| Title: |
Longbridge Manor, Stratford Road, warwick, warwickshire. Archaeological excavation and watching brief. |
| Series: |
Archaeology Warwickshire unpublished report series
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| Downloads: |
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archaeol27-243123_1.pdf (8 MB)
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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: |
The archaeological programme was designed to identify, excavate and record, as far as possible, the nature of the archaeological resource disturbed by the development. The work undertaken involved the examination of early map evidence as well as records of archaeological remains in the area and local historical journals and other publications. Fieldwork involved the excavation of a 15m x 16m area which expanded on the investigation in evaluation trench 3. The area was hand cleaned to expose archaeological deposits which were then excavated and recorded in accordance with normal archaeological procedure as defined in the Archaeology Warwickshire Procedures Manual (2011).
The subsequent car park and drainage excavations were the subject of a watching brief during the groundworks phase whereby an experienced archaeologist supervised the machine during ground reductions. The earliest evidence for human interaction in the areas investigated came from the recovery of a flint scraper of probable early Bronze Age date (c.2500BC – 1800BC). Such finds are not necessarily indicative of settlement, but may be taken to imply that the landscape was visited in that period.
A small concentration of medieval features was exposed in the investigation area.
The medieval pottery found had a date range of 13th to 14th century. These features are likely to represent part of the medieval hamlet of Longbridge and their presence on the south side of the Stratford Road suggests that the hamlet once extended along both sides of the road.
A principal ditch curving across the site may have been a boundary between
properties or with the open field system whilst other minor features such as a gully terminal and an L-shaped gully arrangement and an elongated pit are less easy to ascribe a function. However these and perhaps the undated postholes would be consistent with an area of short-lived occupation some distance from the settlement foci.
It seems that the hamlet of Longbridge contained at least 10 houses in 1424
Longbridge Manor, Warwick (Hodgetts 2011) when it is recorded in a rental of St Mary’s College (part of Warwick’s parish church). By 1545 only eight houses are mentioned as paying rents. This rate of decline may imply that the hamlet was shrinking in 1424, but there are no records to prove it. It is though interesting to note that the owners of Longbridge Manor, the Staunton family, gradually increased their landholdings within the hamlet by buying up smaller properties and amalgamating them with their own, particularly in the 16th-century.
In the evaluation phase a small gully (303 in Trench 3) was interpreted as possibly linked to Iron Age activity. This was due to the presence of a fragment of low-fired clay recovered from a grey sandy loam fill (304). The characteristics of such fills often result in them being considered of some antiquity having most likely been subjected to a long period of leaching which removes ‘colour’. In addition 30 fragments of fired clay were found in Iron Age features in the archaeological evaluation just to the west of the site in 1997. However It
would now be prudent to revise the original interpretation and consider the fired clay and the accompanying animal bone as more likely to be of medieval origin.
No further significant remains were revealed during the recent phases of work. This undoubtedly reflects the relatively shallow nature of the ground reduction required for the car park formation level, which did not impact on the level of any potential archaeological features. Elsewhere the narrowness of drainage trenches may have also precluded archaeological remains being revealed. |
| Author: |
Wright Kevin
Bryn gethin
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| Publisher: |
Archaeology Warwickshire
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| Year of Publication: |
2015
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| Locations: |
| District: |
Warwick |
| Country: |
England |
| County: |
Warwickshire |
| Parish: |
Warwick |
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Grid Reference: 426799, 262549 (Easting, Northing)
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| Identifiers: |
| OASIS Id: |
archaeol27-243123 |
| OBIB: |
Report number 1509 |
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| Note: |
This report was uploaded to the OASIS system by the named Publisher. The report has been transferred into the ADS Library for public access and to facilitate future research.
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| Created Date: |
23 May 2022 |
