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Photo Pages: Sweet Track - Ancient Trackway in England in Somerset
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Submitted by Andy B on Thursday, 02 August 2007 Page Views: 13804
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 Site Name: Sweet Track Country: England County: Somerset Type: Ancient Trackway
Nearest Town: Street Nearest Village: Westhay
Map Ref: ST424408 Landranger Map Number: 182
Latitude: 51.163533N Longitude: 2.825129W
Condition:| 5 | Perfect | | 4 | Almost Perfect | | 3 | Reasonable but with some damage | | 2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site | | 1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks | | 0 | No data. | | -1 | Completely destroyed |
no data
Ambience:| 5 | Superb | | 4 | Good | | 3 | Ordinary | | 2 | Not Good | | 1 | Awful | | 0 | No data. |
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Access:| 5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access | | 4 | Short walk on a footpath | | 3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk | | 2 | A long walk | | 1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find | | 0 | No data. |
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Accuracy:| 5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates | | 4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map | | 3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map | | 2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village | | 1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town | | 0 | no data |
no data
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External Links:             
   Peat Moors Centre - Sweet Track submitted by Andy B
Ancient Trackway in Somerset. The Sweet Track is a supreme, if not so obvious example of Neolithic engineering, 6000 years old. An elevated footpath that ran for almost 2km across the Somerset levels swamps.
Extensive tree ring studies have shown that ash, oak and lime trees were systematically cut, pre-fabricated and transported to the site, where they were built into a narrow footpath supported on crossed poles, driven into heavy poles underwater and pegged together. Finally the oak walking platform was laid on top of the V-shaped notch. All this indicates a high degree of organisation and forward planning.
Some repairs were carried out, but it is clear that the Sweet Track was only in use for around ten years, probably due to the rising water level engulfing it. This waterlogging is what enabled the track to survive until it was accidentally discovered by a peat worker (named Ray Sweet) in 1970. A section of the still-buried track within the Shapwick Heath nature reserve is protected against drying out by a water distribution system.
Another trackway is the Abbot's Way, from only 4000 years ago that can also be road-tested at the excellent Peat Moors Visitor Centre
Access: Sections of the Sweet Track are on display in the British Museum, London. The replica photographed above is at the Peat Moors Centre, near Glastonbury, although it was washed away in a flood. The original Sweet Track passed through what is now Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve and there are various signposted walks and information boards within the reserve.
Note: See event on 5th August. See comment.
 Sweet Track submitted by JimChampion
The southern half of the course of the Sweet Track runs through Shapwick Heath NNR, which is open to the public - leaflets and maps are available from the English Nature office next to the Peat Moors Centre. This photo shows one of the interpretative boards (with braille) explaining what the track was, how it was discovered and how its remains are being protected today. A modern-day track runs alo
 Peat Moors Centre - Sweet Track submitted by Andy B
The reconstruction of the Sweet Track that was at the Peat Moors Visitor Centre. Strangely, this is my bestselling photo, having been published in several books and magazine articles over the years.
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| "Sweet Track" | Login/Create an Account | 3 comments |
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Re: Sweet Track (Peat Moors Visitor Centre) (Score: 0)
by Anonymous on Saturday, 01 June 2002 | Sadly the sweet track reconstruction at the peat moors centre was washed away in last years' flood.
There is a nice reconstruction on the site, made by my group, in as close to authentic neolithic as we could. No metal tools just stone axes!!
SteveP | [ Reply to This ]
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Re: Sweet Track (Peat Moors Visitor Centre) (Score: 0)
by Anonymous on Wednesday, 20 December 2006 | I was just looking at your Sweet Track web page and thought you might like to update the details of our reconstruction of it!
Because of the nature of the trackway it is very much a seasonal and weather dependant construction, just as the original was. Consequently, it may well have been 'washed away' when your commenter visited the centre (or at least floating), but it is always rebuilt as soon as the waters subside. It would appear this was also the case with the genuine trackway and while we try to artificially regulate the amount of water present, it is not always possible - the pump is currently under water, for instance!
We regard the Sweet Track to be both of national and international significance, so we take pride in displaying it as much and as often as practicable.
With all best wishes,
Eddie Wills,
Warden, Peat Moors Centre
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Re: Sweet Track (Peat Moors Visitor Centre) (Score: 0)
by Anonymous on Wednesday, 15 April 2009 | | why build a repilica | [ Reply to This ]
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