Towns in the Dark?

Urban transformations from Late Roman Britain to Anglo-Saxon England

Gavin Speed

Archaeopress Archaeology Archaeopress Gordon House 276 Banbury Road Oxford OX2 7ED www.archaeopress.com

ISBN 978 1 78491 004 4 ISBN 978 1 78491 005 1 (e-Pdf)

© Archaeopress and G Speed 2014

Front cover detail: Life amongst the ruins in 5th-6th century Leicester (copyright University of Leicester Archaeological Services and Mike Codd).

Background image: The collapsed wall of the Roman macellum, with subsequent Anglo-Saxon structure (SFB) built over and within it (visible on back cover).

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Printed in England by CMP (UK) Ltd

This book is available direct from Archaeopress or from our website www.archaeopress.com Contents

Acknowledgements...... viii

Preface...... ix

Chapter 1: Introduction and Methodology...... 1

1.1 Research Background...... 1 1.2 Research Aims and Questions...... 3 1.3 Structure of the Book...... 4 1.4 Data Sources...... 5 Written Sources...... 5 Archaeological Evidence...... 6 Dating Activity: Closing the Material Culture Gap...... 7 1.5 Methodology...... 9 Study Period: Definitions and Labels...... 9 Study Zones...... 9 Modelling and Plotting Life in Towns using GIS...... 9

Chapter 2: A Review of Debate on Romano-British Towns, AD 300 – 600...... 11

2.1 Introduction...... 11 2.2 Early Pioneers: Haverfield, Wheeler, and Collingwood...... 11 2.3 The Urban Archaeology of Frere, Wacher, and Biddle...... 12 2.4 Divergent Views and Romanisation...... 13 2.5 Polarised Visions: Dark and Faulkner...... 14 2.6 New Century: New Viewpoints?...... 16 2.7 The Future...... 17

Chapter 3: Urban Sequences in the South-East...... 18

3.1 Introduction...... 18 3.2 London...... 19 The Archaeological Resource...... 19 Origins and Development...... 19 The 4th Century...... 20 Town Defences...... 21 Public Structures...... 22 Housing...... 22 Religious Structures and Burials...... 24 The Urban Hinterland...... 25 The 5th and 6th Centuries...... 25 The Early 7th Century...... 26 Altering Settlement Forms: London AD 300-600...... 27 3.3 Colchester...... 27 The Archaeological Resource...... 28 Origins and Development...... 28 The 4th Century ...... 29 Town Defences...... 29 Public Structures...... 30 Housing...... 30 Soils and Space...... 32 Religious Structures and Burials...... 32 The Urban Hinterland...... 33

i The 5th and 6th Centuries...... 33 The Early 7th Century...... 36 Altering Settlement Forms: Colchester AD 300-600...... 36 3.4 Canterbury...... 36 The Archaeological Resource...... 36 Origins and Development...... 37 The 4th Century...... 38 Town Defences...... 38 Public Structures...... 39 Housing...... 39 Soils and Space...... 39 Religious Structures and Burials...... 39 The 5th and 6th Centuries...... 40 Altering Settlement Forms: Canterbury AD 300-600...... 43 3.5 Summary...... 43

Chapter 4: Urban Sequences in the South-West...... 45

4.1 Introduction...... 45 4.2 Cirencester...... 46 The Archaeological Resource...... 46 Origins and Development...... 46 The 4th Century...... 46 Town Defences...... 46 Public Buildings...... 47 Housing...... 49 Soils and Space...... 51 Religious Structures and Burials...... 51 The 5th and 6th Centuries...... 52 The Early 7th Century...... 52 Altering Settlement Forms: Cirencester AD 300-600...... 52 4.3 Winchester...... 54 The Archaeological Resource...... 54 Origins and Development...... 54 The 4th Century...... 54 Town Defences...... 54 Public Buildings...... 54 Housing...... 55 Soils and Space...... 58 Religious Structures and Burials...... 58 The 5th and 6th Centuries...... 58 The Early 7th Century...... 61 Altering Settlement Forms: Winchester AD 300-600...... 61 4.4 Silchester...... 61 The Archaeological Resource...... 61 Origins and Development...... 63 The 4th Century...... 63 Town Defences...... 63 Public Buildings...... 63 Private Buildings...... 65 Soils and Space...... 67 Religious Structures and Burials...... 67 The 5th and 6th Centuries...... 68 The Early 7th Century...... 68 Altering Settlement Forms: Silchester AD 300 - 600...... 68 4.5 Summary...... 69

Chapter 5: Urban Sequences in the Midlands...... 71

5.1 Introduction...... 71 5.2 Leicester...... 72

ii The Archaeological Resource...... 72 Origins and Development...... 73 The 4th Century...... 73 Town Defences...... 73 Public Structures...... 74 Housing...... 74 Soils and Space...... 75 Religious Structures and Burials...... 76 The 5th and 6th Centuries...... 79 The Early 7th Century...... 80 Altering Settlement Forms: Leicester AD 300 - 600...... 84 5.3 Lincoln...... 84 The Archaeological Resource...... 84 Origins and Development...... 87 The 4th Century...... 87 Town Defences...... 87 Public Structures...... 87 Housing...... 88 Soils and Space...... 88 Religious Structures and Burials...... 89 The 5th and 6th Centuries...... 89 The Early 7th Century...... 92 Altering Settlement Forms: Lincoln AD 300-600...... 92 5.4 Wroxeter...... 92 The Archaeological Resource...... 92 Origins and Development...... 93 The 4th Century...... 94 Town Defences...... 94 Public Structures...... 95 Housing...... 95 Religious Structures and Burials...... 96 The 5th and 6th Centuries...... 96 The Early 7th Century...... 98 Altering Settlement Forms: Wroxeter AD 300 - 600...... 98 5.5 Summary...... 98

Chapter 6: Questioning Towns in Late Roman Britain: Forms, Functions, and Failings...... 100

6.1 Introduction...... 100 6.2 Defining Late Romano-British Urbanism...... 100 Roman Urbanism...... 100 Late Romano-British Urbanism...... 101 6.3 Urban Roles and Authorities: Controls and Taxation...... 102 The State...... 102 The Military...... 103 Army Reforms, Conspiracies, and Usurpers...... 103 Defending Britannia: Towns and Forts...... 104 Late Roman Buckles, Belts and Darts: An Urban Militarisation?...... 104 The Church ...... 105 Historical Background ...... 105 Urban Christians ...... 105 Rural and Military Christians ...... 106 Summary: Who Controls the Town?...... 106 6.4 Monumental or Ruinous? Changing Public Services...... 107 Renewed Defences: Spolia and Bastions ...... 108 Repairs, Additions, and Closures...... 108 External Bastions: When, Where, Why? ...... 110 Remodelled Civic Cores...... 110 Reduced Leisure Services...... 113 Pagan Practices Persisting?...... 114

iii Summary: Reduction and Reuse...... 115 6.5 Population Profiles: Town and Country...... 115 Townhouse Reuse: Technology, Industry and Agriculture?...... 115 A Rural Revival?...... 117 6.6 Provincial Urbanisms: Beyond Britannia...... 119 Gaul and Germany...... 119 Spain...... 119 A North-Western 4th-Century Urbanism?...... 121 6.7 Summary: Town Life at the End of Roman Britain...... 121

Chapter 7: Towns as Settlements, or as Symbols of the Past? 5th- and 6th- Century England...... 122

7.1 Introduction...... 122 7.2 Models of Change I: Sub-Roman ‘Urbanism’...... 122 7.3 Models of Change II: Anglo-Saxon Ruralised Nuclei...... 125 7.4 Models of Change III: Failure and Shift...... 128 7.5 Identifying the People of the 5th and 6th Centuries AD...... 130 The ‘Blank Generation’ – Found?...... 130 Who was Building (and Living in) Sunken Huts and Halls?...... 131 Defining the People(s)...... 132 7.6 Re-emergences beyond AD 600...... 133 7.7 Summary: What Role for ‘Towns’ in a Ruralised Society?...... 134

Chapter 8: Stepping out from the Dark: Conclusions and Directions...... 136

8.1 Introduction...... 136 8.2 Defining Urban Transformations: AD 300 - 600...... 136 8.3 Debating Urban Transformations: East and West, Worlds Together or Worlds Apart?...... 137 8.4 Research Achievements ...... 142 8.5 Remaining Issues...... 142 8.6 New Routes, Research, and Directions ...... 142 8.7 Concluding Remarks: What is New?...... 143

Appendices...... 144

Appendix 1: Case Studies Data...... 144 Appendix 2: Additional Data...... 170

Bibliography...... 173

iv List of Figures and Tables

Figure 1: Case study towns and regions. The South-East (London, Canterbury, Colchester); the South-West (Cirencester, Silchester, Winchester); the Midlands (Leicester, Lincoln, Wroxeter). Other major towns shaded...... 8 Figure 2: Roman towns in South-East Britain (drawn by author)...... 18 Figure 3: Location of the key excavations in London (drawn by author, updated from Watson 1998a: fig.3)...... 20 Figure 4: Archaeological evidence from 4th-century London (drawn by author, updated from Perring 1991; Wacher 1995; Watson 1998a: 3)...... 21 Figure 5: View of a large fragment of upstanding Roman town wall in London (photo by author)...... 22 Figure 6: A large aisled building at Colchester House, London. Note the actual archaeological remains (shaded) compared to the substantial conjecture (redrawn by author, after Sankey 1998: 79)...... 23 Figure 7: A thick deposit of dark earth, overlying London amphitheatre’s arena wall ...... 24 (image courtesy and copyright Museum of London Archaeology)...... 24 Figure 8: 5th- to 6th-century sites in the region of London (drawn by author, updated from Clark and Sheldon 2008: 52, fig.1.7.1)...... 26 Figure 9: Roman London in relation to Mid-Saxon Lundenwic. Major Roman roads indicated (drawn by author, updated from Rowsome 2000: 48)...... 27 Figure 10: Key excavations in Colchester (drawn by author, updated from Crummy 1992: 2)...... 28 Figure 11: 4th-century Colchester (drawn by author, updated from Crummy 1997: 114)...... 29 Figure 12: Plan showing change from a 3rd-century townhouse to a 4th-century barn, Colchester Insula 35 (drawn by author, modified from Crummy 1992: fig.3.7 and 3.8)...... 31 Figure 13: Longevity of 4th-century private housing in Colchester (27 buildings), see Table 15 for full details....32 Figure 14: 5th- to 7th-century settlement evidence within Colchester (drawn by author, based on data from Colchester UAD and Crummy 1981: fig.2)...... 34 Figure 15: Early Anglo-Saxon activity in the region of Colchester in relation to former Roman towns (drawn by author, data from Essex HER; Rodwell 1988; and Baker 2001)...... 35 Figure 16: Key excavations in Canterbury (drawn by author)...... 37 Figure 17: 4th-century Canterbury (drawn by author, updated from Blockley et al. 1995: fig.2) ...... 38 Figure 18: Plan showing structural sequence at Marlowe Car Park, Canterbury. The grey shaded features are Sunken-Featured Buildings (redrawn by author, after Blockley et al. 1995: 171)....40 Figure 19: Archaeological evidence of 5th- to 6th-century Canterbury (drawn by author, updated from Blockley et al. 1995: fig.2)...... 41 Figure 20: ‘Family’ burial in Stour Street, Canterbury (copyright Canterbury Archaeological Trust)...... 42 Figure 21: Early Anglo-Saxon activity compared to former Roman urban sites in Kent (drawn by author, data from Kent HER; and Welsh 2007: 197)...... 43 Figure 22: Case studies and settlement types in South-West Britain (drawn by author)...... 45 Figure 23: Key excavations in Cirencester (drawn by author)...... 47 Figure 24: 4th-century Cirencester (drawn by author, updated from Holbrook 2008: 30)...... 48 Figure 25: Reused stone blocks within the foundations of an external bastion in the south-east corner of the defences at Cirencester (reproduced with permission from Neil Holbrook, from Wacher and Salvatore 1998: 58, fig.31)...... 49 Figure 26: A rubble building platform within the ruinous Insula VI public building at Cirencester (reproduced with permission from Neil Holbrook, from Timby et al. 1998:136)...... 49 Figure 28: A row of 4th-century shops at Cirencester, near to the macellum ...... 50 (drawn by author, adapted from Holbrook 1998c: 202, fig.145)...... 50 Figure 29: Longevity of 4th-century private housing in Cirencester (19 buildings, see Table 13 for full details)...... 50 Figure 30: Possible farm buildings in Insulae X and XII at Cirencester ...... 51 (drawn by author, adapted from McWhirr 1986: 20. Fig.4)...... 51 Figure 31: 5th- to 7th-century settlement evidence in Cirencester (drawn by author)...... 53 Figure 32: Plan showing location of major excavations in Winchester ...... 55 (drawn by author, updated from Biddle 1984: 104)...... 55 Figure 33: 4th-century Winchester (drawn by author, after Biddle and Kjølbye-Biddle 2007: fig.1)...... 56 Figure 34: Longevity of 4th-century private housing in Winchester

v (23 buildings – see Table 25 for full details)...... 57 Figure 35: 4th-century townhouses at The Brooks, Winchester (drawn by author, modified from Zant 1993: 84, fig.66)...... 57 Figure 36: Plan showing changes to the Roman South Gate, Winchester ...... 59 (drawn by author, adapted from Biddle 1975: fig.6)...... 59 Figure 37: 5th- and 6th-century settlement evidence in Winchester...... 60 (Drawn by author, updated after Zant 1993 and Biddle and Kjølbye -Biddle 2007: fig.2)...... 60 Figure 38: Key excavations in Silchester (drawn by author)...... 62 Figure 39: View of the large open-area excavations in Insula IX in 2008 (photo by author)...... 62 Figure 40: 4th-century Silchester (drawn by author, updated from Fulford 2002: 2-3)...... 63 Figure 41: View of Silchester’s well-preserved town walls (photo by author)...... 64 Figure 42: 4th- and 5th-century reuse of the basilica at Silchester ...... 65 (drawn by author, adapted from Fulford and Timby 2000: fig.71)...... 65 Figure 43: Reconstruction view of Insula IX buildings, Silchester (illustration by Margaret Mathews, courtesy of Michael Fulford, reproduced with permission from The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies)...... 66 Figure 44: 4th-century buildings within Insula IX at Silchester ...... 66 (drawn by author, adapted from Clarke and Fulford 2000: 13, fig.5)...... 66 Figure 45: Possible Late Roman church at Silchester (drawn by author, adapted from Boon 1974: 174, fig.28)....67 Figure 46: 5th- to 6th-century evidence from Silchester (drawn by author, after Fulford 2012b: 334)...... 69 Figure 47: Case study towns in the Midlands (drawn by author)...... 71 Figure 48: Location of major excavations in Leicester (drawn by author)...... 72 Figure 49: 4th-century Leicester (drawn by author, data from ULAS)...... 73 Figure 50: Longevity of 4th-century private housing in Leicester (23 buildings)...... 75 Figure 51: Hearths cutting into the edge of a Roman street. From excavations in 2006 at Freeschool Lane, Leicester (Coward and Speed 2009: 31)...... 76 Figure 52: Transition from townhouse to workshops at Vine Street, Leicester (adapted from Higgins et al. 2009)...... 77 Figure 53: Late Roman and early Anglo-Saxon sequence at Freeschool Lane, Leicester (drawn by author)...... 78 Figure 54: An Anglo-Saxon building constructed within a collapsed Roman wall, Freeschool Lane, Leicester (Coward and Speed 2009: 43)...... 80 Figure 55: 5th- to7th-century settlement evidence within Leicester (drawn by author, data from Leicester UAD and ULAS unpublished sources)...... 81 Figure 56: Quantities of Anglo-Saxon pottery found compared to locations of Anglo-Saxon buildings in Leicester (drawn by author)...... 82 Figure 57: Early Anglo-Saxon activity in Leicestershire in relation to former Roman towns and roads (drawn by author, updated from Liddle 2004: fig.1; Knox 2004: fig.1; and ULAS unpublished sources)...... 83 Figure 58: View (from west) of Jewry wall, an upstanding wall of the Roman baths. Immediately behind is the late Anglo-Saxon church of St. Nicholas (photo by author)...... 84 Figure 59: Excavations within Lincoln. Sites mentioned in the text numbered ...... 85 (drawn by author, updated from Jones et al. 2003, fig.1.1)...... 85 Figure 60: 4th-century Lincoln (drawn by author, after Jones et al. 2003: 131)...... 86 Figure 61: The Lower City West Gate at Lincoln, containing spolia reused in the town wall and towers (photo by author)...... 87 Figure 62: The large basilican building in the Lower City, Lincoln (drawn by author, modified from Jones 2003: 89)...... 88 Figure 63: The 4th-century (top) and 7th-century (bottom) churches and associated burials (shaded grey) within the forum piazza at Lincoln (drawn by author, modified from Jones 2003: 128, and Gilmour 2007: 234)...... 89 Figure 64: 5th- and 6th-century evidence from Lincoln (drawn by author, after Vince 2003: 146) ...... 90 Figure 65: 5th- and 6th-century evidence in Lincolnshire (drawn by author, updated from Vince 2003: 142; Leachy 2007: 11; and data from Lincolnshire HER) ...... 91 Figure 66: A view of the ‘Old Work’, the Roman baths building at Wroxeter (photo by author)...... 93 Figure 67: Modern Wroxeter and location of key excavations (drawn by author)...... 94 Figure 68: Late Roman town of Wroxeter, showing key structures, undated masonry structures from geophysical surveys (shaded), and possible activity zones (drawn by author, updated from Barker and White 1998: 77 and Gaffney et al. 2000: 84)...... 95 Figure 69: Changes to Wroxeter’s town defences – early phase (top) and 4th-century phase (bottom) (drawn by author, after White and Barker 1998: 99)...... 96

vi Figure 70: The change from 4th-century baths-basilica to 5th- and 6th-century timber housing at Wroxeter. Grey shaded areas denotes a timber structure (drawn by author, modified from Barker et al. 1997: 124 and Ellis 2000: fig.2.7)...... 97 Figure 71: The rubble platform of Building 10 in the former baths-basilica, Wroxeter. The plan of the building is marked out by the ranging poles (image courtesy and copyright of Philip Barker and Roger White)...... 98 Figure 72: 4th-century Britain with new provinces, capitals indicated (after Mann 1998: 340; White 2007: 37)..103 Table 5: Summary of historical events influencing town defence modifications and army movements...... 104 Figure 73: Towns with modified defences and active 4th-century forts in Roman Britain ...... 107 (drawn by author, data from numerous sources, base map after Ordnance Survey 2001)...... 107 Figure 74: A blocked town gate at Caerwent ...... 108 (photo by author)...... 108 Figure 75: An external projecting tower of the late 3rd century at the town of Caistor-by-Norwich, ...... 111 cf. figure below (photo by author)...... 111 Figure 76: External projecting towers at the Saxon Shore Fort of Burgh Castle, Norfolk, built AD 280-300 (photo by author)...... 111 Figure 77: Timeline showing when fora-basilicae were remodelled or reused...... 112 Figure 78: Timeline showing when theatres or amphitheatres were reused...... 114 Figure 79: Development sequence of a building in Insula XXVII at Verulamium, showing transition from townhouse to barn (drawn by author, updated from Frere 1983: 215, fig.82)...... 116 Figure 80: The large 4th-century public baths at Arles, France (photo by author)...... 120 Figure 81: Detailed view of Barcelona’s 4th-century town defences; extensive reused material is clearly visible in both tower (to right) and main wall (photo by author)...... 121 Figure 82: Possible reduced settlement foci in 5th- to 6th-century Canterbury, Colchester, and Leicester (photos by author)...... 131 Figure 85: Known kingdoms in south Britain c. AD 600. It is probable that many more smaller sub-kingdoms existed that we know nothing about. Former Roman towns with early bishops are shown as black dots (drawn by author, after Campbell et al. 1982: 52)...... 134 Figure 86: Summarised settlement forms in Roman towns from AD 300 to 600...... 136 Figure 87: Nature of 5th- and 6th- century settlement within former Roman towns, in AD 450 (left, 28 towns) and AD 600 (right, 23 towns)...... 137 Figure 88: Overall urban trajectories in the mid-5th century AD...... 138 Figure 89: Overall urban trajectories by AD 600...... 139 Figure 90: A cultural and ethnic divide in 5th- and 6th-century Britain?...... 140 Figure 91: Contemporary settlements, yet worlds apart? Reconstruction views of 5th- to 6th-century Canterbury (top) showing small timber housing scattered amongst ruinous Roman structures (copyright Canterbury Archaeological Trust), contrast greatly with grand (and lesser) timber structures within the former baths-basilica at Wroxeter (bottom) (drawn by Pete Schofield and Heather Bird, copyright English Heritage)...... 141

Table 1: Regional Archaeological Resource Assessments currently available...... 3 Table 2: Summary of key archaeological indicators of life within small towns around Colchester, AD 300 -650...... 33 Table 3: Key characteristics of Romano-British towns from the 1st to 5th centuries AD...... 101 Table 4: Periods of settlement reduction and building reuse in case study towns...... 101 Table 6: Towns with 4th-century defensive modifications...... 109 Table 7: Details of 4th-century masonry aisled buildings in major towns...... 118 Table 8: Summary of each proposed ‘model of post-Roman urban change’. Showing main archaeological indicators, and key places showing such evidence...... 123 Table 9: Settlement forms of case study towns in the 5th and 6th centuries AD...... 123 Table 10: Roman towns with evidence for 5th- to 7th-century ‘Anglo-Saxon’ activity (see Table 31 for full details)...... 127 Table 11: Canterbury: 4th-century settlement evidence...... 144 Table 12: Canterbury: 5th- to 6th-century settlement evidence...... 146 Table 13: Cirencester: 4th-century settlement evidence...... 148 Table 14: Cirencester: 5th- to 6th-century settlement evidence...... 150 Table 15: Colchester: 4th-century settlement evidence...... 151 Table 16: Colchester: 5th- to 6th-century settlement evidence...... 154 Table 17: Leicester: 4th-century settlement evidence...... 155

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