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Prehistory in the Vale Lots of prehistoric artefacts – such as worked flint and pottery sherds – have been found in the Vale of Belvior just as they have throughout England. Details of finds are recorded in the Nottinghamshire Historic Environment Record (HER), formerly known as the Sites and Monuments Record. It can be searched online and generates dozens of sites for every parish. Nottinghamshire HER Nottinghamshire HER search page However there has been no attempt to provide an overview of the wealth of information since the late 1990s when archaeological research frameworks were published. East Midlands Research Frameworks published in 2000. Finds for the parishes in the south of the Vale are recorded in the Leicestershire HER. The Vale's very own Iron Age hillfort The presumed extent of the earthworks is highlighted in orange. One of the surprises (at least for me) is that there was once an Iron Age hillfort immediately to the south of Belvoir Castle. It no longer exists as the earthworks were destroyed, reportedly by the construction of a golf course at the end of the nineteenth century – although relevant OS maps do not show a golf course. The site seems to have been ploughed for arable farming since before the 1880s, which means some archaeological finds have been revealed. Sometime in the mid-twentieth century one half of an Iron Age 'beehive' quern was recovered, and in the 1980s Roman pottery and iron-working slag was found. As Belvoir Castle and this former hillfort are on a ridge of ironstone then the ironworking may have been extensive, perhaps starting in the Iron Age. In recent centuries the location has been called 'Blackberry Hill'. But in the twelfth century it was written as 'Blakeburuhg' and 'Blakeberough'. This suggests the origin is blake bury, Old English for 'black earthworks'. This is consistent with the ash and slag from ironworking. source: Heritage Gateway Creating a 'keyhole' In the absence of an up-to-date overview of the Vale's prehistory I will use as an example the HER information for Orston. In addition to many historically-interesting buildings there are references to sherds of pottery from the Neolithic, through the Bronze Age and the Iron Age to the Roman era. These were discovered in 1979 when a sewage pipeline was created between Orston and Aslockton. By keeping a careful eye on the soil coming up from the trench the County Archaeologist at that time, Mike Bishop, spotted these scant remains. To have recovered significant numbers of sherds from a very narrow 'sample' of the fields indicates there must have been extensive prehistoric settlement. Further evidence of prehistoric farming has survived as linear crop marks which appear in some fields during dry summers. In the 1970s and 1980s these were photographed throughout the East Midlands (and elsewhere) by Jim Pickering. Summaries of his photographs are also in the HER and there are several examples in Orston. These linear crop marks are probably the boundaries of coaxial field systems. Then, in 2015, a prehistoric farm was discovered during archaeological evaluation ahead of the construction of the solar farm to the south of Elton and Orston railway station. The drip gully of a circular early Iron Age house was revealed and two iron objects (possibly small parts of harness fittings) were recovered along with 33 pottery sherds plus cattle and sheep bone. An oval ditch about 35 x 20 metres across contained a further 22 Iron Age pottery fragments and more animal bone. From 'keyhole' to panorama The evidence for Orston indicates there is enough evidence to suggest extensive prehistoric farming and settlement. As the soils and riverside environments throughout the Vale are well-suited to agriculture then this 'keyhole' view of Orston in the prehistoric past is likely to be typical of the region. Explore the HER and discover more about the parishes in your part of the Nottinghamshire. Trade and transhumance in the first millennium BC Around 1999 Mike Bishop summarised the archaeological evidence from south Nottinghamshire and the Trent valley. Writing about the first millennium BC he concluded 'The importance of animal husbandry may lie behind some of the long distance contacts evident in the material culture from some Nottinghamshire sites. These [contacts] lie to the east as exhibited by decorated pottery from Lincolnshire, to the south with granodiorite filled pottery from the Charnwood area and to the west with stoney VCP [Very Coarse Pottery] briquetage from Cheshire. These imports are evidence of long distance exchange, which is readily assumed to be trade. However the need to provide grazing for animals could suggest the likelihood also of transhumance both in and out of Nottinghamshire and therefore the movement of people, and of exchange media to facilitate contact and passage, across the wider region.' Source More details of these prehistoric transhumance routes are revealed in the entry on saltways. Since 2000 the Bingham Heritage Trails Association has fieldwalked all the arable fields of the parish and published an in-depth analysis of about 50,000 finds. Another fieldwalking project at Farndon, the most northerly part of the Vale, revealed several clusters of Late Upper Paleolithic flint tools. These suggest seasonal camps to hunt animal herds crossing the River Devon and Trent floodplain on their annual journeys from Doggerland to calving grounds in the Peak District. Source: British Archaeology No. 204 (Sept–Oct 2025) p40. 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Chronicle entries home page what's new? the geology of the Vale the boundaries and rivers of the Vale long, long ago prehistory in the Vale prehistoric boundaries in the Vale north-south prehistoric routeways Romans roads in the Vale Roman settlements in and near the Vale long ago introduction to Anglo-Saxons place-names of the Vale waterborne transport around the sixth century Orston's early church Anglo-Saxon sculpture in the Vale why Orston lost out to Bingham and Bottesford what the Normans did for the Vale Granby's importance in 1086 Granby's lost castle the Vale's watermills in 1086 Romanesque sculpture in the Vale St Remigius why Bottesford is in Leicestershire the Vale in medieval times medieval gargoyles of the Vale Eastwell's chancel screen St Ethelburga's church other early saints Elston's old chapel Muston and Long Clawson saltways of the Vale the Vale's medieval tile collection the Vale in Tudor times Dissolution in the Vale not that long ago the Vale in the C17th the 'great and the good' of the Vale Bottesford's effigies 'wicked practice and sorcerye' the whales on the Whalley memorial Car Colston's bigoted GP cum JP the Vale's very own regicide Wiverton Hall five rare C17th fonts in the Vale pinfolds and pounds in the Vale dovecotes in the Vale the Vale in the C18th turnpiking the Vale gravestones and C18th trade routes goodbye 'Belvoir Angels' C18th gravestone carvers in the Vale Daffy's Elixir the Marquess of Granby Stilton from the Vale springs and spas of the Vale outstanding organs in the Vale Grantham canal changes in the Vale's agriculture since 1800 Eastwell's recusant priest house and chapel Colston Bassett's ruined church seems like yesterday windmills in the Vale stained glass in the Vale village life in the southern Vale 1850 to 1880 folklore of the Vale Flintham museum lacemaking in the Vale gypsum pits in the Vale brick and tile works in the Vale ironstone quarrying in the Vale ironstone railways ironstone quarries of Leicestershire (YouTube video) The Vale's railway stations Orston's famous architect Mothers Union banners of the Vale redundant telephone exchanges in the Vale WWII airfields and pillboxes in the Vale the Vale in 1944 location shooting at Belvoir Castle Screveton's giants researching and writing local history the Vale as a verb getting started free advice from 2005 asking curious questions (YouTube video) local history groups in and around the Vale Aslockton (Cranmer LHG) Bingham Heritage Trails Association Bottesford Eastwell Harby Harlaxton Hickling Redmile archive Belvoir Villages History and Memories Group Belvoir Angel Society Grantham Canal Society you may also be interested in free PDFs written by Bob Trubshaw Earliest Churches in Nottinghamshire How Anglo-Saxons Found Their Way Anglo-Saxon Leicestershire Conversations in Churchyards Little-known Leicestershire and Rutland Bob Trubshaw's YouTube channel Introduction to medieval carvings Anglo-Saxon and Romanesque carvings How Anglo-Saxons found their way Anglo-Saxon shrines at fords Meetings at triangles Rota's Land and Franni's Land Reading Romanesque fonts Church and manor The significances of square headdresses Early churches and waterborne trade Charnwood slate gravestones and C18th trade routes Ironstone quarries of Leicestershire Roman roads in north-east Leicestershire Salt ways in Leicestershire Why Melton Mowbray needed to called 'middle town' Evolving Anglo-Saxon agriculture Nottinghamshire's earliest churches Ploughs not piety? Economic regeneration in the C7th Were Anglo-Saxon weaving huts women-only places? Barrowby Until Now website Rutland Village by Village website Sepulchral Effigies of Leicestershire and Rutland