Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-03T20:49:15.822Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Excavation of Caesar's Camp, Heathrow, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, 1944

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2014

Joanna Close-Brooks
Affiliation:
Milford Corner Cottage, Cliff Road, Milford-on-Sea, Lymington, Hampshire SO41 0NW

Abstract

W. F. Grimes excavated a rectangular earthwork in advance of airport construction in 1944, at Heathrow, Middlesex, and found a timber building of unique ‘concentric-rectangle’ plan, together with penannular house gullies; all these features were thought to be part of the same settlement except for two Neolithic pits. Now it can be seen that a Late Bronze Age occupation attested by scattered pottery and small finds but next to no identifiable structures, was followed by 11 Middle Iron Age round houses, and one or two features that may be Late Iron Age. The rampart of the earthwork overlay at least some of the houses. The rectangular building may be Middle or Late Iron Age: though other Iron Age rectangular buildings are now known, its concentric plan remains unique in Britain and resembles that of some Romano–Celtic temples. The precise chronological relationship of the strong earthwork, the round houses and the rectangular building remains uncertain.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adkins, L. and Needham, S. 1985. New research on a Late Bronze Age enclosure at Queen Mary's Hospital, Carshalton. Surrey Archaeological Collections 76, 1150.Google Scholar
Alcock, L. 1970. Excavations at South Cadbury Castle, 1969. A summary report. Antiquaries Journal 50, 1425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alexander, J. & Farrant, N. 1973. Excavations at Bedfont 1971–2. Privately printed.Google Scholar
Allen, D. F. 1961. The origins of coinage in Britain: a reappraisal. In Frere, 1961, 97308.Google Scholar
Allen, T., Miles, D. & Palmer, S. 1984. Iron Age buildings in the Upper Thames region. In Cunliffe, B. & Miles, D. (eds), Aspects of the Iron Age in Central Southern Britain, 89101. Oxford: University of Oxford Committee for Archaeology.Google Scholar
Barford, P. M. 1987. Objects of Fired Clay from Dragonby: An Interim Report. University of Nottingham.Google Scholar
Barrett, J. C. 1973. Four Bronze Age cremation cemeteries from Middlesex. Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society 24, 111–34.Google Scholar
Barrett, J. C. 1980. The pottery of the later Bronze Age in lowland England. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 46, 297320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrett, J. C. & Bradley, R. (eds) 1980. Settlement and Society in the British Later Bronze Age. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bedwin, O. 1981. Excavations at Lancing Down, West Sussex, 1980. Sussex Archaeological Collections 119, 3756.Google Scholar
Bersu, G. 1940. Excavations at Little Woodbury, Wiltshire. Part I: The settlement as revealed by excavation. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 6, 30111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bishop, M. W. 1971. The non-Belgic Iron Age in Surrey. Surrey Archaeological Collections 8, 130.Google Scholar
British Museum 1920. A Guide to the Antiquities of the Bronze Age in the Department of British and Medieval Antiquities. London: The British Museum.Google Scholar
Britnell, W. 1989. The Collfryn Hillslope Enclosure, Llansantffraid Deuddwr, Powys: Excavations 1980–1982. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 55, 89134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooks, H. 1989. The Stansted Temple. Current Archaeology 9 (no. 117), 322–25.Google Scholar
Brown, A. E. 1972. An Iron Age enclosure on Staines Moor, Middlesex. Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society 23, 160–64.Google Scholar
Brown, N. 1988. A Late Bronze Age enclosure at Lofts Farm, Essex. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 54, 249302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brunaux, J. L. 1988. The Celtic Gauls: Gods, Rites and Sanctuaries. London: Seabys.Google Scholar
Brunaux, J. L., Meniel, P. & Poplin, F. 1985. Gournay I. Les Fouilles sur le Sanctuaire et l'Oppidum (1975–1984). Revue Archéologique de Picardie. Numero special.Google Scholar
Burgess, C. B., Coombs, D. & Davies, D. G. 1972. The Broadward complex and barbed spearheads. In Lynch, F. & Burgess, C. B. (eds), Prehistoric Man in Wales and the West: Essays in Honour of Lily F. Chitty, 211–83. Bath: Adams & Dart.Google Scholar
Canham, R. 1978. Excavations at London (Heathrow) Airport 1969. Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society 29, 144.Google Scholar
Carstairs, P. 1986. An archaeological study of the Dorney area. Records of Buckinghamshire 28, 163–68.Google Scholar
Champion, T. 1980. Settlement and environment in Later Bronze Age Kent. In Barrett, & Bradley, 1980, 223–43.Google Scholar
Champion, T. & Champion, S. 1981. The Iron Age in Hampshire. In Shennan, S. J. & Hall, R. T. Schadla (eds), The Archaeology of Hampshire, 3745. Winchester: Hampshire Field Club and Archaeology Society.Google Scholar
Close-Brooks, J. & Gibson, S. (1966). A round hut near Rome. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 32, 349–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collis, J. 1970. Excavations at Owlesbury, Hants. A second interim report. Antiquaries Journal 50, 246–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cotton, J. F. 1981. Bronze Age pottery from Wood Lane, Osterley. Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society 32, 1823.Google Scholar
Cotton, J. F. 1985. Iron Age settlement at Dawley, West London. London Archaeologist 5 (5), 140.Google Scholar
Cotton, J. F. 1991. Prehistory in Greater London. Current Archaeology 124, 151–54.Google Scholar
Cotton, J. F. (in press). St John's Camp alias Fern Hill; a forgotten West Middlesex earthwork. Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society.Google Scholar
Cotton, J. F., David, A. & Pathy-Baker, C. 1988. An Archaeological Assessment of Mayfield Farm, East Bedfont, London Borough of Hounslow, 1987–8. (MS report).Google Scholar
Cotton, J. F., Mills, J. P. F. & Clegg, G. 1986. Archaeology in West Middlesex: The London Borough of Hillingdon from the Earliest Hunters to the Medieval Period. Hillingdon: Hillingdon Borough Libraries.Google Scholar
Cunliffe, B. W. 1978. Iron Age Communities in Britain (2nd ed.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Cunliffe, B. W. 1984. Danebury. An Iron Age Hillfort in Hampshire. London: Council for British Archaeology.Google Scholar
Cunliffe, B. W. 1986. Danebury. Anatomy of an Iron Age Hillfort. London: Batsford.Google Scholar
Davies, S. M. 1981. Excavations at Old Down Farm, Andover. Part II: Prehistoric and Roman. Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club 37, 81164.Google Scholar
Dewey, H. & Bromehead, C. E. N. 1915. The Geology of the Country around Windsor and Chertsey. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Drury, P. J. 1978. Excavations at Little Waltham 1970–71. London: Council for British Archaeology.Google Scholar
Drury, P. J. 1980. Non-classical religious buildings in Iron Age and Roman Britain: a review. In Rodwell, 1980, 4578.Google Scholar
Drury, P. J. & Rodwell, W. J. 1973. Excavations at Gun Hill, West Tilbury. Essex Archaeology and History 5, 48112.Google Scholar
Ekwall, E. 1960. English Place-names. (4th edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Evans, J. 1981. The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons and Ornaments of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Longman, Green & Co. Google Scholar
Farrant, N. 1971. Iron Age site at Bedfont. London Archaeologist 1, 305–09.Google Scholar
Fasham, P. J. 1985. The Prehistoric Settlement at Winnall Down, Winchester. Gloucester: Hampshire Field Club.Google Scholar
Fasham, P. J., Farwell, D. E. & Whinney, R.B.J. 1989. The Archaeological Site at Easton Lane, Winchester. Gloucester: Hampshire Field Club.Google Scholar
Ford, S. 1986. A newly discovered causewayed enclosure at Eton Wick, near Windsor, Berkshire. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 52, 319–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frere, S. S. (ed.). 1961. Problems of the Iron Age in Southern Britain. London: Institute of Archaeology. (N.d, but 1961.)Google Scholar
Gelling, P. 1977. Excavations on Pilsdon Pen, Dorset, 1964–71. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 43, 263–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibbard, P. L. 1985. The Pleistocene History of the Middle Thames Valley. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gibbard, P. L., Wintle, A. G. & Catt, A.J. 1987. Age and origin of clayey silt ‘brickearth’ in west London, England. Journal of Quaternary Science 2, 39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gillam, J. P. 1968. Types of Roman Coarse Pottery Vessels in Northern Britain. 2nd edition. Newcastle upon Tyne: Oriel Press.Google Scholar
Glendining, 1991. The H. R. Mossop Collection of Celtic Coins of Britain and Other English Hammered Coins. 6 November 1991. London: Glendining & Co. Google Scholar
Goodwin, P. 1986. Ancient and Medieval Coins and Antiquities. List no. 62. (May–June 1986). Cookhorn: Goodwin.Google Scholar
Grimes, W. F. 1959. This was London airport. West Drayton and District Historian 1, 67.Google Scholar
Grimes, W. F. 1960. Neolithic pits at Heathrow, Harmondsworth, Middlesex. In Excavations on Defence Sites 1939–45. 1: Mainly Neolithic—Bronze Age, 186–97.Google Scholar
Grimes, W. F. 1961. Settlements at Draughton, Northants., Colsterworth, Lincs., and Heathrow, Middlesex. In Frere, 1961, 2128.Google Scholar
Grimes, W. F. 1979. Heathrow. In Selkirk, 1979, 238.Google Scholar
Guilbert, G. 1976. Moel y Gaer (Rhosesmor) 1972–1973; an area excavation in the interior. In Harding, D. W., Hillforts. Later Prehistoric Earthworks in Britain and Ireland. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Guilbert, G. 1981. Double-ring roundhouses, probable and possible, in prehistoric Britain. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 47, 299317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanworth, R. & Tomalin, D. J. 1977. Brooklands, Weybridge: the Excavation of an Iron Age and Medieval Site 1964–5 and 1970–1. Guildford: Surrey Archaeological Society.Google Scholar
Harding, D. W. 1972. The Iron Age in the Upper Thames Basin. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Haselgrove, C. 1978. Supplementary Gazeteer of the Find-Spots of Celtic Coins in Britain, 1977. London: Institute of Archaeology.Google Scholar
Haselgrove, C. 1984. Celtic coins found in Britain, 1977–82. Bulletin of the Institute of Archaeology, University of London 20, 107–54.Google Scholar
Hastings, F. A. 1965. Excavation of an Iron Age farmstead at Hawk's Hill, Leatherhead. Surrey Archaeological Collections 62, 143.Google Scholar
Hawkes, C. F. C. 1935. The pottery from the sites on Plumpton Plain. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 1, 3959.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawkes, C. F. C. 1936. The Excavations at Buckland Rings, Lymington, 1935. Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society 13, 124–64.Google Scholar
Jarvis, M. G., Allen, R. H., Fordham, S.J., Hazelden, J., Moffat, A.J. & Sturdy, R.G. 1983. Soils of England and Wales Sheet 6: South-east England. 1:250,000. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Jones, M. V. 1968. Crop-mark sites at Mucking, Essex. Antiquaries Journal 48, 210–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, P. & Poulton, R. 1987. Iron Age hut circles discovered near Lower Mill Farm, Stanwell, TQ 03574718. Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society 38, 110.Google Scholar
King, A. 1981. Hayling Island 1976–82: Part one — the Iron Age temple. Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society, Archaeology Section Newsletter 1 (3), September 1981, 811.Google Scholar
King, A. 1983. Hayling Island 1976–82. Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society, Archaeology Section Newsletter 1 (5), September 1983.Google Scholar
Lacaille, A. D. 1937. Prehistoric pottery found at Iver, Bucks. Records of Buckinghamshire 13, 287–99.Google Scholar
Lewis, M. J. T. 1966. Temples in Roman Britain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Longley, D. 1976. The archaeological implications of gravel extraction in north-west Surrey. Surrey Archaeological Society Research Volume 3, 15.Google Scholar
Longley, D. 1980. Runnymede Bridge 1976. Excavations on the Site of a Late Bronze Age Settlement. Guildford: Surrey Archaeological Society.Google Scholar
Longley, D. & Needham, S. P. 1979. Egham: a Late Bronze Age settlement and waterfront. Current Archaeology 6 (9), 262–67.Google Scholar
Lyne, M. A. B. & Jefferies, R. S. 1979. The Alice Holt/Farnham Roman Pottery Industry. London: Council for British Archaeology.Google Scholar
Lysons, D. 1800. An Historical Account of those Parishes in the County of Middlesex, which are not Described in the Environs of London.Google Scholar
MckClough, T. H. 1970. Bronze Age metalwork from Rutland. In Burgess, C. & Coombs, D. (eds), Bronze Age Hoards; Some Finds Old and New 117135. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.Google Scholar
Neal, D. 1987. Stanwick. Current Archaeology 9 (11), 334–35.Google Scholar
Needham, S. P. 1985. Neolithic and Bronze Age settlement on the buried floodplains of Runnymede. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 4, 125–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Needham, S. P. 1987. The Bronze Age. In Bird, J. & Bird, D. G. (eds), The Archaeology of Surrey to 1540, 97138. Dorking: Surrey Archaeological Society.Google Scholar
Needham, S. P. 1990. The Petters Late Bronze Age Metalwork. London: British Museum.Google Scholar
Needham, S. P. 1991. Excavation and Salvage at Runnymede Bridge 1978: The Late Bronze Age Waterfront Site. London: British Museum.Google Scholar
Needham, S. P. & Longley, D. 1980. Runnymede Bridge, Egham: a Late Bronze Age riverside settlement. In Barrett, & Bradley, 1980, 123–30.Google Scholar
Needham, S. P. & Stig-Sorensen, M.-L. 1988. Runnymede refuse tip: a consideration of midden deposits and their formation. In Barrett, J. C. & Kinnes, I. A. (eds), The Archaeology of Context in the Neolithic and Bronze Age: Recent Trends, 113–26. Sheffield: Department of Archaeology and Prehistory, University of Sheffield.Google Scholar
Needham, S. P. & Trott, M. R. 1987. Structure and sequence in the Neolithic deposits at Runnymede. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 53, 479–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norwich Castle Museum 1977. Bronze Age Metalwork in Norwich Castle Museum. Norwich: Norfolk Museum Service.Google Scholar
O'Connell, M. G. 1986a. The Heathrow/Stanwell cursus. Current Archaeology 9 (4), 122–25.Google Scholar
O'Connell, M. G. 1986b. Petters Sports Field, Egham. Excavation of a Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age Site. Guildford: Surrey Archaeological Society.Google Scholar
O'Connell, M. G. 1990. Excavations during 1979–1985 of a multi-period site at Stanwell. Surrey Archaeological Collections 80, 162.Google Scholar
O'Donoghue, Y. 1977. William Roy, 1727–1790. Pioneer of the Ordnance Survey. London: British Museum Publications.Google Scholar
Parrington, M. 1978. The Excavation of an Iron Age Settlement, Bronze Age Ring-ditches and Roman Features at Ashville Trading Estate, Abingdon (Oxfordshire) 1974–76. London: Council for British Archaeology.Google Scholar
Piggott, S. 1974. The Druids. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Robertson Mackay, R. 1987. The Neolithic causewayed enclosure at Staines, Surrey: excavations 1961–3. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 53, 23128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodwell, W. (ed.) 1980. Temples, Churches and Religion. Recent Research in Roman Britain. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.Google Scholar
Roy, W. 1785. An account of the measurement of a base on Hounslow Heath. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 75 (2), 385480.Google Scholar
Selkirk, A. 1970. Iron Age houses at Whitton and Llandegai. Current Archaeology 2 (10), 276–77.Google Scholar
Selkirk, A. 1979. The later Bronze Age. Current Archaeology 6(8), 229–51.Google Scholar
Smith, G. 1990. William Roy, founding father of the Ordnance Survey. Ordnance Survey News, no. 103, July 1990.Google Scholar
Thome, J. 1876. Handbook to the Environs of London.Google Scholar
Walford, E. 1883. Greater London.Google Scholar
Wheeler, H. 1979. Excavation at Willington, Derbyshire, 1970–72. Derbyshire Archaeological Journal 9, 58220.Google Scholar
Wilson, D. R. 1980. Romano—Celtic temple architecture: how much do we actually know? In Rodwell, 1980, 4578.Google Scholar
Wooldridge, S. W. & Linton, D. C. 1933. The loam-terrains of south-east England and their relation to its early history. Antiquity 7, 297310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, B. 1981. Windsor Sheet 269: 1:50,000 Series. British Geological Survey. London: HMSO.Google Scholar