An empty field is all that remains of Little Argham henge
This must once
have been an important part of the Gypsey Race landscape, but plough damage
means there is now nothing to be seen at ground level at Little Argham,
or as it is sometimes more interestingly known - Maiden's Grave Henge.
Excavations in 1964 uncovered an oval bank with an internal ditch and
two opposing entrances - what is known as a Class 2
henge. These entrances, to the northwest and southeast would have
led into to a leveled central area that was found to contain a mysterious
line of 4 post holes, although as yet, I can find no evidence of any other
finds from the site. Looking at an aerial survey of cropmarks it would
seem that the dimensions of the henge were as follows - the internal area
was 30 metres across, the outer edge of the ditches covered an area of
65 metres in diametre with the external bank giving the whole monument
a total diametre of about 95 metres. The henge stands just under 200 metres
from the course of the Argham Cursus and
it could be that both monuments were in use at the same time although
the henge may be slightly later and represent a shift in the ceremonial
use of the landscape of the Great Wold Valley after the cursus
had fallen out of use.
Looking at the satellite image below the remains of the henge earthwork can be seen as a faint crop mark, although it appears more circular than oval, and the northwest entrance can be clearly seen as a gap through the bank in the zoomed image to the bottom right. Just to the left is the crop mark of what could have been a previous course of the Gypsey Race putting the henge right by the banks of a kink in the stream, this would have close parallels to the henge at Shearman's Wath in Lincolnshire. Curiously there is a large semicircular crop mark to the east of the henge - I have no idea what this could be or how old it is.
Glossary Items: Neolithic, Bronze Age
Looking at the satellite image below the remains of the henge earthwork can be seen as a faint crop mark, although it appears more circular than oval, and the northwest entrance can be clearly seen as a gap through the bank in the zoomed image to the bottom right. Just to the left is the crop mark of what could have been a previous course of the Gypsey Race putting the henge right by the banks of a kink in the stream, this would have close parallels to the henge at Shearman's Wath in Lincolnshire. Curiously there is a large semicircular crop mark to the east of the henge - I have no idea what this could be or how old it is.
Glossary Items: Neolithic, Bronze Age
Satellite image of the area of Little Argham Henge, the henge appears as a faint circular mark arrowed on the picture and shown enlarged lower right. The crop marks to the left (west) of the henge could indicate a previous course of the Gypsey Race stream.
