The landscape in this area is a product of successive ages of human activity. Mesolithic worked flints (the microliths of early hunter-gatherers) as well as potsherds from Saxon and Roman times, have been found on the higher terraces; whilst the bottom of the valley, which is filled with alluvium from the silting up of the medieval dams and lakes, produces only material from the medieval period and later.

Higher terrace as seen today
looking towards bottom of valley