Athelney Spillway, Lyng, Somerset - Archaeological Evaluation

Wessex Archaeology

Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Kier Infrastructure, on behalf of the Environment
Agency, to undertake an archaeological evaluation of a 1.35 ha parcel of land to the south of New
Road, Lyng, Somerset, TA7 0SD, centred on NGR 334279 129331. The archaeological work was
undertaken prior to improvement works to Athelney Spillway, which is located within the Scheduled
Monument of Athelney Abbey on Athelney Hill (National Heritage List for England 1019099).
The evaluation, which was undertaken on the 11–13 October 2023, comprised the excavation of five
trenches measuring between 15 m and 35 m long, targeted on anomalies identified during a previous
geophysical survey.
The earliest human activity on the site is represented by Late Mesolithic/Early Neolithic struck flint,
which was recovered from subsoil deposits and as residual material in later features. Later activity
comprised a substantial ditch, two isolated postholes and an area of heat affected natural that may
indicate the position of a hearth or campfire.
Although heat affected natural and the extent of alluvium in trench 1 roughly correlates with
anomalies identified by the geophysical survey, this was not the case for the other geophysical
anomalies. The geophysical survey is therefore not considered to be an accurate representation of
the buried archaeological resource.
Some archaeological remains are present on the site, though the excavated features are widely
spaced and likely represent peripheral elements of the documented settlements on Athelney Island.
The relative paucity of features likely reflects the relatively low-lying nature of the spillway: the higher
ground to the east and west being the preferred locations for settlement.
The presence of Late Mesolithic/Early Neolithic flint is interesting, as this does not appear to have
been previously noted on Athelney Island. The ditch in trench 2 is also noteworthy: it is a substantial
feature, which broadly correlates with the line of a defensive Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon ditch that
was uncovered at the western end of Athelney Island during the 2002 Time Team investigations.
Three tiny scraps of late prehistoric pottery provide some very tentative dating for this feature, though
these are not considered to be a reliable dating evidence. Charcoal recovered from this ditch could
potentially be radiocarbon dated. The other features are completely undated and could be related to
any of the numerous phases of activity on Athelney Island between the prehistoric and post-medieval
periods. Construction of the existing spillway has severely truncated the subsoil in this location,
though it is possible that deeply cut features could survive within its footprint.