Flag Fen

Flag Fen stands east of Peterborough in the flat, waterlogged lands of the Fens. It is a Bronze Age wooden causeway built about 3,500 years ago across the wet peat basin. More than 60,000 sharpened posts were driven deep into the mud to support the walkway. Halfway along, a small clay island was left as a platform. Archaeologists recognise this island as a place where religious acts took place over many centuries. The site has yielded swords, spearheads, gold ornaments and even a 1300 BC wooden wheel. Francis Pryor, who found Flag Fen in 1982, argues that people deliberately broke fine objects before dropping them into the water. Tiny white stones, not local to the area, were also carried here and laid down as offerings. Excavations have uncovered round barrows on nearby Northey Island, where chiefs were buried with their followers close by. Visitors enter a modern centre with displays and reconstructions. A preserved stretch of the original causeway lies in a misted hall to keep the wood wet. Outside stand two Bronze Age roundhouses and one Iron Age dwelling, their thatch and wattle set on low timber frames. A short walk shows part of the Roman Fen Causeway crossing the site. The ground is still soft underfoot, reminding all that this ancient crossing once linked dry land to the sacred island.