Monument record 0021900000 - BRIARS BANK FARM: earthworks to West North and East

Plan Form - LINEAR
EARTHWORKS AROUND FARMHOUSE. ON N & E SIDES, A DEEP DITCH WITH DEFINITE CORNER; SPOIL THROWN INWARDS TO FORM LIP. PETERS OUT ON E SIDE. SLIGHT RIDGE W SIDE, SEEN ON APS. SLIGHT DEPRESSION S SIDE ADJACENT & PARALLEL TO ROAD. SKETCH ON CAS CARD (B3). ENTRENCHMENT (B1) THESE EARTHWORKS? (BUT SEE CASS 00032).

A subrectangular enclosure of possible Iron Age date is visible on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data as earthworks and was mapped as part of the North Buckinghamshire Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18304). Located at Briars Bank Farm, Great Horwood, and centred at SP 479230 232439. A bank and ditch form a subrectangular enclosure around three sides of Briars Banks Farm. It is sited on the top of a low rise, measures 120x?59m and the southern side is not existent or not visible; the bank and ditches are 5-12m in width. The enclosure sits on the highest ground in the immediate area where there are other similar shaped and sized enclosures on or near the top of high ground within a radius of 1.5km – Norbury Camp (MBC125), another in College Wood (MBC43977) and a newly recorded enclosure at SP 480155 231698 (monument number 1626686 on Historic England Research Records on Heritage Gateway) recorded in 2018 photographs (33578_010). The enclosure is partially obscured by farmyard equipment on some aerial photographs but is clearer on lidar visualisations. This enclosure is recorded on a list of moats in Buckinghamshire (No 219) but it has no water supply and is at the top of a rise of land. A moat would more likely be on lower ground with a water supply (as those at Great and Little Horwood). A medieval road leads north towards the purported site of the manor of Mychel (Great) Horwood (MBC127) and Whaddon Chase; it does not appear to continue to the south where it would have met the current route of the A421, which is the course of Viatores Route 166 (MBC8010). Briarbank Farm is shown on 1842 conjectural map from Tompkins Thesis (Fig 1.2), without any trace of a subrectangular ditch/moat. (4-11)