Salters Lane

This Early Bronze Age barrow was discovered during an excavation in advance of housebuilding. It was 28m in diameter, with a ring ditch measuring 2.5m wide and 0.5m deep. A primary fill contained hazelnut shell which was radiocarbon dated to the Early Bronze Age (1870-1640 cal BC). A secondary fill also contained hazelnut shell which was radiocarbon dated to the Early Iron Age (750-400 cal BC). Later fills were dated by finds to the post-medieval period. Within the ring ditch there were remnants of a mound and a series of cut features including multiple animal burrows. Others were interpreted as short gullies and pits with possible post settings. There were also a number of possible postholes. One of these was radiocarbon dated to the Neolithic (3770-3640 cal BC). These were set into a low mound of natural origin which was later enclosed by the ring-ditch and incorporated into the barrow. Analysis of historic mapping suggests that a mound around 3m high was present inside the ring-ditch and survived into the 20th century. Two groups of gullies within the barrow were radiocarbon dated to the Later Bronze Age (1410-1220 cal BC and 1390-1130 cal BC).
The site produced a small flint assemblage spanning a long time period from the Later Mesolithic to the Later Bronze Age or Iron Age, and a small sherd of prehistoric pot. The palaeoenvironmental evidence indicated dense woodland and transient activity during the Mesolithic and early Neolithic periods, with a change to relatively open woodland during the Bronze Age. By the Iron Age forest clearance had resulted in a landscape of grassy heathland.