The Severn Estuary Levels: Ten Years Past and Ten Years Forward

Home , Glastonbury Lake Village, Severn estuary

ORE Open Research Exeter

TITLE The Severn Estuary Levels: Ten years past and ten years forward

AUTHORS Turner, Rick; Allen, J.; Rippon, Stephen

DEPOSITED IN ORE 07 May 2008

This version available at

http://hdl.handle.net/10036/24952

Open Research Exeter makes this work available in accordance with publisher policies.

A NOTE ON VERSIONS

The version presented here may diﬀer from the published version. If citing, you are advised to consult the published version for pagination, volume/issue and date of publication Archaeologyin the SevernEstuary 11 (2000), l-12

THE SEVERNESTUARY LEVELS: TEN YEARSPAST AND TEN YEARS FORWARI)

By Rick Turner,John Allen and StephenRippon

This paper takes a personal view of the highlights and successesof the last ten )/ear's archaeological work in the SevernEstuary Levels.It then attemptsto identify what might happen in the next decade,and how the vast body o.f infbrmation that ha'sbeen accumulated by a successionof multi-disciplinary projects might be co-orclinatedin order to provide a mttch more completeand evolvingpicture of this remarkable region.

Introduction shrinkage(e.g. Brunning 1991;Grove and Brunning 1998).Recent discoveries have included two Bronze The wetlandsthat fringe the Sevem Estuaryhave Age pile alignmentssimilar to thoseat FlagFen near producedsome archaeologicaldiscoveries of Peterborough,and it is worth rememberingthat very outstandingimportance, starting in the late 19,h little survey or excavationhas occurredin the centurywith the Glastonburyand Meare 'lake extensivepeatlands south of thePolden Hills, despite settlements'.The work of the SomersetLevels their provenpotential (e.g. Brunning 1997). Projectpioneered wetland archaeologyin Britain Until the 1980s,wetland archaeologyin duringthe 1970sand 80s(Coles and Coles 1986), Somersetwas firmly focusedon the prehistoryof thoughsince the establishmentof the SELRC peatlands,but since then attentionhas widened to attentionhas broadenedto include the North encompassthe extensivealluvial marshestowards SomersetLevels, Gloucestershireand Avon and, the coast,which saw widespreadsettlement during mostnotably, the Gwent Levels.In this paper,some the Romanand medievalperiods. Rippon (1997a) ofthe highlightsof SevemEstuary archaeology will hasprovided an overall review of the evidenceand be summarisedbriefly, beforediscussing various of has sincecompleted a programmeof fieldwork on the many issuesthat need to be addressedin the the previously neglected comingyears. North SomersetLevels (Rippon I99lb: 1998;2000b). This projecthas included extensivedocumentary research and a The Somerset Levels survey of the standingbuildings, reflecting the Wetlandarchaeology around the Severn,and indeed increasinglyinterdisciplinary nature of researchinto in Britain,began in the SomersetLevels with Bullied the Severnwetlands. Discoveries have included andGray's work at the Glastonburyand Meare lake evidencefor Late Iron Age saltproduction,, an early settlements(Bulleid and Gray 19ll; l9l7;1948), Romano-Britishditched enclosure system, and late thoughoccasional wetland discoveriesin that area Romano-Britishreclamation probably associated arerecorded from asearly as the 1850s(e.g. Stradling with the constructionof the well-appointedvilla at 1850).This was followed by thepioneering work of Wemberham.Though work on the reclaimed Harry Godwin (e.g. 1941) on the post-glacial landscapeof the North SomersetLevels has taken vegetationsequences, and John and Bryony Coles' placewithin thecontrolled environment of a research 'Somerset (1986) LevelsProject' which revealedthe project,equally valuable work on interestinglyvery extentand preservationof prehistoricstructures different Romano-Britishlandscapes has occurred withinthe Brue Valley peatlands. Since then the pace elsewhereon the SevernLevels, within the context of destructionthrough commercial peat cutting has of development-ledwork (notablyin advanceof the slowed,though new threats are emerging such as AlternativeBird FeedingGrounds, Gwent Europark, 'improvement', agricultural erosionalong the banks and Nash SewageWorks on the Gwent Levels,and of major watercourses,and drainageand peat SecondSevern Crossing on theAvonmouth Levels).

L. Turner,Allen and Rippon

Figure l; Map o/'the Set,ern Estuarv Levels show'ing the places referred to in the text. TheSevern Estuary Levels

This illustratesa key feature of the Severn by the sea,proved to have the most extraordinary Estuary archaeology:the importanceof integrating affay ofwooden structuresexposed anywhere at any development-relatedwork within research-led onetime (Bell et aL.2000). frameworks. Thesearchaeological excavations have also had Another key themehas been the integrationof a heroic quality,with somethingof the romanceof a wide range of sourcematerial, most notably for thepioneering days of archaeology.Our colleagues the historic period. This was begun by Williams have overcome harsh and unforgiving natural (1970) in his seminalstudy of TheDraining of the conditionsand considerablelogistical barriers to SomersetLevels, and developed by Rippon(1997a) achievetheir goal - thoughwith a cosy pub within in his overview of the SevernLevels during the easyreach at the end of the day! It is hardto forget medievalperiod: it is testimonyto thepace of work NigelNayling's hoarse voice emerging form a mud- aroundthe estuarythat the latter is alreadyin need encrustedwetsuit late one August night when the of revision! Two key themesthat have emerged Magor Pill Boat was finally lifted. Or the teamfrom during the 1990sare the need to camy out further the Glamorgan-GwentArchaeological Trust trying documentaryresearch, and to testthrough fieldwork to rescuethe Iron Age buildingsin advanceof the modelsfor how the historiclandscape has emerged. vastarray of machineryconstructing the foundations Musgrove(1999) has made an importantstart in for the enormous Wilkinson's Distribution looking at the wealth of material left to us by Warehouse(Figure 2). The small team working on GlastonburyAbbey, while analysisof the historic the SecondSevern Crossing will for everremember landscapein the North SomersetLevels, along the the day they had to keep standingin the effluent samelines as that for the Gwent Levels(see Rippon outflow from the SudbrookPaper Mill, to thaw this volume),has led to a programmeof carefully themselvesout sufficiently to sledgeoff the l4th- targettedfieldwork designedto test the modelsfor centuryfish basketthey had recovered (Godbold and landscapedevelopment. Tumer 1994). Oncethe Severnmud haspenetrated into your clothesand your skin, the smell, and The Gwent Levels perhapsthe thrill, neverleaves you. Lessspectacular, but perhapsultimately more The Gwent Levelshave consistentlyproduced the influential,has been the work on the historic mostexciting archaeological discoveriesin Wales landscape.This began with the demonstrationby over the past ten years. Theseremarkable finds JohnAllen andMike Fulford thataRomano- British includethe Bronze Age site at Caldicot with its landscapesurvived in partsof the WentloogeLevel MiddleBronze Age boat,Late Bronze Age landing (Allen andFulford 1986;Fulford et al. t994). This stage principality and the oldest bridge in the potentiallygave a contextto theGoldcliff inscription (Nayling andCaseldine 1997), the Romano-British andrevealed a greatfeat of ancientcivil engineering, boatat BarlandsFarm, apparentlystranded over thoughthe initial visionof all theGwent Levels being 3 km from the (Nayling sea et al. lg94), and the reclaimedby Roman legionaries(Boon 1980)has Iron Age site at Goldcliff, which when sweptclean sincebeen tempered, as it hasbeen revealed that most

Figure 2: Excavations at the Wilkinsons Distribution Warehouse Site on the Caldicot Level. Turner,Allen and Rippon

Figure 3: A parishmap (Redwick)fromthe Commissionersof Sewersmaps of the Caldicot Level (GwentRecord O/fice D.I365/2). Copyright: Gwent RecordsOffice. if not all of the Caldicot Level remainedas a high that it supported.The ecologicalvalue depended on intertidal marsh. The work of Allen and Fulford theperiodic clearance of thedifferent classes of reens providedthe preliminaryto StephenRippon's study andditches at differentintervals. The surfaceof the of the historic landscapeof the Gwent Levels fields themselveshad no protection,and duckweed (Rippon 1996), which made extensiveuse of a and midgesdo not havethe sameemotive power as remarkableset of mapsproduced in 1830-31by the orchidsand the red kite. If developerscould maintain Commissionersof Sewers,,and now in the Gwent or replacethe total lengthof reenson their proposed Record Office (referencenos D.136511-2and sites, it was hard for CCW to defeat planning D.228211-2:Figure 3). Thevalue of documentary applications,but the historiclandscape provides the evidencein that andother investigations should also key, for it gives meaningto the existing drainage not be forgotten. systemand the landscapeas a whole. Peoplecan It canbe arguedthat this very modestly-funded recognisethe endeavourthat goesinto creatingand project has changedthe fate of the Gwent Levels, sustainingthis landscape;the reasons for its survival from almosttotal destructionby industrialand other are tangible and visible, and mitigation by laying development,to one of the conservationsuccesses out replacementditches within a modern develop- of the decade.Firstly it forged the first real bond ment is no longer sufficient compensationfor the between the Countryside Council for Wales and lossof the historic landscape. the archaeologicalcommunity. CCW had very The Gwent LevelsHistoric LandscapeSurvey courageouslydesignated nearly all of the under- was alsolargely responsible for the radicalalterations developedreclaimed land of the GwentLevels as an to the preferred route of the M4 Relief Road. A SSSI,a processwhich beganin 1982and took until f40,000study led to themoving of a proposed[350 1993to complete,because so many landownersand million motorway. Though the preferred route occupierswere involved (CCW 1998). However, remainson the Levels,it now runs hard up against the basisof the SSSIwas the reenand ditch system, land that had alreadybeen designated for industrial andparticularly the rangeofplants and invertebrates and housingdevelopments. If built it may provide The SevernEstuary Levels an effective cordon to future expansionand so part of the SevemEstuary whentwo local enthusiasts preservethe remaining landscape. Newporl Borough (Green and Solley 1980) and a student(Copeland Council's draft Unitary DevelopmentPlan also l98l ) describedsubstantial assemblages of Romano- showsa completechange of heartcompared to the British pottery from the easternshore at Oldbury earlier1990s, in which it is now trying to retainall Flatsand Hills Flats.Subsequent work showedthat the undevelopedLevels within its boundariesfor not only was pottery of this period presentat their nature conservation,archaeological and numerous,widely scatteredsites, both intertidaland landscapeimportance, rather than seeingit as prrze on the alluvium, and on both banks of the estuary, developmentland. but thatit wasaccompanied by a rich varietyof other occupationdebris (Allen and Fulford 1987,1990a, Gloucestershire 1990b,1992; Allen andRippon 1997;Allen 1998a, 1990).The existenceof thesenumerous settlements, The areasof estuarinealluvium in Gloucestershire thatatOldburyon Sevetnprobably being the largest havenot yielded such spectacular finds as those from andof higheststatus, and the lack of substantialpost- the Gwent and SomersetLevels, though the steady Romanalluviation, implied thatmuch of the alluvial accumulationof evidenceis revealinga similar outcrophad beenembanked and drainedin Roman intensitywith which theywere exploited in thepast. times. A key themethat has emergedhere, as throughout None of thesesite have so far beensubject to the E,stuary,is the extentto which communitieson proper excavation,and indeed,of all the alluvial boththe English and Welsh sides were economically wetlandsthat fringethe estuaryin the formercounty (andsocially?) linked. Probably the mostimportant of Gloucestershire,only theAvonmouth Levels have of theearly archaeological investigations within the seensubstantial excavations prompted by the on- arnbitof theseLevels were at theChesters villa (Scott going industrial expansion.Key sites include the Garrett1938) on the west bank and the nearby 'villa' prehistoricsettlements at Kites Corner and Hallen, LydneyPark Farm (Hart 1961;Fitchett 1986). Romano-Britishenclosure system at Norlhwick, and It hassince been established that at theChesters iron- medieval sites at Seabankand RockinghamFarm smeltingtook placc on an industrialscale (Fulford (Barnes1993; Insole 1997; Locock and Law1er2000). and Allen 1992),and similar activities apparently occurredat Lydney Park Farm (Allen 2001 tEvents' forthcominga). Indeed,rural craft productionis oevents'as surprisinglycommon on Romano-Britishsites No areaof landis immunefrom the late aroundthe SevernEstuary, on the English side in Harold Macmillan describedthe unexpectedin Gloucestershire(Allen and Fulford 1990b; 1992; politics,and in the pastten yearsthe SevernEstuary 'events' Allen and Rippon 1997),at RumneyGreat Wharf and its Levelshave seen a numberof that on the WentloogeLevel (Fulford et al. 1994), and could affecttheir future. Thoughplans for the Severn KennMoor on the North SomersetLevels (Rippon Barrage(which providedan initial stimulusfor the 2000b).The distributiono1'ore from the Forestof creationof the SELRC in 1987),are in abeyance, Deanand possiblyother sourcesin the Bristol another major infrastructuredevelopment - the Channelorefield, indicates the extensive use ofwater SecondSevern Crossing - has cut a swathacross transporton the Estuary,a tradition that the both the Avonmouthand the Gwent Levels. The distributionof pottery suggestscan be tracedback AlternativeBird FeedingGrounds, created between to at leastthe late lron Age (Allen 1998b;1999a; Uskmouthand Goldcliff, and the LG development, Allenand Fulford 1996).The importanceof water which impingedupon the WentloogeLevel west of transportis alsoreflected in theremains of medieval Newport,were both the resultof politicaldecisions quaysencountered at Hill (Allen and Fulford 1996) in which argumentsfor conservationplayed little andWoolaston (Fulfbrd et al. 1992;Allen 1996). part.Changes in landownership, the problems faced Theestuary was evenmore importantas a highway by farmers,and the depletionof fish stocks are in earlymodcrn and modern times, as testifiedby beginningto changepractices which have been thesurviving physical evidence for fisheries,boats carriedout for centuries. It is ironic, for example, andwaterfront structures (Green 1992, 1995,1996, that the excavationand classificationof fishtraps, 1999;Parker 1998; Townley 1998;Allen 1999a). which was almost inventedon the Gwent Levels As in the Gwent Levels,intertidal survey has (Green 1992; Godbold and Turner 1994; Nayling revealedimportant discoveries in theGloucestershire 1999),should have occured as the last working Turner,Allen and Rippon fishtrapsin Wales,at Goldcliff, were nearlyput out occurringagain. Martin Bell, firstly at Goldcliff and of businessby the hugely inflated cost of fishing now Redwick,has developed, perhaps in the faceof licences. Cadw'sfinancial cautiousness, a low-tech, low-cost Thesechanges in traditionalpractices mean that but highly-effectivestyle of excavation,in which, efforts shouldbe madeto rescuethe oral traditions without any of King Canute'ssupposed vanity, he as much as rescuingthe archaeology.We can learn works with the seaand the vagariesof the sediment so much from men like Neville Waters,former that it carries,rather than trying to competewith it. chairmanof the InternalDrainage Board, who has As a result,whole buildingsare excavated, analysed now left farming and the Levels. He describesthe andrecorded, at far lesscost than equivalent building winter task of casting(cleaning) and laying the grip footprintson a dry land site, where the wood had systemsby hand, featuresthat we now treat as decayed.Throughout the intertidalzone,work must archaeological.There is Derek Huby, from up the be opportunistic,for examplerecording areas of peat Severn at Awre, who is the last maker of basket shelfswept clean by storms,and erodingareas need fishtraps,and operates one of the lastputcher ranks. to be regularlymonitored. Mr J Neal of Middle NewtonFarm on theWentlooge Level,is oneofthe lastfarmers still to grazelivestock Wetland Archaeology and the Public on the saltmarsh.Finally thereis DerekUpton, who, The remarkablediscoveries frorn the Severn throughhis remarkablediscoveries, has introduced wetlandshave presentedlocal museumswith both so many archaeologiststo the richesand challenges problemsand potentialopportunities, as they have of the estuary. facedthe task of conservingthe remarkablewooden Recentyears have also seenthe centralisation objectsand structures that have been so painstakingly of power anddecision making on the GwentLevels, recoveredand recorded. Several ofthese great finds for example,diminishing the communalpractices from the Gwent Levels have now beenthrough the that have sustainedthe areafor hundredsof years. conservationprocess, notably the boat strakefrom The hierarchyof drainagefeatures, which had been Caldicot,buildings 7, 2 and 6 from Goldcliff, and managedas a single systemby the Commissioners the BarlandsFarm and Magor Pill Boats. It is, of Sewers,has been broken down. The Environment however,a greatdisappointment that asyet noneof Agencynow takesresponsibility for theseawalls and thesefinds areon public display,and that plans for a the major reens',leaving the Caldicotand Wentlooge new museumin Cardiff Bay andfor galleriesdevoted Internal DrainageBoard to deal with the rest. No to the Levelsat CaldicotCastle have been shelved, longer do local residentstake responsibilityfor the though the display of the BarlandsFarm boat is protection of their land and homes,and major eagerly awaited at Newport Museum. Since the developersassume that central governmentwill retirementof Bob Trett, the SELRC has failed to continually reinforce the sea defences,,to provide includeany museumarchaeologists in their steering perrnanentprotection for their investment.The recent committee,a situationthat urgently needsto be extensiveflooding in England and Wales,and the addressed. inexorablerise in the sea level, emphasisesthe Thepresentation of wetlandarchaeology to the potentialrisks of developingland which, but for the public has been more successfullyachieved in quite fragile flood defences,would be coveredby Somerset.The Peat Moors Visitor Centre, established water with increasingfrequency. by Johnand Bryony Coles' SomersetLevels Project, The 1990salso taught us how to becomeever and now managedby SomersetCounty Council, more cost-effectivein the archaeologicalprojects that attractssome 10,000visitors a year to see recon- we haveundertaken. Caldicot CastleLake remains structionsof prehistorictrackways (including the the most expensivearchaeological project in Wales Neolithic Sweet Track) and buildings from the to date,for Cadw at least. Elsewhere,collaborative GlastonburyLake Village. Other finds from the funding hasbeen a greatsuccess, most particularly SomersetLevels can be seen in the Tribunal with the Magor Pill Boat, wherea singlephone call Museum' Glastonbury,and the County Museum in to Laing-GTM, the consortium then building the Taunton. SecondSevern Crossing, ultimately led to their Academic publication of theseresults of the remarkablygenerous and highly-skilled role in lifting work in the SevernLevels has been a greatsuccess, what remainedof Wales' Mary Rose intact. It is following the exampleset by the SomersetLevels hardto imaginethe circumstancesfor sucha project Project (Coles and Coles 1986; SomersetLevels I I The SevernEstuary Levels

I Papers). Work in the 1990son four major projects majority of finds have been revearedby the on the Gwent Levels has been published as differentialerosion of the mid-tidepeat shelf (Allen monographsin thecouncil for BritishArchaeolosv,s 2001 forthcomingc), which Research is where the Gwent Reportsseries (Rippon 1996;Nayling"and Levels seemto do so well comparedto the rest of Caseldine1997;Nayling l99g: BeIl et ot., iOOO\ana the SevernEstuary, as the peat shelf is exposedfor a fifth, on the Barland'sFarm Boat, is forthcoming. kilometresat a stretch,and over considerable Theresults of otherprojects widths havebeen published in at one time. This fact prestigious makes Heike Neumann,s internationaland national journars, such surveyofthe Gwentforeshore (Neumann 2000, 2g2_ as World Archaeology, Antiquaries Journal, 320)so valuableas a benchmarkto measurethe rate Archaeological Journar, Britannic.t and,MecJievar of erosionand to plot new Archaeology. discoveriesin rerationto Fieldwork on the welsh side of the sitesthat will soon disappear.Given that it is the estuarywas even extensivelycited in English intention of the EnvironmentAgency to maintain Heritage'sreport on Englandis Coastal Herltage, the seawallin its present (Fulford position and sea-revelis et al. 1997). The quality,volume, variety steadilyrising, then erosionof the peat shelf andtimeliness of thesepublications will is asgood if not continueonly up to point better where additionalforward than any of the great wetlanJ projects protection of the seawallsis required,as hasbegun undertakenelsewhere in Britain, andbecause a wide to happenat Rumney GreatWharf. The opportunity rangeof vehicles- all independently -- refereed have for futurearchaeologicar excavationr beenused, *uy iherefore they havereached a very wide academic be time-limited. audience. There are also more limited opportunities However,set againstthis successin the derived from major commercialdeveiopment in academicworld hasbeen the failureto communicate thoseareas presently designated for industriaruse. theinterest of our work to the wider public, which The M4 Relief Road, if built, will be on an hasto be linked to someextent with the problem of embankmentproviding little opportunityto record museumdisplay. Some projects have attracted buriedarchaeological remains. Deveropei, ur. being considerablemedia interest - particularlythe lifting encouragedby their archaeologicalconsultants, and of theMagor Pill Boat,which was a cliff_hanseron the planning authoritiesby their archaeological thenational news for severalnights. Time t ari have curators,to use constructionmethods that do not visitedthe SomersetLevels, but 'the despitetheir impinge below historic landscape'into the coverageof theexcavation of 'seahenge' in Norfolk, potentiallyarchaeological rich layersbeneath. There haveyet to be persuadedto return to the Severn can be clear economicincentives in doing so, but EstuaryLevels. Overall,we need to concentrateon the major factor must be to avoid what is reachingout to a wider audience, perhapsby now recognisedas a powerful constraintupon followingthe example of the excellentttota-ort rnup development:the archaeologicalimporlan.. of th. - Archaeologyof _ the Tidat Thames produced area. This may lead to archaeologicalfieldwork by the Thames ArchaeologicalSurvey, and by beingfocussed on unravelringthe historic landscape developingthe existing SELRC website. which, as Rippon has pointed out ( 1996; 1997a; 2000a;and this volume), is yet to revearall its secrets. The Looking to the future one major site in the Gwent Levels to be radically affectedby the proposedM4 Relief Road Somuch for the past ten years,what of the next? is a complex of moatedplatforms and apparently Theoptimism of the 1990s needs,perhaps, to be 13th-centurybuildings at tempered. BroadstreetCommon. Severalfactors areatwork. On the Welskr There may be some opportunitiesto sectionreens sideof the Estuary,Derek upton is for the moment and drains,and investigatethe sitesof stanks(sites not as activeas he has been. He has made nearlv of temporarydams) or gouts (sluices/tidalflaps everyimportant discovery over the past ten years, which openedthrough the seawall) to show how andwe professional archaeologists are still trying to thesevital structuresevolved. Just as it is to be hoped copewith the consequences.Until ,orn.orr. Jr. that,if built, the new M4 will act asa barrierasainst developshis eye and spends the sameamount oftime furtherurban and industrialsprawl onto the Llvels, onthe foreshore, further new discoveries will be far it must alsobe hopedthat the more M5 doesthe samein intermittent.There is alsoa desperateneed to Somerset,notably around Weston_super_Mare,the achievea comparablelevel of generalreconnaissance expansionof which is occurringwith on the English so little regard side. Also on the foreshore,the for culturalheritase. Turner,Allen and Rippon

The need for synthesis compactionby later sedimentation,particularly of peatsoils, cause often unquantifiable lowering of the After all this fieldwork, the next stageof work must absoluteheights of former groundsurfaces, affecting to assimilatethe great body of data be to begin the successof correlatingone sequenceto another gathered all the disciplinesover the pastdecade, by andreconstructing past topographies (Allen 1999b). numerousPPGl6 related most recentlythrough the A key issueis that of sealevel movelnentover the of recon- evaluations,and begin the challenge past2,500 years, a period for which we lack peat that structingthe successionof environments deposits,and for which we needto developtextural, years. developedin this regionover the past 12,,000 micromorphologicaland chemicalanalysis on UrsulaMaier andRichard Vogt's paper (this volume) suspectedburied surfaces (e.g. Rippon 2000b). on the Neolithic landscapeof westernLake Chronologyalso remainsa problem.Radio- Constancehas shown what can be achievedif a carbon dating is the main techniquefor most key multi-disciplinaryproject can be sustainedover an surfacesbut it remainsa coarseway of correlating extendedperiod. them overwider areas.Some examples, such as the 'submerged The pioneeringwork of JohnAllen provideda late Mesolithicand Neolithic forests' generalisedmodel for theHolocene sequence around and thoseassociated with wooden structures,offer the SevernEstuary, though the evolution of these thechance of muchgreater chronological refinement estuarineenvironments remains in manyrespects ill- through dendrochronology.Some large-scale understood(Allen 2000).The first challengeis to archaeologicalprojects, such as at Goldcliff and reconstructpalaeotopographies at key points in the thoseassociated with major developmentssuch as sedimentarysequence, and explain the very complex CabotPark (Avon Levels)and the Gwent Europark relationshipbetween the landsurface and the position (CaldicotLevel), cover suchlarge areas that subtle 'Where of the sea: is the sea?'is the fundamental variationsin thetopography can be recordedand the questionat alI periodsin the SevernEstuary. The resultscould perhapsbe appliedacross wider areas position and shapeof the main estuaryand its of the terrain.A greaterproblem is dating surfaces tributaries,the tidal range and the consequential without sufficientorganic material, as experiments mean high water mark, the volume of sediment with archaeomagneticdating have not on the whole carriedby theriver, the presence of transientbarriers provedsuccessful (see Locock this volume). such as gravel banks or sand dunes, the relative Having found the land, the next stage is to frequency of storm surgesand other infrequent picture the environmentsthat it supported.Recent events,all affect how much land there is available researchhas moved away from descriptionsof the and what environmentsit is capableof sustaining. environmentat a sub-regionallevel, normally using The first attemptsare being madethrough the pollenanalysis, to muchmore site-specific indicators collationof boreholedata, such as Housleyet al.'s such as plant macrofossils,insects, diatoms and (2000)work in the Brue Valley,and Allen's (2001 foraminifera. Martin Bell and Ben Horton (this forthcomingb; andthis volume)study of the Gwent volume) have describedhow effectivethese can be Levels.Despite intensive investigations in areassuch in revealing very localised changesin the as Goldcliff (Bell et a\.2000), the remarkable environment,and in identifyingseasonal changes in window into the deep Holocenesequence that is activity. Frustratingly,only tiny fragmentsof these afforded by the intertidal zone has not yet been environmentssurvive today - small areasof exploitedto its full potential,although John Allen saltmarsh,and some fen woodland on the Magor and Simon Haslett are now recordingthe long Marsh Nature Reserve- which rnight allow us to sectionsexposed on the foreshore,in orderto better visualisewhat the Levels may have looked like in understandthe interactionof sedimentaryprocesses prehistory. How far theseresidual analogues can in the Levels.There is also a needfor more multi- allow for a comprehensivereconstruction of the proxy palaeoenvironmentalanalysis to understand environmentawaits to be seen. the processesat work within the Estuary,and the Feeding in these environmentswere a wide work of Ben Horton(this volume) and Simon Haslett range of animals,birds and fish (see Bell this andhis colleagues(this volume) has shown how very volume). Thethought of aurochsenlumbering about sophisticatedmodels can be developed.Infuriatingly, the creeks, and herds of red deer graztng the however,the many land surfacescontained within saltmarsh,are hard to equatewith the coastalfringes the Holocene sequenceare not preservedat their of modern South Wales or Somerset. The pre- original height, as differentialconsolidation and reclamationmarshes would have been alive with 7

The Severn Eshtarv Levels

waders,wildfbwl and birds like the stately crane, Thoughthe Gwent Levelsare so far alonein whilemigratory fish, salmon, sea troutand eels must havingbenefited from a detailedhistoric landscape havebeen abundant in theadjacent Estuary.It would characterisation,it is clearthat there was remarkable havebeen a remarkablyresource-rich environment, diversityin how the SevernLevels were ernba'ked of which we now seehints following the breaking andenclosed during the rnedievalperiod and a vast of the shinglebarrier in porlock Bay on the west amountof informationremains locked-up within the Somersetcoast, and the developrnent of a new historic landscape(Rippon 1996; 1997a;2000a: intertidalwetland behind. 2000b;and this volume).These landscapes were Man is but one animalin this specialised createdthrough remarkable feats of engineering,and environment,but one who becomesprogressively althoughthe basic drainagesysterr-r of today is moredominant later in prehistory,and from the understood(e.g. Rippon lgg6; l99la), the Romanperiod seeks to takecontrol. Rippon (2000a; practicalitiesof water managementin the pasthas andthis volume)has outlined the range of options seenlittle attention (but see Alle' andRippon 1995; thatwere open to humancornmunities in detenr-rining Rippon 1999,ll7-20). Althoughthc locationsof howthey could utilise the rich resource potential of lnanysea banks, flood banksand sorne outfalls have theseenvironrnents. In the beginning they rarely nowbeen established, these critical monuments have leavemore than fbotprints,giving the sense of an beenmuch abusedand otherwisencglected. No opportunistinterest in hunting and gathering. By Romanor medievalseabank has beenphysically themiddle Bronze Age, tradingand transport links datedor evenexcavated in orderto discoverl-row it wereestablished while frorn the late Bronze Age, was constructedor maintained. The cha'ces of settlementsappcar, and cattle and to a lesserextent achievinga betterunderstanding are now srnall. sheepwere brought to graze.A great challengewill giventhe unprotected status of thebanks and outfalls be if the developmentof increasinglyrefined andthe extentto which they havebeen damaged or sedimentary,topographic and environmental models destroyedby landownersand the authorities.The canprovide a more successfulway of predicating mid-eighteenthcentury outfall conservedat Hill wheresuch ephemeral settlements re'ains occur. (Wilson1993) is, howeveqa glaringexception and buriedby thelater alluvium. an exampleof what canbe achieved.

Figure4" A /ield meetingo/'the SELRCat the Goldctiff excavation.sin 1994. l0 Turner,Allen and Rippon

This is a substantialresearch agenda, and harder It is very encouragingthat so manypeople who 'E,stuarine to imaginethan what might be achieved,is how it areinterested in Archaeology'should look can be achieved.Traditional Sites and Monuments towardsthe work being donein the SevernE,stuary Recordscannot cope with this levelof detail,though for inspiration. The community of specialists, increasinglysophisticated Geographical Information professionaland amateurfieldworkers which the Systemswould allow the topographicaland SevernE,stuary Levels ResearchCommittee has environmentalmodels to be built up as more and fosteredover the past ten years is rare and special more data is assimilated.Inevitably in some areas (Figure4). The greatwetland projects in England the picturewill be very detailedbut in othersrather have come and gone,but the SELRC survivesand broad brush. This would provide a rather static continuesto widenits embrace.The main challenge presentationof the material, which could be facedby the committeeis to find funding sourcesto enlivenedby computergraphics to introducethe allow the developmentof the understandingof this herds of animals,and the reconstructionof the remarkableenvironment to moveonto another plane archaeologicalsites. and into more dimensions.

Bibliography Allen, J.R.L. (2001 forthcoming a) The landscape archaeologyof the Lydney Level, Gloucestershire: Allen, J.R.L. (1990) Late Flandrian shoreline nafural and human transformationsover the last two oscillations in the Severn Estuary: change and millennia. Transactions o.f'the Bristol and reclamation at Arlingham, Gloucestershire. Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (forthcoming). A'330,315-334. Allen, J.R.L. (2001 forthcoming b) The Late Allen, J.R.L. ( 1996) A possiblemedieval trade in iron Quaternary Stratigraphy in the Gwent Levels ores in the Severn Estuary of south-west Britain. (southeastWales): the subsurfaceevidence. Proc. Medieval A rchaeo lo gy XL, 226-230. Geol.Assoc ll2. A1len,J.R.L. (l99Ba) Romano-Britishand early Allen, J.R.L. (2001 forthcomingc) Retreatrates of soft- medieval pottery scatterson the alluvium at Hill sediment cliffs: the contribution from dated and Oldbury, SevernEstuary Levels. Archaeology fishweirs and traps. Proceedings oJ'the Geologists in the SevernEstuary 8, 67-81. A ss o c i at ion (forthcoming). Allen, J.R.L. ( 1998b)Late lron Age and earliestRoman Allen, J. R. L. and Fulford, M. (1986) The Wentlooge Calcite-tempered Ware from sites on the Severn Level: A Romano-British Saltmarsh Reclamation Estuary Levels: characterand distribution. Studia in South-EastWales, Britannia, XYII, 9 l-ll7 . Celtica 32, 27 -41. Allen, J.R.L.and Fulford, M.G. (1987)Romano-British Allen, J.R.L. (1999a)Magor Pill (Gwent) multiperiod settlement and industry on the wetlands of the site: post-medievalpottery, and the shipping trade. SevernE,stuary. Antiquaries Journal 6l ,237 -289. Archaeology in the SevernEstuary 10,75-97. Allen, J.R.L. and Fulford, M.G. (1990a) Romano- Allen, J.R.L. (1999b) Geological impacts on coastal British and later reclamations on the Severn salt landscapes:some general effects of sediment marshes in the Elmore area, Gloucestershire. autocompactionin the Holocene of Northwest Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Europe.The Holocene 9, l-12. Archaeological Society 108, I 7-32. Al1en,J.R.L. (2000) MorphodynamicsofHolocene salt Allen, J.R.L. and Fulford, M.G. (1990b) Romano- marshes: a review sketch from the Atlantic and British wetland reclamations at Longney, southern North Sea Coast of Europe. Quaternaty Gloucestershire,and the evidence for the early ScienceReview 19. I 155-1231. 1839-40. The SevernEstuary Levels l1

settlementof the inner Sevem Estuary. Antiquaries Fulford, M.G. and Allen, J.R.L. (lgg2) lron_making Journal 10.288-326. at the Chestersvilla, Woolaston,Gloucestershire: Allen, J.R.L.and Fulford, M.G. (1992)Romano_British surveyand excavationlgBT -g | . Britannia XXIII, and later geoarchaeologyat Oldbury Flats: 159-215. reclamationand settlementon the changeablecoast Fulford,M.G., Allen, J.R.L. and Rippon, S.J.(lgg4) of the Severn Estuary, southwest Britain. The Settlementand Drainage of the Wentlooge Archaeological Journal 149, 82-123. Level, Gwent: Survey and Excavation at Rurnney Allen, J.R.L. and Fulford, M.G. (1996) The GreatWharf, 1992,Britannia XXV 175_211. Distributionof SoutheastDorset Black Burnished Fulford, M., Champion,T. and Long, A. (cds) (lgg7) category [ Pottery in SouthwestBritain . Britannia England's Coastal Heritage. London, English XXXVII, 223-81. HeritageArchaeological Report 15. Allen, J.R.L. and Rippon, S.J. (1995) The historical Fulford,M.G., Rippon,S.J., Allen, J.R.L.and Hillam, simplification of coastalflood defences: four case J. (1992) The medieval quay at WoolastonGrange, histories from the Severn Estuary Levels, SW Gloucestershire. Transactionsof the Bristol ancl Britain. Transactions of the Bristol and GloucestershireArchaeological Soc:ietvI I 0, l0l _ Glouc es ters hire A rc haeologic al Soc iee I 03, 73_ g g. r27. Allen, J.R.L. and Rippon, S.J. (lgg7) A Romano_ Godbold,S. and Turner,R. ( I 994) Medieval Fishtraps British shaft of dressedstone and the settlementat in the Severn Estuary, Meclieval Archaeologv, Oldbury on Severn,Gloucestershire. Transactions XXXVIII, 19-54. oJ the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Godwin, H. (194) Studiesin post-glacial Society115, l9-27. the historyof British vegetation IV: correlationsin the Somerset Barnes,L (1993) Second Severn Crossing: English Levels. l,lew Phytologist 40, 108-32. Approaches;an interim statementon the 1gg2lg3 Green'c. (1992)The Severnfisherie s. Annual Report fieldwork. Archaeology in the SevernEstuary lgg3, of the Severn Estuary 5-29. Levers Reseorch Committee for 1992,69-16. Bell, M., Caseldine,A., and Neumann, H. (2000) Green,c. (1995) Trows and the Severncoastal trade. Prehistoric Intertidal Archoeology in the Wetsh Archaeology in gj _l Severn the SevernE,stuary 6, 13" I I 5_ Estuary. York, CBA ResearchReport 120. r22. Boon,G.C. (19S0)Caerleon and the Gwent Levels in Green,,C (1996) The Forest ports of the Severn Early Historic Times. In Thompson, F.H. (ed.) Estuary. Archaeology in the SevernEstuarv j _ Archaeologyand Coastal Change,London: " lTj Society 113. of Antiquaries,24-36. Green, C. (1999) Severn Traders.Lydney. Brunning, R. (1997) Two Bronze Age Wooden Green,M. and Solley,T.W.J. ( Structuresin the SomersetMoors. Archaeology in l9B0) Romano_British pottery theSevern Estuary 8, 5-8. from Salmon Lodge, Oldbury on Severn. Bristol Archaeological ResearchGroup Review Bulleid,A. and Gray,H.Sr.J (1911) Glastonbury l, Lake 30-34. Village,volume l. Glastonbury. Grove,J. andBrunning, R. (1998)The Romano_British Bulleid,A. and Gray, H.St.J (1917) GlastonburyLake Salt Industry in Somerset.Archaeology Village,volume 2. Glastonbury. in the SevernEstuary 9, 6l -8. Bulleid,A. andGray, H.St.J (1948) Meare Lake Wllage, Hart, C.E. 1967 Archaeology volume 1. Taunton. in Dectn.Gloucester. Housley, R., Straker, V. and Cope, D. (2000) The CCW (1998) Towardsa strategyfor the Gwent Levels Holocene peat and the alluvial stratigraphyof the into the next millennium, a consultation document, upper Brue Valley Cardiff. in the SomersetLevels basedon Soil Survey data of the l9B0s, Archcteologyin the Coles,B. and Coles, J. (1986) The Sweet Track to SevernEstuary l0 (for 1999), lI-23. Glastonbury.London: Dent. Insole,P. (1997) An Excavationand Auger Survey in Copeland,T. (1981) Fieldwork at Hills Flats on the 1996at British Gas Seabank,Bristol, on the North River Severn astride the Avon-Gloucestershire Avon Levels.Bristol and Avon Archaeology 14,21_ countyboundary. Bristol Archaeological Research 49. GroupReview 2,47-58. Locock, M. and Lawler,M. (2000)Moated Enclosures Fitchett,M. ( 1986)Excavations at park Farm, Lydney. on the North Avon Level: Survey and Excavation lllew Regard o./'theForest o.fDean, 2. 24_27. at Rockingham Farm, Avonmouth, lgg3_j. Trans. t2 Tttrrtcr',,4llan und Riltltorr

B r i.;I rt I u rr d G I o uc e.s t e r,s h i re A rc h u eo I og i c'a I So c'i eh' Rippon,S. (2000b)The Rotlano-BritishExploitation I I tt.93- 122. of CoastalWetlands: Survcy and Excavationot-t tl-tc Musgrovc,D. (1999) Thc MetlievulExploitation of the North SomersctLcvcls. 1993-7 . Brituurtiu 31. 6c)- Peul Mortrs of'thc Somer,selLevels. Unpublished 200. PhD thcsis,University of Exctcr. Scott Garrctt.C (1938) ChcstcrsRotran Villa. c)3, Nayling. N. (1998) The Mugor Pill Medievul Wrec'k. Woolaston.A rt'huaologiuCum bratr.r'l^r 93- I 2-5. York. t.BA RcsearchRcport, I 15,York. Stradling. W. ( llt50) Turbarics. Prr.rr'.Somar.;ct Nayling,N.(l9c)c)) Mcdicval and laterfish wcirs at Art'haeol. Soc' | " 18-62. Magor Pill, Gwcnt Lcvels:coastal change and Townlcy,E. (1998) Ficldworkott thc Forcstshorc: technologicalclevcloptnent. Archoeology in lhe Stroatto Woolaston.Gloucestcrshirc. A rc' huco logy SavarnE:;ttrut'.t' 10. 93-l 13. in lhe SevernE.slttut'.\'9, 82-85. Nayling,N. and f'ascldinc.A. ( 1997)Exc'crt,ctliorts ul Williarns, M ( 1970) The Dt'uining d tha Somar.sct Culdit'ol, Gv'ent: BrutnzeAge Pulueochannelsin lhe Level^s.Cambridge : Car-r-rbridgcUnivcrsity Prcss. Lov'ar Natlat'nWrllc.t'. York. CBA ResearchReport, Wilson.R. (1993) Recordof a ticlaloutftrll at Hill. lOlt. G Ir t uc' c,v t u'.; h i re Sr t c i at y f it t' I nd tr ^s I r' i u 1,1rc hu t'r t Ir t g.t' Nayling.N.. Maynard.D. and Mccrail, S. (1994) Journul/itr I 993,3l -43. Barland'sFann. Margor.Gwcnt: a Rornano-Celtic boat.An I iq ttit.t' 68. 596-603. Ncumann.tl. (2000)Thc IntcrtidalPcat Survcy. in Bcll at u1..282-321. Parkcr,A..1. (l99tt) Rcmait-tsof boatsat Purtot-t(East). Glorrccstcrshirc.Art'huaolo.gv in thaSet'arn Lstucrt't' 9.91-92. Rippnn.S. (1996)Gwettt Lcvcls: Thc Lvolution of u Wt'tlundLurtd:;t'uytc. York. CBA ResearchRcport, | 05. Rrppon.S. (1997a) Tha SevarnEstttut'.t': Luncl,scupe l:voltrliou und LVetlundRet'lumulir.rn. London: llick Trrruer, [-ciccstcr[Jnivcrsity Prcss. ('udtr, Rippon.S. ( 1997b)Rotnan and Mcdicval settlemcltt li u I i r tttu 1,1,;.sarn lt l.t' .fit r WhI a.s, on thc North SomersetLcvcls: thc secondseason Culltu.t'.sPurk, of survcy and cxcavationat Banwell and Purton, ('urdi/1, ('F l0 -l'V? 1991. An'hueologr in the ,SevernE.stuttt'.t'8, 4l-54. Rippon.S. ( l99tt) Mcdievalscttlcmcnt and landscapc .lohu.,lllert, r.; rtf Rattdi ng, on thc North SomcrsctLcvcls: the third scasonof L,rt iva i t.t' Po.;tgruduulc Ra.saurt'hI n,slil trta Saditttartktlog.t' survcyand cxcavation at Puxton.199U. Arc'haeologt, fbr Da t'I tttt' ut rt A rc h u c rt I og.t', in lhe SavarnEsttrur.t'9,69-78. ;tu f trfhireknight.s, Rippon,S. ( l99c))Ronrano-British Reclamation of Raudittg, RG6 6AB C-oastalWctland. In Cook, H. and Williarnson,T. (eds) Wult:r'mdnu{emenlin lhe English Lund,scape. Stcphut Rippon, Edinbr-rrgh:Edinburgh Univcrsity Press, l0l -21. U n i var,s i t.t' of E.rat er, 'fha Rippon. S. (2000a) Trun,sfbrrnutiortof'Coa,stul [)t'pu r'I m e n I tt f :1rt' h u ar t I r t g.t', Watlund,v:tha c.rploilution ctnclmanugement of' School of Geogruplt.t' undA rt'uheolog.t' mur.shlundlund,st'uytc.s in lVrn'lhWe,sl Eurcpa during l,' lhc Romun und Matlievul Periocl.s.Londor-r: The , !;,' i,''r,l,l i,;! :,:,:,,:; [',.rt'lar, I:,\'1 1O L. BritishAcadcnry.