Flag Fen Britain Bronze

Flag Fen Britain Bronze

Flag Fen Archaeology Park is home to a unique ancient wooden monument. A kilometre long wooden causeway and platform are perfectly preserved in the wetland. 3500 years ago this was built and used by the Celtic fen people as a place of worship and ritual. 60,000 upright timbers and 250,000 horizontal planks are buried under the ground along with many swords and personal items given as offerings to the watery fen.

Dyke Surveys and the Discovery of Flag Fen
In the early 1980’s English Heritage funded a series of small dyke surveys in the Peterborough region. A dyke survey is where archaeologists examine the sides of newly cleaned or cut dykes for evidence of sites buried deep below the soil. They are effectively large trenches. It was during this survey that Flag Fen was discovered.

On a chilly November day in 1982 Francis was walking a dyke to the east of Fengate, when he stumbled across a piece of oak lying in the mud. Sliding down the side of the dyke to the waters edge he found more oak wood including what looked like a vertical post that had been clearly worked with a small bladed axe. Subsequent archaeological investigation by Francis, Charly, Maisie Taylor, David Gurney and David Crowther revealed large planks of split oak and one with a mortice hole through which a peg had been driven. Further excavations funded by English Heritage revealed this find to be part of a timber platform the size of Wembley Stadium. This late Bronze Age monumental structure is over 3500 years old.

Early excavations at Fengate (now an industrial estate bordering Flag Fen)  revealed the foundations of Bronze Age round-houses, one of which was very well preserved. Features included eaves-drip gullies (a ground level gutter), a circular exterior wall 8m in diameter, an internal ring of postholes, a porch doorway facing eastwards and a hearth. This has given archaeologists a valuable insight into how houses were constructed.

Archaeologists have long been puzzled by internal rings of postholes in Bronze Age round-houses, which are thought to be roof supports. Usually a well constructed roof of straw or reed thatch would not require internal supports, but in the softer soils of the fens and with the strong Siberian winter winds perhaps the Fen Folk needed added insulation and support. So in 1989 we decided to put this idea to the test and construct our own roundhouses. 
Initially replica Bronze Age axes were used (although after felling several poles using authentic techniques the team resorted to a chainsaw to speed up the process. John Spencer suggested that the internal roof supports were required because of the weight of the roof – perhaps the roofs were made out of turf?
Turf roofs are know from Scotland and in Scandinavia, so we had a go, laying one layer of turf green side down and second layer green side up so that the two would knit together. This would give good insulation too. With watering the roof survived the hot summer – but it leaked!
Discussing the problem with a Dr. Edgren from Sweden he explained that round-houses there have a layer of reed to line the roof and channel water to the ground. Both of our roundhouses now have a reed layer and are far more effective at keeping out the wet!
Spurred on we reconstructed the drove way which ran down to the fen edge and the field systems bordering it to recreate the Bronze Age fen edge landscape with the farmstead. You can see this Bronze Age Settlement at Flag Fen today.


VISITORS INFORMATION:

Opening Hours:
Weekends and Bank Holidays: 10 am – 5pm with last entry at 4pm.
Open on other days for pre-booked visits by schools and groups.

Winter : Closed.

Price: