How the heatwave is revealing hidden landscapes and forgotten ruins
While we’ve been blessed with an uncharacteristic wave of hot, dry weather this summer, many of us are lamenting the loss of our lawns.
Parks, gardens and public spaces have been starved of water and most of the population are - for the first time in their lives - having difficulty remembering the last time it really rained.
Southern England has been particularly parched, enjoying the driest June on record, but the hot weather has lead to an array of unlikely discoveries across the British Isles. Outlines of ancient and historic sites are being revealed – some of which haven’t been seen in living memory.
As the grass and crops dry out in the fields, the remains of wood and stone features are being spotted. The effect is caused by soil building up above the foreign material left in the ground over centuries in a way that makes the live material react to the conditions at a different rate to that found within regular soil.
While it’s possible that the outlines of these structures were visible during previous heatwaves, they are hard to make out at ground level and the rise in drone and aerial photography in recent years has led to more discoveries.
Of the historic sites revealed, the large enclosure adjacent to the passage tomb at Newgrange, located within the Unesco World Heritage Site of Brú na Bóinne, next to the river Boyne in County Meath, Ireland, is among the most impressive.
The henge was discovered by Anthony Murphy who captured the imagery on a drone, bringing the total number of monuments found within the one-mile stretch to an estimated seven.
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Nearby, a 5,500-year-old passage tomb cemetery is another recent discovery and is believed to include burial chambers, a large enclosing kerb of stones and a cairn – dating back to around 3,300 BC.
The new henge sits in the middle of a local farmer’s field and when the crops are harvested later this year, it will disappear again. There are no plans at present to excavate the area.
Clumber House
A ghost has also emerged at Nottinghamshire’s Clumber Park, maintained by the National Trust. While the floor plans of 18th century Clumber House, which was demolished in 1938 following a number of fires and financial problems, were known, the level of detail that the weather has revealed is remarkable.
The imprints of walls and the outline of rooms accurately reflects the floorplans and the presence of a sundial that the trust were previously unaware of has also revealed. Those eager to learn more about the mansion can visit Clumber Park’s Lost Mansion exhibition, which will be displayed in the Discovery Centre every day this summer from 10am-5pm until August 12.
Gawthorpe Hall garden
It’s not just buildings that are turning up in the grass. In Gawthorpe Hall, Lancashire, the dry weather has revealed the layout of an old Victorian garden. While this does make an appearance during most summers, it is particularly impressive this year.
Created in the 1850s by Sir Charles Barry, who also designed the Houses of Parliament, the garden became too difficult to maintain following the Second World War and was removed in 1946.
A small mirror of the garden can still be found at the back of the hall. County Councillor Peter Buckley, cabinet member for community and cultural services, said: “I would encourage people to go along to Gawthorpe Hall, and take this rare opportunity to see this historic hidden garden for themselves, before it rains and disappears”.
Second World War airfield
In late June, gliding in the skies above Hampshire, Jordan Bridge noticed the outline of what was once Lasham Aifield, a RAF station that was constructed in 1942 as a base for squadrons during the Second World War. Decommissioned in 1948, a small part of it was returned to farmland, and it is this part that can now been seen etched in the water-starved crops.
The circles represent where dispersal zones where aircraft would have been parked between flights. A number of key raids were launched here, including the De Havilland Mosquito bombers that took off on April 14 1944, targeting the Central Records Registry of the Gestapo in the Hague. Bombers supporting the preparation and aftermath of D-Day also took off from Lasham.
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