Council for British Archaeology Group 9 Newsletter 3

Short item outlining the structure and purpose of the CBA (Council for British Archaeology), which was founded in 1944. The Council itself consists entirely of corporate members, but there are also regional groups made up of local and regional societies and institutions, and some of these groups admit individual personal members as well. Within Group 9 changing circumstances have recently led to a reappraisal of structure and function, some details of which are set out here. LD

Redevelopment in the western part of Oxford is having a devastating effect on the city's archaeology. However, it also presents an opportunity to recover information before evidence is destroyed. The Oxford Archaeological Excavation Committee was therefore founded in 1967 to excavate and monitor development sites in the city where there is known or potential archaeology. This article outlines the process by which threatened archaeological remains are identified and investigated, beginning with the consultation of maps and documentary evidence and moving on to trial excavation and eventually larger-scale excavation where appropriate. LD

Archaeological sites are being destroyed at an unprecedented rate, and there is currently a need for a method by which the essential features of an earthwork site can be recorded with a maximum of detail in a minimum of time. The authors of this article have developed a technique of sketch mapping which could meet this need; its main advantages are outlined here before the basic method itself is described. LD

St Bartholomew's Grammar School Archaeological Society of Newbury have undertaken trial excavations investigating Mesolithic evidence at two sites near Kintbury, Berkshire. At Wawcott XXX an apparent flint knapping floor was encountered, and there appeared to be a considerable quantity of material in situ. At Avington VI the majority of the trial trenches revealed nothing of interest, although the edge of a knapping floor was found within one trench. The site is deep enough to escape damage, and will be fully excavated in the future. In the summer term a full-scale excavation was replicated as part of a major exhibition mounted in the school hall. Meanwhile, in the laboratory the processing of finds recovered during previous excavations, particularly worked flints, continues. LD

Short note on an excavation undertaken at one of a group of five ring ditches on the bank of the river Great Ouse at Roxton, Bedfordshire, which are threatened with destruction by gravel extraction. The ring ditch investigated had been constructed in one period, with the spoil used for low banks inside and outside it. Finds from its fill included Bronze Age pottery. An earlier ditch crossed the site, and there were also signs of a possible earlier hut circle. LD

Work in connection with construction of the M4 link road at Woodley, Berkshire, prompted a search for evidence of Mesolithic occupation. Mesolithic and Neolithic flint artefacts were found on top of river gravel, within which were found red deer bones. LD

Short note summarising the findings from the most recent season of excavations at Ravensburgh Castle, an Iron Age hillfort at Hexton on the Bedfordshire/Hertfordshire border. Work this year focused on the south-eastern gateway, which was constructed during a period of reoccupation and refortification likely to have occurred in the mid-4th century BC. LD

During the excavation of a pit alignment at Gretton, Northamptonshire, a hoard of forty-eight sword-shaped currency bars was found between two of the pits. The only pottery found in the pits was of early Iron Age date, but this may have been residual. Other features found in the area included a series of shallow ditches of indeterminable date, and evidence of iron working, which was possibly Roman. LD

The laying of a water main gave some opportunity for observing stratification at Caesar's Camp, an unexcavated Iron Age hillfort at Easthampstead, Berkshire. From several months' observation, a complete section through the south ditch was made.

The site of a Roman building excavated in 1876 was re-examined with a small exploratory trench in 1972; the site is under plough, with increasing quantities of stone, pottery and some coins being displaced in recent years. The findings, which included a chalk floor scored by ploughing, are outlined in this short note. The desirability of Scheduling the site is now being examined. LD

Human skeletons were uncovered during gravel working in an area half a mile to the north east of the Roman town at Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. A salvage excavation recovered ninety burials and identified a further eighty graves; it is estimated that the cemetery contained almost one thousand inhumations. It is believed to date from the late Roman period. LD

Excavations were undertaken at a site near Chesham in Bucks, threatened by ploughing, where Belgic [late Iron Age] and Roman pottery had been recovered during fieldwalking. This revealed the likely remains of a small wooden hut, a corn-drying oven and an infant burial. The site was perhaps an outbuilding or bailiff's house connected with a known Roman villa on the opposite side of the river Chess. Pottery and coins dated the site to the 3rd century AD. LD

Topsoil stripping at Brookfield Cottage Quarry, Bulwick, Northamptonshire continues to expose further evidence of iron smelting. The date of the features is still not proven, but they are comparable to Roman furnaces found on other sites in the area.

Excavations were undertaken in 1972 in advance of bridge building and road improvements at Thornborough Bridge, near Buckingham, in the vicinity of two 2nd-century AD barrows and a previously excavated 3rd-century temple. This revealed two roads, one associated with several Romano-British building platforms and the second dipping towards the river, indicating the contours of a ford. Between the roads, below a heavy deposit of river silt, a sequence of ditches and gullies was revealed. The earlier gullies produced pottery of the mid- to late 1st century AD. Two of the larger ditches enclosed a group of cremation burials. Further excavation to locate the ford on the opposite side of the river is planned. LD

Short note outlining recent discoveries in respect of the Roman road system at Alchester, and suggesting the sequence in which four of the principal roads were constructed. LD

Excavations were undertaken at Wallingford Castle in Berkshire [now Oxfordshire] following the demolition of a 19th century house and in advance of new construction. The work aimed to investigate the date of the earthworks making up the outer defences of the motte and bailey built by William the Conqueror, and to find out what type of structures were erected in the outer bailey formed by these defences. The outer bailey was built in two phases, the earliest represented by a gravel bank retained by an internal timber facing inside a ditch, dating from the mid-12th century. Contemporary with or slightly earlier than this was a cob building that formed the main interest of the excavation and is described briefly in this note. The building had been preserved due to the dumping of soil when the ground level within the gravel bank was raised. LD

Short item outlining the key findings from a survey of the earthworks and adjacent medieval fields of the shrunken village of Newton Bromswold in Northamptonshire. LD

An excavation at Brixworth, Northamptonshire, revealed three interments of the late Saxon period, four pits that were possibly contemporary with the cemetery, a wall that was probably of the 11th or 12th century, and a large building likely to have been of the 13th century. The latter could have been associated with a drying kiln and 13th-century pits in an area to the east previously excavated by Woods. The present investigation site had been levelled in the 18th century, destroying all occupation layers and preventing detailed interpretation. LD

Work with documents and maps, followed by fieldwork, has enabled the site of the small settlement of Cotton in Gretton parish, Northamptonshire, to be precisely located in low-lying land near the [river] Welland. The site is marked today in ploughed land by a few platforms bounded by hollows running north--south, and a stone scatter. The earthworks and the documentary evidence combine to suggest that the site had always been a small one.

Further excavations at the deserted medieval village of Lyveden in Northamptonshire took place in 1972, exploring an area on the western edge of the village. Indications are that this area was divided into a tiler's property on the west and a peasant farmer's property to the east. The key findings are outlined in this summary report. LD

Short note reporting on continuing work on the site of a Romano-British farmstead and medieval motte at Middleton Stoney, Oxfordshire. Three underfloor foetal infant burials were recovered from the middle of the farmstead building, whilst a drystone structure likely to have been part of a pre-motte building was found on the old ground surface below the mound. LD

As part of an investigation into alterations being carried out at Dovehouse Farm, Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire, a survey was made of the farm buildings. Massive walls and buttresses remain of what was probably a large tithe barn, whilst a late medieval open hall which had been substantially altered probably represents part of the original farmhouse. The whole complex may be the remains of a grange of the Abbot of Abingdon. LD

An assart farmstead at Woodstock, Oxfordshire, first documented in 1225, was occupied by the same family from at least 1300 until the mid-19th century. The site is now threatened by road improvements, and so in late 1971 an earthwork survey was undertaken and two trial trenches were excavated. The survey showed the remains of at least four quite large rectangular stone buildings, and the excavation revealed surviving walls, although some of the stone had been robbed. The main building seemed to be associated with 13th-century pottery, whilst a yard and a wall were covered with a demolition spread containing 14th-century pottery. The site could provide the opportunity for the complete excavation of a small assart farmstead and the study of the development of woodland farm buildings from the 13th to the 19th century. As the site has never been ploughed the stratigraphy is reasonably intact, disturbed only by tree roots. LD

Recent work at several sites in Abingdon, Berkshire [now Oxfordshire], is summarised. Excavation on the site of the proposed Salvation Army Citadel on Lombard Street/West St Helen Street revealed evidence of Iron Age, Romano-British and medieval occupation, as well as features associated with the gardens and back yards to 19th-century cottages that previously occupied the site. A vacant site at the side of the Market Place, previously occupied by a 17th-century building with large cellars, produced a great deal of Romano-British pottery as well as a concentration of medieval rubbish pits overlain by a 14th-century cobbled roadway. At Barton Court Farm part of an enclosure was excavated in advance of development, potentially revealing a complete sequence of occupation from the Early Iron Age to the Saxon period; a number of Iron Age burials and a probable Saxon inhumation were present. Work at Goose Acre Farm, St Helen's Wharf and Abingdon Bypass A34 is also mentioned. LD

Work has continued on the Bartholomew Street site in Newbury, Berkshire, throughout 1972, and is summarised in this short article. The excavation trench revealed a sequence of buildings from what was probably the start of the medieval town in the 12th century until the 17th century. Pottery from all phases was recovered. In addition, one sherd from a small samian cup and a piece of box tile were found above a layer which yielded Mesolithic flints. Pre-medieval features included two ditches that possibly indicated an earlier road alignment. LD

Rescue excavations have recently been organised in advance of urban redevelopment on six sites in Bedford. The major discoveries related to Bedford Castle and are outlined in this short article. Two major sites were also explored south of the river: excavation of a highly complicated medieval occupation sequence next to the Anglers Inn, commenced in 1971, was completed, confirming the general impression that St Mary's Street on its western side had an important settlement and light industrial area in the 12th to 15th centuries. Excavations at the site of 17/19 St Mary's Street followed the demolition of 16th- or 17th-century buildings in 1972, and revealed a long sequence of medieval occupation evidence. LD

Fourteen rescue and salvage excavations were undertaken in Oxford by the Oxford Archaeological Excavation Committee from autumn 1971 to autumn 1972, and the findings are presented here as a series of summaries arranged on an approximate period basis. Roman kiln sites were investigated at Churchill Hospital and at St Luke's Road, Cowley. Trial excavations at sites around Linacre College/St Aldate's confirmed the presence of middle Saxon occupation evidence. Observations during works in Tom Quad, Christ Church, revealed two charcoal burials of a type thought to be Danish. Salvage excavations in the front quadrangle at Corpus Christi College, aiming to shed light on the original plan of the late Saxon town, revealed a gully or ditch which yielded no dating evidence. Salvage excavations at 1--4 Castle Street and 13 High Street revealed late Saxon pits. Observations and excavations at the Castle Mound found that practically nothing of the pre-mound ground surface survived, although parts of two late Saxon pits were excavated. Similarly, rescue excavations on the north-east side of the castle bailey and the castle ditch found that extensive post-medieval disturbances had virtually destroyed all the stratified deposits with the exception of parts of three pits presumably predating the castle. Rescue excavations on the site of the Littlegate and city wall recorded a sequence of occupation from a prehistoric pit to a mid-13th-century wall built by the Greyfriars, abutted by a possible later structure. Rescue excavations on Albert Street revealed remains of the Blackfriars site; an outstanding find was a gold and sapphire ecclesiastical ring. Trial trenching and rescue excavations at New Inn Court revealed traces of a building dating to the 16th century or earlier as well as an apparent late Saxon timber-lined feature. Observation and salvage excavation at 28--31 St Ebbe's Street found that extensive cellarage had destroyed most medieval features; however, one stone-lined 14th-century pit produced some glass. At 126 High Street below-ground domestic features were observed during major works involving the destruction of a mid-16th-century rear wing. This late medieval structure had replaced an earlier building with a semi-basement with a partially tiled floor, possibly dating from the 14th century. LD

Removal of topsoil for gravel extraction over an area of ten acres at Radwell, Bedfordshire, revealed a complex of occupations. The oldest feature identified was a Neolithic ring ditch which appeared to have been a domestic site. An enclosure ditch yielded some fine late Iron Age pottery sherds, and to the west of this was a small late Iron Age cemetery with two cremations and four inhumations, three of which were buried in coffins. The whole site was overlaid by a late Romano-British farm complex that featured buildings with tiled roofs. LD

The parish of Brixworth, Northamptonshire, has been surveyed for medieval fields and pre-medieval sites. Three Romano-British sites are now known, including a villa that has previously been excavated and a third site that was formerly reported only as a Saxon cremation cemetery. The medieval fields cover all of the parish except the flooding meadows and the park of Wolfage Manor, which is detached from the village. The earthworks and fishponds of the manor house are well preserved. Some flattened areas of strips have been identified as the `rick-places' marked on a map of 1688, and are therefore presumably where stacks were built in the open fields. Other interesting features were three low mounds, one circular and two elongated, in a grass meadow. A local farmer explained that some eighty years ago rough grass and anthills used to be collected in the meadows and placed in heaps to rot down. The mounds are to be destroyed in 1973 and an excavation of the circular one was carried out in case it might be a barrow. It was indeed found to be constructed of turf and not a burial mound.

Short item noting that work on plotting all items of archaeological significance that can be seen on aerial photographs of Berkshire has begun. While a useful adjunct to research on settlement archaeology, this is intended principally as a basis for a programme of planned rescue excavation in future years. LD

Recent work at several sites around Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire is summarised. Proposed restoration of the chapel at the Priory of St Mary, Bradwell, necessitated excavation in order to ascertain the original floor and external ground levels. Internally this revealed a pavement of Little Brickhill tiles beneath a succession of brick, cobble and earth floors, whilst outside remains of a substantial 13th-century building, probably the priory church, were identified and several graves were noted. Limited excavation was undertaken at the shrunken medieval village of Caldecotte, aiming to locate definite Saxon occupation layers; trial trenches here in 1967 had produced evidence of late Iron Age, Roman and middle Saxon activity. The recent work recovered further Saxon pottery, but only late Iron Age, Roman and medieval features were seen. Excavation was carried out at the yard and site of the tithe barn at Rectory Farm, Simpson, following dismantling of the 17th-century barn. The building was found to have been of two periods of construction, whilst the first occupation on the site was represented by 13th- and 14th-century pits. Earthworks at the shrunken medieval village of Walton were planned and several areas were excavated in advance of development, revealing two medieval buildings and a Roman yard surface. Earthworks were also surveyed at the shrunken medieval villages of Great Linford and Woughton on the Green, and a trial trench was excavated across the west side of Willen Moat. LD

Since early 1971 the M40 Archaeological Research Group has carried out fifteen excavations along the line of the M40 motorway in Oxfordshire. Of these, five have yielded information of major importance to an understanding of the settlement patterns of an area hitherto considered archaeologically barren. Short summaries of the following sites are presented in this article: part of an Iron Age settlement at Heath Farm, seven miles east of Oxford; a semi-circular ring work at Hailey Wood, possibly associated with small amounts of Iron Age pottery, flanked to the south by a linear ditch and containing a massive sarsen [stone] which may have been exposed when the site was in use; the edge of a Romano-British agricultural settlement at Lewknor; a late Roman or immediately post-Roman cemetery at Beacon Hill; a group of three burials of the 7th century AD at Adwell Cop; the shrunken medieval village of Tetsworth; and the remains of an assart farmstead occupied between about AD 1250 and 1400, at Sadler's Wood. LD

Summary of activities undertaken by the Archaeological Liaison Officer at Bedfordshire County Council since taking up appointment at the start of 1972. These include: progress on the compilation of the Bedfordshire Sites and Monuments Record (SMR); lectures, talks and courses given to a variety of audiences; training and rescue excavations directed and managed; preparation of an Aspect Report on the Historical Environment for the County Structure Plan, now almost completed. With regard to the latter, whilst neither Archaeological Officer nor SMR have been in existence long enough to permit a definitive and detailed survey of the archaeology of the county, it has been possible to identify the main areas of concern and discuss the problem of monitoring in relation to the planning process. LD

Short note outlining the findings from recent excavations at Lilley Farm moated site [in Oxfordshire]. Although work this year has been limited, most of the ground plan of the structures on the island has now been uncovered. Finds have been meagre and provide no clear evidence of use, and certainly none of habitation. A few more pottery sherds, a 17th- or 18th-century key, an 18th- or 19th-century candle holder and a small cache of oyster shells have been added to a puzzling assemblage which seems haphazard. A tentative conclusion is that the structures were of late 18th- or early 19th-century construction, and that they were demolished, and useful material probably removed, long enough ago for substantial trees to grow over and within them. It is hoped in 1973 to complete the clearing of the foundations and possibly find evidence of a moat crossing. It may also be possible to section the moat. LD

Summary report on two small excavations recently undertaken by the Manshead Archaeological Society in Bedfordshire. At Eggington, at a site where an Iron Age inhumation had been excavated in 1932, the current work revealed a spread of Mesolithic material and sherds of early Iron Age, late Roman and Saxon pottery. At Tilsworth, excavation was undertaken adjacent to a mound to establish whether it was a medieval motte or a windmill tump. This found that it was surrounded by a substantial ditch and was probably an early fortified site. LD

Short report on archaeological activities that the Buckinghamshire County Museum has been associated with in 1972, including: rescue excavations at the Romano-British religious complex at Thornborough and on the site of the migrated village of Fulmer; the forging of stronger links with the County Planning Department; dialogue with the Eastern Road Construction Unit regarding archaeological matters; inauguration of a scheme known as the County Antiquities Survey in connection with restructuring records of sites and finds; and the setting up of a weekly group in Aylesbury to assist with the processing of excavated material. LD