Normanton
Golf Course
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The enclosure at Normanton does not fit readily into a traditional model of an Iron Age shrine. Similarly, the material culture of the northern England does not fit with that of the south during the same period. Typologically, the enclosure in plan resembles a farmstead enclosure. In either case there are many arguments which suggest that it may be a "special" place. These are summarised below:
The lack of domestic structures or finds could be countered as an argument for reasons addressed earlier within this document. For example, poor preservation of faunal material, ceramic and destruction by modern truncation.
The buildings or structures within the enclosure, although unusual are not unique. Examples have been found on other sites around England. Nearly all of these appear to be trench built with their open arc closed by a series of postholes (Knight, 1984). Two such structures were found during excavations at Corby, Northhamptonshire. These features had an open face 9.5m in diameter which were open to the southeast and were dated to the late Bronze Age or early Iron Age. Similar structures from this period were also found at Falmersham, Stricton, and Weekly Hall Wood.
Dating to the early Iron Age, several trench built semi-circular structures were excavated at Mucking, Essex. These were located in the western part of the main enclosure and appeared to be associated with a number of roundhouses. Of an early Iron Age date, a two phase building was discovered at Aldwick, Barley, Herts. This feature had an open face orientated to the southwest and an open arc which was approximately 10m across. Pottery, recovered from the feature's disuse, was dated to between the 3rd and 1st century BC. The function of these structures is not clear. The building at Aldwick appeared to be associated with a number of refuse pits of which two contained a relatively large amount of iron smelting blooms and iron objects.
These buildings could easily have been roofed. Knight ( op. cit ) suggests the open side may have been closed with a series of removable panels and suggests an analogy with smithy workshops of the post-medieval period.
At Garton-Wetwang and Welton Wold a series of semi-circular structures within ditched enclosures have also been excavated (Dent 1996). It has been suggested by the excavator (Brewster) that due to the lack of domestic refuse within the enclosures, they may have had a ritual function. Others have argued that the enclosures were for corralling animals and that the semi-circular gullies were the foundation trenches for animal shelters (Dent 1996).
At Normanton nothing found within the structures alluded to their function. What can be said is that they occupied the same position through several phases over several hundred years and at least one of them showed evidence for repair. Throughout this time the centre of the enclosure was the focus for activity. This was emphasised dramatically by the funnel corridor of the second enclosure ditch as well the location of the only pit on the site. The pre-enclosure activity was also concentrated in this area. It is unlikely from the available evidence that we will be able to assign a definitive function to the site. However, the recurring theme, before, during and after the enclosure was almost certainly the place.
The fact that this place may have been similar to the 'haunted groves' as described by Roman travellers of Celtic shrines (ie. wooded landscape with streams) may be a coincidence. Whatever the case, its position in relation to a series of natural streams which later become formalised as significant boundaries which are valid in the present day suggests that it was a strategic place in defining a claim or marking a division between peoples well into the past. Whether this claim was expressed in a "ritual" form is another matter, but the place was important enough to mobilise groups of people to redefine it through hard labour on four separate occasions.
Only when the results from the site can be studied in the context of other settlements in the landscape can the significance and function of the enclosure at Normanton be fully appreciated. In this light it would be credible to test models of the site in a more contextual framework than has been seen in the past.
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