Aerial reconnaissance over England in summer 1996

Aerial Reconnaissance over Englandin Summer 1996*

ROGER FEATHERSTONE, PETER HORNE, DAVID MACLEODAND ROBERT BEWLEY {

(with reports by J. Collens and R. Philpott, D. A. Edwards, F. Griffithand W. Horner, S. Hartgroves, P. Markham, D. Motkin, C. R. Musson,F. Radcliffe, D. Strachan, B. Vyner and R. Yarwood )Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, National MonumentsRecord Centre, Great Western Village, Kemble Drive, Swindon, SN2 2GZ, UK

ABSTRACT This report outlines the results achieved by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monumentsof England’s (RCHME’s) flying programme and those of the independent flyers over Englandin 1996. The RCHME operates its reconnaissance programme from two offices, Swindon andYork, with each team covering approximately half of England. The RCHME has been funding anetwork of regional flyers since 1986, when English Heritage transferred the responsibility to theRCHME. All the regional flyers reporting here received grants from the RCHME, except Devonand Somerset, and Dorset. The regional flyers operated in Cheshire and Merseyside, Cornwall,Devon and Somerset, Dorset, Essex, Hereford and Worcester, Isle of Wight, Norfolk, North-amptonshire, Northumberland, Shropshire, Suffolk and Teesside.

In total approximately 415 h were flow and 4570 targets photographed, of which approximatelyhalf were new to the record and about 15 per cent (estimated) contributed additional information.For an area of eastern and northern England, from The Wash to the River Tees, 1996 wasconsidered to be one of the best years ever for the discovery of new cropmark sites. Copyright*c 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Key words: aerial reconnaissance; cropmark; global positioning system (GPS); soilmark; soilmoisture deficit; mapping; interpretation; drought; planning; protection

Introduction

The succession of dry summers during theearly 1990s continued in 1996 and although the

drought was not as prolonged as in 1995 itnevertheless provided very favourable conditionsfor cropmark formation. Although there werefewer days of clear weather compared with 1995,there were still many opportunities for goodphotography. In the north of England it wasconsidered by the authors to be the best year forrecording new sites since 1976. This reportoutlines the results achieved by the RoyalCommission on the Historical Monuments ofEngland's (RCHME) flying programme andthose of the independent flyers.

Recent reports on the RCHME's work havebeen published (Featherstone, 1994; Featherstoneet al, 1995) and compilations of the RCHMEand regional flyers' work have been reported

CCC 1075±2196/99/020047±16$17.50 Received 27 October 1998Copyright # 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Accepted 14 January 1998

Archaeological ProspectionArchaeol. Prospect. 6, 47±62 (1999)

*Further information about the surveys is available from theRCHME's Aerial Survey at the National Monuments RecordCentre (NMRC) in Swindon (01793 414809) or its office inYork (01904 601901). Information about the availability ofphotographs (and air photographs in general) can be obtainedfrom Public Services of the National Monuments Record,NMRC, Great Western Village, Kemble Drive, Swindon, SN22GZ; telephone: 01793 414600, fax: 01793 414606, email:[email protected].{Correspondence to: R. Bewley, English Heritage, NationalMonuments Record Centre, Great Western Village, KembleDrive, Swindon, SN2 2GZ, UK. email: [email protected]

previously (Griffith, 1989). This report aims topresent the results of the RCHME and the regionalflying programme in 1996. The RCHME has beenfunding a network of regional flyers since 1986,when English Heritage transferred the respons-ibility to the RCHME. All the regional flyersreporting here received grants from the RCHMEexcept Devon (with Somerset) and Dorset;the total of the grants was £11 870. With thelimited funds available the criteria for allocatinggrants was that they should be used in recon-naissance for new sites appearing in cropmarkform in the areas where the conditions seemed tobe most favourable. Conditions were assessedusing the soil moisture deficit figures (SMDs)(Jones and Evans, 1975), the map (Figure 1) showsthe situation for the end of July 1996 withespecially high figures (dry conditions) aroundThe Wash and generally high in all easternand central southern counties. Reports receivedfrom pilots and airborne photographers (aswell as casual observers travelling by car ortrain) were invaluable in determining the geo-graphical extent as well as the local intensity ofthe drought.

The RCHME operates its reconnaissance pro-gramme from two offices, Swindon and York,with each team covering approximately half ofEngland. Between April and December 1996 atotal of 205 h were flown in which a total of2120 targets were recorded. Figure 2 shows thedistribution of aerial photographs taken in thesummer of 1996, each black symbol represents1 km2 in which at least one photograph wastaken. Preliminary results indicate that of sitesshowing as cropmarks, approximately 55 percent (1165) were totally new to the record and afurther 20 per cent (425) contributed significantadditional information to known sites.

The regional flyers operated in Cheshire andMerseyside, Cornwall, Devon and Somerset,Dorset, Essex, Hereford and Worcester, Isle ofWight, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Northumber-land, Shropshire, Suffolk and Teesside. In total(approximately) they flew 210 h and photo-graphed 2450 targets, of which, on average,45 per cent (1100) were new to the record. There-fore, for England as a whole, approximately 415 hwere flown and 4570 targets photographed, ofwhich approximately half were new to the record

and about 15 per cent (estimated) contributedadditional information.

These photographs and surveys contributeto our knowledge of England's past and arewidely used for research, planning, protectionand management. The photographs can beconsulted and are available from the NationalMonuments Record Centre (NMRC), Swindonand the regional flyers' material can also beconsulted in the local Sites and MonumentsRecord (SMR) offices.

Although the purpose here is to report on thework of 1996, it is important to note that thephotographs form part of an ongoing nationalprogramme of survey. Since 1987 the RCHMEhas been working on a mapping project that usesa wide range of sources, including the RCHME'shistoric collections of vertical photographs, tocreate a series of maps at 1:10 000 scale andcomputerised records (Edis et al, 1989; Bewley,1995, 1998) that eventually will cover the wholecountry (Bewley, 1995, 1998). This project,known as the National Mapping Programme,has to date mapped 1218 sheets covering atotal area of 30 450 km2 (Figure 3; each sheetcovers 25 km2).

RCHME reconnaissance in southernEngland (by Roger Featherstone)

Nineteen ninety-six was the twenty-ninth year ofcontinuous aerial reconnaissance by the RCHME.A total of 115 h were flown and approximately980 targets were photographed (at a rate of8.5 per hour), of which 540 (55 per cent) werenew to the record.

The first cropmark sites were not recordeduntil early June but they soon became wide-spread, especially in the Cotswolds, North-amptonshire, East Anglia and central southernEngland. In recent years a special focus forreconnaissance has been the limestone areas ofGloucestershire and Oxfordshire and this hasresulted in the number of discoveries increasingdramatically. For example, in the area of Oxford-shire north of Oxford (ca. 800 km2) only 70 siteshad been recorded from the air before 1987, butby 1995 an additional 130 new sites had beendiscovered. These were mainly Bronze Age

48 R. Featherstone et al.

Copyright # 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Archaeol. Prospect., Vol. 6, 47±62 (1999)

Figure 1. Map showing soil moisture deficits at the end of July 1996 (reproduced by kind permission of the MeteorologicalOffice).

Aerial Reconnaissance over England 49


Figure 2. Distribution of areas photographed by the RCHME and regional flyers during the summer of 1996.RCHME # Crown Copyright



burials and Iron Age settlement enclosures, butoccasionally more significant sites, such as alarge, defended enclosure near Great Rollright,Oxfordshire (Plate 1), became visible. This site, onhigh ground close to the ancient ridgeway knownas Ditchedge Lane, is unique in this area and wasshowing more clearly in 1996 than in any yearsince 1990, when it was first discovered. Thedramatic increase in new sites in this area is as aresult of flying from Kidlington, just north ofOxford, the closure of the USAAF airbase at

Upper Heyford and a sequence of hot and drysummers.

No less than 80 new sites were recorded in theNorth Oxfordshire area in 1996, these include partof a causewayed enclosure near Banbury thoughtto be the only one in this area; several small groupsof Bronze Age barrows (which are uncommon inthe area); many more Iron Age enclosures, forexample one near Upper Heyford (Plate 2). Thisenclosure has funnel-like entrances and hut circlescan be clearly seen inside the main enclosure. The

Figure 3. Current progress of the RCHME’s National Mapping Programme to 30 September 1998. Each square representsa 1:10 000 quarter sheet (25 km2). RCHME # Crown Copyright



foundations of a small Roman settlement onAkeman Street near the village of Tackley werealso recorded (Plate 3), where previously only avilla had been photographed. The remains of thefoundations of a number of buildings can be seen,one of which is possibly a temple. These dis-coveries have had a very significant impact on ourknowledge and understanding of the prehistoricsettlement and Roman occupation of the area. Anexamination of sites and their distribution relativeto soils and geology reveals, for example, that IronAge `banjo' enclosures are found only on lime-stone or soils that overlie gravel terraces. The sitesare variable in their size, shape and complexityand further work is planned to understand thisemerging landscape.

Flights over parts of Bedfordshire, aroundPeterborough and eastern Cambridgeshire werevery rewarding. Many of the sites photographedin the border areas between Cambridgeshire,Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex were in clay soilswhich only rarely show cropmark sites withsuch clarity. Overall, this resulted in the discoveryof many new sites, such as the multivallateenclosure near Saffron Walden, Essex (Plate 4), agood indication of the way aerial reconnaissancecan enhance the record for the area.

RCHME reconnaissance in northernEngland (by Peter Horne andDavid MacLeod)

During the summer of 1996 RCHME staff basedin York aimed to reconnoitre all promising areasfor cropmarks in the north of England and domore detailed survey and recording in thoseareas with most potential. One of the periods ofhighest potential for recording cropmarks is justas the crop is ripening and therefore some areaswere revisited on several occasions to allow forthe different varieties of crops and sowing times.In the main, features were seen as cropmarks incereals, but also in a wide variety of other cropssuch as sugar beet, peas and beans, linseed andeven in poppies. A few good parchmarks ingrasslands also were recorded.

The pattern of flying can be seen in Figure 4,which shows the individual flight traces as

recorded by the onboard Global PositioningSystem (GPS). The GPS proved invaluable duringthe summer not only by minimizing the amountof manual recording necessary in the air, but alsoin providing a quick check to ensure all areaswere fully covered; it was often possible to targetgaps in the reconnaissance en route to other areasor on the way back to the airfield.

The results show that the summer of 1996was one of the best ever for cropmarks ineastern England between The Wash and theRiver Tees. Throughout this region all areas wereproductive, although recording often had to bedone in far from ideal weather for aerialphotography.

The best results initially were in the lowlandlimestone areas of North Yorkshire, South York-shire and Lincolnshire and then from the lower-lying sands and gravels of North Yorkshire, EastRiding of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. It wasnoticeable that sites were often being recorded onthe periphery of previously productive areas.This is likely to be a result of the persistentdrought ( from 1989 to 1996), which will havemade soils normally affected by groundwaterresponsive to cropmark formation. One exampleof this is shown in Plate 5, where, on very low-lying ground near Crowle south of the Humber,a Roman site first identified in 1994 revealeddetails over a much greater area than in previousyears.

The Holderness area (east of the YorkshireWolds and north of the Humber estuary), whereresults of cropmark reconnaissance are usuallypoor, was particularly productive Ð on oneflight on 8 August, 65 targets were photographedin 3.5 h, 40 of which were distinct settlements,enclosures or groups of enclosures within asurvey area of 400 km2. Some sites showed withremarkable clarity, such as that at Hougham(Plate 6) in Lincolnshire, revealing new informa-tion about the details of this complex settlementand also about the very regular field systemsthat continue for a considerable distance tothe northwest. Parching of pasture in the Trentvalley at Gunthorpe revealed new details of anIron Age or Roman field system and also theditch of a substantial oval enclosure with a singlevisible entrance reminiscent of a henge monu-ment (Plate 7). Ground verification has shown



Archaeol. Prospect.Vol. 6, (1999)

Plate 1. Cropmarks of a presumed Romano-Britishenclosure near the village of Great Rollright, Oxfordshirewith a number of small pit alignments all showing veryclearly against the background of cropmarks caused bycracks and shallow depressions in the underlyinglimestone. (NMR 15511/11). RCHME © Crown Copyright.

Plate 5. A possible Romansettlement near Crowle,Lincolnshire. The site is on low-lying ground andelements of the site areclearly not visible due to the lack of response in thedeeper soils. (NMR 12841/11). RCHME© Crown Copyright.

Plate 2. Iron Age settlement enclosure with internal hutcircles, external enclosures and funnel entrancesdiscovered alongside the now disused airfield of UpperHeyford, Oxfordshire. (NMR 15519/35). RCHME © Crown Copyright.

Plate 4. A newly discovered complex enclosure, possiblyof the Romano-British period near Saffron Walden, Essex.(NMR 15483/21). RCHME © Crown Copyright.

Plate 6. This remarkably clear cropmark site at Houghamin Lincolnshire probably shows a settlement whichcontinued to develop from the Iron Age to Roman periods.(NMR 12877/21). RCHME © Crown Copyright.

Plate 3. Cropmarks revealing a Roman roadsidesettlement and possible temple, alongside Akeman Streetnorth of Woodstock, Oxfordshire.(NMR 15456/16). RCHME © Crown Copyright.

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Plate 7. Parchmarks in pasture near Gunthorpe,Nottinghamshire, reveal a rectilinear field system and thebroad ditch and entrance of a possible henge monument.(NMR 12863/26). RCHME © Crown Copyright.

Plate 11. Wolsty Farm, Cumbria. The enclosures on thegravel strip to the left of the farm regularly show ascropmarks, but on the other side a circular enclosure andthe narrow ditches of part of a field system and drovewaywere new discoveries in 1996.(NMR 12912/30). RCHME © Crown Copyright.

Plate 8. A double-ditched rectangular enclosurecontaining at least one hut circle, newly recorded atHarmston, Lincolnshire within the restricted flying zonearound Waddington airfield.(NMR 12855/22). RCHME © Crown Copyright.

Plate 10. A new discovery of a stretch of prehistoricmultiple-ditched boundary (or trackway?) and attachedenclosures near Walkington on the Yorkshire Wolds.(NMR 12885/32). RCHME © Crown Copyright.

Plate 12. Previously unrecorded plough-levelled barrowsshowing as cropmarks in the early part of the growthcycle. (2027) Copyright © F. Radcliffe

Plate 9. The unusual effect of the parching of ditches ingrassland over chalk at Hoe Hill, Binbrook (Lincolnshire)reveals the clear outline of a probable Neolithic mortuaryenclosure. The remains of a Neolithic long barrow surviveunder the trees bottom left.(NMR 12905/2). RCHME © Crown Copyright.

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Plate 13. The plough-levelled remains of a neolithiccausewayed enclosure at Kedington, Suffolk.(CP/96/37/15). Copyright © Essex County Council.

Plate 18. One of the mostsignificant finds in Norfolkin 1996 was that of aRoman legionary fortresson the line of the PeddarsWay near Threxton. Theplough-levelled remains are seen here as marks in a variety of crops. (TF 8800/ACR)Copyright reserved. Norfolk Museum Service. Photograph by Derek A. Edwards

Plate 14. This photograph shows the new detail of a rowof eight pits along the inside of the Wormingford cursus,which together with the two ring ditches form part of theritual landscape in the Stour Valley.(CP/96/11/15). Copyright © Essex County Council.

Plate 16. In 1996, the foundations of the Cistertian abbeyat Tilty, Essex revealed more detail of the layout of thissite than has been recorded previously.(CP/96/47/7). Copyright © Essex County Council.

Plate 19. An Iron Age enclosure situated on the limestonesouth of Ferryhill, Durham with its plough-levelledremains showing as a cropmark in a field of barley (96/2).Copyright © B. Vyner.

Plate 15. The negative cropmarks of the medieval churchwith buttresses near Stoke-by-Clare, Suffolk contain thefoundations of a smaller, possibly earlier church on aslightly different alignment, both lying within the churchenclosure.(CP/96/9/9). Copyright © Essex County Council.

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S Newton

Publisher's Note: Permission to reproduce this image online was not granted by the copyright holder. Readers are kindly requested to refer to the printed version of this article.


Plate 17. This map, of an area on the Essex–Cambridgeshire border, shows aconcentration of new sites, most of which are probably prehistoric in date, andillustrates again the ability of aerial survey to recover new and importantinformation about the archaeological landscapes of an area. In this instance, it islikely that the area, which is in the extreme north west of the county, has not beencovered as comprehensively by previous aerial surveys. In addition, new detail inan area previously covered by part of Monksholes Wood indicates how significantcontinuing changes of land-use are for aerial reconnaissance.Copyright © Essex County Council.

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Figure 4. Flight traces from RCHME aerial reconnaissance in northern England, summer 1996 using GPS. The starsindicate sites photographed. RCHME # Crown Copyright.



this site to survive as quite a significantearthwork.

A particular effort was made to fly within theLincolnshire Military Air Traffic Zones (MATZ)of Scampton, Waddington and Cranwell. Manynew sites were recorded in these restricted accessareas, including a possible Iron Age enclosedfarm at Harmston (Plate 8), and parts of a fieldsystem at least partially defined by pit alignmentsand covering up to 3 km2 to the east ofBassingham (Figure 5).

A new discovery of a probable Roman road-side settlement at Long Bennington (Lincoln-shire) also led to the identification of newelements of the Roman Road system, linkingthis site to both Ancaster and the Foss Way(Boutwood, 1998).

At Buttercrambe Moore (North Yorkshire) thediscovery of a third corner gave us the dimen-sions for the Roman temporary camp discoveredin 1995 (Featherstone et al, 1995, plate 7; Horneand Lawton, 1998). On the Lincolnshire Woldsthe unusual occurrence of a reversed parchmarkon chalk revealed a probable Neolithic mortuaryenclosure adjacent to the known site of two longbarrows at Hoe Hill, Binbrook (Plate 9).

Each year reconnaissance over the YorkshireWolds continues to add to our understanding ofthis remarkable cropmark landscape (Stoertz,1997). Crop conditions on the Wolds in 1996were not particularly exceptional but still pro-vided a good harvest of sites, including a stretchof multiple-ditched boundary/trackway andattached enclosures near Walkington (Plate 10).

Examining the SMD levels (Figure 1) suggestedother areas in the north of England were lesslikely to be productive and flights over Durham,Lancashire and northern Cumbria confirmed thatground conditions were much `greener' thanelsewhere. In Cumbria, however, a number ofnew cropmark sites were recorded, including anew enclosure and trackway adjacent to the well-known site at Wolsty (Plate 11).

To cope with the exceptional conditions mostflights were carried out with two RCHMEarchaeologists in the aircraft (Pete Horne andDave MacLeod) along with our pilot (who hasconsiderable archaeological expertise), AnthonyCrawshaw. In this way a significantly higher rateof recording was achieved than is usual in a

more typical summer. In the areas of strongestcropmark response the photography was delib-erately selective in its approach and concentratedon those sites we knew ( from our annotatedflight maps) had not been photographed inrecent years or were showing extremely well.This selectivity was essential because of the largearea to be covered and the number of flyinghours available. In those areas where we havemore fully evaluated the results it is clear thatthis approach paid off, with a very highproportion of all photography being of newsites or sites with significant new information. Intotal, RCHME undertook 79.2 h of reconnais-sance in the north of England, during which1018 sites were photographed at a rate of12.8 sites per hour.

Cheshire and Merseyside (by JillCollens1 and Rob Philpott2)1Cheshire County Council2Liverpool Museum

Six flights were made in the area for a total of15.2 h in the period of 15 July to 15 August.Conditions were quite good but by no means asfavourable as 1995 because there was no parchingof the pasture. Approximately 200 targets werephotographed of which some 25 were new to therecord.

The main achievements this year were: tolocate another Roman temporary camp atChristleton to add to the dozen noted previously;to record and photograph a number of enclosuresof probable Iron Age date, a probable henge atHooton in Merseyside, and the confirmation thata site at Barton, West Lancashire, previouslythought to be a ring ditch, is in fact a henge. Thisbrings the total of new henges to four since thepresent reconnaissance programme began in1989; there were none known previously. Aerialreconnaissance also has revealed a number ofnew ring ditches in this area.

New enclosure sites were noted in southernCheshire in areas not examined in detail pre-viously, and west Lancashire, which alwaysproduces extensive post-medieval field systems,is finally yielding occasional earlier sites. Aerialsurvey has transformed our understanding of the



Figure 5. Transcription of new features recorded to the east of Bassingham in Lincolnshire. No cropmarks had beenrecorded previously in this area of 10 km2. Sites include settlements and parts of an extensive field system at least partiallydefined by pit alignments. RCHME # Crown Copyright.



archaeology of sites of the prehistoric andRomano-British periods since the 1980s.

Cornwall (by Steve Hartgroves1)1Cornwall Archaeology Unit

May and June 1996 were very dry months inCornwall leading to the expectation that it wouldbe a good year for cropmarks. Over 5 h were flownand 35 new sites recorded, of which 21 wereprehistoric enclosures, rounds or ring-ditches. Thefirst flight was over the eastern side of theRoseland which, unlike the western side, has fewenclosures. Five new sites were recorded, most ofthem between St Austell and Mevagissey. Thecorner of a multivallate enclosure was located atLancallen near Kestle (� castle?), and a smallrectilinear enclosure near Bosue and a double-ditched linear feature at St Ewe were also

photographed. In addition to these new sites, aknown site at High Demain was photographedalmost 50 years to the day since it was last seen bythe RAF in 1946, adding new information. Theother two flights were made in the area around theCamel estuary in late July. Complex enclosuressuch as the multiple enclosure at Trenouth, nearSt Eval (Figure 6), were also recorded for the firsttime.

Devon and Somerset (by FrancesGriffith1 and Bill Horner1)1Devon County Council

Reconnaissance in Devon and Somerset this year,carried out by Frances Griffith and Bill Horner,was financed entirely by Devon and SomersetCounty Councils. Each year's aerial reconnais-sance has a different pattern; in Devon, 1996

Figure 6. The plough-levelled remains of a newly discovered multiple-ditched enclosure at Trenouth near St Eval, Cornwall(F50/1). Copyright Cornwall Archaeology Unit.



differed from all previous years, except perhaps1983. The wet conditions of early summer werefollowed by drier, warmer conditions by thesecond week in June and it finally became veryhot in July. The cropmarks developed swiftly,allowing only a brief period for recording; eventhen there were local heavy showers so the generalsituation was very patchy. Reconnaissance wasconcentrated into a short period of intenseactivity. Over 42 h were flown, 494 targets werephotographed including 451 cropmarks, of which230 (46.5 per cent) were new to the record.

Although the first cropmarks were recorded inDevon in June it was not until 8 July that theywere observed in any quantity in the rivervalleys of the Exe, Culm and Creedy. The firstproductive flight in Somerset was on 12 July,when some 50 cropmarks were recorded, withmore than 50 per cent of them previouslyunknown. The best results were found in thearea from Somerton to Westonzoyland. At thistime, the Quantocks and Vale of Taunton Deaneareas showed few marks, but by 16 July this hadchanged and many enclosures and ring ditches,many of them new, were photographed in theWatchet and Williton areas. A flight on 18 Julyto Somerset provided excellent results, includingmuch new material in the Stawell and Chedzoyareas, and the identification of a very extensivecomplex of enclosures and trackway at Podi-more, of which only a fragment had beenrecorded previously. By 19 July south Devonwas beginning to produce cropmarks over awide area. A flight to Start Point via the Dartvalley produced 36 sites, of which 13 wereunknown previously. On 20 July, on a flightbetween Exeter and Bideford, 45 enclosures andring ditches were recorded, 50 per cent of themnot known previously. A further flight to thenorthwest of Barnstaple and along the coastproduced a similar but less rich pattern. Furtherflights to Somerset in July and August produceda large number of sites in the Taunton Deaneand Brendon Hills areas and Somerton andChedzoy areas. Although it became clear thatthe southern part of Devon would produce littlein 1996, two major and previously unknownhillfort-type enclosures were identified in theWoodland±Ashburton area and one in grasssouthwest of Moretonhampstead. These sites

demonstrate that quite major and substantialsites, some with earthwork traces, still remain tobe identified within 20 miles of Exeter. Five newhillforts have now been found south of Exetersince the present programme of reconnaissancebegan in 1983.

Dorset (by Francesca Radcliffe1)1Freelance, self-funded

Flying was based at Littlebredy in Dorset andthe area covered was immediately around theairfield as well as the areas north of Bridport andsouthwest of Sherborne. In 6 h of reconnaissancenumerous sites were photographed, of whichsome 20 were new to the record. These includedplough-levelled barrows, possible long barrows,enclosures and linear features. Cropmarks show-ing in peas were photographed, in particularthe ditches of the Mount Pleasant henge monu-ment were very clear. Unrecorded plough-levelled barrows were also photographed, in-cluding the example near Winterbourne Abbas,Plate 12.

Essex (by Dave Strachan1)1Essex County Council

Twenty-four hours of reconnaissance werecarried out in Essex and south Suffolk, fundedby Essex County Council and the RCHME. Thesurveys are part of an ongoing project that beganin 1986. In 1996, no fewer than 371 new sites(or sites with new information on them) werephotographed.

Crop conditions were monitored through-out May and June and although cropmarks ofarchaeological sites were appearing on the gravelsoils by early June they did not appear onthe heavier, clay soils until around mid-July.Particularly good results were observed on thewell-drained soils along the river valleys ofthe Stour and Chelmer, the gravels to the northof the Blackwater estuary and the area to thesouth and east of Ipswich. During July someareas of heavier soils, such as the dissectedboulder clay plateau in the northwest of Essex,also produced good cropmarks, particularlyaround Saffron Walden and Ongar. New



cropmark sites were recorded in the river valleysof East Hertfordshire (between Braughing andAston) and in south Suffolk, especially to thesouthwest of Bury St Edmunds. Sites of particularinterest include the Kedington causewayedenclosure (Plate 13), the Wormingford cursus,and numerous sites forming part of the pre-historic ritual landscape of the River Stour(Plate 14). In addition, a particularly clear crop-mark was recorded of the Chapel Street churchTL 7343 (Plate 15). The outline of the medievalchurch, including buttresses and the outline of asmaller, possibly earlier church inside are clearlyvisible. Although not generally a good year forparchmarks, some were observed over a fairlywide area in Essex. The most impressive recordedthis year was of the Cistercian Abbey at Tilty,where the detail was outstanding and hasrevealed many new features, including thepossible outline of the previously unidentifiedguest-house building (Plate 16). The details of thebuilding's structure, which were not recorded bythe excavations in 1901 and 1942, have appearedas parchmarks.

A single flight to record soilmarks was plannedto follow the prehistoric coastline and succeededin recording a total of 18 new redhills (sites ofsaltworking in the Roman period). The impact ofthe 1996 reconnaissance is best illustrated whenthe information is mapped against the back-ground of the existing SMR data (Plate 17). Themap reveals that information from cropmarkreconnaissance can completely alter the extent ofthe known distribution of archaeological sites andtherefore our understanding of past landscapes. Italso emphasizes that aerial reconnaissance con-tinues to provide new discoveries of largenumbers of sites each year. By maintaining anannual programme over a number of years thecombined efforts will produce a better under-standing of the historic environment (Strachan,1998).

Hereford and Worcester(by Chris Musson1)1Formerly RCAHMW, now freelance

Just over 6 h were flown during July and August,with the non-salary costs financed by the

RCHME and the Wedhope Naturalists FieldClub. This was a much drier and more pro-ductive season compared with recent years and131 targets were photographed, including 112cropmarks, of which an estimated 30±40 per centwere new to the record. The majority of the sites(75) were small enclosures; there were 14 ringditches and a small number of field systems andtrackways. A number of Roman sites, castles andmottes, and historic garden features were seen ascropmarks. Prints of these sites have beenprepared for the County Archaeological Service,the Woolhope Club, the Clwyd±Powys Archaeo-logical Trust and the RCHME.

Isle of Wight (by David Motkin1)1Isle of Wight County Council

The primary objective of the reconnaissance in1996 was for cropmark sites but the opportunitywas also taken to record field monuments,settlements and landscape features.

Although cropmarks developed some threeweeks later than in 1995 their quality was com-parable and with useful fine detail showing. Injust over 2.5 h of flying some 144 sites wererecorded, 19 were new to the record and most ofthese were portions of ditched enclosures,although three isolated ring ditches were found.Important new detail was recorded at a further31 sites, for example a post-pit circle adjacent to asmall group of late Neolithic ring ditches atThorley.

Norfolk (by Derek A. Edwards1)1Norfolk Museums Service

Nineteen ninety-six was the twenty-second yearof continuous archaeological aerial reconn-aissance in Norfolk and the programme wasagain funded jointly by the Norfolk MuseumsService and the RCHME. A total of 42 h wereflown (including four in Suffolk) and some 3900aerial photographs were taken.

Extremely dry conditions prevailed in Norfolkduring the growing period and by the time thecereals were ripening in early June the soilmoisture deficit figures were very high, finally



peaking during late July at 164 mm. The earliestindication that this would be an outstanding yearwas when the internal features of the henge atArminghall became as clearly visible as they hadbeen since the discovery by Major G. S. M. Insallin 1929. Cropmarks of extraordinary claritydeveloped on the light river-valley soils of centraland northeast Norfolk and the fens aroundDownham West and Denver. In contrast, thechalklands of West Norfolk, which have fre-quently shown good cropmarks in the past, werealmost barren. It was in the area of centralNorfolk and the Bure Valley, however, that thediscoveries of note were made this year.

Recently discovered prehistoric sites includednumerous long barrows of the typicalEast Anglian `short-ovoid' type; in particular atStow Heath, Tuttington where the east end of thebarrow appeared to be a row of pits in which,

it is presumed, timber uprights once stood,comparable with the megalithic monuments.Iron Age square barrows were recorded fromthe air for the first time since those discovered byFrederick Low at Chapel Hill, near CaistorSt Edmund in 1932 and new sites were recordedat Burgh, near Aylsham and at Bodham, nearHolt. The Roman villa site near Swaffham, firstreported in 1992, was visible to such an extentthat the channelled hypocaust heating system ofthe building was clearly visible (Figure 7). Themost important discovery of the Roman period,however, was that of the legionary fortress on theline of the Peddars Way, near Watton (Plate 18).This 40 acre site showed evidence of a triple-ditched defence and a possible annex. The site,which is of national importance, is close to that ofa smaller Claudian fort, which has been knownfor some time.

Figure 7. The foundations of a Roman villa, Norfolk in which the channeled hypocaust heating system is clearly visible(HKB 8). Copyright Reserved. Norfolk Museums Service. Photographed by Derek A. Edwards.



S Newton

S Newton

Publisher's Note: Permission to reproduce this image online was not granted by the copyright holder. Readers are kindly requested to refer to the printed version of this article.

Northamptonshire(by Phil Markham1)1Northamptonshire Heritage

The main objective for 1996 was to continuereconnaissance for new archaeological sites andenhance knowledge for existing ones. The workwas funded primarily by NorthamptonshireHeritage, aided by a grant from the RCHME.Some 13 h were flown and almost 340 targetsphotographed, of which 150 may be new orenhanced sites. Although the year was not asproductive as 1995 it nevertheless yielded somesignificant discoveries. Of key importance wasthe first photographic evidence for a Roman fortin a defensible position overlooking the RiverWelland near Market Harborough, less than 3 kmfrom the Gartree Road. There is evidence for onecorner, two sides and an entrance.

Also of importance was the discovery of threepossible long barrows. The Sites and MonumentsRecord (SMR) presently records only one con-firmed long barrow (and seven possibles), so thisyear's survey has significantly enhanced therecord for Neolithic monuments. The three newsites are positioned within 1.5 km of each other inthe Upper Nene Valley near the village of Flore.Medieval sites are also well represented, withbuilding remains showing clearly at the desertedmedieval village of Lower Catesby, some ofwhich are possibly part of the monastery thatwas known to exist here. The moated manor siteat Grendon produced the first evidence forinternal buildings.

Of particular significance this year was thediscovery of Iron Age and Romano-Britishenclosure complexes across the clay soils of theNene±Ouse watershed. This area rarely producescropmarks to this degree and there have beenonly four productive seasons since the annualreconnaissance began in 1978.

Northumberland (by Tim Gates1)1Freelance

Flights this year totalling 32 h were dividedbetween those over the Otterburn Training Areaon behalf of the Northumberland National Park,English Heritage and the Ministry of Defence and

those over north Northumberland funded by theRCHME. Five flights over the Otterburn arearesulted in 230 targets recorded, of which some180 were new. This work will be used to assist inthe development of an archaeological manage-ment plan for the Otterburn Training Area.

The three flights over north Northumberlandin late July and early August revealed thatalthough the SMDs had been relatively high foran extended period, the development of crop-marks was never spectacular, probably becauseof a cold spring, which slowed the early growth.Parchmarks in grass were widespread, how-ever. Some 60 targets were recorded, of whichapproximately 40 per cent were new sites.They included several new defended, multi-vallate settlements, rectangular enclosures andring ditches.

Shropshire (by Chris Musson1)1Formerly RCAHMW, now freelance

Aerial reconnaissance in Shropshire has beenongoing since 1982 and supported by grantsfrom the RCHME since 1987. Between April andAugust a total of 13.3 h were flow, all but20 minutes of it during July and August. Thiswas financed by Shropshire County Council andthe RCHME and in all, 258 locations wererecorded at an average of 19.4 per hour. It provedpossible to sample all except the extreme north,east and southeast of the country. The Wroxeterhinterland area received more attention than inprevious years; the well-explored north-west ofthe county had plentiful cropmarks, of which thegreat majority were familiar from previous years,but new sites were recorded in most other partsof the county.

A total of 41 industrial sites, castles, earth-works, landscapes and townscapes were photo-graphed. Of the 217 cropmark sites recorded,78 (36 per cent) appear to be new. The greatmajority (143, including 43 new) were smallenclosures, including two fine lowland `hillforts'.Single and multiple ring ditches also werecommon (27, including 13 new), as were fieldsystems and unclassifiable cropmarks (21, includ-ing 14 `new'). Of the remaining 26 there wereseveral new sites, including three pit alignments,



a possible cursus and three Roman sites, the mostnotable being a 26 ha marching camp south ofthe River Severn at Cound, 3 km south ofWroxeter. Prints of these sites have been depos-ited with the County Council, the Clwyd±PowysArchaeological Trust and the RCHME.

Teesside (by Blaise Vyner1)1Blaise Vyner Heritage and Arts Consultancy

The aerial survey for cropmarks in the area ofTeesside and the lower Tees valley hinterland hascontinued annually since 1977. This year thesurvey was funded by the RCHME, the Archaeo-logical Service for Teesside and Durham CountyCouncil. In 6 h of reconnaissance, 58 targets werephotographed, of which 28 were new to therecord. The work has revolutionized our under-standing of the Iron Age settlement in the area

by providing the first evidence for settlementin Tees Valley north of the Cleveland Hills.Continued survey also has recovered evidence forearlier, Bronze Age, activity on a scale notrecorded previously.

In 1996, despite a dry spring and early summer,marks in barley were few and confined to the well-drained soils over the limestone in southeastDurham, where the Iron Age enclosure complexesaround Chilton and Ferryhill showed clearly(Plate 19). By contrast wheat produced probablythe best marks since 1984 on the gravels and claysbut the season was short. Iron Age enclosureswere frequently found, with new sites in theCleveland area around Roseberry Topping and onthe Eston Hills. Numerous sites were recorded inthe ripening wheat. In the Piercebridge area, oneIron Age enclosure was photographed as itdisappeared into the combine harvester, a `new'Roman site was found near Binchester and

Figure 8. The remains of a what may have been a World War 2 searchlight battery, one of thousands of military sitesthat currently are a focus of interest for English Heritage and the RCHME (WY 274/2). Copyright West YorkshireArchaeology Service.



prehistoric sites near Darlington and in theCleveland area, notably a probable Bronze Agehenge near Guisborough, also were recorded.

West Yorskhire (by Bob Yarwood1)1West Yorkshire Archaeology Service

Ten hours of reconnaissance were carried outduring the summer, aided by a grant from theRCHME. The main objective this year was tocontinue reconnaissance for cropmark sites onthe coal measures and limestone in the easternpart of the county in advance of road buildingschemes. Nearly all the cropmark sites wererecorded in barley and wheat, with just a fewfound in rape, peas and beans. New material wasrecorded at 137 targets out of a total of248 photographed (55 per cent), at a rate of25 per hour, which is remarkable for WestYorkshire. One of the most striking observationswas that a small number of sites that had beenknown for many years (mostly on limestone)were transformed by the new details that becamevisible. It was particularly rewarding to recordmore finer detail (such as pits) than is usually thecase. New sites were recorded in the proposedA1(M) Redhouse±Ferrybridge corridor, and newdetail of known sites in the A1(M) Ferrybridge±Hook Moor corridor. The remains of militaryinstallations are frequently observed, such as theexample in Figure 8, which may be the site of aWorld War 2 searchlight battery.

Acknowledgements

Aerial photography of England's archaeologicaland historical heritage is a team effort as thenumber of authors suggests; we also depend onthe skill and hard work of the pilots and theco-operation of the Civil Aviation Authority to

enable us to be in the right place at the right timeand we are indebted to them.

Special thanks are due to the regionalflyers and the RCHME staff who provided theinformation for this report so readily and to theRCHME's cataloguing and library staff (G. Hall,K. Groves and R. Ogle) who make the photo-graphs available for us and the general public.

References

Bewley, R. H. (1995). A national mapping programmefor England. In Kunow, J. (editor), LuftbildarchaÈologiein Ost Ð und Mitteleuropa. Potsdam: Forschungenzur ArchaÈologie im Land Brandendurg 3: 83±92.

Bewley, R. H. (1998). Englands National MappingProgramme: a Lincolnshire perspective. In Bewley,R. H. (editor), Lincolnshire's Archaeology from the Air.Lincoln: SLHA 9±17.

Boutwood, Y. (1998). Roman road and settlement,Long Bennington, Lincolnshire. Britannia 29:307±309.

Edis, J., Macleod, D. and Bewley, R. (1989). Anarchaeologist's guide to the classification of crop-marks and soilmarks. Antiquity 63(238): 112±126.

Featherstone, R. (1994). Aerial reconnaissance inEngland 1994. Antiquity 68: 812±815.

Featherstone, R., Horne, P., Macleod, D. and Bewley,R. H. (1995). Aerial reconnaissance in England,summer 1995. Antiquity 69: 981±988.

Griffith, F. M. (1990). Aerial reconnaissance in main-land Britain in the summer of 1989. Antiquity64(242): 14±33.

Horne, P. and Lawton, I. G. (1989). Buttercrambe Moor,Roman Camp, North Yorkshire. Britannia 29.

Jones, R. J. A. and Evans, R. (1975). Soil and cropmarks in the recognition of archaeological sites andair photography. In Wilson, D. R. (editor), AerialReconnaissance for Archaeology, 12. London: Councilfor British Archaeology. (Research Report) 1±11.

Stoertz, C. (1997). The Ancient Landscapes of the York-shire Wolds. Swindon: Royal Commission on theHistorical Monuments of England.

Strachan, D. (1998). Essex from the Air. Chelmsford:Essex County Council.



Documents

Aerial reconnaissance over England in summer 1996