Waddon, Dorset: An Iron-Age Roundhouse In A Garden And A 'Henge' In The Field Next Door
23 January 2000

Update: The Waddon Manors And The Dorset Domesday
How Robin Bush's research rewrote a little part of the history books

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It began with a bag of pottery sherds sent to the Time Team office. Medieval, Roman and, most interesting of all, some large pieces of early Iron-Age ware from about 700-500 BCE, they had been found when two neighbours had installed a septic tank in one of their back gardens. Their houses were located in the tiny hamlet of Waddon, near Portesham in Dorset (grid reference SY 619858, Landranger sheet 194). They wanted to know: had there been people living on this site hundreds, possibly thousands, of years ago?

It took only a cursory look at the surrounding landscape to suggest that the answer was almost certainly yes. Early agricultural terraces stood out clearly on the south-facing ridge-side above the houses. There was evidence of a medieval field system overlaid upon an earlier system typical of Iron-Age settlements. There were rectangular shapes adjoining the road and a circular earthwork in the fields to the south, readily visible from aerial photographs. Time Team's expert at reading the landscape, Stewart Ainsworth, was in his element with 'lumps and bumps' emerging from the fields and hills wherever the eye could see.

The excavation was to focus on three main locations. Trenches One and Two were opened above and below the septic tank. Trench Three concentrated on the rectangular shapes by the road, which turned out to be the walls of a post-medieval cottage, built after 1500 on a cobbled late-medieval courtyard. And Trench Four involved a deep excavation with a mechanical digger across the line of the circular earthwork.

Aerial photograph by Francesca Radcliffe.

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Part of a pre-historic field system.

Trench 2: Stewart thought these earthworks could be medieval buildings.

The excavation around the septic tank was to turn up evidence of what appeared to be not one but several Iron-Age roundhouses, which had been successively built and rebuilt on the site. The one that the Team excavated had had the septic tank placed in the middle of it. Even so, its outline and south-east facing doorway (to catch the rising sun) could still be revealed. There were also signs of what might have been a drip gulley – a shallow ditch formed where water dripped off the roundhouse roof. And there, on its floor, untouched for perhaps 2,500 years, was found a beautiful bone awl, probably used for piercing leather. Phil Harding was so excited at the idea of having an Iron-Age settlement in your garden that he almost persuaded Grace, the resident of one of the houses, to let him move in with her. 'I'd give my left leg to have an Iron-Age roundhouse in my garden,' he told her.

Reconstruction of part of a roundhouse.

The walls of a roundhouse.

So the Team had turned up evidence of human settlement at Waddon in two distinct periods. (Robin Bush had also examined documents which showed that there had been a manor house and a few cottages here from at least 1288.) But the history of Waddon was to be taken back even further on the final day when the excavation of the circular earthwork came up with the news that it was, in fact, a Neolithic henge – between 4,500 and 6,000 years old.

What Is A 'Henge'?

As soon as the Team began to excavate the circular earthwork at Waddon, they knew that it was something special. For here was a large circular bank with a deep ditch on the inside – and that could mean only one thing. If it had been a fort or defensive structure of some description, it would have had the ditch on the outside; and it would have been located on high ground or some other readily defensible position. Instead, this was a prehistoric 'henge' – a circular or elliptical earthwork, often (although not in this case) incorporating a ring of stones or wooden posts, and probably used for ceremonial purposes.

The most famous henge of all, of course, is Stonehenge, which also happens to be one of the few henges that has its ditch on the outside. Its fame has led many people to assume that all henges take a similar form, particularly in terms of the use of megaliths (large stones) to form a circular monument. In fact, there are many different kinds of henge, some of which make no use of stone in their construction at all. We are most familiar with the henges that have stone circles simply because the stones have survived the passage of time.

It would also be a mistake to assume that all henges perform the same function. While Stonehenge and many other circles were almost certain to have been astronomical observatories of some sort (although the purpose of those observations is open to debate), others were very different. Woodhenge, for example, located close to Stonehenge, was probably an enclosed structure with a roof. Seahenge, which featured in the Time Team special on 29 December 1999, was different again.

It is interesting to note that henges (as opposed to simple stone circles without the earth banks and ditches) seem to be unique to the British Isles. Their discovery is rare, so to come across one that had not previously been recorded was a treat indeed for both the archaeologists and the residents at Waddon.

View Raysan's henge animation as an animated gif (304k, no plug-in needed) or as a QuickTime movie (128k, QuickTime plug-in needed).

Reconstruction of the Neolithic henge.

A small pointed tool, perhaps used for piercing leather, Iron Age.

Medieval house remains.

Mick and Tony and the view from the top of the hill.

Quiz

A replica medieval kiln.

Replica medieval and Iron-Age pots, fired in the kilns.

Reconstruction of the medieval jug, c 1300AD.

© Maya Gavin.

Reconstruction of the decorated slipware, c 1700AD.

© Maya Gavin.

Resources

Further reading

Farmers in Prehistoric Britain by Francis Pryor (Tempus, 1998) hardback £18.99
Wearing both his hats as archaeologist and farmer, Pryor has produced an empathic work on the life and methods of prehistoric farmers, such as those who lived at Waddon. Often what survives is just a few cropmarks, but this work brings what is now obscure into vivid reality.

Iron Age Britain by Barry Cunliffe (English Heritage, 1995) paperback £15.99
Traces the changes that took place between 700 BCE and the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD. This well-illustrated book surveys the period during which the Waddon roundhouse would have been occupied.

Bronze Age Britain by Michael Parker Pearson (Batsford/English Heritage, 1996) paperback £15.99
Based on the prehistoric evidence, as well as current research and debate, this book examines how life in Britain changed during the period 4000-900 BCE. Illustrated with lots of maps, plans, reconstructions and photographs.

The Significance of Monuments

by Richard Bradley (Routledge, 1998) £15.99 paperback
The author traces the history of Neolithic and Bronze-Age burial mounds, henges, stone circles and barrows since their first appearance 6,000 years or more ago. He provides insights into what they might have meant to, and their role in the lives of, prehistoric people in Europe.

Other websites

This website contains links to other websites which are not under the control of and are not maintained by Channel 4 Television. Channel 4 Television is not responsible for the content of these sites and does not necessarily endorse the material on them.

Butser Ancient Farm, in Hampshire is a replica of an Iron-Age farm from about 300 BCE, typical of the sort of settlement there might have been at Waddon. For a virtual tour, go to www.skcldv.demon.co.uk/iafintro.htm.

At Knowlton Circles, in north Dorset, there are four remarkable earthworks: the North Circle, Church Circle, Southern Circle and the 'Old Churchyard'. These have been investigated in recent years in a programme of field survey and excavation by a team from Bournemouth University. The site includes the remains of a 12th-century church in the centre of a circular henge earthwork. Reports of the excavation (unfortunately not updated) can be found at http://csweb.bournemouth.ac.uk/consci/text_kn/knhome.htm.

Amateur archaeological enthusiast Philip Dunn has a striking aerial picture of crop marks revealing the extent of the Knowlton Circles on his website at http://freespace.virgin.net/philip.dunn/index.htm. This also covers a range of ancient monuments in Dorset and elsewhere, with good introductory descriptions and pictures. The site contains details, too, of the fascinating but largely unknown Rempston stone circle, hidden in woods near Corfe.

Mick Aston spoke to Steve Platt to answer viewers' questions about the Waddon 'henge'. More...

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