Archaeological Review No. 36 2011
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Trans. Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 130 (2012), 307–332 Archaeological Review No. 36 2011 Edited by JAN WILLS and JON HOYLE The Archaeological Review presents brief summaries of archaeological research, fieldwork and building recording undertaken during the year. Information is arranged mostly by civil parishes (as shown on the OS 1:10,000 series maps) with the parish name followed by the site name or description and grid reference. For the cities of Bristol and Gloucester entries are arranged by street or area. Contributions for the next review should be sent to the Archaeology Service, Gloucestershire County Council, Shire Hall, Gloucester, GL1 2TH. Abbreviations AA Absolute Archaeology AAU Avon Archaeological Unit AOC AOC Archaeology ARS Archaeological Research Services Ltd. ArScn Archeoscan BA Benchmark Archaeology BaRAS Bristol and Region Archaeological Services BUSAS Bournemouth University School of Applied Sciences CA Cotswold Archaeology CADHAS The Campden and District Historical and Archaeological Society CHHC Castle House Heritage Consulting FA Foundations Archaeology GADARG Gloucester and District Archaeological Research Group GCCAS Gloucestershire County Council Archaeology Service HA Headland Archaeology JMHS John Moore Heritage Services LHA Lawrence Hayes Associates MA Monmouth Archaeology NA Northamptonshire Archaeology NT The National Trust OAS Oxford Archaeology South TVAS Thames Valley Archaeological Services WHEAS Worcestershire Historic Environment and Archaeology Service 110 Arch 110 Archaeology AMPNEY CRUCIS, Happy Lands, Wiggold, SP 04500530. A single 20m2 evaluation trench was hand-excavated across the western perimeter of an oval enclosure measuring c. 60m × 45m which had first been recognised as a cropmark by O.G.S. Crawford in 1931. Geophysical surveys in 307-332 Archaeological Review.indd 307 19/02/2013 13:58 308 archaeological review 2011 2010 and 2011 suggested the presence of two roughly concentric rings of interrupted ditches and a possible entrance opening to the east. The outer ditch on the northern and western sides was larger than on the south and east. Excavation showed that, where sampled, the inner ditch was 0.6m wide and preserved to a depth of 0.3m while the outer ditch, originally more than 0.8m wide and 0.6m deep, had been recut on a more massive scale as a ditch 2.8m wide and 1.8m deep with steep sides and a flat base. No material to date the construction of the ditches was recovered. Timothy Darvill, BUSAS AMPNEY CRUCIS and BAUNTON, Abbey Home Farm, SP 04500500 (C). Extensive geophysical surveys covering a total of 74ha were undertaken in 10 fields within Abbey Home Farm: Steep Hill, Barn Sisters, Sisters, Ferns, Welshway Corner, Beetles Piece, Happy Lands, Little Ampney, Barn Ground, and Coneygars. This provided high resolution surveys of archaeological features recorded in Little Ampney (middle Bronze Age enclosure), Happy Lands (undated oval enclosure), and Sisters (long barrow). It also identified three previously unrecorded sets of features: enclosures, pits, and possible post-settings in Welshway Corner; later prehistoric, Romano-British and medieval enclosures and settlement remains in Barn Ground and Coneygars and old stream beds and evidence for a possible lightning strike in Barn Sisters and Steep Hill. Timothy Darvill, BUSAS BAGENDON, The Old School, SP 01100660. An evaluation consisting of four test pits identified archaeological fills/layers beneath poorly dated make-up deposits. These were associated with pottery datable to the later Iron Age and early Roman periods, along with bone fragments, burnt flint, ceramic building material (CBM), charcoal and limestone fragments. Deposits containing 2nd-century AD pottery provided limited evidence for settlement within the Bagendon oppidum in the later part of the early Roman period. FA BRIMPSFIELD, Brimpsfield Castle, SO 94041273. Archaeological recording was undertaken at the castle gatehouse which was becoming badly damaged due to erosion and severe root disturbance. The position of the eastern and western sides of the gatehouse indicate that the original entrance was 3m wide, and slots for the portcullis, the remains of the door jambs and some evidence of decorative carving were clearly visible on both sides of the entrance. The western side survives as two courses of stone and patches of mortar were visible within both walls. The floor surface of the gateway was also well preserved and there was evidence for a possible stairway and laid stone floors. Following recording the walls were covered with soil and topped with a layer of turf to protect the remaining stonework. Briege Williams, GCCAS BRISTOL Bedminster, Parson Street Primary School, ST 58037054. Following previous work in 2010 a watching brief recorded predominantly natural deposits and features associated with the site’s use as a school. Some features associated with 12th- to 14th- century, and 16th- to 18th- century activity were also identified. Gary Baddeley, AOC Bedminster, Nos. 200–202 West Street, ST 57837090. A watching brief and training excavation on the former site of terraced cottages identified structural remains, cut features and datable, stratified deposits indicating a long sequence of occupation from the medieval period. Settlement activity 307-332 Archaeological Review.indd 308 19/02/2013 13:58 archaeological review 2011 309 was represented by fairly substantial clay-bonded limestone wall footings, post and stakeholes and deposits containing exclusively medieval pottery. It is clear that bedrock had been exposed in antiquity and early masonry was re-used in later structures on the same site during major rebuilding in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Andy King, BaRAS Brandon Hill, ST 57897297. Two evaluation trenches were excavated to investigate a bastion- shaped feature thought to be part of the English Civil War fortifications. A section was excavated across the ditch which demonstrated its similarity to a Civil War outwork recorded at Gloucester Lane, Old Market, in 2002, and that it had been recut to more than half its original depth when Cabot Tower was constructed in about 1898. The bastion retaining wall and earth bank were later than the Civil War and may have been a folly constructed in the mid to late 18th century. Further landscaping around the summit in the 1850s raised both the ground level within the bastion and the height of the retaining wall. The retaining wall was also refaced and coping stones added sometime around 1898. An outer line of earthworks further down the hill were described as part of the Civil War defences in 1823, although additional excavation would be needed to clarify this. Andy King, BaRAS Castle Park, Newgate, ST 58187267. A watching brief during construction of a new food kiosk uncovered a north/south aligned stone wall beneath the concrete surface of the former road known as Dolphin Street. The wall, which is probably early post-medieval and could seal earlier archaeological deposits, may be the edge of a cellar extending beneath Dolphin Street, or one side of a stone-lined drainage culvert. Cai Mason, BaRAS Cotham, Cotham Grammar School, ST 58407400. Watching brief identified a 19th-century stone wall and a brick-lined drain which are likely to have been associated with a mid 19th-century villa known as Cotham Lawn. Gary Baddeley, BaRAS Clifton, Chesterfield Hospital, Clifton Hill, ST 59437240. A building survey, in advance of renovation work, was undertaken at Stafford Lodge, an ancillary building to the Grade II* listed hospital formerly known as Clifton Court. Clifton Court was constructed in 1742 and Stafford Lodge was part of a range of buildings to the west of the main block built in the early 19th century. It was not affected when the west wing of Clifton Court was substantially rebuilt in 1857, but was mostly demolished when a large new extension was added to the rear of the main house following its conversion to a nursing home in 1934. Stafford Lodge was subsequently rebuilt as a two-storey brick structure which incorporated parts of the earlier building into its south and east walls. Cai Mason, BaRAS Easton, buildings adjacent to Junction 3 of the M32, ST 60267428. A building survey prior to redevelopment recorded the remains of a number of houses, workshops and outbuildings along Lower Ashley Road, Baptist Street and Millpond Street. The earliest, along Lower Ashley Road, dated to the 1830s, and the Baptist Street and Millpond Street frontages were developed soon after. Numerous later 19th- and 20th-century alterations and extensions were also recorded. A number of brass slag blocks and fragments of brass casting slabs from the nearby Baptist Mills Brass Works were recovered during demolition. Cai Mason, BaRAS 307-332 Archaeological Review.indd 309 19/02/2013 13:58 310 archaeological review 2011 Easton, Lower Ashley Road, ST 60127434. An excavation on the site of the former Wesley Chapel burial ground uncovered 72 in situ burials, representing a 6.78% sample of the 1,062 individuals known to have been buried on the site between 1837 and 1899. The rest of the burials were removed by a burial ground clearance operation undertaken in the early 1970s. Skeletal remains were recovered from fourteen graves, six of which had multiple internments, stacked up to eight deep. Just over half of the burials were pre-adult and the majority were from two graves, one of which may have been reserved for infants and children. Analysis revealed that some of the skeletons had pathologies associated with poor diet, but did not display evidence for levels of poverty-related diseases recorded from contemporary sites in London. The foundations of the Wesley Chapel, built in 1837 and substantially enlarged in 1871, were recorded along with the remains of a late 18th-century building which formed part of the former Baptist Mills Brass Works. Both buildings were demolished in the early 1970s prior to the construction of the M32 motorway. Cai Mason, BaRAS Former Magistrates Court, Rupert Street/Nelson Street, ST 58737321.