An interesting peripheral observation in Simon Banton's comments on the status of the Stonehenge Byways concerns, to quote:
SU14SW864 Non-SM Ring ditch- outlier of Bush Barrow group
This feature apparently lies directly on the line of Byway 12, using the map from the Wilts and Swindon HER record: https://services.wiltshire.gov.uk/HistoryEnvRecord/Home/ViewHERItem?HER=MWI13027
This ring ditch was supposedly identified from RAF aerial photos, but the 1970 Ordnance Survey found: No trace on the ground
In 1990, Helena Cave-Perry wrote: Not plotted from the source, the Ordnance Survey National Grid Reference is accepted
In 1991, the late Prof. Timothy Darvill on behalf of the RCHME reported: not seen on the quoted aerial photographs
All the above reports are sourced from the Wilts and Swindon HER.
The Heritage Gateway record states: This ditch cannot be identified on the ground or on OS APs. The site is obscured by crops
In the absence of anyone finding any trace of this feature in the last 55 years, it seems odd that Wessex Archaeology would identify this as a cause for concern.
I have inserted a marked up close up from an RAF aerial photo from the time of the last European Unpleasantness which I think is the feature, click to embiggen.
However, the Historic England aerial photo archive has several more aerial photos from the same period and none of them show it, and nor do any from other periods.
Looking closely at it I am convinced there is a vehicle track above the main track and this U shaped mark is where a vehicle, may be a tank, has left that track and turned. Simple, not a ring ditch.
The full photo is embedded below
The distance between the two lines is the same as the wheelbase seen on the track, perhaps a little bigger, and it forms a U-turn rather than a closed oval. A track.
ReplyDelete