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The Wadeway: Investigation of the Medieval Crossing Point from Langstone Village to Hayling Island

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The Wadeway: Investigation of the Medieval Crossing Point from Langstone Village to Hayling Island Proc. Hampshire Field Club Archaeol. Soc. 69, 2014, 131–160 (Hampshire Studies 2014) THE WADEWAY: INVESTIGATION OF THE MEDIEVAL CROSSING POINT FROM LANGSTONE VILLAGE TO HAYLING ISLAND By JULIE SATCHELL with contributions by PAUL DONOHUE, Rob SCAIFE and SIMON BRAY ABSTRACT means of survey, excavation, radiocarbon dating and palaeoenvironmental analysis, have demon- Chichester Harbour Conservancy’s ‘Rhythms of the strated that the Wadeway is medieval in date and Tide’ project has provided the opportunity to investi- is most likely to have been constructed in the early gate the Wadeway, a now disused causeway between to mid 14th century. Establishing the age of the the north of Hayling Island and the adjacent Wadeway has allowed the feature to be interpreted mainland at Langstone. Results of this work, by within its historic context and has also added to Fig 1 Location of the Wadeway in relation to Chichester and Langstone Harbours and the wider Solent region 131 2104.indb 131 21/07/2014 17:20:32 132 HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY Fig 2 The Wadeway looking south towards Hayling Island our knowledge of the development of Chichester and Iron Age, Roman or medieval. It is clear that Langstone Harbours. human activity on the island would require access to the area, although prior to recent work the Wadeway had not been assessed in INTRODUCTION terms of its relationship to sea level, or been subject to intrusive investigation. There has long been speculation over the age A preliminary survey of the surface features of the Wadeway which runs between Langstone visible in the northern segment of the Wadeway Village and Hayling Island, Hampshire in 2000 (Satchell 2000) demonstrated there (Fig. 1). The Wadeway (centred on NGR SU may have been multiple phases of construction, 723045) is a raised track way which was used at with different materials making up the surface low tide to cross to the island. Today it is still of the feature and various arrangements of clearly visible, although there are areas where posts and timbers used to define the edges. later construction works have cut through the In 2005–6 Chichester Harbour Conservancy’s feature making it hazardous to use. Due to the ‘Rhythms of the Tide’ project, funded by the quantity of archaeological evidence on Hayling Heritage Lottery Fund (Maritime Archaeology Island from a range of periods, speculation has 2005; MoLAS 2007) provided the opportunity variously dated the Wadeway as Bronze Age, to undertake further investigations. 2104.indb 132 21/07/2014 17:20:32 SATCHELL: THE WADEWAY 133 The results of this work have demonstrated no less numerous with a villa being located in that the Wadeway is medieval in date and is Langstone village (Gilkes 1998) and a Roman most likely to have been constructed in the road running close to the Wadeway. Evidence early to mid 14th century. Establishing the gathered from neighbouring Langstone age of the Wadeway has allowed the feature Harbour has suggested the area on which the to be interpreted within its historic context Wadeway was constructed was saltmarsh in the and has also added to our knowledge of the Romano-British period, and is therefore likely development of Chichester and Langstone to have been waterlogged (Allen & Gardiner Harbours. The Wadeway is likely to have been 2000). constructed in response to the sea level rises During the early medieval period population and storm surges that had a dramatic affect expansion was mirrored with a rise in settle- on the south of Hayling Island where areas of ments, trade and activity around the harbour. land were lost to the sea, and hence demon- Marine related industries in the area include strates evidence of communities responding fishing, oyster farming, saltworking and boat to coastal change. building (MoLAS 2004, 60). Saltmarsh around the coastal fringes was reclaimed for agricul- tural activities. With maritime connections and LOCATION AND CONTEXT productive agricultural land, Hayling Island would have been in a strong strategic position. The Wadeway runs from the village of However, it was subject to increased flooding Langstone in the north towards Hayling Island due to sea level rise in the late 13th and 14th in the south (Fig. 2) and is divided into three Centuries (MoLAS 2004, 60). segments. The northern segment runs south- The first documentary evidence which east from Langstone until it is severed by a implies the possible existence of a crossing channel. The second segment continues south- point to Hayling Island comes from the east from the channel, changing direction at Domesday Book which refers to the settlement its mid point to south-south-west until severed of Wade. Reference to the village of Wade is by another channel known as New Cut. It then repeated in the 1260s during the reign of King continues to run south-south-westerly towards John (Page 1908) and the village of West Wade the salt marsh adjacent to a promontory jutting is mentioned in a lease of the lands to the Duke out near North Common (Fig. 3). The site is of Arundel (Morley 1987, 9). easy to discern at low tide; although its signifi- During the post-medieval period (1540– cance as a transport route has been somewhat 1900) industrial and maritime activity greatly overshadowed by the modern bridge crossings. increased along the south coast. Common For many centuries it would have been a key features around both Langstone and Chich- maritime feature of this area of Langstone and ester Harbours include watermills, windmills, Chichester Harbours. brickworks, salterns and field systems (MoLAS 2004, 69). It is during this period, in 1552, Archaeological and historic setting that the first direct historical references to the Wadeway appear (Morley 1987); some Human occupation and use of the area around refer to paying for passage across, others are Hayling Island is well represented in the archae- concerned with maintenance and cleaning. ological record. There is evidence of Bronze With the expansion of activity in the area the Age occupation/use including round houses, Wadeway would have been an important part a timber feature to the north of the island and of the transport network. an axe hoard (Williams & Soffe 1987; Lawson A 1775 survey of Hayling Island indicates 1999), in addition to significant Iron Age and that ‘a considerable time before and after low Roman features including Tournerbury fort water Carriages and Horses pass from Havant (Bradley & Fulford 1975) and the multi-period into the Island; when the tide is in, the water is temple site east of Stoke village (King & Soffe crossed in a Ferry Boat’ (Morley 1987). Further 1994; 2013). Remains on the mainland are evidence that the Wadeway is an established 2104.indb 133 21/07/2014 17:20:32 134 HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY Fig 3 Site plan showing Wadeway segments and location of the excavation trenches 2104.indb 134 21/07/2014 17:20:33 SATCHELL: THE WADEWAY 135 Fig 4 Plan showing wooden features within the Wadeway as recorded during the walk over survey 2104.indb 135 21/07/2014 17:20:34 136 HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY route is found within cartographic sources; Walkover survey Taylor’s 1759 map shows the Wadeway marked as ‘Horse Road’, while Milne’s 1791 map shows The walkover survey aimed to investigate the ‘Horse Road at Low Water’. By the time of the surface deposits and features, gauge the current 1810 Ordnance Survey map two routes are condition of the Wadeway and plan for future illustrated, the Wadeway which is still shown as excavation. Survey began at the northern end an intact crossing and Hayling Bridge to the of the Wadeway, near the village of Langstone, west. However, soon after this date the use of walking south to the northernmost channel the Wadeway significantly declined due to the that cuts through the Wadeway. As many of the accessibility of alternative crossings that were features encountered in the northern segment not dictated by the tidal cycle. had been subject to preliminary survey in 2000 Throughout the 19th century the transport (Satchell 2000) it was possible to compare their infrastructure to Hayling Island was developed condition over the intervening five years, Fig. to include a canal, railway bridge and a toll 4 provides the location of the features within bridge. In the early 19th century, plans were the Wadeway. developed for the construction of a canal The northern segment of the Wadeway, between Portsmouth and Arundel passing measuring around 250m in length, is the most through Chichester. This was approved by an intact, with its surface being highly compacted Act of Parliament in 1817, which sealed the and easily definable. The majority of the fate of the Wadeway through which New Cut timber features associated with the Wadeway was dug for the canal in either 1820 or 1821 are found in this area. Features 1 and 2, and 3 (Morley 1987, 12–13). In 1823, a company was and 4, form two pairs of timbers which clearly formed to oversee the construction of a toll mark the edge of the Wadeway, with naturally bridge to Hayling Island. The Act that author- deposited marine silts lying either side. After ised the construction prohibited any other 250m there is an abrupt change in the surface conveyance for hire or reward, by land or by composition to loose flint gravels (Fig. 5). sea, within one thousand yards of the bridge Here it also widens and becomes less definable. (Morley 1987, 14–15). Further clusters of timber elements, such as Since the early 19th century the Wadeway has feature 6, consist of a combination of upright remained part of the landscape of the harbour and horizontal timbers.
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