Kemerton, Worcestershire
7 March 1999

Kemerton in Worcestershire is overlooked by Bredon Hill, one of the most important Iron Age hillforts in the country. Combine this geographical location with some aerial photographs of extensive cropmarks that hinted at Bronze Age settlement and you have one of the areas of Britain that has seen thousands of years of habitation and agriculture. Following careful excavation of the delicate remains of ancient peoples that lay beneath a turnip field and the unearthing of important finds near a sewage works, Time Team was able to tell the story of this part of the West Midlands, a story that extended back many centuries.

Time Team and the RAF at Kemerton/a>

When Time Team visited Kemerton in Worcestershire last autumn, the site was also surveyed by a Tornado from RAF Marham in King's Lynn, similar to ones that flew over Kuwait to provide reconnaissance photos during Operation Desert Storm! We have the pictures that they took for Time Team using infra-red sensors, plus examples of images from other archaeological sites they have overflown and some pictures of the Tornado GR1A for those who like that sort of thing...

Further reading

Britain and the Celtic Iron Age by Simon James and Valerie Rigby (British Museum Press, 1997) paperback £9.99
Excellent introduction to the Celts; marvellously illustrated with lots of pictures of sites and artefacts and chapters on people, economy, settlement, society, ritual and communications.

Bronze Age Britain by Michael Parker Pearson (Batsford, 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 BC. Illustrated with lots of maps, plans, reconstructions and photographs.

Crickley Hill: The hillfort defences by Philip Dixon (Crickley Hill Trust, 1994) hardback £19.95
Just across the valley from Bredon Hill is the huge Iron-Age hillfort of Crickley. It shares more than just location, containing extensive evidence of earlier, ritual habitation just like Bredon. This is the first volume of excavation reports and describes the huge stone walls and ditches that defended the fort.

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 wrok on the life and methods of prehistoric farmers. 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
Between 700 BC and the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD, a number of important social changes took place. Still existing regional boundaries were established, hillforts such as those on Bredon Hill were built by warring chiefs and the first towns were founded. This well-illustrated book surveys the period.

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