Pre Roman |
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The pre Roman picture for the study area is one of scant details. However, these details taken together would seem to signify human activity across most of the area.
BramboroughBramborough is situated in the parish of Donisthorpe to the north of the Measham/Donisthorpe enclave. There has been considerable human activity in this area with a large number of flints etc. being found there. The feelings is that this may have been the site of some sort of barrow. However this has long since disappeared.
Normanton le HeathAn iron age enclosure has been discovered by the line of the Roman road which runs from Leicester towards Chester. This site consists of a number of enclosures and and walk ways. The site was probably some sort of farmstead. The Swepstone Way runs from this site and perhaps suggests that the site was of more significance than currently thought. In the woods to the north of the site have been discovered flints which would seem to indicate continued human activity in the area from a much earlier age.
Mease ValleyThe Mease valley as a whole as a number of pre Roman finds scattered along it's length. At Measham there are a number of iron age crop markings which may indicate farming activity in the area. At Appleby, a large enclosure has been found which may be of iron age or perhaps earlier. At Clifton Campville a Neolithic or bronze age axe has been found.
Wider ContextIt is very difficult to draw any firm picture form the few finds listed. Perhaps the safest conclusion is that there was human activity in the Mease valley and surrounding areas before the Romans arrived. As to the nature of this activity it is difficult to say. The wider picture probably was influenced by the environment that surrounded the Mease valley. To the south was the Arden forest which may reached to the southern escarpment of the valley. Equally, to the north and east was wooded with large tracts of heath land. This largely wooded area would have meant that the Mease valley was used for subsistence farming and may have been occupied by small farmsteads spread through out the length of the valley. However, if Bramborough was the site of some sort of barrow this would suggest that within the study area there was someone or group who had the necessary organisational skills to construct it. It would also suggest sufficient surpluses to support the creation and maintenance of any such building work. As with much of the history of the area it is very much piece very small bits of evidence and trying to put them into a wider context. What can be said is that the Mease valley probably was well cultivated by the time the Romans arrived. The large wooded areas probably were still lightly populated but the valley it self may well have had a number of farms dotted throughout the area.
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