'IWEN'IY-FIVE YEARS OF ARCHAEOLOGY IN GWUCESTERSHIRE

A REVIEW OF NEW DISCOVERIES AND NEW THINKING IN AND 1979-2004

Edited by Neil Holbrook and John Jul'ica

COTSWOLD ARCHAEOLOGY Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Report No. 3

This report is distributed free to members of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF ARCHAEOLOGY IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE A REVIEW OF NEW DISCOVERIES AND NEW THINKING IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE AND BRISTOL 1979-2004

Edited by Neil Holbrook and John Jufica

ISSN 1479-2389 ISBN 0 9523196 8 3

C.A.G. ~COTSWOLD a ~ ARCHAEOLOGY ENGLISH HERTTAGE

Bristol and Gloucestershire Committee for Archaeology Cotswold - English Archaeological Society in Gloucestershire Archaeology Heritage

COTSWOLD ARCHAEOLOGY Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Report No. 3

This report is distributed free to members of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeolo~ical Society © 2006, Authors, Cotswold Archaeological Trust Ltd (Building 11, Kemble Enterprise Park, , Glos. GL7 6BQ) and the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society (Stonehatch, Oakridge Lynch, , Glos. GL6 7NR). .

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of Cotswold Archaeological Trust Ltd and the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society.

Cotswold Archaeological Trust and the Council of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society are not responsible for any statement made or opinion expressed in this publication; the authors alone are responsible for their own papers.

This publication has been generously supported by grants from the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, the Committee for Archaeology in Gloucestershire and .

. Front cover: Aerial photograph of Saintbury, Gloucestershire (photograph by Damian Grady, November 2003, ©English Heritage, National Monuments Record 23275/24)

Series Editor: Martin Watts Typeset and printed in Europe by the Alden Group,

ii .CONTENTS

Contributors ...... iv

Abbreviations ...... vii

Introduction and Acknowledgements by Neil Holbrook ...... 1

Early Prehistory by Timothy Darvill ...... · 5

The Iron Age by Tom Moore ...... 61

The Roman Period by Neil Holbrook ...... 97

The Early Medieval Period by Andrew Reynolds ...... 133

East is East and West is Gloucestershire by Richard Reece ...... 161

The Medieval Countryside by Mark Bowden ...... 167

Bristol by Robert H. ]ones ...... 189

Gloucester by Carolyn Heighway ...... 211

The View from the Gloucestershire Archaeology Service by ]an Wills ...... 231

The South Gloucestershire Historic Environment Record by David R. Evans ...... 23 7

Archaeology in Gloucestershire: Looking Backwards but Mostly Forwards by Alan Saville ...... · 239

Index by Susan Vaughan ...... 249

iii CONTRIBUTORS

Mark Bowden BA FSA MIFA Senior Investigator Archaeological Survey and Investigation English Heritage NMRC Great Western Village Kemble Drive Swindon Wilts. SN2 2GZ

Timothy Darvill BA PhD DSc FSA FSA Scot RPA MIFA Professor of Archaeology Archaeology and, Historic Environment Group School of Conservation Sciences University Fern Barrow, BH12 SBB Email: [email protected]

David R. Evans BA Historic Environment Record Officer South Gloucestershire Council Civic Centre High Street Kingswood Bristol BS15 9TR Email: [email protected]

Carolyn Heighway BA FSA MIFA Past Historic 6 Church Street King's Stanley Stroud Glos. GLlO 3HW

Neil Holbrook BA FSA MIFA Chief Executive Cotswold Archaeology Building 11 Kemble Enterprise Park Cirencester Glos. GL7 6BQ

iv CONTRIBUTORS

Mark Bowden BA FSA MIFA Senior Investigator Archaeological Survey and Investigation English Heritage NMRC Great Western Village Kemble Drive Swindon Wilts. SN2 2GZ

Timothy Darvill BA PhD DSc FSA FSA Scot RPA MIFA Professor of Archaeology Archaeology and, Historic Environment Group School of Conservation Sciences Bournemouth University Fern Barrow, Poole Dorset BH12 SBB Email: [email protected]

David R. Evans BA Historic Environment Record Officer South Gloucestershire Council Civic Centre High Street Kingswood Bristol BS15 9TR Email: [email protected]

Carolyn Heighway BA FSA MIFA Past Historic 6 Church Street King's Stanley Stroud Glos. GLlO 3HW

Neil Holbrook BA FSA MIFA Chief Executive Cotswold Archaeology Building 11 Kemble Enterprise Park Cirencester Glos. GL7 6BQ

iv Robert H. Jones BA MIFA City Archaeologist Bristol City Council Dept. of Planning, Transport and Sustainable Development Planning Services Brunei House St George' s Road Bristol BS 1 SUY Email: [email protected]

John Jurica BA PhD Honorary Editor BGAS Transactions 27 Moorend Road Leckhampton Glos. GL53 OER

Tom Moore BA PhD Lecturer Department of Archaeology University of Durham South Road Durham DH1 3LE Email: [email protected]

Richard Reece BSc PhD FSA The Appleloft The Waterloo Cirencester Glos. GL7 2PU

Andrew Reynolds BA PhD FSA FSA Scat Reader in Medieval Archaeology Institute of Archaeology University College London 31-34 Cordon Square London WC1H OPY

Alan Saville BA FSA FSA Scat MIFA Senior Curator, Earliest Prehistory Archaeology Department National Museums of Scotland Chambers Street Edinburgh EH 1 lJF Email: [email protected]

V Jan Wills BA MIFA Archaeologist Environment Department Gloucestershire Hall Westgate Street GLl 2TH

vi ABBREVIATlONS

For abbreviations in bibliographies standard conventions have been observed. The forms listed below concern only a few of the organisations and publications mentioned in this volume.

AOC Areas of Competence

BaRAS Bristol and Region Archaeological Services

BAR British Archaeological Reports

BGAS Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society

CAB Council for British Archaeology

CRAAGS Committee for Rescue Archaeology in , Gloucestershire and

HBMCE Historic Buildings and Monuments Commision for

RCHME Royal Commision on Historical Monuments (England)

WAT Western Archaeological Trust

vii Introduction and Acknowledgements Neil Holbrook

In 1991 I applied for a job in Cirencester with the newly formed Cotswold Archaeological Trust. At the time I was working in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and knew next to nothing of Gloucestershire or its archaeology. In preparation for the interview I went into Newcastle University library in search of a book that I could read on the train to give the appearance of being prepared. That was the first time I came across Archaeology in Gloucestershire edited by Alan Saville, but in the last 14 years it has been a regular as I have endeavoured, sometimes in vain, to place new discoveries into some kind of context. The 25th anniversary of the original day conference held on 8 September 1979 fell in 2004, which was also conveniently the 20th anniversary of the publication of Alan's 'green book' (as I always think of it). Inevitably much has changed in Gloucestershire archaeology in the last quarter of a century and it seemed a good time to hold another day conference to review new discoveries and ideas. I was conscious that in 1984 the region served by the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society (BGAS) was split between the of Avon and Gloucestershire, a division reflected in the archaeological literature. Archaeology in Gloucestershire was concerned solely with the post-1974 county, Bristol and the southern part of historic Gloucestershire being covered in The Archaeology of Avon edited by Mick Aston and Rob Iles and published in 1987. This time round I thought it would be useful to include the unitary authorities of Bristol and South Gloucestershire created in 1996 upon the demise of Avon County Council in our discussions. The conference was held on 6 November 2004 at the University of Gloucestershire in front of an enthusiastic audience. Two of the original participants (Tim Darvill and Carolyn Heighway) returned and along with a number of younger scholars demonstrated the vitality of the subject at the start of the 21st century. It was a particular pleasure to invite Alan Saville and Richard Reece to chair the conference sessions, and Alan concluded the day with a frank assessment of the successes, and failures, of archaeology in the county over the last couple of decades. I am pleased that both have contributed papers to this volume. The constraints of a day conference dictated that we could not cover all chronological periods, and the decision was taken to halt the review at the end of the Middle Ages (although Mark Bowden's discussion of the medieval countryside strayed into the post-medieval period and Bob Jones's paper on Bristol took us almost up to the present day). The cut-off was made purely on practicality, for there has been an upsurge in interest in the archaeology of the post-medieval and modern periods over recent decades, and there is a fine tradition of work by the Bristol Industrial Archaeology Society and the Gloucestershire Society for Industrial Archaeology. Interest in the historic environment has never been so catholic, and a future conference and publication covering these more recent periods in our area would be welcome. The last 25 years have also witnessed a revolution in local authority archaeology with the development of Sites and Monuments Records (or Historic Environment Records as many are now called) and effective control of the impact of development upon archaeological remains. There was no time to include a review of these developments in the conference, but two new papers (Wills and Evans) place these achievements on record. It is pleasing that three of the four local authorities in our area that maintain an archaeological staff (Bristol City Council, Gloucestershire County Council and South Gloucester­ shire Council) are represented in this volume. Without doubt the major change that has occurred in archaeology since 1979 has been the introduction of Planning Policy Guidance Note 16: Archaeology and Planning (PPG 16) in 1990.

1 NEIL HOLBROOK

Combined with other guidance and legislation (suth as the 1979 Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act and ratification of directives on Environmental Impact Assessment) the effect has been largely to halt the widespread destruction by development of archaeological sites without record. Of course the picture is not perfect. Managing the detrimental effects of agriculture on archaeological remains, for instance, is still a challenge, although Jan Wills paints a hopeful picture for the future in her paper. But we should not forget just how much progress has been made. Archaeology is now a material consideration in the planning process, a state of affairs that has caused the nature of archaeological fieldwork to change dramatically. Many contributors review and discuss the evidence that has accrued under this new regime, which is both larger in volume and somewhat different in character from that familiar to us in the 1970s and 80s. In terms of our knowledge of the archaeology of the historic county, 25 years ago Cotswold evidence dominated the scene. In this volume it is the Severn Vale where many new discoveries have been made. This should be no surprise. Fieldwork now_ largely follows development, and the is both an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and contains 144 Conservation Areas, more than any other local authority in England: Understandably it has not been a focus for such activity, with the notable exception of investigations in advance of the improvement of the A417 / A419 trunk road in 1996-7. Rather it has been the two main river valleys ofthe county where most work has taken place. In the Upper Thames Valley investigation over many hectares in advance of mineral extraction continues to make a major contribution to our understanding of the interplay of past human activity and environmental processes. The corridor of the MS motorway running through the Severn Vale has served as a focus for much new residential development, with extensive housing schemes around , Bishop's Cleeve and Gloucester. In the '' conurbation extensive urban developments have occurred at and , preceded by varying levels of investigation, while the construction of the M48 motorway and the Second provided an opportunity to examine the Levels. As Alan Saville highlights in his paper, new discoveries in these areas throw into sharper relief the gaps in our knowledge of the archaeology of the county west of Severn, where the level of work has been less. An ongoing archaeological survey of the promises much. Just as the nature of archaeological fieldwork has changed over the last 15 years, so have the bodies that execute it. In the 1980s archaeological investigation was undertaken by local authority units in Bristol and Gloucester, the long-established Cirencester Excavation Committee (CEC) in Cirencester, and regional units such as the Cqmmittee for Rescue Archaeology in Avon Gloucestershire and Somerset (CRAAGS) (1973-82) and its successor the Western Archaeological Trust ( 1982-5) dealing largely with rural projects. The introduction of PPG 16 was eagerly awaited by archaeologists, but few perhaps fully anticipated its consequences. For archaeologists to be able to react to the pace of development, and for the requirements of newly found clients who rightly expected value for money and efficiency from their consultants in return for funding, existing structures and working practices had to change. In Cirencester, the. CEC recognised the wind of change earlier than some other urban units, and in 1989 Cotswold Archaeological Trust was created to take responsibility for new fieldwork. Today Cotswold Archaeology, as it is now called, is one of the ten largest archaeological companies operating in Britain, with work in Gloucestershire and Avon at the core of a geographically widespread portfolio of projects. The breakdown of territorial monopolies over the last 15 years or so has caused some angst within the archaeological profession, but it is a situation that is. likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Intelligent and rigorous regulation is essential, however, for the free market to function successfully.

2 INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

So far this introduction has focused on changes in government policy and professional struc­ tures. All the while, however, we must note the achievements of the local archaeological societies which have done so much to further our understanding of the past in our region. In addition to the BGAS, three local groups produce annual journals that are packed with the results of fieldwork and research. The Bristol and Avon Archaeological Society has been led inspirationally for several decades by James Russell. Dean Archaeological Group continues in the tradition of Bryan Waiters and still undertakes research excavation (their current project at Rodmore Farm, , is now drawing to a close). The third member of this triumvirate, the Gloucester and District Archaeological Research Group (GADARG), has prospered under the twin leadership of Eddie Price and the late Bernard Rawes. Bernard and his colleagues tirelessly recorded many sites in and around Gloucester before destruction, while Eddie has been directing research excavation at Court for over 40 years, an achievement now recognised and celebrated beyond the bounds of Gloucestershire (see, for instance, Current Archaeology 169 (2000), 11-19). The triumphant publication of the first two Frocester monographs in 2000 is as good a testament as one could ask for the quality. and professionalism of Eddie and GADARG. A scan through the bibliographies contained in this volume shows just how much important information is to be found in the pages of Bristol and Avon Archaeology, Dean Archaeology and Glevensis. And this is in addition to the BGAS Transactions. Few other counties can demonstrate a comparable level of active archaeological research undertaken by individuals in their free time simply because they are interested. It is a humbling thought for all of us who earn our living by practising archaeology. The 1984 volume was dedicated to Helen O'Neil and Elsie Clifford, two redoubtable figures of mid 20th-century Gloucestershire archaeology. Twenty years on this volume is dedicated to three individuals who have achieved much in the final quarter of that century from a local base: Eddie Price, the late Bernard Rawes, and James Russell. Their research stands comparison with that of the very best of their peers, 'professional' or 'amateur'. Many people contributed to the success of the conference and helped in bringing its proceedings to publication. First I must thank the main partners in the venture: the Committee for Archaeology in Gloucestershire (CAG), Cotswold Archaeology, English Heritage and the University of Gloucestershire. Martin Ecclestone, the Secretary of CAG, did much behind the scene to ensure the success of the conference, assisted on the day by staff of Cotswold Archaeology. Professor Neil Wynn, head of the Department of History, and Lorna Scott, archivist, at the University of Gloucestershire generously arranged for the facilities at The Park campus to be put at our disposal. English Heritage supplied a grant to allow the Cotswold Archaeology drawing office to produce many of the illustrations contained in this volume. They are the work of Peter Moore, Lorna Gray and Liz Hargreaves. The index was compiled by Susan Vaughan. This publi­ cation was produced by Cotswold Archaeology with grant aid from English Heritage, CAG and the BGAS. I am particularly grateful to my fellow editor John Jufica, editor of the BGAS Transactions; for offering to share the burden of editorial duties. My main thanks, however, go to the contri­ butors, both those who spoke at the conference and those who produced papers subsequently: I believe their papers show that archaeology in Bristol and Gloucestershire is alive and well at the start of the 21st century. It will be fascinating to see what people in 2029 will make of our progress in the next 25 years.

Cirencester - June 2005

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