Burton: landscape and land use

Our landscape, our history Land use is often determined by the underlying physical environment, especially geology, topography and hydrology. Here we take a high level view of the most important physical characteristics of Wiltshire, from which we may extrapolate why different regions came to be used in distinct ways. In Read more

Cropmarks: shadows of the past

Elsewhere on this website, we have seen archaeological evidence of human activity in the Nettleton area, such as Neolithic burial mounds, Roman shrines and Medieval causeways. These are features either visible on the ground or which were discovered through excavation. Here we take to the skies to discover more about Read more

Landscape Archaeology

Our landscape, our history The landscape we see today tells us much about how we lived in the past. It has evolved over thousands of years of human activity, settlement and exploitation of the land. We take a look at just some of the landscape archaeology and physical features evident Read more

The Village Hall, Burton

Author: Chris Bennett This article will focus on providing some brief information on a building known as The Village Hall, Nettleton Road erected in about 1921/22 (the current site of the children’s play area, which was opened in 2018) The attached documents provide details of the village hall construction and Read more

Massacre in the Temple

The Shrine of Apollo in the post-Roman era Where the Fosse Way crosses the Broadmead Brook, beneath the tranquil valley at Nettleton Shrub lurks a secret dark and ancient. Who would guess this now peaceful conservation area was witness to successive waves of violent assault in the post-Roman era? Two Read more

What’s in a name?

A place’s name can tell us much about its history, including settlement patterns, landscape, agriculture, farming and commerce, language, societal hierarchies, administration, cultural attitudes, religion and regional politics. We’ve been delving in the archives to find out more about our local area. Settlements Waterways Roads Acknowledgement With grateful thanks to the Read more

On Location

It’s no secret the neighbouring villages of Castle Combe, Lacock and Corsham have long been the darlings of the location scout – Dr Dolittle, War Horse, Harry Potter, Wolf Hall and Poldark are just a few films and TV series in which these locations appear, but did you know areas Read more