Site Data from Archaeological Investigations at Bradenstoke Priory, Wiltshire 2019-2020

Oxford Archaeology (South), 2022. https://doi.org/10.5284/1100082. How to cite using this DOI

Digital Object Identifiers

Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are persistent identifiers which can be used to consistently and accurately reference digital objects and/or content. The DOIs provide a way for the ADS resources to be cited in a similar fashion to traditional scholarly materials. More information on DOIs at the ADS can be found on our help page.

Citing this DOI

The updated Crossref DOI Display guidelines recommend that DOIs should be displayed in the following format:

https://doi.org/10.5284/1100082
Sample Citation for this DOI

Oxford Archaeology (South) (2022) Site Data from Archaeological Investigations at Bradenstoke Priory, Wiltshire 2019-2020 [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1100082

Data copyright © Oxford Archaeology (South) unless otherwise stated

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Creative Commons License


Historic England logo

Primary contact

Oxford Archaeology (South)
Janus House
Osney Mead
Oxford
OX2 0ES
UK
Tel: 01865 263800
Fax: 01865 793496

Send e-mail enquiry

Resource identifiers

Digital Object Identifiers

Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are persistent identifiers which can be used to consistently and accurately reference digital objects and/or content. The DOIs provide a way for the ADS resources to be cited in a similar fashion to traditional scholarly materials. More information on DOIs at the ADS can be found on our help page.

Citing this DOI

The updated Crossref DOI Display guidelines recommend that DOIs should be displayed in the following format:

https://doi.org/10.5284/1100082
Sample Citation for this DOI

Oxford Archaeology (South) (2022) Site Data from Archaeological Investigations at Bradenstoke Priory, Wiltshire 2019-2020 [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1100082

Oxford Archaeology (South) logo

Introduction

General view of vaults during repairs
General view of vaults during repairs

This collection comprises site data (a report, images, CAD, spreadsheets and site records) from archaeological investigations at Bradenstoke Priory undertaken by Oxford Archaeology between November 2019 and January 2020.

The investigation involved three distinct elements:

  1. An archaeological watching brief to monitor the excavation of a 10m-long drainage trench from the west side of the priory building to a soakaway;
  2. Recording of an unstable section of wall prior to its dismantling;
  3. Sorting through a heap of spoil that was previously removed from on top of the undercroft and deposited in a field.

The drainage trench was dug by hand by other contractors and the archaeological watching brief recorded all archaeological features exposed. The unstable section of wall was recorded by photography, measured sketches and analytical description. Sufficient photographs were also taken to allow the images to be stitched together by photogrammetry to form a scaled photographic elevation. The deposited fill from on top of the undercroft was spread using a mechanical excavator and a fork to help expose moulded stones and archaeological finds. The heap was also scanned with a metal detector. Bradenstoke Priory in Wiltshire comprises the scheduled remains of a 12th century Augustinian monastery. The main structure to survive today is the vaulted undercroft from the former west range of the cloister.

Various conservation works have been undertaken to the undercroft over the last 15 years and the most recent element has included some limited archaeological and building recording works. This has comprised an archaeological watching brief during the excavation of a shallow drainage trench to the west of the undercroft, the recording of an unstable section of wall that required rebuilding and the rapid assessment of a heap of spoil which had previously been removed from the top of the vaults. The main part of the drainage trench was through previously disturbed ground where a previous drain had been laid (probably 20th-century in date). Possible foundations for the range were also exposed where the trench adjoined the building immediately as well as a broadly east-to-west line of stones which probably formed part of a drainage channel to carry water away from the building.

The section of wall that has been recorded prior to dismantling formed part of the projection at the southern end of the West Range. This was the location of the Prior's Lodgings in the monastic complex although it is believed that the wall formed part of an early 19th-century reconstruction of the structure. One feature of interest is a small bread oven (post-medieval) on the east side of the wall. The assessment of the spoil identified a small number of fragments of moulded stonework, oyster shells and other minor features.


ADS logo
Data Org logo
University of York logo