The Iron Age Farm at Hinchingbrooke Country Park c.1999
The Iron Age Farm at Hinchingbrooke Country Park c.1999
There used to be a reconstruction of an Iron Age Farm in Hinchingbrooke Country Park, Huntingdon. Which was situated:
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The site is now an orchard.
Back in around 1999, when I worked for the Cambridgeshire County Council Archaeological Field Unit, I did a stint at the Iron Age Farm in Hinchingbrooke Country Park. I helped build the structures there and took part in costumed public engagement work.
I absolutely loved it. It was wonderful to work outside: cutting and processing willow for the wattle walls, mixing cow dung and mud in the pit to make the wattle-and-daub, splitting tree trunks for floorboards, and just generally being out in the woods and nature. I especially enjoyed the days when the park warden, Pat, brought his sheep along, they were so sweet and such good company.
I often worked there alone, with help and guidance from Pat along the way, but sometimes colleagues joined me for public engagement days, which was also lovely. I particularly remember Nick cooking a beautiful stew in a pot hanging over the fire, the smell was amazing, and moments like that really brought the whole site to life.
Sadly, the site was later burned down by vandals and was never rebuilt, which is such a shame. I have a few grainy old photos that I’ll share here, taken on an ancient camera! I wish we’d had our swish mobile phones back then.
If you have any photographs or memories of the site that you’d like to share, please fill in the comments box below or send me a message via the contact form, and I’ll add them here.
The Iron Age Farm at Hinchingbrooke Country Park c.1999 - The start of a new round house.
The picture above is looking westwards and shows the uprights for the start of a new round house that was being built.
The Iron Age Farm at Hinchingbrooke Country Park c.1999 - Building the Granary.
The picture above, looking northeast, shows me weaving in the willow to make the walls of the granary building.
The Iron Age Farm at Hinchingbrooke Country Park c.1999 - View of the Granary Roof.
The above picture gives a close up of the construction of the granary building.
The 2 pictures above show me in the woodland (with my Rough Collie dog) just east of the site, splitting wood, to be used to make the floor boards of the granary.
The Iron Age Farm at Hinchingbrooke Country Park c.1999 - Thatching practice.
The above picture shows a costumed public engagement day at the thatching practice area. From left to right: my pal Ed Frost, my 2 children Iain and Sophie, and then me.
View from the Iron Age Farm looking towards Bob’s Wood - showing the Medieval Ridge and Furrow - Hinchingbrooke Country Park c.1999
A couple of incidental pictures that I also have:
Above is looking north, from the Iron Age farm, towards the wood (Bob’s Wood) where I noticed the ridge and furrow (medieval ploughing strips) in the foreground - you can just make out the striped lines in the colour of the grass, when walked over they still had the rise and fall of the remaining earth works. These were reported at the time to be listed within the Sites and Monuments Record (now Historic Environment Record).
The picture below shows me on an archaeological excavation which was at a site called Bob’s Wood, which was in fact just on the north side of Bob’s Wood, 2000.
Archaeological Excavation at the Bob’s Wood site, Hinchingbrooke - on the north side of Bob’s Wood, 2000.