Armour Heritage

Plan showing the Iron Age and early Romano-British features across this part of the site. The wider excavations, which covered a far larger area than this, also contained ditches and other features dating from the Iron Age to the post-medieval period. Our open day featured the main concentration of identifiable and dateable features including the remains of 5 roundhouses and a number of enclosures which probably represented a small rural farmstead occupied for 2-300 years spanning the period before and just after the Roman occupation from AD43.

Over 260 people braved the chilly wind to give up part of their Sunday and visit the excavations at Hatch Farm. 

The finds table, arranged by our site excavation team from Thames Valley Archaeological Services, proved popular with the visitors.

Whilst the finds from the excavations were far from glamorous, they did tell a story of domestic occupation from the 2nd century BCE to the 2nd century CE, including some interesting samian ware found tantalisingly close to the eastern boundary of the excavation area. What lies beyond we wonder!

As part of their experience, visitors were encouraged to handle the pottery. Here, AH's own Sue Farr gets up close to the rim of an early jug.

The site work will not be the end of the story. Samples taken from archaeological features can tell us a great deal more about such things as diet, agriculture and climate at the time the site was occupied. Clearly our colleagues at TVAS have some serious processing to do! 

Segmented sections through one of the Iron Age roundhouses.

This fenceline or palisading was constructed within the southernmost enclosure, effectively screening the largest of the roundhouses. Was this possibly the residence of a local patriarch or matriarch?

As part of the open day, the excavation and recording of archaeological features continued, giving the visitors an insight into site work as it happened. Clearly the lure of tea and cakes proved too much for these archaeologists!