Title: |
Archaeological Test Pit Excavations in Kibworth Harcourt, Kibworth Beauchamp and Smeeton Westerby in 2009 |
Series: |
Access Cambridge Archaeology unpublished report series
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Downloads: |
accessca1-335464_1.pdf (12 MB)
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Download
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Licence Type: |
ADS Terms of Use and Access
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DOI |
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Publication Type: |
Report (in Series)
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Abstract: |
A weekend community test pit excavation was undertaken on the 25th-26th July 2009 in the gardens and fields in the villages of Kibworth Harcourt, Kibworth Beauchamp and Smeeton Westerby, to the south of Leicester. The excavations were organised by Maya Vision to be filmed as part of a six-part history series for the BBC, hosted by Michael Wood and called 'The Story of England', which originally aired in September 2010. The excavations were directed by Access Cambridge Archaeology, from the University of Cambridge and saw a total of 37 1m2 archaeological test pits excavated by local residents, members of various local archaeological and historical societies, numerous volunteers and students from the University of Leicester. A further five test pits were excavated over two-days in September 2009, mainly by students from Kibworth High School as a follow up to the 'big dig', organised again by Maya Vision. Prehistoric and Romano-British occupation was limited, but the location of activity would have likely been greatly influenced by the River Soar, with the majority of the land utilised for agriculture and influenced by the development of the Roman town of Leicester. The test pitting also revealed the first evidence for Early and Middle Anglo Saxon settlement in both Kibworth Harcourt and Smeeton Westerby respectively, which continued to thrive as rural settlements through the Anglo-Saxon and high medieval periods. The upheavals historically noted during the 14th century, including the Black Death, affected all four villages, which at that time may have led to a shift in each of the settlements with perhaps also a focus further north towards Harcourt, which showed the least decline in late medieval pottery from the test pitting. The test pit data has also shown further shifts in settlement through the post medieval and later which defined the settlement layouts that are still seen today. |
Author: |
C A Collinson
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Publisher: |
Access Cambridge Archaeology
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Other Person/Org: |
Historic England (OASIS Reviewer)
Leicestershire HER (OASIS Reviewer)
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Year of Publication: |
2018
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Locations: |
Site: |
Kibworth Harcourt, Kibworth Beauchamp and Smeeton Westerby |
County: |
Leicestershire |
District: |
Harborough |
Parish: |
KIBWORTH BEAUCHAMP |
Country: |
England |
Grid Reference: 468500, 293500 (Easting, Northing)
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Grid Reference: 468500, 294500 (Easting, Northing)
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Grid Reference: 467500, 292500 (Easting, Northing)
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Subjects / Periods: |
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Identifiers: |
OASIS Id: |
accessca1-335464 |
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Note: |
A4, 173 pages
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Source: |
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Relations: |
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Created Date: |
21 May 2019 |