Meppershall Before 1086

The Bedfordshire Historic Environment Record [HER] contains information on the county's historic buildings and landscapes and summaries of each entry can now be found online as part of the Heritage Gateway website.

HER 2573 reveals the 'findspot' for a prehistoric flint tool, the only Stone Age find recorded for Meppershall at the time of writing [2015]. The ancient woodland of Nun's Wood [HER 5453] is suspected to be the remains of the woodland referred to in the Domesday Book of 1086, where the woodland is described as having grazing for two hundred pigs. Shown covering a larger area before enclosure of the parish in 1853, these woods later belonged to Chicksands Priory.

At the rear of 64 High Street, coins have been found [HER 16319] some of which are described as Bronze Age! Coinage was first used in Asia Minor around 650 BC, the Bronze Age ending in this country around 250 years earlier. A range of Roman coins and pottery have been found in other locations in the village, mostly around the area of the High Street, and there is evidence of the existence of a fairly affluent farmstead to the east [HER 16317]. This site was excavated in 2001-2002, revealing ditches, pits, postholes and part of an enclosure ditch. Also found at this location was material dated between the 1st and 2nd centuries, evidence of bone plate making from the 4th century, and iron smithing, as well as a Saxon cesspit. The Nursery site east of the High Street was excavated at the same time following an evaluation [HER 16318], and further Roman remains were found here.