What we Found – Results of our Community Excavation, Broomfield 2023

Published by Dan Broadbent on

In September 2023, together with our partners at Context One Heritage & Archaeology, our historic heritage volunteers undertook a two-week archaeological excavation of a cropmark at Broomfield. Although, studies of aerial photography have identified numerous cropmark enclosures in the Quantocks, particularly around the southern foothills, the Broomfield feature was unusual in being almost perfectly circular and of considerable size, measuring approximately 93 metres in diameter. Following a lengthy period of post-excavation analysis, we can now share the findings from the dig.


The excavations have shown that there is more to the site than meets the eye, with evidence for repeated phases of activity from the later prehistoric into the Romano-British period. The cropmark was shown to represent a ring-ditch 3m wide and 1m deep with a wide flat base, probably with an internal bank. Finds recovered from the ditch were relatively scarce, making definite dating for its construction difficult, however, pottery finds from the upper fills of the ditch indicate that it was backfilled in the Middle to Late Iron Age, around 100 BCE, and therefore likely earlier in origin.
Within the enclosure, there was evidence of small-scale Middle to Late Iron Age occupation, including evidence of metal-working. A later, Roman-period field system cut through one side of the ring-ditch.

The site may represent the re-use of a much earlier prehistoric feature such as a neolithic henge. The relative dearth of finds might support this interpretation, as such ritual spaces are thought to have been deliberately kept clean of rubbish and other debris. Another possibility, however, is that the cropmark originated as a ring-work constructed in the Late Bronze Age, around 1200-800 BCE. If so, it is one of a growing corpus of such monuments which are increasingly recognised outside of eastern England.


Interestingly, another example of a late Bronze Age ring-ditch, appears to have been identified during our community dig this summer at Cothelstone, for which post-excavation work continues apace. A final report for this dig is expected early in the new year.

The Broomfield site is certainly worthy of further investigation in the future, but the hard work and enthusiasm of the volunteers has provided the very first archaeological data for this intriguing and unusual feature.

The full technical report can be viewed here: Broomfield Community Dig 2023

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