An Archaeological Evaluation at Ford,

by H R Hannaford

Archaeology Service

Community and Economic Services AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION AT FORD, SHROPSHIRE

by H R HANNAFORD

A Report for LLOYDS ANIMAL FEEDS LTD.

Archaeology Service

Community and Economic Services Report Number 150 © Shropshire County Council November 1998 Winston Churchill Building, Radbrook Centre, Radbrook Road, Shrewsbury , Shropshire SY3 9BJ Tel. (01743) 254018 An Archaeological Evaluation at Ford, Shropshire

CONTENTS Page No 1 INTRODUCTION 2 2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 3 2.1 Aims and Objectives of the Evaluation 3 2.2 Methodology of the Evaluation 3 3 THE EVALUATION 4 3.1 THE HISTORY OF THE SITE 4 3.2 THE FIELD EVALUATION 9 3.3 DISCUSSION 12 4 RECOMMENDATIONS 15 5 REFERENCES AND SOURCES CONSULTED 16 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 16

ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1: The study area (1:2500 scale) Fig. 2: The study area, showing cropmark features (1:2500 scale) Fig. 3: The study area, showing mid 19th century fields (1:10,000 scale) (extract from Foxall, 1965) Fig. 4: Extract from the OS 1st edition 1:2500, showing the study area Fig. 5: Trench location plan and cropmark features (1:1000 scale) Fig. 6: Trench plans - a) trench A; b) trench B; c) trench D; 1:200 scale) Fig. 7: Fig. 7: a) trench A, ditch 5, south-facing section; b) trench A, ditch 4, south- facing section; c) trench D, ditch 64, north-facing section. (l 1:50 scale) Fig. 8: The proposed development site, showing plot numbers and the ring ditch (1:2500 scale)

1 An Archaeological Evaluation at Ford, Shropshire

1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 The village of Ford is situated 7km west of the centre of Shrewsbury in Shropshire. The village lies on a gravel terrace overlooking the River Severn to the north, and the main A458 Shrewsbury to Welshpool Trunk Road runs just to south of the village. The village is the centre of a modern and ancient ecclesiastical parish of the same name.

1.2 There is currently a proposal to develop a plot of land at Ford for employment use and the formation of new vehicular accesses (Planning Application No. SY98/0012). The proposed development area lies 400m to the west of the village of Ford, and is centred on NGR SJ 407 135. The land is currently in agricultural use as pasture, and there are a number of agricultural buildings at the northern end of the plot (Fig. 1).

1.3 The proposed development area lies within an area of significant archaeological potential. There are the cropmark remains of a ring ditch (probably a burial site of the late Neolithic or Bronze Age periods) and field system (County SMR No. SA4028). Part of a World War II ammunition depot is also affected by the proposed development.

1.4 In view of the potential archaeological significance of the proposed development site it was deemed necessary to undertake an archaeological evaluation of it in accordance with the guidelines laid down in the DoE Planning Policy Guideline No. 16 (Nov 1990).

1.5 A brief for the evaluation was prepared by the Head of Archaeology, Community and Economic Services, Shropshire County Council. The evaluation was carried out by the Archaeology Service, Shropshire County Council, in October 1998, and this report details the findings of this work.

2 An Archaeological Evaluation at Ford, Shropshire

2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 2.1 Aims and Objectives of the Evaluation The aim of this evaluation is to provide information that will enable an informed and reasonable planning decision to be taken regarding the archaeological provision for the area affected by the proposed development. The objectives of this evaluation exercise were to locate any archaeological features and deposits likely to be affected by the proposed development, and to assess their survival, quality, condition and significance. On this basis, options for the management of the archaeological resource would be recommended, including any further archaeological provision where necessary (see below, section 4).

2.2 Methodology of the Evaluation 2.2.1 In order to achieve these objectives, the evaluation was required to comprise a desk- based assessment and a field evaluation of the study area.

2.2.2 The Desk-Based Assessment. The desk-based assessment was to examine all appropriate sources, to include archaeological databases, historical documents, cartographic and pictorial documents, aerial photographs, available geotechnical information, and any relevant secondary or statutory sources. This would be used to produce an outline history of the development and land use of the study area. An accurate plot of archaeological features visible on aerial photographs of the study area would be produced at a scale of not less than 1:1000.

2.2.3 The Field Evaluation. The field evaluation was to comprise a sample excavation within the study area of up to a maximum of 300m2. It was required that all excavation should be limited to the top of significant archaeological deposits, with further excavation undertaken only where essential for achieving the objectives of the evaluation.

3 An Archaeological Evaluation at Ford, Shropshire

3 THE EVALUATION 3.1 THE HISTORY OF THE SITE 3.1.1 Prehistoric and Romano-British Activity Prehistoric activity within the study area is evidenced by cropmarks visible on aerial photographs (APs). Probably the earliest of these cropmarks is a group of ring ditches, which form an arc which runs across the southern part of the study area. Ring ditches usually represent the remains of ploughed down burial mounds of early Bronze Age date (c. 2300 - 1400 BC); the circular cropmarks are formed by the in-filled quarry ditch surrounding the ploughed-down burial mound, which produces marks in ripening crops that are visible from the air. Ring ditches can appear as single monuments, but tend to cluster in groups of two or more, perhaps representing cemeteries serving particular Bronze Age communities. The Ford group of ring ditches is one of several such groups known from the upper Severn Valley in Shropshire (Watson, 1991). One such group on the south side of Shrewsbury, which forms a linear cemetery c. 2.5km long extending northeastwards along a terrace overlooking the from the A49/A5 interchange south of Meole Brace towards Weeping Cross, has been the subject of a number of excavations in recent years (Barker et al, 1991; Hughes and Woodward, 1995; Hughes, 1997). These excavations, and others on a similar site at Bromfield in the south of the county (Hughes, Leach, and Stanford, 1995), have demonstrated that the ring ditches may represent just one phase of ritual and/or funerary activity on these sites spread over a considerable period of time, from the later Neolithic period through to the Iron Age.

Three of the Ford group of ring ditches (County Sites and Monuments no. SA2125) lie to the southwest of the study area; a fourth (SA3718) lies c. 130m to the southeast of the study area at SJ 4108 1338. A fifth ring ditch (SA4028) lies within the eastern part of the study area. This ring ditch is recorded on oblique aerial photographs taken in 1984 and again in 1986. The ring ditch (Fig. 2; a) is approximately 35m in diameter and is centred on SJ 4085 1357. A plot of the ring ditch was made at 1:1000 scale from the aerial photographs and is reproduced here, corrected from the site investigations, as Fig. 2.

On the 1984 APs a number of linear cropmarks are also shown, which might represent the boundary ditches of a prehistoric or Romano-British field system. However, although these cropmarks show as strong features, they are somewhat irregular; moreover, unlike the ring-ditch and a number of other features, not all of them show up on the 1986 APs, and there is a possibility that at least some of these cropmarks may represent natural features (e.g.. frost fractures in the fluvio-glacial subsoil). On the other hand, two (Fig. 2; b & c) also correspond to documented post-medieval field boundaries (see below).

Later prehistoric activity in the vicinity of the study area is more certainly attested by a number of rectilinear cropmark enclosures, of a type which have been demonstrated by excavation to represent the remains of Iron Age or Romano-British farmsteads. One of these enclosures (SA4208) lies c. 300m to the northeast of the study area, another (SA3719) 100m to the east, and a third (SA2438) 300m to the southwest. This change of use for such a site from ritual and funerary activity to domestic and agricultural occupation is paralleled at both the two sites mentioned above. At Bromfield, an Iron

4 An Archaeological Evaluation at Ford, Shropshire

Age farmstead enclosure (SA488) was built within the area of the barrow cemetery (Stanford, 1995), and at the south Shrewsbury group an Iron Age enclosure was built over the remains of two ring ditches at Sutton Farm (SA85) (Barker et al, 1991), and an enclosure (SA15) was built within 300m of one ring ditch (SA2208) and 500m of another (SA14) at Meole Brace.

3.1.2 The Medieval Manor In 1066 the manor of Ford lay within Rhiwset Hundred; later in the medieval period it replaced Alberbury as the caput of the hundred, which was renamed Ford Hundred. (Thorn, 1986, 4,1,16 notes.) Rhiwset is thought to mean "settlers by the hill", from the Old English sæte = people and the Welsh rhiw = hill or belt of high ground. The name is one of a line of -sæte names to be found along the line of Offa's Dyke between the River Wye in Herefordshire and Oswestry, which may reflect an administrative reorganisation of the English-Welsh border at the time of the building of the dyke (Gelling, 1995, p1). The hill represented in the old hundred name may be the outcrop of breccia to the southwest of Alberbury; woodland here was known as Rew Wood during the Middle Ages. The hundred extended from the River Severn in the north to the Breiddens and the Long Mountain in the west and the foothills of the Stiperstones in the south, and was bounded by the Liberties of Shrewsbury to the east. (VCH, 1968, p178)

The name "Ford" is likely to refer to the crossing of the Cardeston Brook by the Shrewsbury to Welshpool road south of the present village at Welshman's Ford (Gelling, 1990, p133). From 1283 - 1807 the place was often referred to as Fordesham, perhaps differentiating between the manor (Fordesham) and the township (Ford) (Gelling, 1995, pp18-19)

Before 1066, the manor was held by Edwin, Earl of Mercia (c.1062 -c.1071) and was valued at £9. The manor had 14 outliers in 1086, which probably included Ford (Fordesham), , Cruckmeole, , Edge, Lea, Marton, Newnham, Plealey, , Sascott, and Sibberscote; Benthall and Polmere were merged with Ford after 1102, and Little Shrawardine had become a member of the manor by 1308 (VCH, 1968, pp228-9). Ashleys or Astley Nook and Little may also have been outliers of the manor (Thorn, 1986, 4,1,16 notes.). After Edwin's death in 1071, his lands were given to Roger of Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury, and at the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086, Ford was held directly by Earl Roger. The manor then comprised 15 hides; there were 10 ploughs, with 20 male and 6 female slaves in lordship, and there were 50 villagers and 14 smallholders with a further 29 ploughs. The estate also included a mill, paying 3 ora, and half a fishery paying 2 shillings. The fishery may possibly be identified with a fish-weir (SA2960) across the River Severn between Ford and Montford. The manor at this time was valued at £34. (Thorn, 1986, 4,1,16 and notes.)

After the rebellion of Earl Roger's son and heir, Robert de Bellême, in 1101, the manor was forfeited to the Crown, and was later granted in 1155 to Reginald de Dunstanvill, Earl of Cornwall, the son of Henry I and Sybil, daughter of Robert Corbet of (Eyton, 1858, p181). The manor returned to the crown in 1175, then in 1230 was granted by Henry III to Henry de Auditheley (Audley), Sheriff of Shropshire and Staffordshire in 1229 (Eyton, 1858, p183); the Audley family subsequently held the manor for most of the 13th - 15th centuries. (Thorn, 1986, notes.). Earthworks

5 An Archaeological Evaluation at Ford, Shropshire

(SA2889) opposite Ford Hall may have marked the site of the medieval manor house; the site was built upon with houses in 1991 (SA2889; SMR file). The descent of the manor in the later medieval and post medieval periods is traced in the Victoria County History (VCH, 1986,pp228-9).

The parish church was first recorded in 1221, and was a gift of the Crown. It was originally a chapel dependant on the chapel of St Michael in Shrewsbury Castle. The church was largely rebuilt in the 19th century, though some late 12th- / early 13th- century features survive. (VCH, 1968, pp234 &236).

From the evidence of the field-names, the Domesday mill was situated in the north of the parish on the Cardeston Brook near its confluence with the River Severn (Foxall, 1965). The mill had been worth 3 ores in 1086, was worth 13s 4d pa in 1299, and 10s in 1317. By 1420 it was ruinous, and was never rebuilt. The fishery, which in 1086 had been worth 2s pa, was valued at 3s in 1308. The fishery is recorded again in 1588, but (if it was indeed the fish weir at Montford) had decayed by 1601. (VCH, 1968, p232)

The townships location near one of the main routeways into from central Wales made it vulnerable to raiding by the Welsh. In 1214, the annual rent of £30 for the manor due to the Crown was waived because of burning by the Welsh, and in1260 the township was burnt by the Welsh again, this time with the loss of 28 men killed, wounded, or taken prisoner, and 260 oxen and cows, 80 sheep, and 57 horses taken as booty. Again in the early 15th century the manor was exempted from both clerical and lay taxation because of damage inflicted during Owen Glyndwr's rebellion.

3.1.3 The medieval fields During the early medieval period cultivation within the manor appears to have been restricted to the north of the Welshpool Road. Ford's common fields were bounded by Benthall Common to the west, Onslow Common to the east, and the river Severn to the north. The township had three common fields: Beanshill Field (or Deepdale), within which the study area lay, to the northwest of the village, extending from the from the Cardeston Brook to Benthall Common; to the south was Whiston Field, which stretched from the southwest of the village to Whiston Common; and on the eastern side of the village was Lower Field (or Old Field), which extended up to Onslow Common. Benthall Common was probably at least partially enclosed by the 16th century, and Onslow Common to the east was enclosed in 1771. The open field strips in Beanshill and Whiston Fields were still present in 1703. (VCH, 1968, p225)

Most of the land to the south of the Welshpool Road was occupied by oak forest. The lord of the manor was himself concerned with assarting, and in 1246 and 1254 James de Audley permitted assarting by Richard Pride of Shrewsbury, who was allowed to fell 1000 oak trees and clear the wood called Serthul (Shoothill). A fragment of this formerly extensive woodland survives as Gough's Coppice (formerly Moor Coppice), and is further evidenced by the mid 19th-century field-names in the southwest of the township. (VCH, 1968, p224; Foxall, 1965)

3.1.4 The post-medieval township In 1308 there were 37 tenants recorded in the township, but by 1601 this number had dropped to 20; moreover, none of the tenant families recorded in the 14th century still

6 An Archaeological Evaluation at Ford, Shropshire

held land there in 1601. From this date, however, holdings tended to remain in the same families; 13 families were recorded in 1601, of which the Ambler, Waring, Griffiths, Wall and Dax held their leases until the early 19th century. In 1785 there were 11 tenants in the township, although over half the parish was held by just two families, the Amblers and the Warings. Between 1814 and 1844, the larger estates in the township were sold and dispersed, and since then Ford has been a community of small landowners.

In the late 18th century agricultural use of the land in the parish was chiefly arable, and in 1801 the main crops produced were wheat and barley (VCH, 1968, p233). The 1848 Tithe Apportionment map shows the layout of the post-medieval fields, and have been used to produce a field name map (Foxall, 1965). Two of the field boundaries in the study area correspond to cropmak features visible on the 1986 APs, ie the boundary between Near New Piece and Field Piece and the boundary between Hare Piece and Near Field (Fig 2; b & c, and Fig. 3). These field boundaries had been removed by 1882 (OS 1:2500, 1882) (Fig. 4).

In the 19th century, the village boasted two smithies and a wheelwright's shop situated along the Welshpool Road, and a village shop; there were also four shoemakers, a tailor, a carpenter, and a butcher (VCH, 1968, p233). In 1848 there was a brick kiln in the field adjacent to the site of the medieval mill, and the site of two others (probably by then disused), one towards the south of the parish, the other to the south of Pavement Gates on the Welshpool road (Foxall, 1965). A Sunday school had been established by 1817, and was replaced by a National School in 1873 (VCH, 1968, p237).

The principal routeway through the township, the Shrewsbury to Welshpool road, was turnpiked in 1758. The ford and footbridge across the Cardeston Brook at Welshman's Ford were replaced with a stone bridge in 1792, and the road from there to Cross Gates was widened. The road to Alberbury was turnpiked in 1780. A minor road is shown crossing the study area from the northeast to the southwest on the Tithe Apportionment map of 1848 (Foxall, 1965), and continued in use until the early 1940s. This road could still be seen as a cropmark feature on the 1984 and 1986 APs, showing as a linear parchmark with dark linear features marking road-side ditches or gullies, on either side (Fig. 2; d).

In 1866 the Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway, an embanked section of which forms the southern boundary of the study area, was opened; there was a station at Ford at Cross Gates on the Welshpool Road. The line was closed in 1880, but was re-opened in 1911 as the Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Light Railway. The line was closed again in 1933, but was in use during World War II to serve the extensive system of ammunition and military ordnance depots which extended from Ford to Kinnerley on the north side of the River Severn.

3.1.5 World War II ammunition depot In the early 1940s, a number of large, rectangular brick ammunition stores were constructed on the fields on the west side of the village. The stores were aligned in an arc facing southwest or west, and railway sidings led from the ends of each store to the Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway line. Two of these stores lay within the study area and were still standing at the time of this present study. A large area of disturbed

7 An Archaeological Evaluation at Ford, Shropshire ground showing on the APs as a parch mark in the southwestern part of the study area (Fig. 2; e), also with what appears to be a railway siding emerging from its western end, probably marks the site of one or possibly a pair of demolished stores similar to the others. The site was abandoned some time after the war and had returned to agricultural usage by the 1970s, the former ammunition stores being converted to poultry houses (OS 1:2500, 1973). In the mid 1970s the railway sidings and other earthworks in the western part of the study area were bulldozed and a potato crop was planted; according to local sources, a number of small, live artillery shells and live hand grenades were recovered at this time and disposed of by the Bomb Disposal Squad from Hereford. A series of small circular features show as parchmarks along the southeastern side of the former road which ran diagonally across the site (Fig. 2; f). These may mark areas of rubble beneath the ground surface or more probably the site of relatively recently excavated pits. The former railway sidings leading into the ammunition stores also show as cropmarks on the APs (Fig. 2; rs). A number of other straight linear features in the western part of the study area also appear on the 1986 APs; these features are probably of recent date, and at least one set appear to be vehicle tracks.

8 An Archaeological Evaluation at Ford, Shropshire

3.2 THE FIELD EVALUATION 3.2.1 Four trenches (Fig. 5; A -D) were excavated with a JCB mechanical excavator down to the top of archaeologically significant features and deposits. The trenches were then cleaned by hand, sampled where appropriate and recorded.

3.2.2 Trench A This trench was cut in order to test for the survival of the cropmark ring ditch and other associated features.

The natural drift geology was encountered at a depth of 0.38m below the existing ground surface and consisted of loose gravel in a reddish brown sandy matrix.

Two ditches (Fig. 6a; 4 & 5) were located, cutting the natural gravelly subsoil, one about 19m from the western end of the trench and the other at the extreme eastern end of the trench. These ditches lay within about 5m of the position of the western and eastern sides of the ring ditch, as plotted from the aerial photographs, and it was considered probable that they represented segments of the western and eastern sides of the ring ditch. A full section was excavated from the western segment of the ditch, and a half section was obtained from the segment at the eastern end of the trench. In both segments the ditch was seen to be u-shaped in profile, and was filled with deposits of brown loamy sand containing varying quantities of gravel. In both segments, a loose deposit of larger pebbles was present near the bottom of the ditch fills (Fig. 7a & b; 37 & 42). No finds were recovered from the fills of either segment of the ditch, but the lowest fill (6) of the western segment produced a quantity of charcoal, of which three samples were taken for possible future radio-carbon dating.

Approximately in the centre of the ring ditch a wide linear feature or pit (Fig. 6a; 14) was cut into the natural gravel subsoil. This feature was not sampled, but its location suggested that it might have formed part of a central primary burial deposit. A possible secondary burial in the form of a rectangular feature (20) was cut into the natural a little further to the east. The northeast corner of this feature was cut by a small circular feature containing charcoal and cremated bone (18). Further similar features also containing cremation deposits were noted in the central part of the ring ditch (12, 16, 22, 24, & 26). None of these features was excavated as they could be clearly identified by the cremated material on the surface of their fill.

A further shallow linear feature (28) was seen to cut across the eastern side of the ring ditch. This feature, however, survived to a depth of only 0.12m, and its fill produced no finds. Another linear feature (8) crossed the western side of the ring ditch and corresponded approximately in position to a linear feature visible on APs. This feature was irregular in plan form and profile, however, and may possibly have been of natural formation.

All these features and deposits were sealed by a layer c. 0.1m thick of mixed topsoil and subsoil (Fig. 7a & b; 29) and by a depth of c. 0.3m of topsoil (1).

3.2.3 Trench B

9 An Archaeological Evaluation at Ford, Shropshire

In this trench, cut to investigate a number of cropmark features and the course of the former road, the natural subsoil was encountered at a depth of 0.48m below the present ground surface. At the southern end of the trench, a shallow gulley (Fig. 6b; 74) 1m wide by 0.25m deep was cut into the gravel, aligned in an east-west direction. The fill of this feature produced no finds; the gulley corresponded in location but not alignment to one of the cropmark features on the aerial photographs.

At the northern end of the trench, the surface of the former road lay immediately beneath the topsoil, at a depth of c. 0.3m below the present ground surface. The road surface comprised compacted red stone chippings with patches of black cinders (46), and was laid over an earlier surface or formation of cobbles of a red and white stone and grey pebbles (47). A gulley (48) filled with dark grey soil (49) ran along the southeastern edge of the road, and about1m to the southeast a ditch 1.75m wide (51) filled with a brown sandy silt (50) ran parallel to the road.

7.5m to the southeast of the former road, a small sub-circular pit (53) was cut into the surface of the natural subsoil. A rusty rectangular iron box or box lid lay in the surface of the greyish brown fill of this pit.

Further to the southeast another recent feature was cut into the natural subsoil. In this case, the feature was a large subrectangular pit, with a central fill of mixed topsoil and subsoil and a lower fill visible around the edge of re-deposited natural reddish brown sand and gravel. During manual cleaning of the trench in the vicinity of this pit, an un- detonated .303 cartridge minus its bullet was recovered. The open end of the cartridge was corroded but not crimped, and the cartridge could be seen to contain unspent propellant. A metal detector sweep was made of surface of all the trenches and spoil heaps, and two more unused .303 cartridges were located, both from the soil adjacent to this pit in trench B. A date - 1942 - was inscribed on the end of one of the cartridges; both cartridges were also minus bullets; their open ends were likewise corroded but had not been crimped. The metal detector also recorded responses from the area of the pit (56). These were not investigated as it was considered a strong possibility that the pit represented a dump of wartime munitions, dating from the abandonment of the ammunition stores.

3.2.4 Trench C The natural subsoil in trench C consisted of banded gravels and silty gritty sand lying beneath a layer c. 0.1m thick of mixed subsoil and topsoil and c. 0.3m of topsoil. No archaeological features or deposits were visible in this trench.

3.2.5 Trench D This trench was excavated in order to investigate two parallel linear cropmarks which ran from the railway line up to a bend in the line of the former road.

The natural subsoil in this trench consisted of gravel and bands of gritty sand, and lay at a depth of about 0.4m below the existing ground surface.

Two shallow linear features (Fig. 6c; 61 & 62), neither more than 0.12m deep, were cut into the surface of the natural subsoil at the western end of the trench. A further shallow gulley (66) 0.7m wide was located at the eastern end of the trench. A more substantial

10 An Archaeological Evaluation at Ford, Shropshire u-shaped ditch (64) was also cut into the gravel; this ditch was 1.1m wide and 0.35m deep, and corresponded in position to the boundary between Hare Piece and Near Field shown on the field-name map based on the 1848 Tithe Apportionment map. None of the sampled fills of these features produced any finds.

These features were all sealed by a layer 0.1m thick of mixed subsoil and topsoil (Fig. 7c; 67), and a further 0.3m depth of topsoil (60).

11 An Archaeological Evaluation at Ford, Shropshire

3.3 DISCUSSION 3.3.1 The ring ditch The location of the ring ditch was established by the trial trenching to lie within 5m of the plot of the cropmark produced from the aerial photographs, and was seen to be in an excellent state of preservation (Figs. 5 & 6a; 4 & 5). The ditch of the ring ditch was seen to be u-shaped in profile, and 1.9m wide by 0.6m deep. A mound would have originally have covered part or all of the area within the ring ditch; this has almost entirely disappeared, due to the effects of millennia of weathering and agricultural activity, although there is still a slight eminence over the central part of the ring ditch. No trace of mound material was found within the evaluation trench A. Nevertheless, a number of internal features were recorded within the area enclosed by the ring ditch, including the location of possible primary and secondary burial pits. The ritual and funerary nature of the ring ditch was confirmed by the presence of a number of small pits containing cremation deposits. These were left undisturbed, and were tagged and covered with polythene bags before being re-buried.

The ring ditch in the study area forms part of a cluster of five known ring ditches which comprise the Ford group of ring ditches. Two such groups within the county of Shropshire, one at Meole Brace/Weeping Cross, Shrewsbury, and one at Bromfield, nr Ludlow, have been the subject of archaeological investigations in recent years. Whilst ring ditches are generally thought to represent funerary monuments of the early Bronze Age, the excavations at both these cemetery groups have shown that the sites were the focus of ritual activity over a considerable period of time. The earliest activity at both these sites could be dated to the Neolithic period, and was probably of a ritual nature. Both sites were in use in the succeeding early Bronze Age for ritual and funerary purposes, and the construction of most of the ring ditches occurred during this period. At one of the Meole Brace ring ditches (SA2208) there was evidence for ritual activity continuing into the late Bronze Age, and one ring ditch at the Bromfield cemetery contained a burial dated to the middle Iron Age (c. 475-375 BC). It would seem highly probable, then, that a similarly long sequence of activity spanning several millennia might be expected for the Ford group of ring ditches

3.3.2 The field systems The main emphasis of activity at both the Bromfield and Shrewsbury sites mentioned above seems to have shifted in the Iron Age from ritual and funerary activity to domestic and agricultural occupation - farmstead enclosures of Iron Age date were constructed in the middle of the Bronze Age cemetery groups at Bromfield and at Sutton Farm, Shrewsbury (SA85) and a number of similar Iron Age farmstead enclosures are known from the immediate vicinity of the Shrewsbury group. Likewise at Ford a number of cropmark enclosures of probable Iron Age date occur in the immediate vicinity of the ring ditch group, and are likely to provide the context for the cropmark field system in the study area.

At least two separate field systems, one post-medieval and the other possibly prehistoric, are represented by linear cropmark features; three of these cropmark features could be identified with excavated features (one each in trenches A, B and D).

12 An Archaeological Evaluation at Ford, Shropshire

The cropmark ditches in Trenches A and B (Fig. 5; 8 & 74) in the eastern part of the study area do not conform in alignment or pattern to the post-medieval field system, as represented on the mid 19th century Tithe Apportionment map, and are unlikely to be associated with the (presumably) open field strip agriculture of the medieval period. It is most probable then that these field boundaries relate to agricultural activity in the study area in the Iron Age or Romano-British periods; the lack of finds from the admittedly small excavated samples of these two features might indicate that an Iron Age date was perhaps the more likely. However, both features were shallow, as was a third linear feature in trench A (Fig. 6a; 28) which did not relate to a cropmark. The slight nature of these features and the lack of finds from their fills would suggest that it is unlikely that further examination of these features would yield further significant information.

The cropmark feature and ditch in trench D (Fig. 5; 64) corresponds to a documented post-medieval field boundary. Although moderately well-preserved, this feature produced no finds, nor is it likely that further examination of this feature would yield significant information. The other shallow linear features seen in trench D may possibly also be associated with this post-medieval agricultural activity.

Not all the linear cropmark features however, could be identified with features on the ground, particularly those which appear in the western part of the study area on the 1986 aerial photographs and which may represent more recent and possibly ephemeral features.

3.3.3 Modern usage of the site During World war II and for a number of years after, the study area formed part of an ammunition storage facility. A number of large brick sheds were constructed on the site, and railway sidings ran from the western ends of these sheds to the railway (now disused) which forms the southern boundary of the site. The old road which ran across the study area was abandoned and a new access road was built along the eastern edge of the site. It is not known when the ammunition store was abandoned, but the site had been given over to agricultural usage by the early 1970s. The ammunition storage sheds were converted to poultry houses, although one shed at the western edge of the proposed development site, may have been demolished; the site of this shed and its associated railway siding is indicated by cropmarks.

The condition of the .303 cartridges recovered from trench B, unused and still containing propellant, minus bullets, and with their open ends corroded but not crimped, suggests that they were dumped whole, the steel jacket of their bullet reacting electrochemically with the cartridge casing which corroded in the ground; the cases and bullets being subsequently separated when the ground was disturbed, probably during the landscaping of parts of the site in the mid 1970s or the subsequent subsoiling and ploughing.

It is likely that the live munitions found in the study area following ground clearance in the mid 1970s had been recovered from the tops of pits disturbed during the landscaping operations. The undisturbed remainders of these pits are likely to survive and probably still contain live ammunition. Recent investigations for a Channel Four television documentary screened earlier in 1998 have highlighted the casual nature of

13 An Archaeological Evaluation at Ford, Shropshire the disposal of munitions (including burial in unmarked and undocumented pits) in the years immediately following World War II. The un-used cartridges from the spoil from trench B taken from the immediate vicinity of the modern pit suggest that this pit may well be such a dump of ammunition. The pit corresponds in location to one of a series of features visible on some of the aerial photographs of the site running parallel to the southeastern side of the former road line (Fig. 5; 56). Other features which could also be interpreted as pits (though of uncertain date) can be seen in the western parts of study area and beyond.

14 An Archaeological Evaluation at Ford, Shropshire

4 RECOMMENDATIONS 4.1 Because of the archaeological significance of the ring ditch, and the excellent state of preservation of the monument and associated features, it is recommended that the ring ditch be preserved in situ. To facilitate this, all groundworks in the vicinity of the ring ditch should be restricted to a maximum depth of 300mm below present ground level.

If however there was to be penetration of the ground in this area below this level, then, because of the likely damage to significant archaeological deposits, it is recommended that the ring ditch and its associated features should be preserved by record by means of full-scale archaeological excavation and analysis.

4.2 No further archaeological provision is required for the cropmark field systems and other cropmark features within the study area.

4.3 If the proposed development requires the demolition of the two brick former ammunition stores that lie within the study area, then it is recommended that a photographic record is made of these buildings prior to their demolition.

15 An Archaeological Evaluation at Ford, Shropshire

5 REFERENCES AND SOURCES CONSULTED Barker, P A, Haldon, R, and Jenks, WE, 1991: Excavations on Sharpstones Hill near Shrewsbury, 1965-71, in Carver, 1991 Carver, M O H (ed), 1991: Prehistory in Lowland Shropshire, TSAHS LXVII, 1991 Eyton, Rev. R W, 1858: Antiquities of Shropshire, vol VII, p180-194 Foxall, H D G, 1965: Field-name map based on Tithe Apportionment and Map for Ford Parish, 1848 Foxall, H D G, 1980: Shropshire Field-Names, Shrewsbury Gelling, M, 1990: The Place-Names of Shropshire, Part One, EP-NS vol LXII/LXIII, 1984-5 & 1985-6 Gelling, M, 1995: The Place-Names of Shropshire, Part Two, EP-NS vol LXX, 1992-3 Hughes, G, 1997: The excavation of a double ring ditch at Meole Brace, Shrewsbury: Second interim report, Birmingham University Field Archaeology Unit Project No. 344.1 Hughes, G, and Woodward, A, 1995: Excavations at Meole Brace 1990 and at Bromfield 1981-1991, Part One. A ring ditch and neolithic pit complex at Meole Brace, Shrewsbury, TSAHS LXX, 1995, pp1-22 Hughes, G, Leach, P, and Stanford, S C, 1995: Excavations at Meole Brace 1990 and at Bromfield 1981-1991, Part Two. Excavations at Bromfield, Shropshire 1981-1991, TSAHS LXX, 1995, pp23-94 Ordnance Survey 1882: 1:2500 Shropshire Sheet No. XXXIII.7, 1st Edition Ordnance Survey 1973: 1:2500 Sheet No. SJ 4013-4113 Stanford, S C, 1995: Excavations at Meole Brace 1990 and at Bromfield 1981-1991, Part Three. A Cornovian farm and Saxon cemetery at Bromfield, Shropshire, TSAHS LXX, 1995, pp95-142 Thorn, F and C (eds), 1986: Domesday Book: Shropshire, Chichester Watson, M D, 1991: Ring Ditches of the Upper Severn Valley, in Carver, 1991 Watson, M, and Musson, C, 1993: Shropshire from the Air: Man and the Landscape, Shropshire Books, Shrewsbury

ABBREVIATIONS AOD Above Ordnance Datum ASD Above Site Datum DoE Department of the Environment OE Old English OS Ordnance Survey SMR County Sites and Monuments Record, Shire Hall, Shrewsbury SRRC Shropshire Records and Research Centre TSAS Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological Society TSAHS Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society VCHS Victoria History of the Counties of England: A History of Shropshire

6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The writer would like to thank the tenant farmer and his farm manager for their co-operation in making the site available for excavation. Thanks are also due to Emma-Kate Burns, Paul Williams, James Daniels, and Helen White for their help with the site investigations. The JCB mechanical excavator was supplied and operated by Les Powell of L C Powell Plant Hire Contractors, Shrewsbury, and site accommodation was provided by Harvey Mobile (Cheshire) Ltd. of Oswestry.

16 the study area

Based upon the Ordnance Survey mapping with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office © Crown copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. Shropshire County Council. LA 076821. 5/11/98

FORD 1998 Fig. 1: The study area (1:2500 scale) rs rs

rs

b e d

f

c a

Based upon the Ordnance Survey mapping with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office © Crown copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. Shropshire County Council. LA 076821. 5/11/98

FORD 1998 Fig. 2: The study area, showing cropmark features (1:2500 scale) the study area

FORD 1998 Fig. 3: The study area, showing mid 19th century fields (1:10,000 scale) (extract from Foxall, 1965) FORD 1998 Fig. 4: Extract from the OS 1st edition 1:2500, showing the study area 46 C 56

B

74

D 64 A 5 8 4

FORD 1998 Fig. 5: Trench location plan and cropmark features (1:1000 scale) 18 22 5 8 28 4 10 16 N 15m 12 14 20

24 26 a

47 56 51 46 74 N 58 53 49 b

64 N 61 62 66 c

0 10 metres

FORD 1998 Fig. 6: Trench plans - a) trench A; b) trench B; c) trench D; 1:200 scale) W E

1

29

6 37 a ditch 5

W E

1

29

42 b ditch 4

E W

60

63 67 68

c ditch 64

0 2 metres

FORD 1998 Fig. 7: a) trench A, ditch 5, south-facing section; b) trench A, ditch 4, south-facing section; c) trench D, ditch 64, north-facing section. (l 1:50 scale) 10 11 9 12

8 6 1

7

ring 5 ditch 2

4

3

Based upon the Ordnance Survey mapping with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office © Crown copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. Shropshire County Council. LA 076821. 5/11/98

FORD 1998 Fig. 8: The proposed development site, showing plot numbers and the ring ditch (1:2500 scale)