Flag Fen: our day trip into the Bronze Age

With the time delay on the broadcast of General Conference (http://www.lds.org/) for us overseas, we took advantage of the free time on Saturday morning to tour some local Peterborough history: Flag Fen, a Bronze-age archaeological site. The girls were particularly interested in the re-creation of the Bronze age houses and lifestyle. Pictured above is Amy: Chief Bard of the Fens... for today anyway. (Notice her lacing shoes - she can tie them herself!)


A view from outside of the Bronze-age hut. Nearby the Soay sheep were grazing: these sheep are supposedly the closest genre to what would have existed in the Bronze age. They are unique in that they shed their wool instead of needing to be sheared. A tour guide said that children from the Bronze age would be responsible for collecting the wool and would then help with spinning and looming it. We saw a blanket inside the hut made from this process... it looked about as comfortable as a burlap sack.

We also toured the little museum they had on-site and watched some local men forging authentic bronze swords. This particular site has artifacts dating from 4,500 B.C.!!!


Here is a view of the landscape here in East Anglia. It is often referred to as "The Fens" or "Fenland" and represents the area of the country that banks upon "the wash" or where the North Sea filters in. The whole contains an area of nearly 1,500 square miles or about 1 million acres.

Today, the Fens are primarily an agricultural area which is strongly characterised by both its very low elevation and its flatness, as most of the Fenland lies within a few metres of sea-level. As with similar areas in the Netherlands, much of the Fenland originally consisted of fresh or saltwater wetlands which have been artificially drained and continue to be protected from floods by drainage banks (pictured above). Consequently, the locals here are much more concerned with global warming and its effect on rising sea levels.

The Flag Fen Bronze age archaeological site is located in this swampy Fenland and the continual dampness is credited for preserving the artifacts - including an extensive wooden bridge! Overall, our day at Flag Fen was yet another amazing trip back in history and we feel so blessed to be able to live in this part of the world and experience these kind of outings together as a family.