The stone, bronze and iron ages
Shillington’s remarkable history began over 240,000 years ago when one or more early visitors left behind them a distinctive flint axe.
For a long period afterwards, this area was too cold for anyone to come here but eventually, the climate improved for good.
More stone tools show people returned about 7,000 years ago and the area has been populated ever since.
Burial sites and crop marks from aerial photographs show they began to settle down, grow crops and keep animals.
The population increased and required more land for agriculture. They cleared trees and went to the trouble of making level terraces where they could grow crops on steep slopes. Metal objects reached this area which made life easier for everyone. They found the time to make a massive monument on a nearby hill where they may have celebrated their Celtic culture each year. They also created a long bank of earth to show strangers that this was their territory.
By the time the Romans came to this area after invading Britain in 45AD, the local area was thriving.
For a fuller report on this period of Shillington’s history please view or download this pdf file.