2020 Pegsdon Report.Pages

Archaeology in Pegsdon 2020 Shillington History Society Report compiled by Derek Turner Pottery analysis and comments by Paul Blinkhorn www.shillington-history.org.uk Page !1 Index p2 Introduction p4 The historical context- a summary of Pegsdon’s development p6 Location map for 2020 Pegsdon test pits Reports on the 2020 Pegsdon test pits p8 PEG 20/1 & surrounding area p11 PEG20/2 p13 PEG20/3 p16 PEG20/4 p17 Other pottery find in 2020 p18 Location map for all Pegsdon test pits 2019 - 2020 Pottery distribution maps & analysis for different periods p19 Late Anglo-Saxon p20 Early Medieval p21 Late medieval p22 Post Medieval p23 Modern p24 - 27 Appendix 1- Pottery types found and locations p28 Appendix 2- Amounts and analysis of pottery by age and test pit Introduction Archaeological investigations into the history of settlement in Shillington and nearby continued during 2020 when circumstances allowed. For the second year running, test pits were dug in the geographically separate hamlet of Pegsdon. Four excavations bookended the digging season with two of them completed in March before the first Covid-19 lockdown came into effect. The two final test pits were also located there during warmer weather when restrictions were eased and in compliance with the social distancing guidance. A few other finds made in the vicinity of the test pits and elsewhere are also listed. This is the first year that a separate report has been produced for Pegsdon. Shillington History Society began to dig test pits in 2013 with the help and guidance of Access Cambridge Archaeology (University of Cambridge) and funding from an All Our Stories grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). Small teams of enthusiasts have continued working each year and by the end of 2020, they had excavated 61 test pits in Shillington, 2 in Upper Gravenhurst and 5 in Pegsdon. Those who helped during 2020 include Steve Bottle, Ivor Davis, Mike Dewberry, Alison Graham, Nigel Harper-Scott, Jane Harrison, Fiona Hutton, Kevin Jorgannsen, Dave Pengelly, Graham Spurway, Derek Turner and Lindsay Wheeler. I thank them all for their support and hard work and everyone who provided sites for us to dig. The methodology used has been consistent since 2013 including excavating in ‘contexts’ of 10cm deep layers, except where a buried surface or change in the soil is encountered, in which case a new context is begun. The participants have sieved the soil or sorted through it by hand, retaining and cleaning finds of non-natural materials, taking photographs and recording information in ‘Excavation Records’ booklets. Page !2 Pottery is usually robust and survives well in the soil. It’s composition, method of manufacture and appearance changed over time making it possible to assign it to a specific period. Once all of the test pits had been completed, the ceramic finds were taken for identification to Paul Blinkhorn- a specialist in pottery from central and southern England- who separated, counted and weighed it all and entered the results in tables. These, together with his comments which are based purely on the pottery that he was given, are shown in italics with his initials (PB) in this report. Other finds such as animal bones and shells, pieces of metal and personal artefacts such as buttons and fragments of clay tobacco pipe have not yet been examined by an expert. The conclusions which I have drawn for this report are based on the assumption that most finds that can be dated were used by people who lived in the vicinity at that time and either discarded or lost them. However, some caution is required as it is possible that some of the items originated some distance away and were spread in manure when the site was farmland. Some items will not have survived in the soil or will have been disturbed and we may have missed some of it. This report comments only on what we have found and the sites where we’ve excavated so far represent just a tiny part of the Pegsdon area. This report broadly follows the format that was established by Access Cambridge Archaeology for test pit excavations when it began working with community groups in 2005. It begins with a brief summary of conclusions made by the author about the development of Pegsdon drawn from the test pit evidence and a range of other sources. Next are the details of and results from each of the 2020 test pit locations. I have added location maps, further information and my own comments based on my knowledge of the area and records of other finds. There are also maps showing the distribution of pottery from different historical periods and the number of test pits completed facilitates further analysis of the finds. Only test pit finds are used to compile the distribution maps and analyses unless stated otherwise. Appendix 1 lists all the different pottery types that we have found so far with Paul Blinkhorn’s description of them and sites where each has been found. Appendix 2 analyses the weight of pottery and averages from each test pit and by period to facilitate comparisons between them. I have tried to achieve accuracy and objectivity throughout this report and apologise if there are any errors. If you spot any, please let me know. Derek Turner, Shillington History Society, January 2021, http://www.shillington- history.org.uk Page !3 The historical context- a summary of Pegsdon’s development Pegsdon’s current layout is very different to that of Shillington where test pit pottery shows a significant expansion of the village and its numerous ‘Ends’ in late Saxon and early medieval times. Pegsdon has only one end- Green End- about 0.5km NW of the triangle of roads within which most of the current homes are located. We excavated a single test pit in 2019 at Green End Farmhouse and two landowners kindly let us dig 4 more in 2020 in an area S of there and W of the triangle. The pottery from these suggests that Pegsdon was thriving at the same time as Shillington. Evidence of mankind’s presence in the landscape goes back much earlier than this, particularly in the area around Pegsdon Common Farm and on the surrounding hills which are part of the Chilterns. Prehistoric times According to Bedfordshire Archives and Records Service, the earliest find is a neolithic polished axe made of greenstone, found in about 1880 [HER 407]. A hammer stone and scraper found on Pegsdon Hills in 1941 [HER 415] and worked flints may also date from this period. Finds of this antiquity are not proof that this area was occupied then but show that humans were at least visiting it. This changes in the Bronze Age where life and death are represented by the remains of two bowl barrows sitting on the skyline as you look NE from Pegsdon Way. One of them, Knocking Knoll, sits on a spur where it is also visible from Pirton. William Ransom from Hitchin excavated it in 1856 and reported finding pottery. About 550m to the south is the smaller Tingley Field Plantation barrow. Aerial photographs have revealed ring ditches that are probably the ploughed-out remains of similar features. One west of Pegsdon Common Farm showed up in an aerial photograph from 1996 [HER 16760]. Another spotted south of Pegsdon [HER 9402] may have been confused with the edge of a former chalk pit. An incomplete bronze spearhead [HER 18377] from the middle to late Bronze Age was found in a garden at Bury Farm. The construction of a massive bank ditch and bank over 200m long may have taken place in the Iron Age and is one of many probable tribal boundaries along the Icknield Way. Iron Age remains have been found at Bury Farm. Field walking found pottery sherds [HER 16328] to the north-east of Pegsdon Common Farm which may be associated with activity near a spring that used to erupt at the foot of Knocking Hoe. In 1879, a cemetery at Pegsdon Common [HER 413] seems to have been used from the Iron Age into the time of the Roman occupation. Further evidence from this time was found north of Pegsdon Common [HER 1841] where two circular and several irregular enclosures suggest a farm. In 1998 and 1999, metal detecting in the same area led to the discovery of Iron-Age pottery and a range of spectacular finds including votive offerings, a late Iron Age mirror, two silver brooches and later finds. A piece of pottery found on the Pegsdon Hills nature reserve in 2020 is probably a piece of an Iron Age or Romano-British cremation urn (see p17). Page !4 The Roman occupation and beyond A 1st century brooch [HER 16292] was found in rabbit spoil on the Iron Age bank described above in 1997. Excavation to create a ‘dewpond’ on Pegsdon Hills close to the Icknield Way in December 1932 revealed some Roman pottery [HER 291] from what was thought to be the ditch around a Romano-British hut. The metal detector finds of 1998 and 1999 also included two coin hoards (NRHE Monument no. 1302313). One of these comprised 18 silver denarii and the other contained a remarkable 127 gold coins depicting emperors from Tiberius (AD 36-7) to Vespasian (AD 78-9)- the largest ever hoard from the 1st century. A Roman quern, used for grinding corn, was also discovered [HER 11315]. Settlement may have extended further N as Roman pottery has been found on either side of the brook at Kettledean Farm. It is possible that people continued to live there after this as an Anglo- Saxon burial was discovered.

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