafts, a curious banana-shaped pit and an L-shaped ditch.

...two of the objects from the dig consisted of flat slabs of a gritty sandstone-like material, about the size of my hand. One surface on each had been polished smooth and, on one of them, a polished groove had been worn into the centre of the stone’s long axis. There was also a cube of stone with one face polished and a pebble with a pointed end that was damaged as if it had been used as a hammer, which is what I thought it was at first. Then I spotted that it was also worn along one edge and that it fitted into the groove on the slab almost perfectly.

This was the clue I needled to answer the puzzle.The slabs were hand-held palettes, used for grinding something, while the other stones were the grinders. The cube had not worn into the face of the slab, but the different shape of the pebble had gradually worn down a groove. Unlike larger querns, slabs that were used for grinding flour from grain, these were designed to be held in the hand for grinding small quantities of something. Palettes have been recorded in the Neolithic of other parts of the world – the decorated cosmetic palettes of Egypt are well known – but they are not widely reported from Britain. I suspect that the pair from Letchworth Garden City were used in a similar way to the more decorative Egyptian examples, for grinding pigment to use as cosmetics, perhaps for religious ceremonies rather than general beautification. To have two together is really quite unusual, if my identification of them is correct.

The discovery of these palettes has turned the site at Works Road from one that is merely interesting to one that looks to be rather significant. With the early henge only 300 m away, flint mines closer still and a hengiform monument on the same site, this is a complex to rival many better known sites. It goes to show that important discoveries can be made away from the site, by people who, like Tom, are not trained archaeologists. Thank you, Tom!
More at
http://www.northhertsmuseum.org/north-herts-museum-news-a-new-discovery-from-an-old-excavation/
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Norton henge: excavations 2010-2013 by Andy B on Tuesday, 26 May 2015
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From CBA East newsletter:

https://www.academia.edu/8524867/Norton_henge_excavations_2010-2013
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Ivel Springs by GP1 on Monday, 04 May 2015
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Although there is currently no archaeology data to suggest pre-Roman activity around the nearby Ivel Springs, they could be some connection with the siting of the Henge.
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Excavations at Stapleton’s Field henge 2012 and 2013 by Andy B on Wednesday, 28 August 2013
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Alan S writes: There are three main features within the Stapleton’s Field henge excavation, the first being a large trench cut across the line of the henge ditch and bank, where excitingly, some evidence has been found of a possible earlier causewayed enclosure. Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews the dig's director had previously suggested that the henge monument was of an early ‘formative henge’ type, but the discovery of a possible causewayed enclosure is icing on the cake.

At the eastern entrance to the henge, compressed chalk pits have been found, ideally sized for inhumation, but with no significant finds within them.

Whilst the possible causewayed enclosure is icing, there’s a cherry too! A neolithic ‘plank house’ feature has also been identified, close to the ditch.

Mike Parker-Pearson has recently visited the site and corroborated Keith’s interpretation of the findings, which makes this quite an important site, possibly nationally important, as the easternmost henge found to date.

More, with pictures from when Alan visited this year's Open Day and also in 2012. See also the Norton Community Archaeology Group Dig Diary.
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Bronze Age henge discovered in Hertfordshire by coldrum on Monday, 30 August 2010
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Bronze Age henge discovered in Hertfordshire field could be human cremation burial site.

“The previous field that we looked at was the core of a Medieval village,” says Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews, reflecting with some affection on his team’s previous digs in the lucrative archaeological terrain of Letchworth.

“There was a lovely series of earthworks in that field. The roads went out of use in the 18th century, so we assumed it was simply abandonment. We were quite shocked to discover that the last building on the site had been pulled down in the 13th century, which was even pre-Black Death.”

Admitting to being “one of those people who’s fortunate enough to be doing what they’d always dreamt of doing as a child”, the North Herts Archaeology Officer has had a busier time than usual this week thanks to the discovery of a 50-metre Bronze Age henge at Stapleton’s Field in Norton.

“It’s the first time I’ve been anywhere near a henge because they’re not exactly common, but I can recognise the finds because I’ve done Bronze Age sites before,” he assures us.

“It’s always been regarded as a burial mound before. I was sceptical of that, which is why we decided to dig there. I’d expected it to be virtually all gone, but even though it’s ploughed we’ve got a good 20-30 centimetres of bank sitting there, which has protected the deposits.”

The well-preserved remains should yield plenty of secrets when experts examine the finds. For now, Fitzpatrick-Matthews is fairly sure what our firestarting ancestors were up to.


“They seem to be burning things,” he says. “I got a little bit worried about it being human cremation burials, but they’re not really something that you find that often in henges.

"I’m presuming that what we’re going to find are burnt deposits of foodstuffs that have been sacrificed. It’s either that or it’s cremations.”

If that sounds a bit gruesome, the investigation leader is unperturbed. “They hold no horrors for me,” he asserts.

“We’ve applied for a license to remove human remains, which I’ve now got. I’ve dealt with hundreds of romano-british cremations over the years, they’re an everyday aspect of archaeology. I first dug a human burial 24 years ago, and you just get used to it.

"You always have to bear in mind that it was once a person but they’re long dead, they can’t do anything to hurt you and I always think it’s far better that they’re dug up with some respect than disappearing under a plough or a JCB.”

Up to 15 workmen will continue at the site for the next five days, foraging a “massive” outer ditch in an intensive project.

“I would like to be able to come back after that, but it depends on landowners and tenant farmers,” says Fitzpatrick-Matthews, who has built up a good relationship with both parties during four years of excavations.

“They’re used to being disrupted, but it’s the first time in this particular field. They’ve got the usual farmer’s interest in knowing what’s under their land. It gives them some good stories to tell.”

http://nortoncommarch.wordpress.com/

http://www.nortoncommarch.com/

http://www.culture24.org.uk/history+%26+heritage/archaeology/megaliths+and+prehistoric+archaeology/art82539
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Excavation blog being added to daily here by Andy B on Wednesday, 25 August 2010
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Excavation blog being added to daily here:
http://nortoncommarch.wordpress.com

See also
Norton Community Archaeological Group
http://www.nortoncommarch.com
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Open Day for the excavations, this Saturday 28th August by Andy B on Wednesday, 25 August 2010
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There is an open invitation on Saturday 28 August 2010 at 2pm for members of the public to visit the site and view items on display.

Stapleton's Field lies between Church Lane, in the centre of Norton and the A1(M) motorway.
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