The Thames Valley NMP
This project was one of the four pilot projects for the National Mapping Programme established by the former RCHME (Royal Commission of the Historical Monuments, England) and partially funded by English Heritage. The project area covered 1450km² of the Thames Valley, following the course of the Thames from its source in the Cotswolds near Cirencester to the western outskirts of London at Slough and Windsor, passing through the counties of Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Surrey.
The aim of the project was to map and record all archaeological sites from early Prehistory to the Post Medieval period (excluding ridge and furrow) visible on vertical and oblique aerial photographs. This was the first NMP project to record earthwork sites and was particularly concerned with recording the complex sites which occupied the gravel terraces adjacent to the river threatened by gravel extraction.
The survey work started in 1992, the first major project to be undertaken since the work of Benson and Miles in 1974, Gates in 1975 and Leech in 1977 which looked at different parts of the Thames Valley. It re-interpreted these earlier surveys, bringing all the transcriptions up to a common standard, and adding new information from RAF vertical photographs and others taken in the intervening years. Many sites had already been destroyed, mostly through gravel extraction, with permissions being granted for further extraction along the entire length of the river, highlighting the urgency for reconnaissance. In total 7.12% of sites recorded on photographs are known to have been destroyed by the early 1990’s.
A total of 11,252 sites were recorded, the majority (93%) seen as cropmarks. 44.9% were new sites with no previous NAR (National Archive Record) or SMR record.
The archaeology of the Thames Valley is characterised by the cropmark remains of numerous settlements from the Prehistoric to Medieval periods with associated fields and trackways, some forming landscapes which were traced over a number of km. This is not a unique phenomenon, but rather a characteristic of lowland river valley locations throughout England. These areas were the focus for settlement, taking advantage of the well drained land ideal for cultivation located adjacent to rivers for water and communication. This map extract depicts extensive Prehistoric settlement remains around the village of Standlake, Oxfordshire. The South-West portion has now been destroyed by gravel extraction.
There were also numerous Prehistoric sites identified as ritual and funerary in nature. There were 933 Bronze Age barrows recorded, but of particular note were the Neolithic sites which were found clustered in close proximity to the river and its tributaries. These included four henges, 16 Cursus monuments, six of which were new to the record, but only 12 surviving at the time of the survey, Also, a total of 12 causewayed enclosures were recorded three of which were new discoveries. All were within 2km of the Thames or a tributary and except for one site, occurred in different locations from the Cursus monuments.
Highworth Circles
Of particular interest were a group of sites known as Highworth Circles. These are a cluster of circular enclosures typically 40m to 95m in diameter with an external bank and internal ditch and no apparent entrance. In total 41 were recorded, many still surviving as earthworks.
This is a little understood group of monuments and there are two schools of thought concerning their likely date and function. Based on morphology it was suggested that they represented a form of Hengiform enclosure of Prehistoric date.
However, their sheer number and general confinement within the Hundred of Highworth supported by the results of excavation has led to the suggestion that they are Medieval (13th-14th century) in origin and probably related to some form of stock management or were animal pounds.
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