Southampton Archaeology Unit
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Southampton Archaeology Unit Report 1258 Desk-based assessment of the archaeological potential of land south of East Gomeldon Road, Gomeldon, Wiltshire. Dr AD Russel BA PhD MCIfA 2017 Client: Mr A Pool and Mr D Bowyer. 0 Southampton City Council Archaeology Unit: East Gomeldon Road DBA Contents 1. Summary ..................................................................................................... 2 2. Introduction .................................................................................................. 2 3. Aims of the Desk-based assessment ........................................................... 3 4. Assessment methodology ............................................................................ 3 5. Site location, topography and geology ......................................................... 3 6. Historical background .................................................................................. 4 7. Cartographic evidence ................................................................................. 5 8. Archaeological Evidence .............................................................................. 7 9. Scheduled monuments .............................................................................. 14 10. Historic Buildings ..................................................................................... 15 11. The present condition of the site .............................................................. 17 12. The proposals .......................................................................................... 17 13. Conclusions ............................................................................................. 18 14. Mitigation Strategy ................................................................................... 19 1 Southampton City Council Archaeology Unit: East Gomeldon Road DBA Desk-based assessment of the archaeological potential of land south of East Gomeldon Road, Gomeldon, Wiltshire. Dr AD Russel BA PhD MCIfA Archaeology Unit report 1258 Ordnance Survey grid reference 504010 135625 1. SUMMARY The Archaeology Unit of Southampton City Council was commissioned by Mr A Pool and Mr D Bowyer to draw up a desk-based assessment of the archaeological potential of some 2000sq m of land south of East Gomeldon Road in Gomeldon, Wiltshire. Archaeological sites of all periods lie in the vicinity of the site. No prehistoric settlements are known, but a cemetery of 13 Bronze Age burials lies to the southeast. It is unlikely that it extends as far as the present site. The location of the settlement that buried their dead here is not known, but Bronze Age sherds and flints have been found to the south of the present site, both on the valley floor and on the plain to its east. The Roman road from Salisbury to Silchester, known as The Portway runs in the bottom of the valley to the west of the site, a possible settlement/enclosure lies some 300m southwest of the site, and Romano-British pottery and box-tile fragments were found during the excavation of the Gomeldon deserted medieval village downslope from the site; the box tile, however, had been collected to use in a hearth and it may have come from further afield. The excavations at the medieval villages of Winterbourne Gunner to the south, and Gomeldon to the immediate west of the site were important archaeological discoveries and the Gomeldon site, now a Scheduled Monument with its extant house platforms and trackways, lies just down-slope from the present site, which partly borders on the scheduled area. The excavators concluded that there were no house platforms to the east of the main road across the settlement (that is in the area of the present site) but the plan of the earthworks shows a number of linear features heading towards the present site. Given the presence of sites of all periods in the vicinity of the site, and the surviving medieval village of Gomeldon to the west, just outside the site boundary, the archaeological potential of the site is considered to be High. Given the high potential for archaeological remains to survive on the site best practice would dictate that further information is obtained on the date and nature of the archaeology prior to construction, and any damage to the archaeology be mitigated. This could be achieved by a condition for a two-phase programme of archaeological work being placed on the planning permission; the first phase evaluation, and the second phase a programme of further work as required by the planning authority. 2. INTRODUCTION 2.1 The Archaeology Unit of Southampton City Council was commissioned by Mr A Pool and Mr D Bowyer to draw up a desk-based assessment of the archaeological potential of some 00 acres of land at Gomeldon in Wiltshire (fig 1). 2.2 The site lies on the edge of the valley of the River Bourne, to the northeast of Salisbury. 2 Southampton City Council Archaeology Unit: East Gomeldon Road DBA 3. AIMS OF THE DESK -BASED ASSESSMENT 3.1 The aims of the assessment were to identify the likely scope of the area’s archaeological heritage and its sensitivity to development. This was to be achieved by characterising the archaeology of the site through all periods to the modern day, suggesting the likely range and locations of the archaeological evidence, and establishing areas where archaeology is unlikely to survive due to modern disturbance. 4. ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY 4.1 Wiltshire County Council provided details of nearby Heritage Assets, and the results of archaeological investigations in the area. Historic maps were consulted to gain a view of land use over the last 250 years. 5. SITE LOCATION , TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY 5.1 The site (fig 1) is centred at Ordnance Survey Grid reference 504010 135625. Figure 1. The location of the site, marked by a red star. © Crown Copyright. All rights reserved Southampton City Council. LA 1000 19679 2016. 3 Southampton City Council Archaeology Unit: East Gomeldon Road DBA Figure 2. The site in September 2016. (Solent Surveys). 5.2 The site lies on the edge of the river valley which lies to the west of the site and slopes from c79m OD in the northeast corner to c73m OD to the south east corner and c77m OD in the west corner (fig 2). 5.3 The British Geological Survey records the bedrock geology as consisting of Seaford Chalk Formation - Chalk. Sedimentary Bedrock formed approximately 84 to 89 million years ago in the Cretaceous Period. (http://mapapps.bgs.ac.uk/geologyofbritain/ home.html). 5.4 The overlying soils are recorded as 343h Andover 1 a brown rendzina (Soil Survey of England and Wales, Sheet 6 South East England). 6. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Synthesised from: https://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getcom.php?id=124 and Musty and Algar 1986. 6.1. Gomeldon lies within the parish of Idmiston. Gomeldon is derived from Gumela's Hill and the Saxon settlement was on the lower slopes of the Bourne Valley. There was substantial prehistoric settlement in this area with two large Neolithic flint mines at Easton Down and Martin's Clump, that were probably occupied for around 500 years. Bronze Age round barrows are a feature of the landscape while on Thorney Down there was a late Bronze Age farmhouse with eight outbuildings. There are several Bronze Age enclosures. During the Iron Age there were various small farms and these probably continued into the Romano-British period. On Roche Court Down there is an early 6th century Saxon cemetery with 17 graves with a further 18 graves of victims of a mass execution. It is most likely that settled Saxon occupation of the valley took place soon after this. By the early 10th century Glastonbury Abbey held 20 hides here, including the manor of Gomeldon, and Saxon burials have been found at Gomeldon. 4 Southampton City Council Archaeology Unit: East Gomeldon Road DBA 6.2 Gomeldon is not mentioned as such in the Domesday Book (1086) it is generally assumed that the 5-hide estate entered as Wintreburne is in fact Gomeldon. There were three distinct communities, Idmiston being the largest with about 70-75 people, then Gomeldon with 50 to 55 and in the middle, geographically, Porton with about 30 inhabitants. Idmiston had the most land, sufficient for seven plough teams, Gomeldon had land for three plough teams and Porton enough for two. All had meadow and pastureland but only Idmiston had woodland (10 acres). Both Gomeldon and Porton had water mills. The total population was between 150 and 160. Part of the deserted medieval village of Gomeldon, to the east of the river, has been excavated. It was originally sited on the lower slopes of Gomeldon Hill and in the early 12th century consisted of long houses, home to humans at one end and animals at the other. By the late 13th century/early 14th century the animals were housed in a separate building and the houses were reserved for humans. The houses were of unmortared flint and set on a village street, which remains as a hollow way. By the later medieval period the houses had moved further up the hillside and set on prepared platforms. The earliest existing building in the parish is the timber-framed Old Vicarage at Idmiston that dates from the early 15th century. It is likely that the settlement at Gomeldon was in decline by this time and in 1518 the mill is described as 'decayed' and there were only six households. 7. CARTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE 7.1 A brief overview of the known cartographic evidence from the late 18th century onwards follows. Andrews’ and Dury’s Map of Wiltshire, 1773, (Map 1) shows the site as fields. Later map from