Monument record BRG 007 - Barton Mere

Mere lies at the junction of Barton, Pakenham and Thurston parishes; when full covers circa 10 acres and has maximum depth of 7 feet subject to occasional droughts.
Circa 1831 - the Mere being dry, Mr Quayle dug into it and discovered deer bones and a wolf tibia which were sent to Bristol Museum.
1868 - Some labourers claimed that 'bayonets (? bronze spearheads), 'round brass things like soldiers wear on their hats' and 'stakes sticking up out of the bottom, about as thick as the thin part of a man's leg, some 6 or 7' were also said to have been found. The Reverend Jones dug several holes about 3 feet square in the lowest part of the Mere (it being dry). Found following sequence of sediments:- upper soil; blueish clay; peat coloured clay circa 6 inches thick lying on chalky marl. The clay layers varied from 1-5 feet in thickness. Found a bronze spearhead (13 inches long and 2 inches wide) in upper clay layer, 18 inches below surface. This could be the same as a basal looped spearhead in Moyses Hall Museum said to be from Barton Mere by a Mr Quayle-Jones (descendant?- who used it as a paper knife) when sold (with house and mere) to General Wentworth-Reid - who later donated it to Moyses Hall in 1949. Found animal bones in dark clay layer:- 'bos longifrons, Keltic shorthorn, stag (cervus elephus), pig, sheep or goat, large dog or wolf, urus (bos primigenius) [aurochs - note if these were also Middle Bronze Age it would be the most recent date for aurochs in this country] and hare'. Also found were flint flakes, cores and fragments of handmade pottery. He also discovered a wattle structure 28 inches below the surface of the deepest part of the mere - this was oval, 5 feet 7 inches long x 3 feet 10 inches wide and had 14 uprights 2 - 2 3/4 inches thick nearly equal distances apart. Twigs and sticks were worked in these like the side of a very rough basket. The stakes were driven into the chalk marl and the bottom of the structure was filled with broken flints - suggests that it was a 'diving' or dipping place for water. Mentions that photographs were taken (S1).