Late Bronze Age Ritual and Habitation on a Thames Eyot at Whitecross Farm, Wallingford The Archaeology of the Wallingford Bypass, 1986–92 Thames Valley Landscapes Monograph No 22 2006

This report presents the results of a series of excavations
along the proposed route of the Wallingford
Bypass which are of particular interest for three
aspects: excavation of a high-status late Bronze Age
settlement on an island (eyot) in the Thames; confirmation
of the existence of cord-rig cultivation in
southern England; and dating of the south
Oxfordshire Grim’s Ditch, which places it within a
major sequence of earthwork construction in the
late Iron Age and early Roman period in the Upper
Thames region.
The proposal to construct a bypass to the south
and west of Wallingford prompted a series of
archaeological investigations between 1985–92.
Excavations were carried out where the route
crossed part of Mongewell Grim’s Ditch, as well as
at the known Bronze Age riverside site near
Whitecross Farm and a new site at Bradford’s Brook
further west that was revealed by fieldwalking.
The site at Whitecross Farm was located on a
former eyot in the river, with a broad palaeochannel
to the west. Initial evaluation of the site enabled the
bypass bridge to be designed to minimise its impact
on the surviving archaeology. Thus only areas that
would be directly affected by the bridge construction
were fully excavated. The results of these and
earlier limited excavations are presented, together
with metalwork recovered from the river nearby.
Bringing all this evidence together has allowed the
site to be more fully characterised than previously.
The site, including timber structures located on the
edge of the eyot, and a substantial midden and
occupation deposit, has been securely radiocarbondated
to the late Bronze Age. The late Bronze Age
artefact assemblages are suggestive of a high-status
site, with a range of domestic and ritual activities
represented.
The bank of the Grim’s Ditch earthwork was
found to have preserved evidence of earlier settlement,
dating to the Neolithic and Bronze Age, and
a sequence of cultivation, including ard marks and
‘cord-rig’ cultivation ridges. Pottery and radiocarbon
analysis dated the earthwork to the end of
the late Iron Age or the early Roman period.
A multi-period settlement, consisting of pits, a
waterhole, postholes, gullies and field systems, was
identified at Bradford’s Brook, Cholsey. The main
periods represented are late Bronze Age and
Romano-British, while a small quantity of Saxon
pottery indicates limited Saxon activity. A large pit
containing late Bronze Age pottery, a cattle skull,
waterlogged wood and plant remains, a complete
loomweight and flint flakes has been interpreted as
a waterhole. A series of radiocarbon dates were
obtained for deposits within this feature.
All three sites are discussed individually as well
as within their local, regional and national contexts.
Chapter 7 provides an overall discussion of later
Bronze Age themes that have arisen through the
excavation and analysis of these sites.