Archaeological Test Pit Excavations in Healing, Lincolnshire in 2017

Archaeological test pit excavations in Healing, Lincolnshire in 2017

Catherine Collins

2019

Access Cambridge Archaeology Department of Archaeology University of Cambridge Downing Street Cambridge CB2 3ER

01223 761519

[email protected]

http://www.access.arch.cam.ac.uk/

1 Introduction

A total of seven 1m2 archaeological test pits were excavated over a single two-day test pitting event in June 2017, in the village of Healing in northeast Lincolnshire, as part of the Independent Learning Archaeology Field School (ILAFS) and run by Access Cambridge Archaeology (ACA) out of the University of Cambridge.

Healing is situated between the settlements of Stallingborough and Great Coates, just to the northwest of Grimsby. The parish extends east to the Humber Estuary but the settlement itself is inland, between the 13th century church of St Peter and St Paul in the south and the railway station in the north.

The name Healing comes from Old English to mean 'the settlement of a family or followers of a man called Haegel' and was recorded in the Domesday Book on 1086 as ‘Hegelinge’ with three separate entries, with land belonging to the Archbishop of York, The Bishop of Bayeux and the land of Alvred of Lincoln. Two medieval moated sites are known, one at Healing Hall, just south of the church, from which have found the remains of medieval features including a building that may have been the site of the original manor the village and the other just to north, under what is now Swallow Drive/Mallard Close. Residual Anglo-Saxon finds have also been found, pushing occupation in this part of the village prior to the construction of the moats.

1.1 Access Cambridge Archaeology

Access Cambridge Archaeology (ACA) (http://www.access.arch.cam.ac.uk/) is an archaeological outreach organisation based in the Department of Archaeology in the University of Cambridge, which aims to enhance economic, social and personal well-being through active engagement with archaeology. It was set up in 2004 and specialises in providing opportunities for members of the public to take part in purposeful, research- orientated archaeological investigations including excavation. Educational events and courses range in length from a few hours to a week or more and involve members of the public of all ages.

Since 2015, ACA has been managed by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) and thus have been able to work more closely with the unit to deliver outreach programmes such as the community excavations at Peterborough Cathedral in 2016, community test pitting activities in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The ACA and CAU collaboration has also enabled the continuation of the education outreach projects that involve work with both primary and secondary school pupils.

1.2 The Independent Learning Archaeology Field School (ILAFS)

The Independent Learning Archaeology Field School (ILAFS) programme, formerly known as the Higher Education Field Academy (HEFA) programme, aims to raise the aspirations, enthusiasm and attainment of 14-17 year-olds with regard to higher education by making a valuable contribution to current academic research at the University of Cambridge. The three- day learning-extension course has been run by Access Cambridge Archaeology (ACA) since 2005, aimed at UK students in state schools years 9, 10 and 12.

On ILAFS, participants spend two days running their own small (1m2) archaeological excavation within living villages, with the aim of applying and developing a wide range of learning skills, boosting their academic confidence and giving them a taste of life and learning at university level. They make new discoveries for and about themselves, and, in the process, contribute to the university's currently occupied rural settlement (CORS) research into the development of rural communities and settlements in the past. The third day is spent in the University of Cambridge analysing the excavation results in discursive learning sessions which aim to engage and challenge participants, prepare them to produce a written analysis for assessment as well as provide an inspirational and positive experience of higher education. After the field school, learners receive detailed individual feedback on their data collection, personal, learning and thinking skills developed during the fieldwork as well as their reporting and research skills exhibited in the written assignment, which will support applications to further and higher education.

2 Methodology

The one year of test pitting in Healing was organised by ACA in conjunction with the North East Lincolnshire Archaeology and History Society. The excavation and records followed the Independent Learning Archaeology Field School (ILAFS), instruction handbook and recording booklet.

The test pit digging takes place over two days, which begins with an initial talk explaining the aims of the excavation, the procedures used in digging and recording the test pit and the correct and safe use of equipment. Participants are then divided into teams of three or four individuals, and each team is provided with a complete set of test pit excavation equipment, copies of the instruction handbook and a record booklet to enter excavation data into.

The test pits were all 1m2 and the turf, if present, was removed in neat squares by hand. Each test pit was excavated in a series of 10cm spits or contexts, to a maximum depth of 1.2m. The horizontal surface of each context/spit was then drawn at 1:10 scale before excavation, a photograph taken and the colour of the soil recorded with reference to a standardised colour chart. A pro-forma recording system was used by participants to record their test pit excavation. This comprised a 16-page Test Pit Record booklet which was developed by ACA for use by people with no previous archaeological experience. Each pit and context is described and noted using the site code HEA/17.

During the excavation, 100% of the spoil is sieved through a 10mm mesh (with the occasional exception of very heavy clay soils which have to be hand-searched). All artefacts are retained, cleaned and bagged by context. Cut and built features are planned at 1:10 and excavated sequentially with latest deposits removed first. Pottery and most other finds are identified promptly by archaeological experts on site who visit the test pits regularly providing advice and checking that the excavation is being carried out and recorded to the required standard. Test pits are excavated down to natural or the maximum safe depth of 1.2m, whichever is encountered first. A minority of test pits will stop on encountering a feature, (ancient or modern) which archaeological staff deem inadvisable or impossible to remove, and occasionally excavation may cease at a level above natural due to time constraints. On completion of each test pit excavation, all four sections are drawn at 1:10 along with the unexcavated base of the test pit prior to backfilling by hand and the turf replaced neatly to restore the site.

After the two days of excavation are completed, the archaeological records and finds (all of which are kept and cleaned on site) are retained by ACA at the University of Cambridge for analysis, reporting, archiving and submission to HER’s, publication and ongoing research into the origins and development of rural settlement. Ownership of objects rests in the first instance with the landowner, except where other law overrides this (e.g. Treasure Act 1996, 2006, Burials Act 1857). ACA retain all finds in the short term for analysis and ideally also in the longer term in order that the excavation archives will be as complete as possible, but any requests to return finds to owners will be agreed.

3 Results from the test pitting in Healing

The approximate locations of the test pits excavated in Healing can be seen in figure 1 below (please note that the test pits are not to scale). The excavations were undertaken over the 28th and 29th of June when a total of seven 1m2 archaeological test pits were excavated 27 Year 9 pupils from Ormiston Maritime Academy (school names correct at time of participation).

The test pits were excavated as part of the Independent Learning Archaeology Field School (ILAFS), run by ACA and funded by Cambridge Admissions Office out of the University of Cambridge. The excavations were directed by Alison Dickens, with onsite supervision provided by Catherine Collins and Emily Ryley with Jane Young, who also analysed the pottery. The test pit sites were found by members of the North East Lincolnshire Archaeology and History Society, and in particular David Robinson.

The data from each test pit is discussed in this section and set out in numerical order and by year. Most excavation was in spits measuring 10cm in depth, but in cases when a change in the character of deposits indicated a change in context, a new spit was started before 10cm.

Figure 1: Location map of all the Healing test pits (NB test pits not to scale) © Crown Copyright/database right 2019. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service 1: 10,000

Test Pit one (HEA/17/1)

Test pit one was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a modern house set in the far south of the village. It was the northern of two excavated in this property; see also HEA/17/2 (The Homestead, 7 Aylesby Lane, Healing. TA 21595 09486).

Test Pit one was excavated to a depth of 0.5m at which the natural clay was found. Excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

All the pottery excavated from HEA/17/1 dates to the 18th century and later and has been identified as Creamware, Unspecified English Stoneware English Porcelain, Late Earthenwares, Staffordshire White Salt-Glazed Stoneware, Transfer Printed Ware and Modern Whiteware. Figure 2: Location map of HEA/17/1

Ceramic period Codename 2 3 4 5 Totals

Early modern CREA 0 3 3 1 7 ENGS 3 1 2 1 7 ENPO 1 0 3 2 6 LERTH 2 3 1 0 6 SWSG 0 0 0 1 1 TPW 1 1 5 2 9 WHITE 1 2 2 3 8 Totals 8 10 16 10 44

Table 1: The pottery excavated from HEA/17/1

A wide range of finds were recorded through the test pit, most of which likely date to the 18th century and later with the pottery and shows that there has been little activity on site prior to then, probably as open fields until the current house was built. The range of finds recorded consist of fragments of ceramic building material (CBM), some of which appeared to have been burnt, glass, concrete, mortar, glass, tarmac, iron nails and bolts, a metal hinge bracket, a strip of metal, brick fragments, tile, a piece of plastic, cockle shell, animal bone (two pieces were also burnt), coal and four pieces of slag.

Test Pit two (HEA/17/2)

Test pit two was excavated in the enclosed rear garden of a modern house set in the far south of the village. It was also the southern of two excavated in this property; see also HEA/17/1 (The Homestead, 7 Aylesby Lane, Healing. TA 21615 09443 - Guestimate).

Test pit two was excavated to a depth of 0.2m. Natural was not found, but this pit was closed down early due to fewer students being available to excavate the test pit.

Two sherds of 18th century and later pottery were excavated from HEA/17/2, identified as Transfer Printed Ware and Modern Whiteware.

Figure 3: Location map of HEA/17/2

Ceramic period Codename Contex Contex Totals t1 t2 Early modern TPW 0 1 1 WHITE 1 0 1 Totals 1 1 2

Table 2: The pottery excavated from HEA/17/2

The results from HEA/17/2 were similar to those found from HEA/17/2 just to the north, despite the excavation being halted early on this site. The finds seem to date from the 18th century onwards with iron nails found with glass, coal and animal bone; some of which was again burnt. An additional two pieces of burnt stone were also identified that may be later prehistoric in date, although additional analysis of the lithics would be needed to confirm this.

Test Pit three (HEA/17/3)

Test pit three was excavated in a grass field, immediately west of a large moated site to the west of the manor house and church (The Manor, Stallingborough Road, Healing. TA 31225 10018 – Guestimate).

Test pit three was excavated to a depth of 0.5m. Natural was not found, but due to time constraints, excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

A single sherd of Humber Basin Fabrics was excavated from context four of HEA/17/3 and is medieval in date.

Figure 4: Location map of HEA/17/3 Ceramic period Codename Context 4 3.1.1.1 T o t a l s Medieval HUMB 1 1 Totals 1 1

Table 3: The pottery excavated from HEA/17/3

The majority of the finds excavated from HEA/17/3 were fragments of brick, tile and CBM, some of which may be medieval in date and could have come from a structure within the moated site situated immediately to the east of the test pit, again further signified by the single sherd of medieval pottery also recorded. Further work would however be needed to confirm this. The rest of the finds excavated consist of coal, possible concrete fragments oyster shell and a shotgun cartridge. Three pieces of likely worked flint were also recorded from context three that may indicate the presence of later prehistoric activity on site, although analysis of the lithics would be needed to confirm this.

Test Pit four (HEA/17/4)

Test pit four was excavated in the large enclosed rear garden of a likely 19th century house set just north of the church in the centre of the village. It was also the southern of two test pits excavated within the property; see also HEA/17/5 (The Grange, Low Road, Healing. TA 21429 10303).

Test pit four was excavated to a depth of 0.5m. Natural was not found, but due to time constraints, excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

Two sherds of medieval pottery Figure 5: Location map of HEA/17/4 were excavated from HEA/17/4 and identified as Beverley Orange-type ware Fabric 1 with a single sherd of post medieval Late Humber-type ware pot. An additional three sherds of 18th century and later pottery was also recorded as Creamware, English Porcelain and Late Earthenwares.

Ceramic period Codename Context Contect 3 4 3.1.1.2 T o t a l s Early medieval BEVO1T 2 0 2 Post-medieval LHUM 0 1 1 Early modern CREA 0 1 1 ENPO 0 1 1 LERTH 0 1 1 Totals 2 4 6

Table 4: The pottery excavated from HEA/17/4

The very few finds and pottery that were excavated from HEA/17/4 suggest that there has been very little in the way of activity on site until the current house was built, but even then the ground has had little disturbance since then. The pottery results do suggest that there was sporadic activity on site during the 12th/13th century and again during the 16th/17th century and finally again during the 18th century, but this may represent manure from agriculture. A number of pieces of animal bone were only also found, but an additional possible worked flint was identified from context two that may be later prehistoric in date.

Test Pit five (HEA/17/5)

Test pit five was excavated in the large enclosed rear garden of a likely 19th century house set just north of the church in the centre of the village. It was also the northern of two test pits excavated within the property; see also HEA/17/4 (The Grange, Low Road, Healing. TA 21453 10344).

Test pit five was excavated to a depth of 0.4m. Natural was not found, but due to the presence of the water table at this depth, the test pit was abandoned, recorded and backfilled.

A range of pottery types were excavated from HEA/17/5 Figure 6: Location map of HEA/17/5 including two medieval sherds of Beverley Orange-type ware Fabric 2, whilst the rest of the wares date to the post medieval and later as Glazed Red Earthenware, Late Humber-type ware, Staffordshire/Bristol mottled- glazed ware Unidentified Slipware, Creamware 19th century Buff Ware and Pearlware.

Ceramic period Codename Context Context 2 3 3.1.1.3 T o t a l s Medieval BEVO2T 2 0 2 Post-medieval GRE 3 0 3 LHUM 1 0 1 STMO 1 0 1 SLIP 1 0 1 Early modern CREA 0 1 1 NCBW 0 1 1 PEARL 0 2 2 Totals 8 4 12

Table 5: The pottery excavated from HEA/17/5

The results from HEA/17/5 are similar to those from HEA/17/4 just to the south, but as this site was closer to the house, there does seem to have been more disturbance to this part of the garden than further away. Fragments of both CBM and coal were both also recovered with a range of pottery wares that may indicate more activity through the post medieval especially and perhaps suggesting that there was an earlier structure on site. The limited medieval activity also continues and the additional presence of two worked flints with a single small

burnt stone is further evidence of likely later prehistoric activity recorded in this area of the village.

Test Pit six (HEA/17/6)

Test pit six was excavated in the front garden of a cottage built in 1901 and set back from the main road through the south of the village (Iona Cottage, Low Road, Healing. TA 21526 10372).

Test pit six was excavated to a depth of 0.5m, with a sondage in one corner to 0.6m, at which natural was found. Excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

Three sherds of pottery were excavated from HEA/17/6, all of which date from the 17th century and later as Westerwald Stoneware and Creamware.

Figure 7: Location map of HEA/17/6 Ceramic period Codename Context Context 1 5 3.1.1.4 T o t a l s Post-medieval WEST 1 0 1 Early modern CREA 0 2 2 Totals 1 2 3

Table 6: The pottery excavated from HEA/17/6

The finds excavated from HEA/17/6 suggest that there was little in the way of activity on site until the 17th century, but then the land may have only been utilised as open fields until the current house was built in 1901. The few finds recorded consist of tile, CBM, glass, coal and a key hole frame with three fragments of animal bone. The presence of a single possible worked flint from context five may indicate that the later prehistoric activity that was identified at The Grange may have continued northeast to Iona Cottage, although further analysis of the lithics would be needed to confirm this.

Test Pit seven (HEA/17/7)

Test pit seven was excavated in the enclosed side garden of a modern house set along the main road through the village (The Retreat, Rookery Road, Healing. TA 21399 10452).

Test pit seven was excavated to a depth of 0.6m, at which natural was found. Excavations were halted at this level and the test pit was recorded and backfilled.

Two sherds of pottery excavated from HEA/17/2 date to the post medieval as Black-glazed wares with an additional four sherds of modern Whiteware also identified.

Figure 8: Location map of HEA/17/7

Ceramic Codename 1 4 5 Totals period Early modern BL 0 0 2 2 WHITE 1 1 2 4 Totals 1 1 4 6

Table 7: The pottery excavated from HEA/17/7

The majority of the finds that were excavated from HEA/17/7 likely date from the 18th century onwards although some of the bricks that were excavated from the last context (five) may be medieval in date, (possibly 13th-16th century) and hints at the presence of a medieval activity on this site, although no medieval pottery was found. Out of this context was also found pieces of slate, oyster shell, glass, lumps of iron, an iron nail and a metal rod with additional fragments of CBM, which suggests that there has been a lot of disturbance on site and through the depth of the test pit. Additional finds include mortar, tarmac, a strip of metal, wire, bottle glass and further fragments of brick and tile.

4 Conclusions

The seven archaeological test pits that were excavated in Healing in 2017 have yielded archaeological evidence for settlement in the parish dating from the high medieval through to the modern day. All the test pit results have also added to the ‘bigger picture’ of the development of Healing, as well as providing new insight into the level of archaeological remains that are still present under the village.

Several possible worked flints, burnt stones or both were recorded from five of the seven test pits in Healing (HEA/17/2, HEA/17/3, HEA/17/4, HEA/17/5 and HEA/17/6). Although at the time of writing these lithics are yet to be analysed by an expert, it is likely that they are of a later prehistoric date, perhaps dating to the Neolithic or Bronze Age. Generally, there is little in the way of prehistoric material recorded from Healing on the Historic Environment Record (HER), a likely bowl barrow is known as Toot Hill (HER No. 0330/1/0) and located between the church and the B1210. This is on a small plateau of slightly higher ground, overlooking the marshes to the north and the River Humber and the test pits that produced lithics were sited to the south, west and north of Toot Hill and may therefore hint at previously unknown areas of contemporary later prehistoric activity in Healing.

No evidence for any Romano-British material was found from the test pitting, but the test pits were sited away from the known area of Iron Age and Roman settlement that is now to the northwest of Healing, on open land to the north of Forsythia Avenue (HER No. 1010/1/0). There was also no evidence for any Anglo-Saxon material from the test pits, which is perhaps surprising as the test pits were mainly concentrated within the original historic core of the village, which has known Anglo-Saxon origins (HER No. 0301/0/0). The earliest pottery recorded from the test pitting dated to the high medieval, with a cluster of activity noted at The Grange (HEA/17/4 and HEA/17/5) with also a single sherd recorded from outside the moated area adjacent to the church (HEA/17/3). These were all sited within the historic core of the settlement and therefore support the notion of settlement in this area, although it was not seen to expand out of this area from the test pit data.

No test pits produced any material dating to the later medieval and it is possible that Healing was quite severely affected by the numerous socio-economic factors of the 14th century, including the Black Death that also may have led to a shift in the settlement at this time, although further archaeological investigations are needed to confirm this. The village recovered into the post medieval, although it likely remained small and there was an evident shift in the focus of the settlement to the north of the church and Stallingborough Road. Thereafter this continued to be the focus of the village, especially after the railway was built in the later 19th century, so that by the early 20th century there was new development connecting the train station to the historic part of the settlement. The Healing that is seen today is mainly modern infilling.

5 Maps

Much of the value of the test pit data from currently occupied rural settlements are derived from a holistic consideration across the entire settlement. Maps showing a range of the data from the test pit excavations in Healing in 2017 are included below.