thynghowe topographic earthwork survey

7/23/2019 Thynghowe Topographic Earthwork Survey

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A topographic earthwork survey ofThynghowe.

Hanger Hill, Nottinghamshire.

NCA-01

An!y "aunt Nottinghamshire Community Archaeology Nottinghamshire

County Council

Contri#utors

The survey was undertaken by Andy Gaunt, Emily Gillott and Lorraine Horsley of

Nottinghamshire County Council Community Archaeology along with members ofthe riends of Thynghowe grou!"

The surveyors$

#tuart $eddish, Lynda %allett, #teve Horne and &aul 'alsh

Acknowle!gements

( Andy Norman and the orestry Commission for access to the site"

( Nottinghamshire County Council Local )m!rovement #cheme forfunding the !ro*ect

Nottinghamshire County Council


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%

( The riends of Thynghowe grou!

&hotograph front cover$

Nottinghamshire Community Archaeologists surveying the to! of Thynghowe re!roduced with

!ermission from Lynda %allett +"

rom htt!--www"flickr"com-!hotos-lyndamallett- .at time of re!ort/"

Archive 'ocation

Nottinghamshire Historic Environment $ecord, Nottinghamshire County Council, Trent 0ridge

House, o1 $oad, 'est 0ridgford, Nottinghamshire, NG2304"

Contact (etails

Nottinghamshire Community Archaeology, Nottinghamshire County Council, Trent 0ridge

House, o1 $oad, 'est 0ridgford, Nottinghamshire, NG2304"

community"archaeology5nottscc"gov"uk

Contents &age

6" )ntroduction 7

2" #ite location, geology and to!ogra!hy 8

9" Historical background 8

7" Aims and !ur!oses of the evaluation :

8" %ethodology ;

8"6" To!ogra!hic survey methodology ;

8"6"6" E


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)

8"2" Level 6 walkover survey methodology 6@

:" $esults 6@

:"6" To!ogra!hic survey 6@

:"6"6" Hachure &lan 6@

:"6 2" Three ?imensional results 62

:"2" Level 6 survey results 67

;" Landsca!e analysis 6=

=" Conclusions 2@

3" #uggested future work 2@

6@"$eferences and bibliogra!hy 26

A!!endi1 ) Hachure !lan 29

A!!endi1 )) #urvey !hotogra!hs 28

A topographic earthwork survey of Thynghowe.

Hanger Hill, Nottinghamshire.

1. *ntro!uction

Thynghowe is the ancient name for Hanger Hill in Nottinghamshire" The site sits on the boundary

of the !arishes of 'arso!, 0udby cum &erlethor!e and Edwinstowe" The name of the site

indicates its former use as a meeting site either for the !arishes u!on which it bounds, or for a

wider regional scale" $ecent work undertaken by the riends of Thynghowe grou! has hel!ed to

reawaken !ublic interest in the site" )nitially work undertaken by #tuart $eddish and Lynda %allett

using a document from their !rivate collection entitled The %anor of 'arso! &erambulation

Berdict ?ated 2: 4uly 6=6: discovered a number of boundary stones and those situated on the

to! of Thynghowe at Hanger Hill" 'ork by the riends of Thynghowe grou! to create a way

marked trail has hel!ed to raise the !rofile locally" )nter!retation of the site as a Thing or

#candinavian meeting site has hel!ed to raise its !rofile on a national scale, with recent articles in

!ublications such as Current Archaeology magaDine, and internationally through the !resenting of


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+

findings at the Northern &eri!hery &rogramme TH)NG !ro*ect .Thing #ites )nternational

Networking Grou!/ conference in #hetland .2@6@/" )t is ho!ed that an a!!lication can be !ut

forward to English Heritage for scheduling of the site due to its local and !otential regional and

national im!ortance, in the near future"

'ith the above in mind it was decided to undertake an archaeological survey of the site" The

survey was divided into two !arts" &art one was a to!ogra!hic earthwork survey of Thynghowe

conducted to English Heritage level 2-9 standards" The second was an English Heritage level 6

walkover survey of the hinterland, to record the locations of archaeology and earthworks in the

surrounding area"%. ite location, geology an! topography.

Hanger Hill lies at the *unction of the three !arishes of 'arso!, Edwinstowe and 0udbycum &erlethor!e, at >#G$ 783,32= 9:=,9:=" )t is situated on the Castle $ock formation, of the

#herwood #andstones"

igure 6 #urvey Location on >rdnance #urvey 628,@@@ %a!


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). Historical #ackgroun!

The English &lace names #ociety volume for Nottinghamshire !ublished in 637@ defines Hanger

Hill as formerly Thynghhowe" )t goes on to state that the name changes over time and s!ellings

include Thinghowe c69@@ and Thingaw hill in the early 6; thcentury, and that the derivation of

Thynghowe is bing haugr, meaning hill of assembly or meeting !lace .E&N# 637@/" B is the

#a1on letter thorn !ronounced th" Thynghowe a!!ears in a 67th century boundary

!erambulation of 0irklands and 0illhaugh, !ossibly !roduced for the orest Eyre of 6997, and is

recorded in The #herwood orest 0ook, edited by Helen 0oulton in 63:7 .!87/" 0oulton in her

footnotes for the !erambulation, states Hanger Hill, formerly Thynghowe" Thynghowe is clearly

located as Hanger Hill on a sketch ma!, drawn c6:@:" .!hotogra!hic co!y NA>, '&-8-#/" Here it

is shown as Thinghaw Hill, and is located in the same location as the current Hanger Hill" A

Tynghough Assart is shown as ad*oining the hill to the northwest, between 'arso! and 0udby, on

an early 6;thcentury ma! of #herwood orest" The ma! is !robably !art of the Crown #urvey of

#herwood orest in 6:@3 by $ichard 0ankes .&$>,%& 238 Fma! 2/ .%astoris Groves 633;/"

The location of Hanger Hill at the *unction of a number of !arishes may e1!lain its original name"

)t has also been suggested as a !ossible location for the meeting !lace of the wa!entake of

0assetlaw, the whereabouts of which remain uncertain" An alternative suggestion is 0eacon Hill

in the area of %arkham moor .Crook 63=2/"$ecent work by the riends of Thynghowe both at home and abroad is researching the !ossibility

that the site is a Thing site as seen in #candinavia, tying this site into a network of meeting sites

stretching across northern Euro!e" This work is continuing at the time of writing" The site has also

been included in a Iniversity College London .ICL/ !ro*ect to record the meeting and assembly

sites of 0ritain" A Geo!hysical magnetometer survey was undertaken by #tuart 0rookes and 4ohn

0aker of ICL to coincide with the fieldwork in this !ro*ect"

+. Aims an! purposes of the evaluation

( To establish the overall sha!e and nature of the earthworks, resulting in a hachure !lan of

recorded features"


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( The recording of J, K and coordinates of !oints across the site, to enable creation of a

?igital Elevation %odel .?E%/ to study the earthwork in 9?, and to analyse its setting in

the wider landsca!e, through 9? analysis"

( To attem!t a relative dating of features as recorded in the field, and to hel! in

inter!retation of the earthworks"

( To be used to inform future site management, by measuring the condition of the

earthwork, and indicating its local historical im!ortance"

( The !ro*ect was also conceived as an o!!ortunity for !ublic involvement in Archaeology"

. etho!ology

.1. Topographic survey metho!ology

.1.1. /uipment

The survey was undertaken using ?ifferential survey grade Global &ositioning #ystem

.G/ and an Electronic ?istance %easuring .E?%/ Total #tation" The G system used was a

Leica G Viva enabled to use #martnet technology" This G system o!erates using

?ifferential G .?G/, where corrections are given to errors in the satellite location data

received" >riginally this method re


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recordings .htt!--totalstation"org-totalstation

functionality"!h!/" The Total #tation used in this

survey was a Leica TC$=@8"
http://totalstation.org/total-station-http://totalstation.org/total-station-


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Control is the accurate framework of carefully measured !oints within

which the rest of the survey is fitted .Ainsworth, et al" 2@@;/" #ection 2"6 Control

of #urvey in Metric Survey Specifications for English Heritage .Lutton" 2@@9/

states that metric survey must !rovide reliable and re!eatable control ca!able of

generating the re


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.1.%. Control of survey

4

recordings within the !rescribed tolerance levels, E?% Total #tations were set u!

and used to take readings" This method fits in with English Heritage suggestions

for interchanging between G and E?% survey .Ainsworth, #" Thomason, 0"

2@@9/" E?% survey was em!loyed where G signal was not sufficient, for

general to!ogra!hic readings, as !art of the systematic survey !rocess"

.1.. u#3ective survey

#ub*ective survey was used as a means to record features in more detail"

)t relies on the e1!ertise of the surveyor to analyse the earthworks and to record

them" or this !rocedure, E?% Total #tations were used to record the to!s and

bottoms of slo!es" These recordings were highlighted in the survey data using

the feature code facility available in total stations" This sub*ective survey method

was em!loyed in order to allow a hachure !lan of the site to be created as

recommended by English Heritage .0owden 2@@:/" This was then used forinter!retation"

.1.. (ata preparation an! analysis.

All data was !rocessed in %a!info Geogra!hic )nformation

#ystems .G)#/" Bertical %a!!er 9"@ Spatial Analysis and Display software, a

%a!info software e1tension was used to create a nearest neighbour inter!olation

model to !resent the site in 9?" This ?igital Elevation %odel .?E%/ was then

sub*ect to slo!e surface analysis, which measures and dis!lays relative slo!e

severity" )n order to inter!ret the 9?imensional earthworks in a 2?imensional

ma!, the data has been !lotted using a combination of ob*ective contouring, and

sub*ective hachure !lans, as recommended by English Heritage" This !lan

!roduced in %a!)nfo and Bertical %a!!er software, and was drawn to English

Heritage conventions .Ainsworth, #", 0owden, %", %c>mish, ?" &earson, T"

2@@;" !!6763/" Bertical %a!!er was also used to combine survey data with


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>rdnance #urvey digital Terrain %odels to study the site in its wider landsca!e

conte1t"

The level 6 survey was undertaken using a hand held G and com!uter to

give coordinates for the sites, and consisted of a !hotogra!hic record and

written descri!tion"

. 5esults

.1 Topographic survey


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11

The survey results are discussed in the following section in relation to the

hachure ma! and numbers in figure2"

The to!ogra!hic G and Total #tation survey ma!!ed features both on the to!

of the mound and in the immediate vicinity" The to! of the mound is made u! of

the hill to! labeled 6 in the ma! in figure 2" This is the to! of Thynghowe and is

where the three boundary stones stood before one fell into the area of


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de!icted on the ma! by the lines of hachuring to these sides" This is also shown

well in the threedimensional results below in figures 9 and 7" The area of


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1)

The threedimensional results dis!layed in figures 9 and 7 focus on the area at

the to! of the hill" The results clearly show a number of raised features" Those

labeled 69 in figure 2, and the hollow or ditch labeled 7 in figure 2" They show

how the area has been sub*ect to


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The threedimensional images in figures 8; show all the area covered by the

to!ogra!hic survey rather than *ust that at the to! of the hill" This gives a view of

Thynghowe in its immediate setting" The mound can clearly be seen to dominate

6igure $ Thynghowe from the east showing cross-section. Thynghowe is on the left with the moun!

marke! #y an arrow. The valley e7ten!s to the north.

igure : Thynghowe from the north" The valley is shown in !ur!le with the high ground to the south ingreen" The mound is marked with an arrow"

igure ; Thynghowe from the northeast" The valley is shown in !ur!le with the high ground to the southin green" The mound is marked with an arrow"


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1

the skyline when viewed from its surroundings" )t is clearly a very !rominent

feature when the trees that cover it are removed from the e


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This stone is situated on to! of Thynghowe hill" The stone is mentioned as a

boundary stone on the 6=6: !erambulation" )t is described as without a

letter" This differentiates it from the two other stones here which are marked

with an E for Edwinstowe and a ' for 'arso! res!ectively"

This stone sits half a kilometre to the north of stone 6 on Hanger Hill ?rive" )t is :@

cm long by a!!ro1imately 9@cm wide at its base and is rounded at the to!,

&hotogra!h 6 #tone 6"$e!roduced with !ermission from Lynda %allett +"

&hotogra!h 2 #tone 2


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1

although it looks natural and shows no signs of carving" The stone is suggested

to be one mentioned on the 6=6: !erambulation"

The stone was discovered by #teve Horne, Graham 0urton, Andrew Norman and

Les #mith"

This stone stands :@cm from to! to ground level and leans at a 78P angle" The

stone is ta!ered towards the to! where it is slightly rounded" At the base the

stone is 78cm long and 2@cm wide" This stone has been identified as being the

one mentioned in the 6=6: !erambulation as a very ancient stone set u!on

0udby orest said to be the stone set to mark the e1tent of 0udby townshi!" The

stone was discovered and identified by Lynda %allett, #tuart $eddish and

Eleanor %allett"

&hotogra!h 9 #tone 9


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This stone is ;@cm wide by 98cm wide and stands a!!ro1imately 9@cm !roud of

the ground" The stone is located on the northern boundary of 0udby #outh

orest" The stone has not as yet been identified by reference to historic

documentation" )t is included here due to its location on a !rominent boundary

and its similarity to stones 69"

The stone was found by &aul 'alsh and #tuart $eddish"

. w '\* m . m & 11. :mm. i &hotogra!h 7 #tone 7" &otential boundary stone G for scale is ;cm by 7 cm"


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14

This large stone is located at the to! of a lane from 0udby Billage on the northern

edge of 0udby #outh orest" )t was discovered by &aul 'alsh and is recorded

here as a !ossible boundary stone due to its location on the boundary and lane"This stone is larger than the others recorded and is more angular" )t stands 8@cm

above the ground and is ;@cm long by 8@ cm wide"

A reasonable assum!tion is that the boundary stones mark the outline of the area

known as 0udby #outh orest" This area of o!en lowland heath seems to have

had its own character at least dating back to medieval times" The area is known

as 0udby owte feldes on a 68thcentury ma! of #herwood orest known as the

0elvoir ma! .0arley 63=:/" There is a !ossibility the stones could have been

!laced to mark a medieval boundary" E


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Thynghowe sits on a ridge of relatively high ground defined by the valley of the

$iver %aun to the south and east and the valley of the $iver %eden to the North"

)t is evident that the site is a !rominent feature in the local landsca!e from the

threedimensional results in figures 8; above"

igure 3 Landsca!e conte1t of Thynghowe

. 'an!scape analysis


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%1

0y combining the results of the survey with ordnance survey ?igital Terrain

%odels .?T%/ it is !ossibly to run different analyses to investigate the sites

location" >ne such method is viewshed analysis which works out where can be

seen in the area from a designated location" The viewshed analysis for

Thynghowe can be seen in figure 6@ below" The area which is visible is shown in

green" rom the results it is clear the site was most visible from the north into the

%eden valley" This area has been inhabited right back to 0ronDe Age times with a

socketed s!earhead found near #ookholme on the $iver %eden .L66@=7/

.Nottinghamshire Historic Environment $ecord/O a 0ronDe Age s!earhead at

'arso! .L7@=2/O and a 0ronDe A1e also at 'arso! .L6@@7=/" National ma!!ing

&ro*ect cro!mark data shows that this area was !art of the 0rickwork&lan ield

#ystems of the 6stcentury 0C to first century A? .Garton 2@@=/ .see figure 66

below/" This shows that the area has been inhabited overmany thousands of

years and that at certain times the landsca!e was cleared of much of its tree

cover to allow for arable farming" This would allow the site of Thynghowe to be

seen from a long distance" )ts location on a hill to! would also make the site a

!eri!heral location back through history" #ettlement would be concentrated on

the lower ground ad*acent to the rivers within this area of !orous sandstones" A

site at the !eri!hery of a landsca!e or settlement area would make an ideal

location for a meeting !lace or !rominent site" An argument could certainly be

made that this site has been at the boundary of communities far before the

current !arish boundaries"


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8. Conclusions

The earthworks at the to! of the mound clearly show signs of


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%)

!lace name evidence and its location in the landsca!e" The site is on the

boundary of a number of !arishes making it an obvious site for meetings" )ts

location on high ground overlooking a valley would also make it an obvious

choice for a site of im!ortance right back into !rehistory" There is no direct

evidence however of occu!ation from these earlier !eriods at this time" The !lace

name evidence and its location in the landsca!e are certainly the most im!ortant

clues as to its use and origins"

4. uggeste! future work

urther analysis of the wider landsca!e should be undertaken in the vicinity of

the site continuing to focus on the boundaries between the !arishes" urther

stones are likely to be discovered along these lines" urther landsca!e analysis

could be focused on the !otential intervisibility between other !ossible meeting!lace sites to hel! in further understanding of the landsca!e setting of

Thynghowe" 'ork is already being undertaken by #tuart $eddish and riends of

Thynghowe to look at the !lace names in the area in relation to Thing sites" Lidar

analysis of the surrounding area is !lanned for the future by the riends of

Thynghowe grou! and could reveal subtle features which can be further

investigated on the ground" )t is ho!ed that the findings of this survey may enable

closer com!arison with other local and national meeting sites and with

#candinavian e1am!les" The !ossible a!!lication of targeted trial trenching by

!rofessional archaeologists could be considered for some of the features already

detected to aid in a more com!rehensive dating of the site" This would need to be

undertaken with guidance from the county archaeologist and under discussion

with English Heritage if the site is one day to be considered for scheduling"10.5eferences an! #i#liography

A #hort Guide to G" 2@@7" 0ritish Archaeological 4obs $esource"


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Ainsworth, #", 0owden, %", %c>mish, ?" &earson, T" 2@@;" Understanding

the Archaeology of Landscape.English Heritage"

Ainsworth, S. !ho"ason, #. $%%&. 'here on Earth are 'e( !he )lo*al

+ositioning Syste" )+S- in archaeological field survey. English Heritage.

Ale1ander, %" 2@@=" ort &itt, Chatham, Ment An earthwor analysis of

/acson recreation ground.English Heritage"

0annister, A", $aymond, #" and 0aker, $" 633=" Surveying.Longman, Esse1"

0arley, %"'" 63=:" Sherwood 0orest,in #kelton, $"A Harvey &"?"A", .eds/,

Local Maps and plans fro" "edieval England.Clarendon &ress, 63=:/"

0ettess, " 633@" Surveying for Archaeologists.&enshaw &ress Iniversity of

?urham"

0oulton, H"E", .ed/, 63:8" !he Sherwood 0orest #oo,Thoroton #ociety

$ecord #eries JJ)))

#owden, M. 1222. Unravelling the landscape. An in3uisitive Approach to

Archaeology. !e"pus, Stroud.

#owden, M. $%%$. 'ith Alidade and !ape 4 )raphical and plane ta*le survey

of archaeological earthwors. English Heritage.

#rown, A. 1256. 0ieldwor for Archaeologists and Historians. #atsford,

London.

7hap"an, H. $%%8. Landscape Archaeology and )9S. !e"pus.

Crook, ?" 63=2" !he location of :#assetlaw:,Transactions of the Thoroton

#ociety LJJJB)"

English &lacenames #ociety 6372" &lacenames of Nottinghamshire"

0ield, D. and S"ith, ;. $%%5. 7roft A"*rey, A"estrey, Herefordshire

investigation and analytical survey of earthwors. English Heritage.

)aunt, A. $%%2. An Ancient 'or in #irland4 A topographic survey of an

earthwor in Sherwood 0orest ;ational ;ature


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%

)arton, D. $%%5. !he S Master"ap +art 1= User )uide.B:"6"6@7-2@@: +

Crown Co!yright"

>rdnance #urvey, 2@@9" !he )9S files.v2"@ + Crown Co!yright"


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htt!--smartnet"leicageosystems"co"uk

htt!--totalstation"org-totalstationsfunctionality"!h!
http://smartnet.leica-geosystems.co.uk/http://totalstation.org/total-stations-functionality.phphttp://smartnet.leica-geosystems.co.uk/http://totalstation.org/total-stations-functionality.php


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%

Appen!i7 *

Hachure &lan


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A!!endi1 ) figure 6 Hachure&lan


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%4

Appen!i7 **

urvey photographs


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)1

&hotogra!h 6 #ummit of Thynghowe.marked by holly bush centre/ from

northeast $e!roduced with



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))

&hotogra!h 9 Nottinghamshire

Community Archaeologists surveying

the to! of Thynghowe" $e!roduced with



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)

&hotogra!h 8 Community

Archaeologists Andy Gaunt and

Lorraine Horsley undertaking E?%

Total #tation survey along with Andy

Norman of the orestry Commission"

$e!roduced with !ermission from

Lynda %allett +"


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)

&hotogra!h : E?% Total #tation

survey, and G survey alongside

ICL archaeologists undertaking

magnetometer survey" $e!roduced

with !ermission from Lynda %allett +"


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)4

&hotogra!h ; CommunityArchaeologists undertaking E?% Total

#tation survey" $e!roduced with



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+1

&hotogra!h 3 4ohn 0aker and #tuart

0rookes of ICL, alongside #tuart

$eddish of riends of Thynghowe

.right/" $e!roduced with !ermission

from Lynda %allett +"


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E>siL-D1.L ' .

&hotogra!h 6@ Bisitors at the summit ofThynghowe at an o!en day" #tuart

$eddish and the author lead a tour"

#howing the increased !ublic interest in

the site"


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thynghowe topographic earthwork survey

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