"It may be assumed that “Peter’s Orchard” was originally an apple orchard or an
Avalon similar to the “Heaven’s Walls,” which were discovered some years ago
near Royston: these “walls,” immediately contiguous to the Icknield or Acnal
Way, were merely some strips of unenclosed but cultivated land which in ancient
deeds from time immemorial had been called “Heaven’s Walls”. Traditional awe
attached to this spot, and village children were afraid to traverse it after
dark, when it was said to be frequented by supernatural beings: in 1821 some
labourers digging for gravel on this haunted spot inadvertently discovered a
wall enclosing a rectangular space containing numerous deposits of sepulchral
urns, and it then became clear that here was one of those plots of ground
environed by walls to which the Romans gave the name of
ustrinum."
Title: Archaic England
An Essay in Deciphering Prehistory from Megalithic
Monuments, Earthworks, Customs, Coins, Place-names, and
Faerie Superstitions
Author: Harold Bayley
