Kirsty Millican writes: Today, this site is located within a large, open, arable field, and is situated on a relatively level terrace, on a slight spur, overlooking a stream valley to the north and smaller gully to the west. From the location of the timber hall, the ground slopes away quite sharply to the stream valley to the north and north-west, and more gently to the east and west.
Consequently, its location appears to have been effectively defined by the topography on three sides, though the slope to the east is very gentle and may not have provided much definition. Nevertheless, this topography affects both the most practical direction from which to approach this site - if on the same level as the hall this would be from the south - and perhaps also the impact of this structure on the person approaching.
As the timber hall was positioned close to the break of slope to the north, it would have towered above anyone approaching from below, and to a lesser extent to the east and west where the ground slopes away less sharply. This is an important insight, suggesting that the location of this structure may have been carefully chosen, and the topography employed to create or emphasise particular effects and to structure access to the site.
Aerial photographs can provide additional information - when applied to the experiential approach, a more nuanced understanding of landscape emerges.
Of particular relevance is a darker patch visible in the cropmarks, immediately to the southeast of the timber hall, within which are the distinct cropmarks of modern field drains. This indicates that this feature represents a poorly drained area, which
may have been quite wet in the past; no other areas in the immediate vicinity show
evidence of having been drained so intensively. On the ground, a very slight hollow can be discerned in this location, matching the darker area in the cropmarks.
Bearing in mind the flattening effect of the plough, and the smoothed nature of the field today indicates that it has been ploughed repeatedly and perhaps over a long period of time, this hollow is likely to have been much more prominent in the past. It is therefore possible to surmise that the location of the timber hall was further defined by a damp hollow to the south-east, thereby constricting its location – and access to the structure - even more.
Taken together with observations of the ground, this suggests that the timber hall was
almost entirely surrounded by falling ground and the wetter area. If approached upon the level, only one route is possible, from the south moving towards the west side of the wet hollow. Indeed, on the ground today, this is the easiest direction from which to
approach the site as any other direction involves stepping off the relatively level terrace on which the hall was built, and approaching the hall from below. As a person moved closer to the hall, access would have been directed and restricted further, through the relatively narrow passage between the wet hollow to the east and falling ground to the west.
Therefore, the natural topography appears to have been employed to restrict and control access. Once through this naturally defined entrance, one would have been confronted with the western end of the timber hall with the surrounding topography defining a wider area around the structure, perhaps demarcating the extent of activity around the monument and also restricting the number of people who could come close. Therefore, by employing the topography in this manner, the builders were able to subtly guide and control movement to and around this structure.
The restrictions created by the natural topography of this place may also have made
construction and use slightly awkward. This was a deliberate choice; there are many other areas in the immediate vicinity free of the added difficulties of wet ground and terrace edges, which must have been eminently more suited to the construction of such a structure.
Therefore, this suggests a need to build this hall in a location that would restrict, constrain and direct access, and also clearly define both this place and perhaps the area in which associated activity took place, even to the inconvenience of the builders. This timber hall, therefore, encompassed more than just the physical structure; the location and its restrictions and potentials formed as much a part of the construction, functioning and biography of this hall as the timbers used to build it.
Read more at
The Outside Inside: Combining Aerial Photographs, Cropmarks and Landscape Experience - Kirsty Millican 2012
http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6Q80D
Download available at
https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:15967/
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