Iron age Horley.

Archaeological surveys have been taking place in the area north of Langshott in connection with the Horley North East development known as "The Acres".

The work by Archaeology South-East has revealed that there were Iron age "Round Houses" and agricultural activities in the area near Great Lake Farm and north of Tanyard Farm.

Below is an article from the Archaeology South-East web site reproduced with their kind permission.

Land Northeast of Horley

Excavations undertaken by Archaeology South-East near Horley in Surrey have completely changed our understanding of the prehistoric settlement of this little-studied region. Desk-based assessment and evaluation trial trenching led to an archaeological excavation carried out in four targeted areas of this housing scheme between December 2007 and July 2008. The excavations revealed new and exciting evidence of Middle and Late Iron Age, Romano-British and medieval settlement, farming and possible ritual practise along the banks of the Burstow Stream. Other than iron-working sites, prehistoric, Roman and medieval archaeology is rare in the Weald which has historically been conceived as being a wilderness throughout much of antiquity. Contrary to this, the results from the site appear to suggest that prehistoric, Romano-British and medieval origins in the area may have developed and extended along arterial waterways such as the Burstow Stream through the otherwise densely forested Weald. The location of the site with fertile farmland and both riverine and forest habitats available as valuable and abundant resources close to hand would have presented an attractive proposition to ancient settlers. The evaluation and excavation process has shown without a doubt the legitimacy that archaeological fieldwork can have in areas previously considered of lower archaeological potential.

Project Officer: Jim Stevenson, Dan Swift

Client: CPM Environmental Planning and Design

http://www.archaeologyse.co.uk/04-Projects/AbstractsGeneral/RecentAbstracts.asp

Below is a picture of the site of a round house which was located about 100 metres north-east of Langshott Manor. Four of the post holes can be seen exposed by the archaeologists.

There is much more to be made public in due time, and hopefully we will include more on the Horley Local History Society web site.

Below is what an Iron Age roundhouse looked like. This reproduction is at The Chiltern Open Air Museum.