Monument record 3462/1 - Probable Iron Age/Roman settlement, south-west of Mere Farm

Iron Age and/or Roman enclosures and boundaries are recorded as cropmarks on EH Reconnaissance aerial photographs taken in July 2011. These probably indicate a settlement and/or associated land division. A ‘banjo’ shaped enclosure encloses an oval area measuring about 25 metres by 20 metres with a funnel shaped entrance or track which extends north to link to further enclosures. These include a roughly triangular shaped enclosure with a convex side, and possible subdivisions, which extends over an area measuring about 50 metres by 45 metres. Attached to its east side is a rectangular enclosure measuring about 20 metres by 10 metres. The enclosures appear to overlie and/or be attached to a ditched boundary which extends at least 130 metres to the south. The site is partially visible on Google Earth aerial photographs taken in the 2006.

{1} Iron Age and/or Roman enclosures and boundaries are recorded as cropmarks on EH Reconnaissance aerial photographs taken in July 2011. These probably indicate a settlement and/or associated land division. A ‘banjo’ shaped enclosure encloses an oval area measuring about 25 metres by 20 metres with a funnel shaped entrance or track which extends north to link to further enclosures. These include a roughly triangular shaped enclosure with a convex side, and possible subdivisions, which extends over an area measuring about 50 metres by 45 metres. Attached to its east side is a rectangular enclosure measuring about 20 metres by 10 metres. The site is centred at TL 0168 7128. The enclosures appear to overlie and/or be attached to a ditched boundary which extends at least 130 metres to the south.

{2} The site is partially visible on Google Earth aerial photographs taken in the 2006.

{3} As described at (1-2) above, the accreted Iron Age or Roman ditched enclosures are visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs and was mapped as part of the Bedford Borough NMP project. Located over two fields about 217 metres SW of Mere Farm and centred at TL 01703 71283, five conjoined ditched enclosures of various shapes and sizes and its close proximity to other ditched enclosures (HER 1794 and ) suggest an area of settlement.

[Text edited from English Heritage's Pastscape Website- Monument No. 1589749 (accessed 12/11/2019)]

<1> Oblique Aerial Photograph, NMR 27156_032-036 11-JULY-2011 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN111738.

<2> Info Terra Ltd; Blue Sky; Tele Atlas, 2006, Google Earth Imagery, 2006 ACCESSED 18-NOV-2014 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN108198.

<3> Bedford Borough Council HER, 1996, Georeferenced composite layer of vertical aerial photographs taken in 1996. Held by Bedford Borough Council HER (Archive). SNN111739.

<4> ENGLISH HERITAGE, Pastscape, Monument No. 1589749 (Website). SNN109137.

<5> Oblique Aerial Photograph, NMR 27156/035 11-JUL-2011 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN111738.

<6> Info Terra Ltd; Blue Sky; Tele Atlas, 2006, Google Earth Imagery, 01-JAN-2006 ACCESSED 01-NOV-2018 (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN108198.

<7> Bedford Borough Council HER, Undated, Bedford Borough NMP, MD003015 (Archive). SNN113023.

Record last edited

Feb 17 2025 6:56PM