It is the kind of site that seems to have been chosen as much for what it looked out over as for any practical purpose, and the geology beneath it explains a great deal: the ridge is glacial in origin, a remnant of the last ice age deposited across the boggy lowland like a spine of dry ground.

Excavations in the area uncovered charcoal spreads running the full length of this glacial ridge, along with Neolithic pottery and chert implements. Chert is a flint-like stone that fractures predictably under pressure, and its appearance here alongside fired pottery places human activity at this location in the Neolithic period, broadly the fourth and third millennia BC. The enclosure itself may belong to this same phase of use, though the relationship is not certain; it is possible the ridge attracted people across long stretches of time for reasons as simple as the fact that it stayed dry and commanded a clear view. At the far end of the ridge, an old Ordnance Survey map records a natural quarry, suggesting the stone of the ridge was worked at some point as well.