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Dr
David
Knight
Head of Research
Trent and Peak Archaeology
Lenton Fields
University Park
Nottingham
NG7 2RD
UK
Tel: 0115 951 4823
Fax: 0115 951 4824
The small medieval village of Church Wilne was located on marginal land in the broad alluvial floodplain of the River Derwent, close to its confluence with the River Trent and several kilometres upstream of the confluence of the Trent with the Rivers Soar and Erewash. All that survives today is the parish church of St Chad's. This is an isolated building, located some 200m north of the modern river. The church may originally have been enclosed on three sides by a meander of the Derwent, the medieval course of which may be reconstructed from topographic, documentary, cartographic and excavation evidence. The last dwellings in the village were demolished in the 1960s, while the area adjacent to the church was converted after quarrying to a large reservoir (St Chad's Water) within a water sports centre.
Faint earthwork traces near the church were identified in the late 1960s as evidence of a deserted medieval village (Beresford and Hurst 1971, 185). Medieval sherds were recovered from the ploughed fields adjacent to the church during the succeeding decade, providing further evidence for extensive medieval occupation.
Threats from gravel quarrying prompted more extensive archaeological investigations in 1974 and 1975 by the Trent Valley Archaeological Research Committee, assisted by funding from the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission (England). This work was directed by Hazel Wheeler and conducted by TVARC staff and local volunteers.
Excavations presented an opportunity to study the relationship between the church, settlement and riverine landscape, and in particular to investigate the impact of changes in river course and flood frequency upon settlement development. Very few deserted medieval villages elsewhere in the Trent Valley have been excavated, notable exceptions including Thurvaston in Derbyshire and Adbolton in Nottinghamshire (Elliott et al 2004, 170-174), and the excavation results provide a valuable opportunity to research the development of a small settlement precariously located alongside the high-energy and flood-prone Derwent.
Three stages of post-excavation work were conducted between April 2009 and April 2014, with the aims of:
Stage 1 of the ALSF project (2009) underttook the following tasks:
IN Stges 2 and 3 the original documentary archive has been reorganised and repackaged, while finds retrieved during the excavations have been repackaged and conserved as appropriate. Most of the ironwork has been discarded, and the radiographs prepared by Kent County Museums Service and York Archaeological Trust now form the primary archive for this class of material (see Section 11 of this digital archive). All other finds have been retained and may be accessed by application to Derby City Museum and Art Gallery. The digital resource, which may be accessed from this archive, includes copies of the following (with appropriate catalogues and supporting information):
This work was funded by the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund administered by English Heritage and was managed by David Knight under the guidance of Paddy O'â'Hara and Buzz Busby of English Heritage. Work on the site archive was conducted on behalf of Trent & Peak Archaeology by Eileen Appleton and Panagiota Markoulaki between April and July 2009 (Appleton and Markoulaki 2009). Alison Wilson (TPA) compiled the original Contex Code database. Scott Lomax (TPA) prepared the Harris matrices and updated by reference to these the Context Code database, while Scott Lomax (TPA), Laura Binns (TPA) and Jim Priest assisted with scanning the site notebooks, original drawings and photographs. Particular thanks are also extended to Rachel Atherton of Derby City Museum and Art Gallery for providing access to archive material and for advice on the curation and storage of material, and to Peter Hammond, Anne Irving, Howard Jones (TPA), Kate Kenward (York Archaeological Trust), Nyssa Mildwaters (YAT), James Rackham (Environmental Archaeology Consultancy) and Petrus de Rijk for their specialist contributions to the Stage 2 Assessment Report. Ian Panter (YAT) advised on the ironwork condition assessments and the preparation of digital copies of the radiographs, while Mags Felter (YAT) helped with preparation of the digital radiographs. Lee Elliott (TPA) and Richard Sheppard (TPA) provided helpful comments on the metalwork and other small finds from the site.
Appleton, E. and Markoulaki, P 2009 Church Wilne, Derbyshire: Contents of Site Archive, Trent & Peak Archaeology, University of Nottingham (unpublished report in Derby City Museum and Art Gallery: DBYMU 1997-75/6).
Beresford, M and Hurst, J G (eds), 1971. Deserted Medieval Village Studies, Woking, Lutterworth Press.
Elliott, L, Jones, H and Howard, A J, 2004. The medieval landscape, in Knight, D. and Howard, A.J. Trent Valley Landscapes, Kings Lynn, Heritage Marketing and Publications Ltd, 153-191.
Kenward, K. 2010. Church Wilne Village: the Investigation of Two Iron Objects, SF40 and SF81. York: York Archaeological Trust Conservation Laboratories.
Knight, D., 2014. Church Wilne Deserted Settlement: Assessment of Archaeological Potential. Nottingham: Trent & Peak Archaeology.
Lewis, C, 2006. The medieval period (850-1000), in Cooper, N. (ed) The Archaeology of the East Midlands, Leicester Archaeological Monograph 13, University of Leicester, 185-216.
Mildwaters, N. 2009a (June) Condition Assessment of Ironwork from Church Wilne. York: York Archaeological Trust Conservation Laboratories
Mildwaters, N. 2009b (July) Additional Condition Assessment of Ironwork from Church Wilne. York: York Archaeological Trust Conservation Laboratories>/p>