In 1989 whilst removing the mounds which were at the front of the 11th green, Mike Smith, the greenkeeper, came across a spearhead. Elizabeth Borrow took it to the County Museum who produced the following article. It was returned to the club and mounted by Peter Ridyard.
EDITORIAL NOTE
There is a little of everything in this issue. Minor modifications of the Corhampton golf course in 1989 bought to light a side-looped spearhead of Bronze Age date. This bronze now resides, with irons no doubt, in the Corhampton clubhouse, but David Allen puts it on the record here. Detective work around the fringes of another golf course, at Stoneham Park. has revealed a ha-ha and a Bramah. Chris Currie tells us what he can deduce from a sunk fence and a sluice. Finally. Gordon Le Pard has been tracking down the archaeological, historical and topographical works of Heywood Sumner, in an attempt to compile a complete bibliography. The current known list is published here, very much an the hope that one of you out there may be able to add to it yet further.
A SIDE-LOOPED BRONZE SPEARHEAD FROM CORHAMPTON
David Allen
In March 1989, landscaping work on the Corhampton golf course (SUS92199) unearthed a side-looped bronze spearhead. I am grateful to Elizabeth Borrow for bringing the discovery to the attention of the County Museums Service, and allowing us to record the item. The find has been retained by the golf club.
The spearhead is not in the best condition, its blade is corroded, and the side-loops are broken. Nevertheless, it is a good example of a well-known type.
There were three main types of spearhead current in the Middle Bronze Age; basal-looped spearheads (loops integral with the blade); side-looped spearheads with kIte-shaped blades; and side-looped spearheads with leaf-shaped blades. of which this is one. The distribution of the two side-looped types offers a contrast; kite blades are common in Ireland, but rare in Britain; leaf blades occur throughout Britain, but are less common in Ireland (Ehrenberg, 1977, 6). So the Corhampton find is quite at home here.
Its detailed characteristics, e.g. the ‘lozenge’ cross-section, ‘string’ loops. and overall length (l30mm) correspond well with known examples (size range 9O-210mm). Its date range is Middle Bronze Age, roughly 1400-1100 B.C. in calendar years.
REFERENCE
Ehrenberg, M.R. 1977. Bronze Age Spearheads from Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, B.A.R. 34