Series: Warwickshire Museum Field Services unpublished report series

[MONUMENTS field, continued: PLATFORM, BUILDINGS, RUBBISH PITS, MALT KILN, ì\nCESS PITS.]\n\nExcavations of a section across the probable outer bailey of ì\nBoteler's Castle, Oversley, near Alcester, were carried out by ì\nthe Warwickshire Museum on behalf of the Department of Transport ì\nbetween July and October 1993. The excavations took place in ì\nadvance of construction of the new A435 Norton Lenchwick ì\nBypass. Boteler's Castle is a motte and [...next line...]ì\nbailey castle whose motte and inner baileys are a Scheduled ì\nAncient Monument (Warwickshire No 74). On the east side of the ì\ncastle a large enclosure shows on air photographs and it had been ì\nsuggested that this was an Iron Age hillfort. Eight excavation ì\nareas were laid out across the enclosure to cover cropmark ì\nfeatures and concentrations of medieval occupation activity ì\nidentified during evaluation work undertaken in December 1992. ì\nThe excavations included sections through the massive outer defensive ì\nditch on both north and south sides of the enclosure. Within the ì\nenclosure two ditch-flanked trackways were located and excavated, ì\ntheir fills producing large quantities of animal bone and ì\nmedieval pottery sherds. To the south of the southern trackway an ì\narea of pebbling was revealed; this deposit was cut by a large ì\nnumber of post holes, presumably from a timber building, and two ì\nrefuse pits. The whole of this area was covered by a layer with a ì\nhigh content of domestic debris. On the north side of the ì\nsouthern trackway there was a stone-lined malting kiln in an ì\nexcellent state of preservation. Two possible cesspits were also ì\ndiscovered north of the northern trackway. The bulk of the finds ì\nfrom the site dated to the 12th and 13th centuries and included ì\nsome fine pieces of bronzework and large quantities of pottery. ì\nThe excavations established beyond doubt that the enclosure was ì\nassociated with the castle, putting to rest the idea that it was ì\nan Iron Age hillfort. Its layout suggests that it was an outer ì\nbailey rather than a village around the castle.