I have spoken in the past about the remarkable heritage of the Witham Valley, between Lincoln and Boston. Amongst other things, the valley is notable for having a greater concentration of medieval monasteries than anywhere else in the country. But the Witham is special for more than that, for over the past three centuries some of the counties finest antiquities have come from the river and its valley.

Geography of the Valley

I suppose it should be pointed out from the start that the Witham Valley is neither steep nor precipitous but is a broad peat fen some 5km across. The valley is largely filled with peat and is now much shallower than it would have been following its formation during the last ice age. The present day route of the River within this broad peaty area is largely a result of 20th century river management and does not reflect the ancient scale, or course, of the Witham. Thus the whole of the valley system has the potential to contain treasures once lost in, or given as offerings to, the river.

Witham treasures

Many treasures have been found in the Witham over the years. They include a great many ornate swords (dating from prehistoric through to the medieval periods), daggers (one with a Lincoln Imp on the hilt), Viking battle axes, the beautifully intricate Saxon triple pins from Fiskerton and the fabulous Witham Shield. And that is to name but a few of the finds.

Most of these artefacts were found during river dredging operations in the late 18th and 19th centuries, but in recent years archaeologists have been unearthing yet more finds and structures from the Witham's ancient past. In 1980 the son of a Fiskerton landowner, using a metal detector in fields next to the river, found yet more elaborately decorated swords from the Iron Age – the period just before the Romans arrived.

The next year, (in 1981), an archaeological excavation was carried out in the area by Naomi Field, one of the county's leading archaeologists. She found a timber walkway or causeway to allow dry passage over the wet and marshy fen. By and under this causeway, she and her team found Iron Age swords, scabbards, spearheads, shield fittings, bits of armour and a set of tools including hammers files and a saw.

This remarkable set of finds and the structure with which they were associated are very rare and have been so well preserved because of the waterlogged nature of the soil in the proximity of the River.

Prehistoric log boats

In the year 2000 the guardian of England's rivers, the Environment Agency, embarked on a five-year programme to enhance the flood defences between Lincoln and Boston. Part of this work was in the area of the buried causeway at Fiskerton and archaeologists from Pre-Construct Archaeology undertook to excavate the affected section of causeway. Once again they came up with marvellous finds, including portions of two prehistoric log boats which had either been used as part of the structure of the causeway, or may even have been given as offerings to the river during the building of the causeway. Other finds included daggers, swords, spears and axes and an iron bar, (known as a 'currency' bar) which is thought to have been used as a very primitive form of money.

Causeways and ancient burial grounds

Landscape archaeologists from English Heritage have now begun to take a great interest in the Witham Valley and have carefully examined the ancient monuments within and around it. They think that in addition to the causeway at Fiskerton there may be eight or nine other causeways, all linked to ancient burial grounds and the sites of medieval monasteries. The race is now on to see if a technique exists to locate buried timber causeways through the thick covering of silt and peat which has grown up over them.

A wide range of aerial photographic techniques are being tried, including infra red photography and laser scanning. Archaeological geophysics methods, like those so well known from the Time Team programme are being tried. Archaeological field survey will be carried out and, in many cases, trial trenches will be dug to test the suggested causeway locations. In addition to the staff and facilities of English Heritage, the project will involve the Environment Agency, the Heritage Trust of Lincolnshire, Sheffield University Archaeology Department, Lincolnshire Museums service, and several local archaeological organisations.

Exhibitions and the local community

It is intended that everything that is done and found will be reported to the local community. An exhibition of photographs of the causeway and its finds will tour the local village halls in 2004 and it is hoped that local people will be able to get involved in some of the archaeological fieldwork. Over the next three years the humble Witham Valley will become a focus for a great many archaeologists, historians and heritage enthusiast.

Dave Start
Director, Heritage Lincolnshire