Stonea
Stonea is a hamlet in Cambridgeshire, England, south east of March and part of the parish of Wimblington.[1] Stonea today consists of a scattered collection of farmsteads and houses, the majority sited along Sixteen Foot Bank, a man-made river which forms part of the Middle Level Navigations. The largest settlement is on the bank near the Golden Lion pub.[2] A former Primitive Methodist chapel is now a private residence.[1]
This part of Stonea is dissected by a staffed railway crossing on the Ely to Peterborough Line; Stonea railway station closed in 1966. The underpass neighbouring the bridge (which provides a diversion avoiding the level crossing) is said to be the "most bashed rail bridge in Britain", with 33 truck and van strikes in one 12 month period.[3][4]
History[edit]
There has been human habitation in the area since at least 500 BC; Stonea Camp archaeological site is the lowest Iron Age hill fort in Britain. The site is thought to be the site of a battle in 47 AD mentioned by Tacitus, between the Iceni tribe and a Roman auxiliary force under governor Ostorius Scapula. A medieval farmhouse at Stitches Farm was demolished in 1973.[5][6] The camp itself was ploughed over in the 1960s, but the filled-in ditches were restored to the bank formation by the British Museum and Cambridgeshire County Council in the 1980s.[7] To prevent further damage by agriculture, the area is now designated as a Scheduled Monument[8] and pocket park.[9]
The remains of a multi-storey Roman tower have been excavated to the north of the Stonea Camp fortifications.[9] The substantial foundations of the rectangular building suggest some height; at least three storeys are proposed. The building featured a hypocaust and had walls decorated with painted plaster. Architectural fragments include tiles and window glass.[10] However, the tower was demolished ca 200 AD. The Roman settlement at Stonea may have been the establishment of a procurator, based in the tower and supervising the Roman draining of the fens. Alternatively it may have been planned as a town with a market and bureaucratic role.
Film and television[edit]
Stonea has featured in TV dramas. In the 1980s an episode of Tales of the Unexpected, "The Flypaper", was filmed at Stonea.
In the 1990s, a Fay Weldon adaptation of Growing Rich, starring Martin Kemp and John Le Stride was filmed in Stonea and Chatteris.[11]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Wimblington at Genuki.org.uk, accessed 20 September 2013
- ^ Golden Lion pub, accessed 20 September 2013
- ^ Castle, Stephen (25 December 2022). "Another Day, Another Crash: Life by Britain's Most Bashed Bridge". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
- ^ "Stonea Road bridge in Cambridgeshire named most-bashed in Britain". BBC News. 16 November 2022.
- ^ Stitches Farm, Geograph, accessed 20 September 2013
- ^ Painting of the demolished farmhouse, BBC "Your Paintings", accessed 20 September 2013
- ^ Pastscape, English Heritage, accessed 20 September 2013
- ^ "Stonea Camp: a multivallate hillfort at Latches Fen". Historic England. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
- ^ a b Stonea Camp Archived 21 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Cambridgeshire County Council, accessed 20 September 2013
- ^ Pastscape entry
- ^ "Growing Rich". Internet Movie Database. 27 December 2022.
