Monument record 0083900000 - BOYER'S PIT, WILLOWBANK

MESOLITHIC WORKING FLOOR: ACTUAL PREHISTORIC FLOOR LAY UNDER SANDERSONS FABRICS' PLAYING FIELDS. SITE DISCOVERED 1903 BY KENNARD & GEOL. ASSOC, & FLINTS COLLECTED UNTIL C.1918, AMOUNTING TO THOUSANDS, NOW IN BM. MAGLEMOSEAN SITE (B1,B3,B4).
NGR IN B1 (TQ054855) APPEARS WRONG; NGR ABOVE PROBABLE (B2,B5).
Boyer's Pit is situated approximately 170 yards east of Willowbank and about 50 yards southeast of a willow-girt pond. The hollow of this pond consists of the remnants of gravel workings undertaken between 1913 and1918 by William Boyer & Sons, Ltd. Today the site itself is lying under the playing fields of the Sandersons Fabric factory. The only account of archaeological information comes from recollections by Mr A.D. Lacaille of conversations with the maiin bodies concerned with the site's investigations and from Mr F.N. Haward's reports and annotated sketches covering the field observations. These observations were mainly concerned with the flint tool typology; no pollen analyses and above all no systematic, area excavation (B6.)



Large numbers of flakes and implements have been found since 1903 at 100 Acres (Boyer's Pit); the site has been located to TQ 054855, 170 yds east of Willow bank estate, and 50 yds south-by-west of a willow-girt pond. (ie TQ 0538 8540 - confirmed by Fig 1 - see illustration). The actual working floor now lies beneath the Sandersons Fabrics playing field. Referred to an earlier literature as the Uxbridge (Middx) site. The output from this site is identified with the flint artifacts from Rikof's pit, Broxbourne, Herts (TL 30 NE 10) which are typically Maglemosean. Finds now in BM (B1)
No further information (B7).

This record includes National Record of the Historic Environment Information provided by Historic England on 4 June 2025 licensed under the Open Government Licence.