Ancient Marsh, at Priory Road, Alcester

Description of this historic site

Organic deposits sealed by a layer containing a probable BA flint revealed during salvage excavation. Further deposits were c14 dated to the Mesolithic, suggesting an earlier origin for the marsh, which was reclaimed in the Romano-British period.

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Notes about this historic site

1 Organic deposits seen across entire site. Contained wood fragments including several pieces up to 1.50m long. In two places several lay together possibly forming a platform. At another point a plank was held in place by vertical stakes. Area sealed by keuper marl containing a single flint, probably Bronze Age.
2 Full excavation report supports above though downplaying the possible platform. Adds that a C14 date of 460 +/- 110 bc was obtained from one of the timbers and that the Keuper Marl layer has been dated by the work of Shotton to the late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age transition with a TPQ of c. 660 bc (calibrated dates would be earlier than these).
3, 4 A marsh deposit was found in 2009, although not in the expected location. C14 dates were obtained and placed the deposit within the mesolithic period. It seems that at least part of the marsh was established at a much earlier date than previously thought.