Seven Ways Plain
As well as being an outstanding site for nature conservation and recreation, Burnham Beeches is steeped in history; one tangible, although less obvious element of this rich history is Seven Ways Plain, the remains of an Iron Age hillfort at the southern end of Lord Mayors drive.
In 1996, English Heritage (now Historic England) listed the hillfort as a Scheduled Monument (SM). The hillfort is encircled by a 10m wide ditch measuring 140m north to south and 100m east to west, although this is rather variable. Unfortunately, areas of quarrying many centuries ago does mean that the original structure has been modified. Some disturbance was also caused during WWII by military activity when the hillfort was used as the main base for army encampment; this was a time when Burnham Beeches had become Vehicle Reserve Depot No 2 and tens of thousands of military vehicles were stored under the trees in preparation for the D-Day landings.
As the use of traditional management techniques declined around 150 years ago (namely cutting trees for fuel and grazing livestock), scrub and young trees began to grow, shrouding the monument in a cloak of dense holly and young beech and oak trees. You might imagine this would form a protective layer; in reality, large trees and shrubs can cause great damage to monuments as their roots force their way through the buried archaeology or rip it up if they are blown over in strong winds.
In recent years the Rangers team and volunteers have cleared some of the scrub and young trees, making the ditches and banks far more visible and reducing the risk of further damage. By using our cattle and ponies to graze the area we can prevent regrowth and keep the area open.
With physical management and legal protection in place, the next step is to improve our understanding of the monument and increase awareness of it in our local community.
Until now these features have not been studied in-depth, despite many being sited in areas with lots of visitors. However, LiDAR data will not only help us to understand the subtle aspects of the remaining earthworks, but also help to locate other archaeological features within the whole of Burnham Beeches, which will help us to better understand the ancient landscape around the hillfort.
Burnham beeches site tour
See Seven Ways Plain from afar
Watch a 3D fly through of the Seven Ways Plain camp at Burnham Beeches on Youtube