Bedfordshire Archaeological Journal Volume 06 1971

An account of the entries in the Bedford Times of items of archaeological interest at a time when there were no proceedings of a local archaeological society but including the earliest years of the Bedfordshire Architectural and Archaeological Society founded in 1847. A number of hitherto unknown items of interest, including notes on the first Anglo-Saxon finds made at Kempston, have been revealed. Other notes not otherwise available are the discovery of a coffin lid at St Leonard's Hospital, Bedford, and the 'excavation' of a round barrow on Dunstable Downs.

Excavations between 1963 and 1967 looked at two Iron Age settlements in Northamptonshire. The one at Bozeat was enclosed by a large, circular enclosure ditch, lying nested within a smaller circular enclosure, while the settlement at Strixton consists of domestic remains with rectangular enclosures. Mention is also made of an Iron Age settlement at Easton Maudit.

Industrial development and subsequent rescue excavation produced a small Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Blackhorse Road, Letchworth, between 1958 and 1966. The finds, though few may be suggested as seventh century, a date which their paucity would help to substantiate. A distinctive burial with a spearhead embedded in the chest is discussed in detail, including a pathological report on the probable cause of death.

A description of two Neolithic flints from Wymington (a scraper and a combined knife and scraper), plus illustrations of Neolithic flint axes in Bedford Museum

Further excavations at the Benedictine nunnery of Elstow Abbey (c. 1080-1539) have shown parts of a complicated plan for the eastern arm of the church; many details of this are obscured by a modern graveyard. The development of the Chapter House, from within the Norman dorter range to a lengthy eastern extension of the 13th or 14th century, has been investigated. The rebuilding and repositioning of the dorter range and the rere-dorter is discussed. A complex series of outbuildings is being explored.

Description and discussion of an assemblage of Iron Age pottery found at Mowsbury Camp

Report on a Roman well found at Heath and Reach, and the pottery recovered from it

Illustration and discussion of the provenance and date of a Bronze bowl found somewhere at Sandy

The rescue excavation in advance of road widening of an earthwork at TL 069495 within the precinct of Newnham Priory (founded C.1166) showed that an elongated mound aligned north-south, had originally been more circular in shape. It was probably the last visible part, to the north of the River Ouse New Cut, of the monastic complex of ditches, banks, mounds and fishponds which appear on early maps of the area.

Reviews of Bedford Museum Guide by F.W. Kuhlicke (Bedford Corporation, second edition, 1971); A Bedfordshire Bibliography. Second Supplement by L.R. Conisbee (Bedfordshire Historical Record Society, 1971); Discovering Regional Archaeology: Central England by Barry M. Marsden (Shire Publications, 1970); and Anglo-Saxon Towers: An Architectural and Historical Study By E.A.Fisher (David and Charles, 1969)