Sweet Track

The Sweet Track is an ancient timber causeway in the flat, waterlogged Somerset Levels. It runs for nearly two kilometres between the former island at Westhay and the dry ridge at Shapwick. The track was built in the Neolithic period, around 3807 BC, and is the second-oldest of its kind found in the British Isles. It follows the line of an even earlier walkway called the Post Track. Most of the original structure still lies in the peat where it was left after discovery. The track is remarkable for its precise dating and the insights it gives into Neolithic life. Dendrochronology shows the builders used oak planks supported by ash, oak and lime pegs driven into the bog. A ceremonial jadeitite axehead found nearby suggests the track had ritual as well as practical uses. The Somerset Levels Project, led by archaeologists John and Bryony Coles, uncovered many wooden artefacts along the route. These include paddles, bows and a well-preserved flint axe. Visitors can walk a reconstructed section of the track in Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve. The raised wooden walkway follows the same line as the original Neolithic path. The surrounding wetland is part of a larger network of prehistoric trackways and lake villages. Peat excavations have revealed tools, weapons and everyday objects left by the track’s builders. The damp conditions have preserved the wood for almost six thousand years.