Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club & Archaeological Society

An archaeological recording action was carried out in 1996 at Site A, Kennel Farm, Basingstoke, as part of the archaeological evaluation and recording of a proposed development site. A single area was excavated, taking in approximately one half of an oval ditched enclosure of 0.34 ha, representing a small domestic settlement of Early/Middle to Middle Iron Age date. Several deep storage pits produced the major part of the recovered finds and faunal assemblages. These included basal deposits of complete or near complete loomweights while the secondary fills of one pit contained partial carcasses of both dogs and immature sheep. No house site lay within the excavated area, and the only identified building was a four-post structure and a contiguous fence-line probably associated with a gateway. Separately authored reports include

Excavations and a watching brief were undertaken during development at Anderson's Road, Southampton in 2003--4. The site lies on the southern edge of mid-Saxon Hamwic, close to the river, and incorporated SOU 14 which had been excavated in 1973. There was slight evidence for late prehistoric and Romano-British activity, but the majority of features on the site comprised pits of mid-Saxon date which contained domestic and a limited range of craft/industrial waste. Medieval features were restricted to a few ditches, probably field boundaries, sealed by salt marsh deposits that have now been shown to be of post-medieval date. Separately authored contributions include

Small-scale excavations undertaken in 2004 on two sites on the east side of the medieval walled town have provided limited though useful information on the extent of Southampton in the eleventh and twelfth century, the town defences and subsequent extra-mural land use.

The article mainly uses an analysis of the Local Port Books of Southampton, for sample years in the fifteenth century, to gain an understanding of the amount and nature of the commercial shipping using Southampton at this time. Although details of ship type are only rarely included, there is enough evidence in these books to estimate the timing and frequency of voyages and whether the vessels recorded were engaged in coastwise or overseas trade. The operations of those ship masters who appear most frequently in the sources are also considered and analysed. These analyses contribute to a deeper understanding of the trade of Southampton and the extent of its hinterland.

Article on the early domestic wall paintings which survive in Hampshire, mainly from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The trend towards inserting a chimney and flooring over the hall in the sixteenth century meant that the main room in the house could have walls free from smoke and thus suitable for painted decoration. On the other hand, the growing popularity of wainscot panelling in the seventeenth century gradually limited the scope for wall paintings. Varied forms of wall decoration were employed during those two centuries but the authors argue that it is possible to trace some common themes. Includes an amended, updated and annotated version of the gazetteer first published in the Hampshire Field Club Historic Buildings Newsletter for September 1983.