Monument record BCB 025 - Palaeoenvironmental sequence, Kings Marsh

Palaeoenvironmental assessment of deposits indicated peat accumulation adjacent to the River Stour between the Iron Age and the Medieval periods. The pollen record suggested no reduction in the tree cover in the locality that could be attributed to human activity. The beetle and insect record were both typical of a floodplain backswamp, which imply the main channel of the Stour was probably some way to the east of the sampling site. The general sequence of the deposits illustrated a significant phase of floodplain evolution from the Iron Age, with accumulation of organic peat followed by channel migration and deposition of alluvium during the Saxon period.