Roundhouses between the rivers

When the floods eased, people came back to the fen edge. By 300 BC a busy settlement of roundhouses stood at Fengate, protected by rivers and ditches.

c.1000 BCFields given up to rising water
c.300 BCA thriving settlement at Fengate
18Roundhouses excavated
3Tribal territories met here

Explore in 3D · Fengate

A settlement of roundhouses

Round timber houses with conical roofs, between rivers and ditches.

Drag to turn · a simplified model, not a survey

Driven back by water

Around 1000 BC the Bronze Age fields at Fengate were abandoned, probably as rising water swamped the woods and pastures. Through the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, farming here was patchier. As the Fens settled, people returned.

Cat’s Water

Francis Pryor’s excavations uncovered a Late Iron Age village he called the Cat’s Water settlement. Forty-five structures were recorded, including 18 roundhouses. It may have been protected by rivers on two sides and widely spaced ditches on the third. Water remained a problem, and the site was abandoned around the time of the Roman conquest.

Offerings continue

Flag Fen stayed a special place long after the causeway was finished. Finds there include a complete but broken Iron Age sword of around 500–400 BC and a pair of shears still in their wooden case. The area sat between three peoples: the Catuvellauni to the south, the Corieltauvi to the north and the Iceni to the east.

Timeline

c.1000 BCFengate fields abandoned as water levels rise.
1150–350 BCFarming at Fengate becomes more scattered.
c.500–400 BCAn Iron Age sword is broken and placed at Flag Fen.
c.300 BCA thriving settlement has grown up at Fengate.
AD 43Roman invasion; Cat’s Water is abandoned around this time.