Aldermaston Soke
| Aldermaston Soke | |
| Hampshire | |
|---|---|
 Stoke Road, Aldermaston Stoke | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU618630 |
| Location: | 51°21’48"N, 1°6’48"W |
| Data | |
| Local Government | |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Basingstoke |
Aldermaston Soke is a hamlet of northernmost Hampshire that stands beside the county's border with Berkshire. It may be considered an outlying hamlet of Aldermaston, which town lies to the west, in Berkshire.
The hamlet is in the northernmost tongue of Hampshire (the northernmost point of which is in the woods a mile and a haldf north-east of the hamlet).
Archaeological interest
The hamlet sits on marshy ground at the bottom of a valley, very near Silchester (which was the Roman Calleva Atrebatum). The modern road follows the course of a Roman road through the hamlet, diverging either side of it.[1] It has been suggested that the dampness of the ground led to a short section of Roman road remaining in use in Aldermaston Soke as a causeway through the valley bottom.[2]
Botanical interest
The damp ground also attracts the interest of botanists, as a number of plant species which are rare in Britain have been attested here:[3]
- Hypericum maculatum (a species of St John's wort)
- Viola palustris (Marsh violet)
- Lythrum portula (a species of Loosestrife)
- Hieracium umbellatum and
- Hieracium acuminatum (two species of Hawkweed)
- Dactylorhiza praetermissa (Southern Marsh-orchid)
Aldermaston Soke has a 'site of special scientific interest, just to the west, called Decoy Pit, Pools and Woods.[4]
See also
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Aldermaston Soke) |
References
- ↑ Ivan Donald Margary, Roman Roads in Britain. 3rd edition, London: J. Baker, 1973. p. 131. ISBN 0-212-97001-1
- ↑ George C. Boon, Roman Silchester: The Archaeology of a Romano-British Town (1957), p. 203.
- ↑ Michael J. Crawley: Rare Plant Register Berkshire and South Oxfordshire
- ↑ SSSI listing and designation for Decoy Pit, Pools and Woods
- Crawley, M.J.: "The Botanist in Berkshire: A Plant Hunter's Guide", p. 44 (Imperial Collage)</ref>
