NHER 38200 (Monument record) - Possible Bronze Age coppice on Holme Beach

Previously called Holme platform V.

February to March 2003. NAU survey.
One of two clusters of laid timbers (the other being NHER 38199, located to the northwest). Both clusters consist of a series of logs and branches laid parallel, perpendicular and at distinct angles to each other. They may have been two separate but similar monuments or the remnants of one monument. They may represent possible one or more trackway or platform. This cluster was made up of at least twenty three pieces of timber and one post.
See (S1)-(S2).
J. Allen (NLA), 29 July 2003.

September 2003. Site visit/monitoring.
Monument located easily without Global Positioning Satellite.
Area of monument and around covered with layer of sand. Unable to locate many of smaller, shorter pieces - it may be that they are covered or have been lost to the sea. This erosion is a great and continuous threat to the monument - a number of smaller pieces may have been lost because of it already.
D. Robertson (NAU), 21 October 2003.

January/February 2006. Monitoring and radiocarbon dating.
Undercut on eastern side of monument has eroded further. Sand concealed timbers in the nothwestern part of the monument. New possible notch spotted in southernmost timber.
Two further samples were taken for species identification (in addition to one taken in November 2003). These two were submitted for radiocarbon dating.
The calibrated radiocarbon dates are 2010-1690 cal BC and 2020-1690 cal BC.
See (S3).
D. Robertson (NLA), 25 May 2006.

The monument may be comparable to a Neolithic trackway found at Silvertown, London. This excavated trackway had 'kerb' planks (split timbers) that are reasonably similar to the two main 'rails' on platfom V (although platform V's rails are not split). It also had posts that held the 'kerbs' in place - the post seen in platform V is in the right place to have had a similar function. The tentative reconstruction drawing of the Silvertown trackway is reminiscent of part of platform V (and platform IV, NHER 38199).
See (S4).
D. Robertson (NLA), 25 May 2006.

May 2006. Monitoring.
Examination by [1] suggested that many of the timbers are collapsed coppice, rather than part of a deliberately made structure. The timbers may include parts of stools, stools dismantled for the stool wood, wood felled by beavers and/or rejects from coppicing. Species present are oak and possible alder and willow.
The most likely explanation is that a stand of relatively small trees was cut down by animal browsing, beavers or humans and then the coppiced stems were allowed to grow to maturity. If the coppice was then felled or partly harvested by beavers this would create wind corridors - these could result in the coppice falling in one event or a number of events. Waterlogging and its effect on trees that probably had shallow roots may also have caused them to fall. Unfortunately evidence for tool marks, beaver tooth marks and removed stems has been destroyed by erosion - this may have allowed firmer conclusions to be made.
See (S5)-(S6).
D. Robertson (NLA), 12 June 2006.

See (S7) for the Holme Beach walkover and monitoring surveys final report.