Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society 108

Excavations at Field End, Witchford, have revealed significant evidence of Middle and Late Bronze Age funerary practices,including a mixed cemetery of 35 cremation burials and four inhumations during the Middle Bronze Age and a smaller cemetery of four cremations in the Late Bronze Age. Of note was a grave containing a young female and pre-term neonate, enclosed within an unusual post-built mortuary structure, positioned to the north of the Middle Bronze Age cemetery. Unenclosed settlement also occurred during the Late Bronze Age, characterised by scattered pits, four- and six-post structures and small wells, with the main cluster of features being located close to the contemporary cremations. Sword mould fragments recovered from two separate features, a pit and a well, provide rare evidence of sword production on or near to the site. The funerary and settlement remains are signifi cant in terms of pre-Iron Age land-use on the Isle of Ely, whilst the sword mould fragments provide a tangible link with the wealth of Bronze Age metalwork known from the Isle.

Two sites excavated by Cambridge Archaeological Unit have revised our knowledge of saltmaking in Cambridgeshire. At Littleport, a dump of industrial waste from a nearby saltern at the side of the Old Croft River contained briquetage from both the Iron Age and Roman periods. Meanwhile, at Chatteris, a saltern was located many kilometres from the nearest known zone of saltmaking and may have been used intermittently through the late Iron Age and into the beginnings of the Roman period.

To accompany the launch of the Society’s Gatty Map Collection on-line, this article outlines the history of the mapping of the county of Cambridgeshire, including the pioneering work of Sir George Fordham in researching the topic. Three maps from the Collection are described, and the project is explained.

An archaeological excavation was undertaken by Pre-Construct Archaeology prior to the re-development of the West’s Garage site at Newmarket Road, Cambridge, CB5 8HD. No evidence for any occupation pre-dating the post-medieval period was revealed during the excavations. This lack of medieval features suggests that the site was unoccupied ground within the precinct of the 12th century Barnwell priory, rather than being part of its extra-mural settlement and Barnwell suburb, previously excavated to the south of Newmarket Road. The importance of the site lies in its post-medieval development. The earliest features recorded were a series of large intercutting quarry pits dating to the 17th and 18th century. The quarried areas were reinstated in the early 19th century and the ground consolidated to allow for residential housing and the establishment of a school. The material culture included a good collection of re-used medieval and post-medieval carved stone and an assemblage of clay tobacco pipes and production waste with evidence of local manufacturing. The archaeological structural and artefactual evidence supports historic records that the buildings in this part of Newmarket Road were mainly occupied by small traders, craftsmen and labourers. The housing was demolished in the mid 1960s to make way for the garage for which the site is named. 

First mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon charter of the late 10th century, Fordham perhaps originated as a Middle Anglo-Saxon ‘home farm’ linked to Soham minster. Previous archaeological investigations provide a case study for potential Late Saxon grid planning. These are supplemented by recent excavations close to its medieval core which revealed new evidence for its pre-Norman settlement, together with medieval quarrying that may relate to building works associated with the adjacent church.