Discover Berkshire's Iron Age in Newbury Library

An exhibition about the county's settlers 2000 years ago goes on display in West Berkshire for the first time

AN IRON Age exhibition which focuses on people who settled in Berkshire 2000 years ago is on display in Newbury Library for the first time.

Evidence of the county's 40 hillforts and 160 Iron Age settlements is currently being exhibited in the entrance to the library in The Wharf until Saturday, February 19.

As a result of research sponsored by the Berkshire Archaeological Society, archaeological remains dating from the Iron Age that have been found in and around Berkshire over the last 200 years have been reinterpreted so that visitors can discover what life was like for the settlers and what language they spoke, as well as how they lived, what the cluster of houses in each settlement would have looked like, and how they were once surrounded by fields and pastures where crops were grown and animals reared to feed and clothe the inhabitants.

People can also learn about how spare crops and animals would be taken to markets, possibly in larger communities at places like Silchester and Abingdon, where they could sell their goods and buy items such as pottery, metal tools and implements.

The Berkshire Archaeological Society was founded in 1871 and for over 100 years has been the only archaeological society to represent the whole of the county of Berkshire, historical and modern.

Library opening times are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 9am to 7pm, Wednesday and Friday 9am to 5pm and Saturday 9.30am to 4pm.