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We surveyed along the base of the Beck looking for anomalies and possible crossing points. The survey focused on likely crossing places to the east of the battle centre. We did not survey the entire beck in detail because near the battle centre, the floor of the beck was too compacted and stony for the 2cm auger to penetrate.
The example below is typical of several crossing points. The grey areas indicate where the auger would not penetrate, typically stone or the underlying hard moraine.
The interpretation is that there are a number of crossing points along the beck which correspond well with the old lie of the land. These were probably improvised crossing points linked to the ancient field boundaries. No finds near the identified crossing points allowed any dating of the crossings.
The hope was to identify any road to the east which might link various sections of a roman road which is believed to have run near the boundary of the golf course. This road might have provided a site for the battle but its path cannot be identified.
Any road on the southern (Norse) bank would be hard to reach from the battle centre so is probably not relevant to an understanding of the battle.
Jan 2004