Angling and Archeology

• 
• 10th December 2008
• Quarrying
 

The CEMEX Kingsmead site is not only notable for it aggregate production but also as a site of archeological significance and angling excellence.

The new plant installed at the CEMEX Kingsmead site became operational on 1 July. The previous day, the company welcomed customers and local community to the site for the official opening by CEMEX UK country president, Gonzalo Galindo. In fact CEMEX is used to welcoming all kinds of people to Kingsmead. Archeologists were working on site when a rare and important historical ‘find' at the site revealed one of the best preserved examples of the site of a Neolithic house, over 5000 years old, in mainland UK.  This is one of two or three prime examples in this country and was unearthed as part of CEMEX's £5million archaeological programme on the quarry site.

The Neolithic house was initially discovered in June and was investigated to see if parts of the house were used for particular activities.  Andy Spencer, CEMEX Sustainability Director says: "In comparison to today's houses it is relatively small, but it is almost 6000 years old!  The discovery provides us with one of the best plans of one of the oldest houses in Britain.

"From the layout we can picture a rectangular building with the walls made from split logs and a thatched roof.  It probably didn't have a chimney and smoke from the hearth would have seeped through the thatch, which was high enough to avoid catching fire from the sparks. It is a truly great find for both historians and the community."

To date other finds on the site have included some 10,000 year old flint tools which were used when man used to gather wild fruits and nuts and hunt animals, traces of broken pottery in small rubbish pits approximately 6000 years later indicating traces of the first farmers at Horton, a unusual find of cache of eight flint arrowheads from around 2000BC and a large elegant bronze pin believed to be used to pin the cloak of a farmer dating back to around 1500BC, in the middle of the Bronze Age.

These archaeological finds by specialists, Wessex Archaeology, are key to enhancing the knowledge and understanding of the history around the Rivers Colne and Thames.  They reflect the scale of changes in society over the centuries with quarrying being a positive contribution to the needs of society by providing valuable building materials and subsequent restoration of the land, in this instance, back to agricultural land.

Angling

The Kingsmead site also has another claim to fame as the jewel in the crown for CEMEX Angling; The Kingsmead site has been developed into 5 superb carp waters. Other fish species include Pike, Bream, Tench, Roach, Perch, Eels and Grass Carp, helping to make it one of the top big fish complexes in the country. In the complex, there are carp to nearly 50 lb, Catfish to 80lb+, Grass carp to over 40lb, eels to over 8lb, Perch to over 4lb and tench well into double figures. Last season saw a stocking of CEMEX Angling's own Sutton strain carp introduced to the venue. These were mainly between 8-10lb and are now being caught regularly over 17 lb with a few of them touching the magical 20 lb weight, all of which are real stunners.

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