Brigg Blog has shown some of Neil Stapleton's interesting and impressive drone camera pictures of our town over the past year or so.
He recently asked us whether there were any further locations we'd like to see.
Following our reply with some suggestions, he's been back to us with this dozen.
His bird's eye views of Brigg feature the railway station, town centre, Elwes Street, the River Ancholme (Old and New) and the Water's Edge housing estate - just over the border in Broughton parish.
Double-click on the images here to take a close-up look.
Now view some of Neil's video footage through this link...
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12 comments:
Neil..is there any chance of taking aerial shots above the fields to the west of Watersedge, please. (as partially seen in pic 6)
The aim behind my unusual request is to see if the route of the Bronze Age trackway can be seen.
It is understood to be in that general area, although the dumping of detrius that was dumped in the locality from the deepening of the Ancholme in the 1800's may have left the track way fairly deep.
The usually best time to discover crop marks is last afternoon/early evening in the autumn at a low aerial angle.
Part of it was exposed in the 188O's, at the time when the two Brigg boats were discovered...and another site exposed a small section in 1933.....BUT not record was recorded of its exact location.
In 1955, large structural timbers were found embedded in the embankment of the Ancholme....thought to relate to the track way and dumped there when the navies first canalised the river the in C17th an cut thro' the structure not knowing what is represented.
Photos of the exposed from 1933 show massive shaped oak timbers overlayed with planks.
It is thought to have been built about 900BC, but sitting of the river covered it by circa 650Bc...about the time when the Bronze Age settlement abandoned their Brigg site....and left the two Brigg boats to disappear below river silt....
Thanks in advance...
....when a section of the trackway was exposed in 1933, Roman artefacts were also discover.
This is suggestive that during Roman times, although the track way was silted over, it may have left a footprint of linear ridge in the landscape and indicating to travellers a drier, perhaps slightly raised route across the boggy and braided River Ancholme.
There are two suggestion why it was constructed...1. A continuous causeway across the marsh...2. It was a long jetty leading to deeper water which allowed access to the Bronze Age boats in one of the navigatable river channels..
Geological timescale:
1. Just after last Ice Age 10k years ago..Ancholme flowed in opposite direction..ice block in Humber blocked valley and melt-water added to volume.
2. Once melted, the valley was essentially a shallow inlet of the Humber...affected by tides..frequent flooding.
2.Brigg area was the narrowest area of the soggy salt marsh...and attracted a Bronze Age settlement.
3 Evidence: Brigg boats...experts say that more boats to be discovered. Site of present Tesco fuel station: evidence that area was used for construction of large/massive wooden structures - area behind (Tesco) used for grazing....Bronze Age settlement probably in Market Place..only land high enough to avoid flooding..area generally wooded.
4.Humber storms/river flooding left pockets of sand/gravel/clay.
5.In circa 650BC Humber storm left sandbank blocking river to north of Brigg..area around Brigg became lake..Bronze Age settlement abandoned settlement just at the time when Bronze was evolving to Iron Age..
6. Damming eventually breached..valley returned to tidal effected marshland.
7. Roman used a route to cross valley from Ermine St to Woods.
8. Jumping years..landowners, such as Nelthorpe, attempted to improved local drainage...to reclaim land..national demand to properly drain area around Fenlands, Somerset Levels, Isle of Axholme, north Lincs etc.
9. C17th..Ancholme cannakused and wooden sluice gates installed at South Ferriby.
10. Within a few years, Humber storm seriously damaged sluice and valley again volunerable to frequent flooding...but some growth in Brigg area......but repairs to river drainage put on back-burner.
11. C19th...sluice replaced by stone lock....cannalised river deepened...bridges built along course..
12. Brigg grows...but improved drainage affects some existing building..i.e. the old Brock Ox..land shrinkage affected footings etc......improved drainage initiates present landscape around Brigg..although land near ruver still remains very soggy..i.e. newish Ancholme Rowing Club clubhouse needed 10 metre (30 feet) piling supports...
what do you mean about point 10 and the Brock ox land Ken?
I meant point 12 😂
Hi Sandra...until land drainage schemes..initially, by landowner, such as the Nelthorpes on a small scale. Then the land drainage of the C17th and improvements in the C19th, the Riverdale of the Ancholme was quite different.
The valley was a natural shallow inlet on the Humber...tidal, very boggy and the river wasn't just a single course, but braided with various courses meandering about the low-lying vale.
The only time one would see the fresh water courses would be at low tide in the Humber, otherwise, tidal water would invade the Vale on a regular 12hr routine. During marine storms, the Humber invasion could deposit sandbank in the valley and affect the river course.....anyone using a boat at this time would presumably use poles, or branches of trees stuck upright in the deepest sections of the river.
The area would have been covered in flors/funa associated to a salt marsh or bog....ie bog oak...and the wide expanse of drying out/tidal may have attacked flocks of migrating water fowl
..proving a useful food supply to the indigenous folks in the area.
In the C17th bog land reclamation was important....and the Ancholme was a minor aspect of national schemes...the Gens, the Somerset Levels...thr area between Doncater and the Humber including the Isle of Axholme...it also offered land-owner extra fertile land.
The Ancholme was cannalised and with the aid of dykes, drainage was directed toward a single channel rather than the meanders of the ineffective braided streams. Look at a map and see the course of the old, or pre-cannalised river channel....parts of it still exist, but they are little more than a ditch.
Shortly after, the C17th drainage scheme, the wooden sluice/lock gate at South Ferriby which was intended to control tidal incursions and the releasing of river flows at low tide was severely damaged and remained in a poor/ineffective state until the stone Sluice was built at part of the C19th land drainage improvements.
During the interim, the Ancholme ruverscape partially returned with regular flooding etc.
At this time, the various Enclosure Acts, which demanded fields be hedged with ditches on their periphery helped to claim bog land.....see the local schemes to enclose the local Carr's with hedges and ditches...ofter these schemes were sponsored by landowner..and under the various King Georges improved farmland and increased ownership by the local estate owners.
During the C19th improvement scheme, thevcannalised Ancholme was deepened and the stone Sluice was complete.
This was effective in draining the surrounding bog land...although drainage could affect the foundations of nearby buildings....for example, the Brick Oc was originally a farmhouse, but sections of its footing suffered subsidence as the land drained out.
If you recall, the Brock Ox was a bit wonky, but continued as a pub until quite recently.
Similarly, Newstead Priory Farm which was originally on a shallow island, surrounded by water became integrated to the drier land along Cadney Road.
In addition, the numerous religious hermits who resided on islets in the braided Ancholme river valley lost their retreats as their retreats dried out.
Spoil from the various drainage schemes
were deposited on nearby fields which in-turn levelled their previous undulations ......
However, below ground level much of the area around Brigg remains very soggy...the ARC clubhouse was built on piles acting 10 metres underground...and the new houses in ?Forester St demading piling...but it all depends what is found underground...therd are pockets of sand which dry out very quickly, while ancient pockets of ancient decayed flora (as with ARC clubhouse) needs deep foundations....
Yeah I can get some of that area next time I'm out with my drone
Can I add....thr geology in the Market Place extending to the near section of Bridge St is ?Kimberidge Shale which both formed a solid foundation and offers a raised ridge that was high enough not to be affected by flooding.
This ridge offers the spur extending from Wrawby into the Ancholme Valley creating the narrowest route (half mile instead of a mile) to traverse the wet bog land.
It was along this ridge that offered the drier and firm foundations for the older and early buildings in Brigg.
Acting like a slightly raised penisular finger into the valley, the area was, originally surrounded by wetlands in which there were frequents deposit pockets of silt, clay, gravel and sand...which were either deposited there from fluvio-glacial melt-water (circa 10000 years ago...or by marine incursions from Humber flooding.
County Bridge cuts through the shale dividing the Market Place from the White Hart area of Bridge St.
This is not to say that the original forcing place of the Ancholme: the cutting of the shale naturally creates high sided banks....not. the sort of egress to a forcing place...especially if one is traversing the valley with goods, or livestock...additionally, the miniature gorge would make a landing area for early boats.
My suggestion, is the ancient fording (in Brigg) was to the north....the area around the road bridge allows easy access to the riverscape of ancient times...the embankment is shallow and area extending into now Newland's estate offered a slightly raised route...(a even a few inches higher is especially important when one is surrounded by a bog)....the slightly elevated path turns sharply into now Cary Lane....but how much of the present landscape has been altered by depositing the spoil from canalising the river?
Thanks Neil....the most appropriate time is in the Autumn..when the crops are cut....but it would very useful to have a few control pictures...in that way one can highlight any differences that evolve.
However the trackway may be too far underground to affect crop lines, but its worth a try....it is believed to be in that area.
Why it exposed locations 1880s and 1933 weren't recorded is very odd.
Neil...also the angle of the Sun is important.....
If you save the photos, they make superb desktop pics. Thanks Neil (Stapleton).
Amazing blog,
Thanks for sharing this useful information for us. Keep it up.
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