Glebe Cottage, Bathampton Lane
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The Archway in Bathampton. Glebe Cottage, Bathampton Lane John Oswin and John Withey Bath and Counties Archaeological Society 2018 Abstract There is a wall with a mediaeval archway and buttresses in the front garden of Glebe Cottage, Bathampton Lane, Bathampton. The wall is over 2 m high and includes a turn at the southern end. Beyond, to the north, the line continues as stub wall built on earlier foundations which separates a portion of garden from the main lawn. This appears to be part of a mediaeval building, but is not aligned to be a church, and is most likely for domestic or administrative use. Geophysical survey of front garden, and also of the neighbouring garden to the west, has suggested an extent for this structure and also located a circular feature under the front lawn. There are both ecclaesiastical and secular contenders for the origin of this structure. Further research to understand this structure would require excavation. i The Archway in Bathampton. Glebe Cottage, Bathampton Lane John Oswin and John Withey Bath and Counties Archaeological Society © 2018 ii Table of Contents Abstract i Table of Contents iii List of Figures iv Preface v Acknowledgements v 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Location 1 1.2 Dates 2 1.3 Personnel 2 1.4 The site 2 1.5 The finials 4 1.6 A brief history 5 2 Method 6 2.1 Gridding 6 2.2 Twin Probe Resistance 6 2.3 Resistivity Profiles 6 3 Results 7 3.1 Twin Probe Resistance 7 3.3 Resistivity Profiles 10 4 Comment and Conclusions 12 Related reading 16 Appendix A Grid Layout 17 Appendix B. Bathampton timeline 18 iii List of Figures Figure 1.1 Location map 1 Figure 1.2. The mediaeval archway seen from the east in the garden of Glebe Cottage. Scale: 2 m ranging pole. 2 Figure 1.3. The site from overhead. The red box shows the extent of the structure. The thick wall at the south end shows where it is several courses high. The pecked lines show the approximate locations of the profiles. 3 Figure 1.4. The low stub wall with raised ground beyond can be seen behind the tree on the lawn. Photo Rick Buettner. 3 Figure 1.5. The more elaborate trefoil. Left, one of the three trefoils can be seen. Right, the blank side. The second finial can be seen beyond. 4 Figure 1.6. The second, less elaborate finial. 4 Figure 3.1. Twin-probe resistance survey, 0.5 m probe separation, The portion of the plot to the left is in the neighbouring garden. 7 Figure 3.2. The plot of resistance overlaid on the lawns of the neighbouring houses. Courtesy of Google Earth. 8 Figure 3.3. Break from mediaeval to modern wall in neighbouring garden. 8 Figure 3.4. Twin-probe resistance with 1 m bar, just within the structure. 9 Figure 3.5. Resistivity profiles across the garden. The upper plot has a finer scale than the lower plot, so accentuates differing details. 10 Figure 3.6. Resistivity profile close to fence dividing properties. 11 Figure 4.1. Archway and north buttress. 12 iv Preface The Mediaeval archway which is the subject of this study resides on Glebe Cottage in Bathampton. Glebe Cottage is a Grade Two listed property on Bathampton Lane. The property was listed in 1983. Although the listing does not mention the archway there is a photo of the archway in the Somerset Archives dated to the same year so it is possible that the archway was the reason for the listing. The Bathampton Historic Society published a book in 2016 titled Bathampton Down, A Hill Divided which referenced a purchase of Glebe Lands in Bathampton by the Bristol Cathedral. Pictures of the archway were sent to Jon Cannon who is the keeper of the Fabric for Bristol Cathedral. Jon specialises in medieval church architectures and he identified the archway as the remains of a significant medieval structure. The significance of this structure was further confirmed during a survey of Glebe Cottage which was conducted by the Bathampton Local History Research Group. This survey was led by Gillian Huggins with support from Ron and Sheila Russell. Mike Chapman was involved in this survey and he supported the opinion that the archway was the remains of a larger medieval structure. He has contributed more detail on the mediaeval village. It was suggested by the Historic Society that Peter Davenport of Cotswold Archeology should be invited to look at the archway. His view again supported the opinion of a large medieval structure. He suggested that the next step should be a geophysical survey and he recommended contacting the Bath and Counties Archaeological Society with a view to conducting this survey. The Society agreed to carry out the survey which is now presented in this report. The Bath archives suggested contacting Anna Riggs (Archivist at Bath Abbey) as there was a possibility that the Archway had some connection with the Abbey and the only medieval records that she was aware of was the ‘Two Chartularies of the Priory of St Peter at Bath’. This document, records at the Somerset Archives and research done by Mike Chapman on medieval Bathampton have added possible information on function and ownership of the archway structure. Acknowledgements We would like to thank John Withey for access to his grounds, and for his enthusiasm in setting up the project. We would also like to thank Isolene Uffindale for allowing us access to her garden. Mike Chapman has provided details on mediaeval Bathampton. Aerial photographs are courtesy of Google Earth. Maps reproduced courtesy of Dorset Explorer and Bath: Know Your Place. v 1 Introduction 1.1 Location An archway and some walling of apparently mediaeval origin is to be found in the front garden of Glebe Cottage, Bathampton Lane, Bath, ST 773663, and in the front garden of the neighbouring property to the west. It is approximately 40 m above OD. Figure 1.1 shows the location. Figure 1.1 Location map 1 1.2 Dates The survey was undertaken on the 13th and 14th March, 2018. 1.3 Personnel The survey was undertaken my members of the Bath and Counties Archaeological Society, Janet Pryke, John Knapper, Terri Bell and Rick Buettner, with enthusiastic assistance from John Withey, the owner, led by John Oswin. 1.4 The site The archway is part of a stone structure, of mediaeval date. The property is Grade 2 listed, but the site is not scheduled. Figure 1.2 shows the archway from the east. Figure 1.2. The mediaeval archway seen from the east in the garden of Glebe Cottage. Scale: 2 m ranging pole. The archway is within a wall, which is strongly buttressed. To the south, the wall turns a right angle along the footway beyond the boundary of Glebe Cottage for about 7 m. The upper courses may be more recent on that section, but the lower portion 2 appears to be part of the original structure. To the north, the wall continues only just beyond the buttress before becoming a low stub wall. To the west, the ground becomes some 0.5 m higher than on the main lawn to the east, before ending close to the corner of Glebe Cottage itself. Figure 1.3 is an overhead photograph, courtesy of Google Earth. Figure 1.4 shows the length of building, seen from the east. Figure 1.3. The site from overhead. The red box shows the extent of the structure. The thick wall at the south end shows where it is several courses high. Acknowledgements to Google Earth. The pecked lines show the approximate locations of the profiles. Figure 1.4. The low stub wall with raised ground beyond can be seen behind the tree on the lawn. Photo Rick Buettner. 3 1.5 The finials The garden has a couple of finials of mediaeval date, currently just used for decoration. The first is illustrated below in figure 1.5. This sits at the northern end of the stub wall. This is the more elaborate of the two. It has trefoil carving on three sides, and the fourth side is blank, as if connecting to a roof end. The second finial is shown in figure 1.6 below. This is less elaborate than the first. It has been suggested that the finials could have topped the buttresses. Figure 1.5. The more elaborate trefoil. Left, one of the three trefoils can be seen. Right, the blank side. The second finial can be seen beyond. Figure 1.6. The second, less elaborate finial. 4 1.6 A brief history Research of records at the Somerset Archive, Two Chartularies of the Priory of St Peter at Bath and Kirby’s Quest indicate considerable activity in Hampton in the 14thcentury which might support the need for a substantial administrative structure or residence in Hampton. There are several references to the Husee family. There was a Hubert Husee who was Lord of Hampton Manor and was knighted in the 1270s. Hubert had a son James whose son James (junior) was knighted in about 1351-54. Sir James Husee and his brother John both lived in Hampton. James Husee is sometimes referred to as Dom so it is assumed that he has a connection with the Benedictines. There is also a reference in 1385 to James Husee giving a grant to found a chantry and chaplain in Hampton. The Chantries document mentions an annuity and livery being awarded to James Husee of Hampton as a principle council of the priory.