Durham Archaeol J 7

Excavations revealed the area's development from the foundation of the fort in AD 165 through to the post-medieval period. A C King contributes a `Discussion of the decorated samian ware' by (42--5), while reports on microfiche include `Middle Chare and Park View structural report' by Jeremy Evans (1--21), `The geophysical survey' by S Dockrill & J Bond (22--26), `The coins' by Bruce McKay (27--38), `The clay pipe' by Lloyd Edwards (39--45), `The small finds' by Ann Briggs (46--56), `The glass' by Julian Henderson (57--67), `The samian ware' by Anthony King (68--82), `The coarse pottery' by Jeremy Evans (83--130), `The animal bones' by Louise J Gidney (131--42), `The botanical remains' by Alison Donaldson (143--6), and `The architectural report' by T F C Blagg (147--51). AR

Work at Thirlings provided the opportunity to widen the picture of Anglo-Saxon settlement in an area of monastic and aristocratic sites. The excavations uncovered six continuous trench buildings, two within a palisaded enclosure, and six post buildings. The dimensions and construction details of each are described, putative reconstructions depicted and functions suggested. Radiocarbon dating puts the settlement in the mid-late sixth century AD and parallels with other local sites of the same period are explored, setting Thirlings in its cultural context. An appendix on `Anglo-Saxon burials at Galewood' (91) gives an account of a burial discovered in the middle of the nineteenth century, within half a kilometre of the Thirlings settlement. AR

Describes the surviving medieval features and subsequent modifications to this fourteenth century building, which was probably once a service wing for the original moated manor house. AR