Find out more about Lugg Valley’s archaeology

Herefordshire Council's archaeological department is launching the final report from a project carried out in the Lugg Valley which unearthed the county's first Henge monument.

The final report from the Lugg Valley Archaeology, Landscape Change and Conservation project will be launched on Tuesday, September 30.

There are two elements to the launch, firstly at Leominster Library at 2pm there will be the launch of the report and an interpretation panel explaining some of the results of the project.

Secondly, at 3.30pm the same day, there is the launch of an on-site interpretation panel at the Siward James Complex at Bodenham Moor followed by tea and coffee in Bodenham Village Hall.

The project ran from November 2005 through to October 2006 and was a community- based project funded by Leader+, English Heritage and Herefordshire Council.

There were a number of elements to the project including surveys, excavations, practical conservation work and a programme of guided walks and talks.

Excavations carried out were particularly exciting and included the identification of the first Henge monument in Herefordshire and the first early Neolithic enclosure in the West Midlands.

In archaeological terms, a henge is usually defined as a circular or oval area enclosed by a bank and an internal ditch. This distinguishes them from defensive enclosures, where the ditch would be on the outside (and the bank probably topped by a wooden palisade). The distinction is not a hard and fast one, however, and some henge monuments have ditches both inside and outside the bank.