Land at Todenham Road Moreton-In-Marsh Gloucestershire

Land at Todenham Road Moreton-in-Marsh Gloucestershire

Excavation Report

for Cala Homes (Midlands) Ltd

CA Project: 9235 CA Report: 17100 July 2017

Land at Todenham Road Moreton-in-Marsh Gloucestershire

Excavation Report

CA Project: 9235 CA Report: 17100

Document Control Grid Revision Date Author Checked by Status Reasons for Approved revision by A 5 June Jonathan Daniel Internal Technical Martin 2017 Hart Stansbie review revisions Watts

This report is confidential to the client. Cotswold Archaeology accepts no responsibility or liability to any third party to whom this report, or any part of it, is made known. Any such party relies upon this report entirely at their own risk. No part of this report may be reproduced by any means without permission.

CONTENTS

SUMMARY ...... 3

1. INTRODUCTION ...... 4

2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND ...... 5

3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ...... 6

4. METHODOLOGY ...... 7

5. RESULTS (FIGS 3–7) ...... 8

Period 1: Middle Bronze Age (1600–1200 BC) ...... 8 Period 2: Mid to Late Roman (2nd–4th centuries AD) ...... 11 Period 3: early medieval (6th–7th centuries AD) ...... 12 Period 4: post-medieval to modern (18th century AD and later)...... 12

6. THE FINDS ...... 13

7. THE BIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE ...... 13

8. DISCUSSION ...... 14

Middle Bronze Age ...... 14 Mid to Late Roman ...... 15 Early medieval, post-medieval and modern ...... 16

9. CA PROJECT TEAM ...... 16

10. STORAGE AND CURATION ...... 17

11. REFERENCES ...... 17

APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS ...... 19 APPENDIX B: POTTERY ...... 22 APPENDIX C: WORKED FLINT ...... 23 APPENDIX D: FIRED CLAY ...... 23 APPENDIX E: BONE ...... 23 APPENDIX F: THE PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL EVIDENCE ...... 24 APPENDIX G: THE RADIOCARBON DATING ...... 27 APPENDIX H: OASIS REPORT FORM ...... 28

1 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Excavation Report

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Fig. 1 Site location plan (1:25,000). Fig. 2 Location of groundworks (1:4000). Fig. 3 Detail plan of Area 2 (1:600). Fig. 4 Detail plan of Roundhouses (1:250). Fig. 5 Section drawings (1:20). Fig. 6 Photograph: the site in its landscape setting, looking west towards Blenheim Farm. Fig. 7 Photograph: Roundhouse A under excavation, looking east. Fig. 8 Photograph: Roundhouse B, looking west.

2 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Excavation Report

SUMMARY

Project Name: Land at Todenham Road Location: Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire NGR: 421090 232870 Type: Excavation Date: 13–27 April, 5–13 October and 10–20 November 2015 Planning Reference: 14/00948/OUT Location of Archive: To be deposited with Corinium Museum, Cirencester Site Code: LTR 15

An archaeological excavation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology in phases between April and November 2015 at Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, prior to residential development.

The excavations, undertaken in two areas totalling c. 1.8ha, revealed the remains of a Middle Bronze Age settlement comprising a roundhouse, post-built structures, pits, and postholes dated by radiocarbon assay to the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. Material remains from the settlement consisted of a small assemblage of burnt bone, pottery and charred cereals. The settlement was apparently unenclosed, in contrast to the enclosed Middle Bronze Age settlement at Blenheim Farm, 375m to the west. Possible funerary and ritual remains found 500m to the south-east at the Fire Service College seem, on the basis of radiocarbon dating, to have been slightly earlier than the settlements at Todenham Road and Blenheim Farm, but it is possible that the remains at all three sites were broadly contemporary.

Roman remains at Todenham Road comprised field boundaries and a pit, possibly forming a continuation of the probable pastoral Roman landscape observed at Blenheim Farm. A single early medieval date obtained from a probably intrusive charcoal fragment has provided rare evidence for activity of this date at Moreton-in-Marsh, albeit of an unidentified nature, whilst later remains comprised field boundaries, reflecting the fact that the site lay within Moreton’s agricultural hinterland.

3 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Excavation Report

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Between April and November 2015, Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological investigation at the request of Cala Homes (Midlands) Ltd, on Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire (centred on NGR: 421090 232870; Fig. 1).

1.2 Planning permission (Planning ref: 14/00948/OUT) for housing and associated infrastructure was granted by Cotswold District Council (CDC) conditional (Condition 55) on a programme of archaeological work. The condition was recommended by Charles Parry, Archaeologist, Gloucestershire County Council (GCC), archaeological advisor to CDC.

1.3 The excavation was undertaken in accordance with a detailed Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) produced by CA (2015) and approved by CDC. The fieldwork also followed Standard and Guidance: Archaeological Excavation issued by the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (2014); the Statement of Standards and Practices Appropriate for Archaeological Fieldwork in Gloucestershire issued by GCC (1996); and the Management of Research Projects in the Historic Environment (MORPHE): Project Manager’s Guide and accompanying PPN3: Archaeological Excavation issued by Historic England (2015). It was monitored by Charles Parry.

The site

1.4 The site is located on the northern edge of the small Cotswolds town of Moreton-in- Marsh. It is approximately 11ha in extent and prior to the development comprised arable fields (Fig. 2). It is bordered to the south and west by residential developments, to the north by Todenham Road and to the east by the Fire Service College, the latter located on a former airfield. The site lies at approximately 130m AOD with the ground level rising slightly to the south.

1.5 The underlying geology is mapped as Charmouth Mudstone of the Jurassic Period overlain by Quaternary Period sand, silt and clay to the north and Quaternary Period sand and gravels to the south (BGS 2015). The geological substrate exposed during the excavation comprised red-brown pebbly clay with patches of gravel.

4 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Excavation Report

2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND

2.1 The archaeological potential of the site was detailed within a desk-based assessment (DBA; CA 2009). This concluded that no known heritage assets lay within the site itself, but that known remains have been recorded in the vicinity, most notably during excavations in 2003 at Blenheim Farm to the immediate west (Hart and Alexander 2007). Since the production of the DBA further remains have been found to the immediate east during work at the Fire Service College in 2011 and 2014 (Hart and Weavill, forthcoming). The findings from Blenheim Farm and the Fire Service College are summarised below and placed within their wider archaeological context.

2.2 The excavation at Blenheim Farm produced a Middle Palaeolithic handaxe and a few Mesolithic flints, all of which were residual or unstratified (Hart and Alexander 2007). A second Palaeolithic handaxe was recovered from the Fire Service College (Hart and Weavill, forthcoming). These were probably dropped by hunter-gatherers ranging the shores of the former Lake Harrison, a vast lake which lay to the south of the ice sheets 120,000 years BP (Darvill 2007a). Moreton-in-Marsh marks the southern shore of this former lake, which stretched as far as Leicester in the north and east-west between Rugby and Birmingham (ibid.).

2.3 The main discovery at Blenheim Farm was of an enclosed Middle Bronze Age settlement comprising four circular post-built buildings partially enclosed by a curvilinear ditch (Hart and Alexander 2007). A cluster of tree-throw holes within the settlement included one which had been used for the burial of cremated human remains (ibid.). Middle Bronze Age remains were also discovered at the Fire Service College, where a cremation grave of this date was one of a number of small features focused around what may have been a former pond or barrow (Hart and Weavill, forthcoming).

2.4 Known Iron Age remains in the near vicinity are restricted to a few Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age pits found at Blenheim Farm (Hart and Alexander 2007). It is unclear whether a settlement of this date awaits discovery, or whether the locality was remote from any settlement.

2.5 Roman remains nearby include enclosures discovered at Blenheim Farm (Hart and Alexander 2007) which lay close to the Fosse Way Roman road, the line of which

5 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Excavation Report

passes through the centre of Moreton-in-Marsh (Fig. 1). Further Roman ditches were found at the Fire Service College (Hart and Weavill forthcoming) but no associated settlement has been found and the nearest known is the Roman small town at Dorn (Scheduled Monument 31926; Fig. 1), 1km north-west of the site.

2.6 The early origins of Moreton-in-Marsh are not fully understood but the present settlement probably dates from the 11th century (Alexander 2007, 63) and parts of the associated medieval agricultural land have been investigated at Blenheim Farm, and at Tinker’s Close (Langton et. al. 2000). The current site lay within agricultural land until the present development.

2.7 In November 2009 GSB Prospection undertook a detailed magnetometry survey across the site (GSB 2009). This recorded anomalies relating to old field boundaries marked on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey (OS) map. A subsequent trial trench evaluation was undertaken in January 2010 by Cotswold Archaeology. Twenty-two trenches were excavated, revealing ditches, furrows, pits and a posthole. With the exception of one ditch and one pit that contained modern material and four medieval furrows, none of the features contained dateable artefacts (CA 2010).

3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

3.1 The objectives of the archaeological mitigation were to:-  record the nature of the main stratigraphic units encountered;  assess the overall presence, survival and potential of structural and industrial remains; and  assess the overall presence, survival, condition, and potential of artefactual and ecofactual remains.

3.2 The specific aims of the work were to:-  record any evidence of past settlement or other land use;  recover artefactual evidence to date any evidence of past settlement that may be identified; and  sample and analyse environmental remains to create a better understanding of past land use and economy.

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4. METHODOLOGY

4.1 The fieldwork followed the methodology set out within the WSI (CA 2015). The locations of two excavation areas were agreed with Charles Parry (GCC), informed by the results of the archaeological evaluation (CA 2010). The areas measured 70m by 118m and 80m by 120m (a total of 1.79ha) and were set out on OS National Grid (NGR) co-ordinates using Leica GPS and surveyed in accordance with CA Technical Manual 4: Survey Manual. The excavation areas were scanned for live services by trained CA staff using CAT and Genny equipment in accordance with the CA Safe System of Work for avoiding underground services.

4.2 Fieldwork commenced with the removal of topsoil and subsoil from the excavation areas by mechanical excavator with a toothless grading bucket, under archaeological supervision.

4.3 The archaeological features thus exposed were hand-excavated to the bottom of the archaeological stratigraphy. All features were planned and recorded in accordance with CA Technical Manual 1: Fieldwork Recording Manual. Postholes and pits were sampled by hand excavation to 50% by area of each feature; ditches were sampled to a maximum of 10% by length of each feature.

4.4 Deposits were assessed for their environmental potential and five features considered to have potential for characterising the earlier phases of activity were sampled in accordance with CA Technical Manual 2: The Taking and Processing of Environmental and Other Samples from Archaeological Sites.

4.5 All artefacts recovered from the excavation were retained in accordance with CA Technical Manual 3: Treatment of finds immediately after excavation.

4.6 This report details the full findings of the archaeological investigations and will be made available through CA’s website (http://reports.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk/ report number 17100). A summary report will be published in the Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society.

7 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Excavation Report

5. RESULTS (FIGS 3–7)

5.1 This section provides an overview of the excavation results; detailed summaries of the contexts, finds, environmental samples (biological evidence) and radiocarbon dating evidence are to be found in Appendices A–G.

5.2 The features exposed on site were readily identifiable but their shallow depth suggested that horizontal truncation, presumably by ploughing, had removed the upper parts of the surviving features and may have removed others in their entirety. The spot dating evidence and stratigraphical analysis of the features indicated four periods of activity:

 Period 1: Middle Bronze Age (1600–1200 BC)  Period 2: Mid to Late Roman (2nd–4th centuries AD)  Period 3: early medieval (6th–7th centuries AD)  Period 4: post-medieval (18th–20th centuries AD)

5.3 The features were almost all located within Area 2; Area 1 contained only ditches depicted on the 1st Edition OS map, and two undated pits/postholes, and is not discussed further.

Period 1: Middle Bronze Age (1600–1200 BC) 5.4 The earliest remains on site comprised pits and postholes within the north-eastern part of Area 2 (Figs 3 and 4). Amongst these, the ground plans of up to three structures (Structures A-C), including at least one roundhouse (structure A) were discernible. It is possible, although unlikely that all three of these structures represented the remains of roundhouses, with some postholes associated with the latter two structures having been destroyed by later truncation. Dating for this period is based on a small assemblage of pottery and on a radiocarbon date. Other features are dated by association.

Roundhouse A 5.5 Roundhouse A consisted of a single ring of eleven postholes encircling an area 6.8m in diameter (Figs 4 and 7). The postholes were set at intervals of 1.6m–1.9m and included two that were off-set from the post-ring (postholes 4103 and 4105) and which might have defined part of a south-east-facing entrance. The postholes themselves were generally steep to vertical-sided cuts with rounded bases, although

8 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Excavation Report

a few had more bowl-shaped profiles; all were up to 0.35m wide and 0.3m deep. They contained single homogenous dark brown silty clay fills, of which a few contained charcoal flecks and fragments of unidentifiable burnt bone. Posthole 4037 also produced a few unidentifiable charred cereal grains whilst posthole 4029 contained three small fragments of featureless fired clay, although what these derived from is not known.

Structure B 5.6 Structure B (Figs 4 and 8) was 18m south-west of Roundhouse A and consisted of a partial ring of six postholes, a few of which contained post-pipes and post-packing material; further postholes along the southern part of this circuit may have been lost to truncation, although it is more likely that this structure was originally semi-circular and open to the south-west. Samples from postholes 4022 and 4028 produced a small assemblage of charred cereal remains comprising barley and emmer or spelt wheat, as well as a few weed seeds indicative of open grassland, field edges or arable environments. A few of the postholes also contained small fragments of burnt bone, unidentifiable to species. The ground plan of Structure B would have been 7.6m in diameter, had it represented a full roundhouse and internally it contained two postholes and two pits. The internal postholes (4026 and 4028) may have supported part of an entrance, if the structure was open sided to the south-west; alternatively these may have been the remnants of an inner post ring c. 4.65m in diameter.

5.7 The pits within Structure B were intercutting (Figs 4 and 5, section AA). The earliest (pit 4052) was circular in plan with a bowl-shaped profile. It survived to a width of 0.8m and a depth of 0.1m and contained a single dark silty sand fill (4051), which included frequent charcoal and scorched pebbles, and the feature was perhaps used for baking food buried on a bed of hot stones. This cooking pit had been re-cut by pit 4050, a similar cut that survived to a width of 0.8m and depth of 0.25m and which contained a single fill, 4049, similar to that within the earlier pit. Samples from these pits produced a few unidentifiable fragments of bone, along with very small quantities of charred cereals (with identifiable grains comprising barley, spelt wheat and emmer/spelt wheat) and charcoal, the latter primarily oak and presumably the remains of fuelwood.

5.8 Two features associated with Structure B were radiocarbon dated, both using charcoal fragments from hawthorn/rowan/crab apple (Appendix F). The sample from

9 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Excavation Report

posthole 4028 produced a date of cal. AD 570–651 (95.4% probability; SUERC- 72770) whilst that from pit 4052 was dated to 1412–1265 cal. BC (95.4% probability; SUERC-72771). Although it remains possible that posthole 4028 was a later feature, unrelated to Structure B, it is more likely that the radiocarbon-dated material from the posthole was intrusive: the hawthorn/rowan/crab apple was the only fragment of this species recovered from the posthole, with all of the other identifiable fragments being of oak, too small for radiocarbon dating.

Post alignment C 5.9 Structure C was 5.5m south-east of Structure B. Only a short arc of three postholes was found and while others may have been lost to truncation, it is more likely that the postholes were never part of a roundhouse; If this was the setting for a roundhouse however, the projected floor plan would have been 7m in diameter, and so consistent with the projected dimensions of Roundhouse A and Structure B.

Features located around the roundhouses 5.10 Fourteen pits and postholes were located close to Structures B and C (Fig. 4). None were found close to Roundhouse A. Whilst one of the pits was truncated by a posthole of Structure C, it is assumed that all were broadly contemporary with the Structures.

5.11 Three of these features were probably cooking pits used for baking food through the addition of heated stones. Pit 4053 was located between Structures B and C and comprised a sub-rectangular cut 0.6m long, 0.5m wide and 0.2m deep with vertical sides and a flat base, and included an additional shallower step on its south-eastern edge (Fig. 5, section BB). It contained a single dark silty sand fill which included charcoal, scorched pebbles and some burnt clay. To the south-west, pit 4097 had been truncated by posthole 4095 of Structure C. Pit 4097 consisted of an oval cut 0.8m wide and 0.25m deep with vertical sides and a flat base. Although its single fill contained only a few flecks of charcoal, the morphology of this feature was suggestive of a cooking pit, although it could instead have been a pit or even a posthole associated with either Structure C or a post alignment to the west of Structure C (see below). Pit 1705 was found 15m south-west of Structure C and comprised a circular cut 1.2m wide and 0.1m deep with a more rounded profile. It contained a lower fill which included frequent scorched pebbles and which was sealed by a silty sand natural infill.

10 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Excavation Report

5.12 Four large postholes (4074, 4076, 4078 and 4092) were found to the west of Structure C, and these formed a north-west/south-east alignment, turning to the north-east. All consisted of circular cuts 0.65m–0.85m wide and 0.25m–0.5m deep with steep sides leading to tapering bases, and could have supported boundary posts.

5.13 Most of the remaining pits and postholes were located around the edge of Structure B. Posthole 4048 was found 2m west of Structure B and may have been associated with the structure, or have been a separate single-post structure. Pits 4060 and 4057, to the east of the structure, were oval with rounded profiles and were up to 0.85m wide and 0.3m deep. They contained fills of silty sand which produced a few charcoal flecks and, within pit 4060, a few charred cereal remains, amongst which barley and hulled wheat were identifiable.

5.14 Three pits (4063, 4065 and 4089) were found to the south of the main cluster of Bronze Age features. All were cut into the upper fills of tree-throw pits and were small, bowl-shaped cuts, 0.5m–1m wide and 0.2m–0.4m deep. Pit 4089 contained a few scorched pebbles and whilst the pits’ functions are not clear, it is notable that all contained 2–3 sherds of prehistoric pottery comparable to the Middle Bronze Age wares found at Blenheim Farm (Appendix B); the only such material to have been recovered from the site. Sherds from pits 4063 and 4065 joined and the entire group may have derived from a single vessel. In addition, pits 4065 and 4089 contained the only flints found within the site, two flakes made using flint derived from secondary sources such as river gravels. Neither flake was closely dateable but they were not inconsistent with Bronze Age technology.

Period 2: Mid to Late Roman (2nd–4th centuries AD) 5.15 Roman features comprised, at a minimum, a pit (Fig. 3) and possibly field or enclosure boundaries as well. These produced a small assemblage of pottery which, where closely dateable, was of the 2nd to 4th centuries AD.

5.16 Ditches A, B and C seem to have formed the boundaries of two adjoining rectilinear fields or enclosures, neither of which was more than partially exposed within the site. Ditch C was only revealed within an evaluation trench, but all of these ditches consisted of broad u-profiled cuts up to 2.65m wide and 0.25m deep. Gaps between the ditches may have been due in part to truncation, but it is also possible that entrances were present at the junctions of the fields/enclosures. The only dating

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evidence from these ditches comprised a single sherd of greyware, broadly dateable as Roman and recovered from Ditch C. Given the scarcity of this dating evidence an alternative interpretation is that ditches A, B and C were medieval or post-medieval in date and that the Roman pottery was residual. However the absence of Ditches A, B and C from the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map, along with the presence of similar enclosures of Roman date, also at Blenhiem Farm may be seen to argue against this.

5.17 Ditch F was found to the south of Ditches A–C. It contained no finds but was parallel to Ditches B and C and is not depicted on the historic mapping on which post- medieval Ditches D and E are marked (see below); however, like ditches A, B and C it is possible nevertheless that ditch F had medieval/post-medieval origins

5.18 Pit 4017 was the only discrete feature to be dated to the Roman period. It was an oval cut 2m long, 0.75m wide and 0.15m deep with a rounded profile. It contained a single sandy silt fill which produced 2nd to 4th-century AD pottery, although its function is not known.

Period 3: early medieval (6th–7th centuries AD) 5.19 The radiocarbon date from the wood charcoal from posthole 4028 (cal. AD 570–651 at 95.4% probability; SUERC-72770) represents the only early medieval discovery from the site, although the material itself was probably intrusive within an earlier feature (see above).

Period 4: post-medieval to modern (18th century AD and later) 5.20 Post-medieval and later remains comprised at least two parallel field boundaries, Ditches D and E. Ditch D was a u-profiled cut 1.4m wide and 0.45m deep. It contained a sequence of fills which included slumped material along its northern edge which may have derived from a bank. An irregular ‘cut’ along its southern edge would seem to have been the base of a parallel hedgerow. Pottery dateable to the 18th century was recovered from the upper fill of the ditch, and both it and Ditch E, which was unexcavated, are depicted on the 1st Edition 1:2,500 map of 1885, and on subsequent mapping through to the 1970s (https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/). The boundaries are not visible on satellite imagery of 1999 (Google Earth).

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6. THE FINDS

6.1 Finds recovered are listed in the table below. Details are to be found in Appendices B to D.

Type Category Count Weight (g) Pottery Prehistoric 7 149 Roman 2 8 Post-medieval 2 133 Total 11 290 Worked flint flakes 2 5 fired/burnt clay 3 2 Burnt stone - 1034

6.2 The finds assemblage is small but is consistent with occupation of the site during the Middle Bronze Age and subsequent agricultural activity during the Roman and post- medieval periods. The pottery includes material from the three main periods represented. The few flints are only broadly dateable but do not contradict the suggested Middle Bronze Age dating for the settlement features. The burnt clay is featureless and contains no evidence as to its derivation, whilst the burnt stone probably came from cooking pits.

7. THE BIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

7.1 Biological evidence recovered is listed in the table below. Details are to be found in Appendices E and G.

Type Category Count Animal bone Fragments 12 Samples Environmental 7

7.2 Very little bone was recovered from the site and it has not been possible to identify it to species as it was very poorly preserved and fragmentary.

7.3 The small charred plant and charcoal assemblages recovered from the Middle Bronze Age features are indicative of settlement waste and are compatible with the suggested Middle Bronze Age date.

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8. DISCUSSION

Middle Bronze Age 8.1 The earliest remains from the site were of an unenclosed Middle Bronze Age settlement, comprising a roundhouse, along with two other post-built structures probably representing a semicircular cooking hut/workshop and a post-alignment, and a few associated features such as cooking pits. The roundhouse comprised a post ring 6.8m in diameter and is comparable with those at Blenheim Farm, which were 5m–7m in diameter. The cooking pits found at Todenham Road probably relate to ‘hot-stone technology’, whereby heated stones were used to bake food contained in a pit. The assemblage of charred plant remains and charcoal from these features was too small to suggest whether or not these relate to the pits’ functions. It is probable that Roundhouse A, set apart from the others, was a dwelling, whilst Structures B and C, associated as they were with an area of pits and cooking pits, were ancillary buildings/structures used for working and/or storage.

8.2 The Middle Bronze Age remains at Todenham Road can be placed within the context of an extensively excavated tract of land, comprising the sites at Blenheim Farm, Todenham Road and the Fire Service College, all situated on a plateau in the Cotswold hills. Middle Bronze Age remains were found at all three sites. The settlement at Blenheim Farm was radiocarbon dated to 1450–1260 cal. BC (WK- 17813 and -17814 at 95.4% probability; Hart and Alexander 2007, 8), a comparable date range to that obtained from Structure B at Todenham Road (1412–1265 cal. BC at 95.4% probability; SUERC-72771). At Blenheim Farm, a few small pits containing scorched pebbles seemed to be somewhat earlier, with one having been dated to 1610–1420 cal. BC (WK-17816 at 95.4% probability; Hart and Alexander 2007, 8) whilst the cremation burial at the Fire Service College was similarly early, having been dated to 1516–1416 cal. BC (95.4% probability; SUERC-72128; Hart and Weavill forthcoming).

8.3 Although dating for all three sites is reliant on just a few radiocarbon determinations and the broader indications provided by the pottery, and whilst it is possible that all three sites were contemporaneous, taken at face value, the evidence suggests an initial phase of activity relating to hot-stone technology at Blenheim Farm, which was perhaps contemporary with funerary and ritual activities undertaken around the pond/barrow at the Fire Service College. It is possible that there were settlements contemporary with this activity, and that these remain to be discovered, or have left

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no archaeological trace, or that this activity continued to occur when the roundhouses discovered at Blenheim Farm and Todenham Road were occupied.

8.4 One very apparent difference between the settlements at Todenham Road and Blenheim Farm is that the latter was partly enclosed by a large ditch and bank which may have been keyed to a stream channel, whilst the settlement at Todenham Road was apparently unenclosed. The reasons for this difference are not readily apparent. Possibilities include that the settlements had different functions, that one settlement was subsidiary or seasonally occupied, that they were occupied by different kin or status groups, or that the difference relates to chronology.

8.5 The presence at Todenham Road of three pits containing the only prehistoric pottery and flints from the site is interesting. The pits were cut into tree-throw pits and the pottery from all three pits may have come from a single vessel. One of the sherds contained residues likely to relate to cooking and it is possible that a small stand of trees was being memorialised by the placement of remains pertaining to everyday activities within the settlement. This is paralleled at Blenheim Farm where a cremation burial within a tree-throw pit may have commemorated a clump of trees that formed a notable feature within the local landscape (Hart and Alexander 2007). This practice is also suggested in the wider area: the location of a barrow at Foxcote Hill, Withington, seems to have been influenced by the position of a tree (Hart et al. 2016, 198 and fig. 2.13) whilst a single tree-throw pit within a Middle Bronze Age cemetery at Roman Way, Bourton-on-the-Water, had been cut through by a cremation grave (Brett and Hart, forthcoming).

8.6 There is little from Todenham Road to suggest the nature of the economy but Darvill (2007b, 55) suggested that the occupants of the Blenheim Farm site may have been pastoralists who colonised the Cotswolds during the improved climatic conditions of the mid to later second millennium BC, and this may well hold true for Todenham Road. Whether occupation at these sites was continuous or more episodic, perhaps relating to seasonal grazing is not known, but it is possible that a relatively permanent settlement at Blenheim farm was accompanied by a seasonally occupied settlement at Todenham Road.

Mid to Late Roman 8.7 The few Roman remains would seem to have been a continuation of the field and enclosure system found to the west at Blenheim Farm on a similar alignment. The

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Blenheim Farm remains were dated to the earlier Roman period, with a focus on the 2nd century AD, whilst those at Todenham Road were dated to the 2nd–4th centuries AD. However, at both sites the dating was based on very small assemblages, which could therefore have been residual and perhaps broad Roman, or even medieval to post-medieval dating, is more appropriate on the current evidence. The few ditches found at the Fire Service College were only broadly dateable as Roman. No evidence for Roman occupation has been found at any of these sites and, given the enclosures seen at Blenheim Farm, they are best seen as elements in a pastoral landscape (Hart 2007, 63), perhaps with arable elements. With ready access to the Fosse Way, the farmers would have had access to settlements such as the small town at Dorn, which may have acted as market or redistribution centres.

Early medieval, post-medieval and modern 8.8 The early medieval radiocarbon date (cal. AD 570–651; SUERC-72770 at 95.4% probability) from posthole 4028 came from charcoal that was almost certainly intrusive. However, it is of some note in providing the first evidence for early medieval activity from the three contiguous sites extending from Blenheim Farm to the Fire Service College, and derives from a period from which very little is known about Moreton-in-Marsh. The town itself is mentioned in a charter of AD 714 whilst burials found in the 19th century were interpreted as dead from the battle of Sherston (AD 1016), probably fought at the Four Shire Stone, 1.8km to the south- east of the site (CA 2009), although this may well be no more than romantic association. It is possible given the presence of medieval and post-medieval field enclosures and field boundaries at Blenhiem Farm, that the field boundary ditches found at Todenham Road were all medieval or post-medieval in date (see above), with the small amounts of Roman pottery from their fills being residual.

8.9 The post-Roman field boundaries within the site are depicted on mapping from the 1885 1st Edition OS (1:2,500) through to the 1970s, but had been removed by 1999.

9. CA PROJECT TEAM

9.1 Fieldwork was undertaken by Alistair Barber and Ray Holt, assisted by Gary Baddeley, Alison Roberts, Elisa Vecchi and Christopher Watts. This report was written by Jonathan Hart. The pottery report was written by E.R. McSloy, the worked

16 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Excavation Report

flint and fired clay reports by Jacky Sommerville, the faunal remains report by Andrew Clarke, the plant macrofossils report by Sarah Wyles and the radiocarbon dating report by Sarah Cobain. The illustrations were prepared by Lucy Martin and Dan Bashford. The archive has been compiled and prepared for deposition by Hazel O’Neill. The fieldwork was managed for CA by Richard Young and the post- excavation work was managed by Daniel Stansbie.

10. STORAGE AND CURATION

10.1 The archive is currently held at CA offices in Kemble whilst post-excavation work proceeds. Upon completion of the project, and with the agreement of the legal landowners, the documentary, material and digital archive will be deposited with Corinium Museum, Cirencester, which has agreed in principle to accept the complete archive upon completion of the project. A summary of information from this project, set out within Appendix H, will be entered onto the OASIS online database of archaeological projects in Britain.

11. REFERENCES

Alexander, M. 2007 ‘Medieval’, in Hart and Alexander 2007, 63–66

Brett, M. and Hart, J. forthcoming ‘An Early Mesolithic Post Alignment and a Middle Bronze Age Cemetery at Roman Way, Bourton-on-the-Water: summary report of excavations in 2015’, forthcoming in Trans. Bristol Glos. Archaeol. Soc.

BGS (British Geological Survey) 2015 Geology of Britain Viewer http://maps.bgs.ac.uk/geologyviewer_google/googleviewer.html viewed 13 March 2015

CA (Cotswold Archaeology) 2009 Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Desk-based Assessment. CA Typescript report 09183

CA (Cotswold Archaeology) 2010 Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation. CA Typescript report 10038

17 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Excavation Report

CA (Cotswold Archaeology) 2015 Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Written Scheme of Investigation for an Archaeological Excavation

Darvill, T. 2007a ‘Palaeolithic’, in Hart and Alexander 2007, 54

Darvill, T. 2007b ‘16th–14th centuries BC’, in Hart and Alexander 2007, 55–62

GSB (GSB Prospection) 2009 Land off Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Geophysical Survey Report GSB report 2009/52

Hart, J. 2007 ‘Romano-British’, in Hart and Alexander 2007, 62–63

Hart, J. and Alexander, M. 2007 ‘Prehistoric, Romano-British and Medieval Remains at Blenheim Farm, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Excavations in 2004’, in Watts, M. (ed) 2007 Prehistoric and Medieval Occupation at Moreton-in-Marsh and Bishop's Cleeve, Gloucestershire Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Reports Series 5

Hart, J., Mudd, A., McSloy, E.R. and Brett, M. 2016 Living near the Edge: Archaeological investigations in the western Cotswolds along the route of the Wormington to Sapperton Gas Pipeline, 2006–2010 Cirencester, Cotswold Archaeology

Hart, J. and Weavill, T. forthcoming ‘Further Middle Bronze Age Settlement at Moreton-in- Marsh, Gloucestershire: excavations at Todenham Road, 2015’, forthcoming in Trans Bristol Glos. Archaeol. Soc.

Langton, B., Ings, M., Walker, G. and Oakey, N. 2000 ‘Medieval field systems at Tinker’s Close, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: excavations in 1995–1996’, in Oakey, N. (ed.) 2000 Three Medieval Sites in Gloucestershire: Excavations at Westward Road, Ebley; Tinker’s Close, Moreton-in-Marsh; and Maidenhill, Stonehouse 1995- 1998 CAT occas. papers 1, Cotswold Archaeological Trust, 15–23

Old Maps https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/ Accessed 5 June 2017

18 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Excavation Report

APPENDIX A: CONTEXT DESCRIPTIONS

Context type Fill of Description Feature label Spot date 3000 layer Topsoil 3001 layer Subsoil 3002 layer Natural; reddish brown hard sandy, pebbly clay 3003 cut Pit 3004 fill 3003 1st fill: light blue grey clay 3005 fill 3003 2nd (upper) fill: brown grey silty clay 3006 cut Pit/posthole 3007 fill 3006 1st fill: dark grey sandy clay 3008 fill 3006 2nd fill: light grey clay 4000 layer Topsoil 4001 layer Subsoil 4002 layer Natural; Reddish brown hard sandy pebbly clay. 4003 cut Cut of field boundary ditch Ditch D 4004 fill 4003 Light greyish yellow firm sandy gravel. Ditch D 4005 fill 4003 light yellowish brown friable sandy silt. Ditch D 4006 fill 4003 Dark brown friable clayey silt. Ditch D C18 4007 cut Cut of hedgerow adjacent to post-med field boundary Ditch D [4003]. 4008 fill 4007 Mid orangey brown friable clayey silt. Ditch D 4009 cut Cut of enclosure or field boundary ditch Ditch A 4010 fill 4009 Mid greyish brown friable sandy silty clay. Ditch A 4011 fill 4012 Mid greyish brown friable silty clay. Structure B 4012 cut Cut of posthole. Structure B 4013 fill 4014 Mid greyish brown friable silty clay. Structure B 4014 cut Cut of posthole. Structure B 4015 fill 4016 Appears to be the postpipe of this posthole. Structure B 4016 cut Cut of posthole. Structure B 4017 cut Oval pit 4018 fill 4017 Mid brown firm sandy silt. C2-4 4019 fill 4016 Appears to be packing fill of the posthole. Structure B 4020 fill 4022 Mid greyish brown friable silty clay. Structure B 4021 fill 4022 Mid greyish brown friable silty clay. Structure B 4022 cut Cut of posthole. Structure B 4023 fill 4024 Mid greyish brown friable silty clay. Structure B 4024 cut Cut of posthole. Structure B 4025 fill 4026 Mid greyish brown friable silty clay. Structure B 4026 cut Cut of posthole. Structure B 4027 fill 4028 Mid greyish brown friable silty clay. Structure B Cal. AD 570-651 4028 cut Cut of posthole. Structure B 4029 cut Cut of posthole. Roundhouse A 4030 fill 4029 Dark orangey brown silt clay. Roundhouse A 4031 cut Cut of posthole. Roundhouse A 4032 fill 4031 Dark orangey brown silt clay. Roundhouse A 4033 cut Cut of posthole. Roundhouse A 4034 fill 4033 Dark orangey brown silt clay. Roundhouse A 4035 cut Cut of posthole. Roundhouse A 4036 fill 4035 Dark orangey brown silt clay. Roundhouse A

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Context type Fill of Description Feature label Spot date 4037 cut Cut of posthole. Roundhouse A 4038 fill 4037 Dark orangey brown silt clay. Roundhouse A 4039 cut Cut of posthole. Roundhouse A 4040 fill 4039 Dark orangey brown silt clay. Roundhouse A 4041 cut Cut of posthole. Roundhouse A 4042 fill 4041 Dark orangey brown silt clay. Roundhouse A 4043 cut Cut of posthole. Roundhouse A 4044 fill 4043 Dark orangey brown silt clay. Roundhouse A 4045 fill 4046 Mid greyish brown friable silty clay. Structure B 4046 cut Cut of posthole. Structure B 4047 fill 4048 Mid greyish brown friable silty clay 4048 cut Cut of posthole. 4049 fill 4050 Mid greyish brown friable silty clay. Structure B 4050 cut Cut of pit. Structure B 4051 fill 4052 Mid greyish brown friable silty clay. Structure B 1412-1265 cal. BC 4052 cut Cut of pit within Structure. Re-cut by 4050. Structure B 4053 cut pit: Sub-rectangular with steep sides and flat base 4054 fill 4053 Blackish brown firm silty sand. 4055 cut Cut of enclosure or field boundary ditch Ditch A 4056 fill 4055 Pale yellowish grey silty clay. Ditch A 4057 cut Cut of pit. 4058 fill 4057 Mid greyish brown firm silty sand. 4059 fill 4060 Dark greyish brown silty sand. 4060 cut Cut of pit. 4061 cut tree-throw hole 4062 fill 4061 Greyish brown sandy gravel 4063 cut pit cut into tree-throw hole. 4064 fill 4063 Dark brownish black sandy silt. MBA 4065 cut Pit cut into tree throw and eastern edge of pit 4063. 4066 fill 4065 Dark brownish black sandy silt. MBA 4067 fill 4068 Light greyish brown clayey silt. Ditch C 4068 cut Cut of enclosure or field boundary ditch Ditch C 4069 fill 4070 Light greyish brown clayey silt. Ditch C 4070 cut Cut of enclosure or field boundary ditch Ditch C 4071 fill 4072 Light greyish brown clayey silt. Ditch C RB 4072 cut Cut of enclosure or field boundary ditch Ditch C 4073 fill 4074 Mid greyish brown clayey silt. 4074 cut Cut of posthole 4075 fill 4076 Mid greyish brown clayey silt. 4076 cut Cut of posthole 4077 fill 4078 Dark greyish brown clayey silt. 4078 cut Cut of posthole. 4079 cut Cut of enclosure or field boundary ditch Ditch B 4080 fill 4079 Yellowish brown compact silty clay. Ditch B 4081 cut Cut of enclosure or field boundary ditch Ditch B 4082 fill 4081 Grey friable silty clay. Ditch B 4083 cut Cut of enclosure or field boundary ditch Ditch B 4084 fill 4083 Greyish brown compact silty clay. Ditch B 4085 cut Cut of enclosure or field boundary ditch Ditch B 4086 fill 4085 Yellowish brown compact silty clay. Ditch B

20 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Excavation Report

Context type Fill of Description Feature label Spot date 4087 cut tree-throw hole 4088 fill 4087 Greyish brown sandy gravel. 4089 cut Pit cut into tree-throw hole 4087. 4090 fill 4089 Dark brownish black stony sandy silt. MBA 4091 fill 4092 Black brown sandy silt. 4092 cut Cut of posthole. 4093 fill 4095 Mid greyish brown friable silty clay. Structure C 4094 fill 4095 Mid greyish brown friable silty clay. Structure C 4095 cut Cut of posthole. Structure C 4096 fill 4097 Brownish grey sandy silt. 4097 cut Posthole. 4098 fill 4099 Mid greyish brown friable silty clay. Structure C 4099 cut Cut of posthole. Structure C 4100 fill 4101 Mid greyish brown friable silty clay. Structure C 4101 cut Cut of posthole. Structure C 4102 fill 4103 Dark orangey brown silt clay. Roundhouse A 4103 cut Cut of posthole. Roundhouse A 4104 fill 4105 Dark orangey brown silt clay. Roundhouse A 4105 cut Cut of posthole. Roundhouse A 4106 fill 4107 Dark orangey brown silt clay. Roundhouse A 4107 cut Cut of posthole. Roundhouse A

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APPENDIX B: POTTERY

By E.R. McSloy Pottery of all periods amounts to only 11 sherds (290g). All material was hand-recovered, from five separate deposits. This small assemblage has been recorded directly to an MS Access database. Quantification is by number of sherds and weight per fabric. Vessel form where identifiable and rim morphology have also been recorded, as have rim diameter, sherd thickness (prehistoric material only) and any evidence for vessel use. Fabric codes used for recording are defined below.

Prehistoric Seven sherds (149g) were recorded, all from pits (4063, 4065 and 4089) associated with feature group A. Sherds from deposits 4064 and 4066 join and the entire group may represent a single vessel. Surface preservation is good and one sherd preserves evidence for use as a patchy internal burnt residue probably indicative of use for cooking. The fabric (VES) is poorly-preserved, its vesicular character almost certainly the result of the burial environment and the leaching of calcareous inclusions. The recovered sherds are unfeatured. They are thick- walled (in the 13–15mm range) and are likely to have come from a large, straight-sided vessel.

Prehistoric fabric: summary description VES Soft; light brown exterior surface with orange margin; dark grey core and inner surface. Common plate- like voids (0.5–2mm). 7 sherds; 149g (pit fills 4064, 4066 and 4090).

Dating/discussion This small group lacks the diagnostic features of form or decoration permitting stylistic dating. The fabric and the sherd thicknesses are however comparable to Middle Bronze Age-dated pottery recorded from the site at Blenheim Farm, immediately to the west (McSloy 2007). Middle Bronze Age dating is further supported by a radiocarbon determination (SUERC 72771: 1412–1265 Cal BC), using charcoal from pit 4052.

Roman Pottery of Roman date was recorded from two deposits; pit 4017 (fill 4018) and Ditch C (fill 4071). That from pit 4017 is a body sherd weighing 6g in Southeast Dorset Black-burnished ware, a type widely exported from its source across the earlier 2nd and 4th centuries. The second sherd (Ditch C) which weighs 2g is also unfeatured and occurs is a sandy greyware fabric probably of local origin. The greyware sherd is unfeatured and not closely dateable.

Post-medieval Two sherds (133g) were recorded, both from Ditch D. A rim sherd in a light-bodied earthenware with an opaque black glaze comes from a large bowl with a heavy, flat rim. The second sherd comes from a press-moulded vessel (plate or dish) in light-bodied fabric with combed (yellow on brown) slip. Both probably come from Midlands sources and 18th or earlier 19th-century date is probable.

References Hart, J. and Alexander, M. 2007 ‘Prehistoric, Romano-British and Medieval Remains at Blenheim Farm, Moreton- in-Marsh, Gloucestershire’, Bristol and Gloucestershire Arch. Rep. 5, 1–72

McSloy, E.R. 2007 ‘The Pottery’, in Hart and Alexander 2007, 24–34

22 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Excavation Report

APPENDIX C: WORKED FLINT

By Jacky Sommerville The lithic assemblage comprised two secondary flint flakes (5g): one each recovered from pit 4065 (fill 4066) and pit 4089 (fill 4090). Both pits were located south of the main concentration of Bronze Age features and contained Middle Bronze Age pottery.

The flakes do not exhibit any features which would allow close dating. The flake from pit 4065 was made of mid grey opaque flint containing coarser inclusions, whilst that from pit 4089 was made of fine-grained, dark brown flint without inclusions. Both flakes display a little edge damage and the example from pit 4065 is also slightly rolled (abraded). The cortex on both flakes is abraded, suggesting a secondary source for the materials used, such as river gravels.

APPENDIX D: FIRED CLAY

By Jacky Sommerville Three small fragments (2g) of fired clay were retrieved from posthole 4029 within Roundhouse A (fill 4030). All were soft-fired, buff in colour and sandy in texture. No surfaces or other features were present which might suggest form or function.

APPENDIX E: BONE

By Andrew Clarke Twelve fragments (3.2g) of bone were recovered via a combination of hand excavation and bulk soil sampling from fill 4032 (posthole 4031) and 4040 (posthole 4039) of Roundhouse A; fill 4027 of Structure B posthole 4028; fill 4049 of pit 4050 and 4051 of pit 4052, all dating to Period 1 (Middle Bronze Age).

The bone was very poorly preserved and fragmentary and had clearly been burnt as each fragment displayed the calcined appearance of heating to temperatures of 800° Celsius and above (Lyman, 1994). The combination of these two factors has rendered the assemblage completely unidentifiable to species, including whether the bone derives from humans, animals or a mixture of these, preventing the recovery of any significant archaeological information.

References Lyman, R.L. 1994 Vertebrate taphonomy Cambridge Manuals in Archaeology, Cambridge University Press.

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APPENDIX F: THE PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL EVIDENCE

Plant Macrofossil Report by Sarah F Wyles, with charcoal by Dana Challinor Seven bulk soil samples (60 litres of soil) were analysed from postholes and pits associated with Period 1 (the Middle Bronze Age). The samples were processed following standard flotation methods, using a 250µm sieve for the recovery of the flot and a 1mm sieve for the collection of the residue. All identifiable charred plant remains were identified following nomenclature of Stace (1997) for wild plants, and traditional nomenclature, as provided by Zohary et al. (2012), for cereals. The results are recorded in Table 1.

The charcoal was scanned in transverse section at low magnification, with selected fragments checked at high magnification and identifications based on anatomical structure according to modern reference material and appropriate keys (e.g. Schweingruber 1990, Hather 2000). A rough estimate of taxon abundance was made. The results are presented in Table 2.

Generally only very low numbers of charred plant remains were recovered from these samples and the preservation of the material was rather poor. The charcoal was also low in quantity and tended to be highly fragmented.

Roundhouse A A few fragments of indeterminate grains and monocotyledon stems were recorded from fill 4038 (sample 4000) of posthole 4037. The sample also produced fragments of charcoal including Quercus sp. (oak) roundwood and Alnus glutinosa (alder).

Structure B Small charred plant and charcoal assemblages were recovered from postholes 4022 and 4028 and pits 4050 and 4052. The cereal remains included barley (Hordeum vulgare) grain fragments, hulled wheat, emmer or spelt (Triticum dicoccum/spelta) grain and glume base fragments, indeterminate grain fragments and culm nodes. Two of the glume bases were identifiable as being those of spelt wheat (Triticum spelta). The few other remains included seeds of black bindweed (Fallopia convolvulus), docks (Rumex sp.), vetch/wild pea (Vicia/Lathyrus sp.) and oats/brome grass (Avena/Bromus sp.) and monocotyledon stem fragments.

The charcoal from samples associated with Structure B was mostly Quercus sp. (oak), with some Corylus avellana (hazel) and Maloideae (hawthorn, apple, pear, service/rowan etc.) The undifferentiated Alnus/Corylus could have been either taxon.

Pit 4053 and pit 4060 A seed of black bindweed was observed in sample 4001 from fill 4054 of pit 4053, while a small number of barley, hulled wheat and indeterminate grains were noted from fill 4059 (sample 4004) of pit 4060. The two charcoal assemblages from these features were similar; with positive identifications of Quercus sp. (oak), Alnus glutinosa (alder) and Maloideae (hawthorn group).

Discussion These assemblages are indicative of settlement waste and are compatible with the Middle Bronze Age date of the features. Although emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum) tends to be the predominant wheat within assemblages of this date in southern Britain (Greig 1991), there is evidence that spelt wheat was around in Southern Britain

24 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Excavation Report

from the end of the Early Bronze Age (Barclay et al. 2011, Martin et al. 2012). The few weed seeds are typical of grassland, field margins and arable environments.

The charcoal assemblages are consistent with waste debris from cooking/domestic fires, and indicate the presence of oak/hazel woodland in the vicinity. The presence of alder also indicates the use of riverine habitats. Charcoal from posthole 4028 was radiocarbon dated to the early medieval period but this is thought to be intrusive material. All of the charcoal from this sample appeared to be of Quercus sp. (oak), but was too comminuted to assess maturity. There is nothing in the charred assemblage from this feature that specifically indicates either a Middle Bronze Age or early medieval date.

References Barclay, A.J., Stevens, C.J. and Wyles, S.F. 2011 ‘An Early Bronze Age Field System from Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, and an Early Date for the Cultivation of Spelt’, PAST 69, 2–3

Greig, J. 1991 ‘The British Isles’, in van Zeist, W., Wasylikowa,K. and Behre, K-E. (eds), 229–334

Hather, J G, 2000 The Identification of Northern European Woods; A Guide for Archaeologists and Conservators London, Archetype Publications

Martin, J., Schuster, J. and Barclay, A.J. 2012 ‘Evidence of an Early Bronze Age Field System and Spelt Wheat growing together with an Anglo-Saxon Sunken Featured Building, at Monkton Road, Minster in Thanet’, Archaeologia Cantiana Vol CXXXII 43–52

Schweingruber, F.H. 1990 Anatomy of European Woods Verlag Paul Haupt, Bern, Stuttgart.

Stace, C. 1997 New Flora of the British Isles Cambridge, Cambridge University Press van Zeist, W., Wasylikowa,K. and Behre, K-E. (eds) 1991 Progress in Old World Palaeoethnobotany Rotterdam, Balkema

Zohary, D., Hopf, M. and Weiss, E. 2012 Domestication of plants in the Old World: the origin and spread of cultivated plants in West Asia, Europe, and the Nile Valley, 4th edition. Oxford, Clarendon Press

25 © Cotswold Archaeology Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Excavation Report

Table 1: Charred plant Identifications

Phase Period 1 - Middle Bronze Age

Round Group House A Structure B

Feature type Posthole Postholes Pits Pit Pit Cut 4037 4022 4028 4050 4052 4053 4060 Context 4038 4020 4027 4049 4051 4054 4059 Sample 4000 4005 4006 4002 4003 4001 4004 Vol (L) 10 4 10 9 10 7 10 Flot size 10 5 35 100 100 25 15 %Roots 10 10 10 5 7 25 20 Cereals Common Name Hordeum vulgare L. sl (grain) barley - - - 1 - - 2 Triticum spelta L. (glume bases) spelt wheat - 1 - 1 - - - Triticum dicoccum/spelta (grain) emmer/spelt wheat - - - 1 - - 1 Triticum dicoccum/spelta (glume bases) emmer/spelt wheat - - - 1 - - - Triticum sp. (grain) wheat - 1 - - - - - Cereal indet. (grains) cereal 2 - 1 1 1 - 1 Cereal frags (culm node) cereal - 1 - 1 - - - Other Species Fallopia convolvulus (L.) À. Löve black-bindweed - - - 1 - 1 - Rumex sp. L. docks - 1 - - - - - Vicia L./Lathyrus sp. L. vetch/wild pea - - - 1 - - - Avena L./Bromus L. sp. oat/brome grass - 1 - - - - - Monocot. Stem/rootlet frag 1 1 - - - - -

Table 2: Charcoal results

Round Structure B House A

Feature Type Posthole Trough Pit Pit Pit Posthole Posthole

Feature 4037 4053 4060 4050 4052 4022 4028 Context 4038 4054 4059 4049 4051 4020 4027 Sample 4000 4001 4004 4002 4003 4005 4006 Common TAXON name

Quercus sp. oak ++ r '++ r ++ +++ +++ r + +++

Alnus glutinosa alder + +r +r Gaertn.

Corylus avellana hazel +r + + L.

Alnus/Corylus alder/hazel + ++r + + ++r +

hawthorn Maloideae +r +r +r + + group Bark + +

Key: +=trace; ++=frequent; +++=abundant, r = roundwood

APPENDIX G: THE RADIOCARBON DATING

By Sarah Cobain Radiocarbon dating was undertaken in order to confirm the date of features associated with Structure B. The samples were analysed during April 2017 at Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC), Rankine Avenue, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride, Glasgow, G75 0QF, Scotland. The uncalibrated dates are conventional radiocarbon ages. The radiocarbon ages were calibrated using the University of Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit calibration programme OxCal v4.3.1 (2017) (Bronk Ramsey 2009) using the IntCal13 curve (Reimer et al. 2013).

References Bronk Ramsey, C. 2009 ‘Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates’ Radiocarbon 51, 337–360.

Reimer, P.J., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J.W., Blackwell, P.G., Bronk Ramsey, C., Grootes, P.M., Guilderson, T.P., Haflidason, H., Hajdas, I., HattŽ, C., Heaton, T.J., Hoffmann, D.L., Hogg, A.G., Hughen, K.A., Kaiser, K.F., Kromer, B., Manning, S.W., Niu, M., Reimer, R.W., Richards, D.A., Scott, E.M., Southon, J.R., Staff, R.A., Turney, C.S.M., & van der Plicht, J. 2013 ‘IntCal13 and Marine13 Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curves 0–50,000 Years cal BP’, Radiocarbon 55, 1869–1887

Table 3: Radiocarbon dating results

Feature Lab No. Material δ 13C Radiocarbon Calibrated radiocarbon Calibrated radiocarbon age age age 95.4% probability 68.2% probability Context SUERC- Charcoal - - 1444 ± 27 570–651 cal AD (95.4%) 599–643 cal AD (68.2%) 4027 72770 Crataegus yr BP2 Structure B monogyna/Sorbus/ 6 (posthole Malus sylvestris . 4028) (hawthorn/rowan/ 2 crab apple) ‰ Context SUERC- Charcoal - - 3073 ± 27 1412–1265 cal BC 1394–1368 cal BC 4051 72771 Crataegus yr BP2 (95.4%) (19.2%) Pit 4052 monogyna/Sorbus/ 7 1362–1333 cal BC (within Malus sylvestris . (22.3%) Structure B) (hawthorn/rowan/ 6 1327–1292 cal BC crab apple) ‰ (26.6%)

APPENDIX H: OASIS REPORT FORM

PROJECT DETAILS Project Name Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Excavation Short description An archaeological excavation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology in phases between April and November 2015 at Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, prior to residential development.

The excavations, undertaken in two areas totalling c. 1.8ha, revealed the remains of a Middle Bronze Age settlement comprising a roundhouse, post-built structures pits, and postholes dated by radiocarbon assay to the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. Material remains from the settlement consisted of a small assemblage of burnt bone, pottery and charred cereals. The settlement was apparently unenclosed, in contrast to the enclosed Middle Bronze Age settlement at Blenheim Farm, 375m to the west. Possible funerary and ritual remains found 500m to the south-east at the Fire Service College seem, on the basis of radiocarbon dating, to have been slightly earlier than the settlements at Todenham Road and Blenheim Farm, but it is possible that the remains at all three sites were broadly contemporary.

Roman remains at Todenham Road comprised field boundaries and a pit, possibly forming a continuation of the probable pastoral Roman landscape observed at Blenheim Farm. A single early medieval date obtained from a probably intrusive charcoal fragment has provided rare evidence for activity of this date at Moreton-in- Marsh, albeit of an unidentified nature, whilst later remains comprised field boundaries, reflecting the fact that the site lay within Moreton’s agricultural hinterland.

Project dates 13-27 April; 5-13 October and 10-20 November 2015 Project type Archaeological Excavation Previous work Geophysical survey (GSB Prospection 2009 Land off Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Geophysical Survey Report GSB report 2009/52); evaluation (Cotswold Archaeology 2010 Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Evaluation. CA report 10038) Future work Unknown PROJECT LOCATION Site Location Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire Study area (M2/ha) 11ha Site co-ordinates (x) 421090 (y) 232870 PROJECT CREATORS Name of organisation Cotswold Archaeology Project Brief originator n/a Project Design (WSI) originator Cotswold Archaeology

Project Manager Richard Young Project Supervisor Alistair Barber; Ray Holt MONUMENT TYPE Roundhouse settlement; field boundaries SIGNIFICANT FINDS none PROJECT ARCHIVES Intended final location of archive Content Physical Corinium Museum, Cirencester Pottery, charred plant remains, bone Paper Corinium Museum, Cirencester Context sheets, drawings, registers Digital Corinium Museum, Cirencester Report, database, photos

BIBLIOGRAPHY CA (Cotswold Archaeology) 2017 Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire: Archaeological Excavation. CA Typescript report 17100

29 419000 421000 423000

235000

ROAD

FOSSE WAY ROMAN

DORN (Scheduled Monument 1018451)

Land at Todenham Rd

233000 Fire Service College Blenheim Farm (Hart and Weavill forthcoming) (Hart and Alexander 2007)

Tinker’s Close (Langton et al. 2000)

231000

N Andover 01264 347630 Cirencester 01285 771022 Cotswold Exeter 01392 826185 Archaeology Milton Keynes 01908 564660 w www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk The site e [email protected]

PROJECT TITLE Previous excavations Land at Todenham Road, Roman site Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire GLOUCESTERSHIRE FIGURE TITLE Site location plan 0 1km

FIGURE NO. Reproduced from the 2002 Ordnance Survey Explorer map with DRAWN BY LM PROJECT NO. 9235 the permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of The Controller CHECKED BY DB DATE 22-02-2017 of Her Majesty's Stationery Office c Crown copyright Cotswold Archaeology Ltd 100002109 APPROVED BY JH SCALE@A4 1:25,000 1 421000 422500 N

Area 1

Site boundary 233000 Previous excavation Evaluation trench Excavated area Furrow Fire Service College Period 1: Middle Bronze Age Period 2: Roman Blenheim Farm Medieval to modern

Area 2 (see Figure 3)

0 200m

232500 1:4000

Reproduced from the digital Ordnance Survey Explorer map with the permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office c Crown copyright Cotswold Archaeology Ltd 100002109 pond/barrow Andover 01264 347630 Cirencester 01285 771022 Cotswold Exeter 01392 826185 Archaeology Milton Keynes 01908 564660 w www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk e [email protected]

PROJECT TITLE Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire

FIGURE TITLE Location of groundworks

DRAWN BY LM PROJECT NO. 9235 FIGURE NO. CHECKED BY DB DATE 22-02-2017 APPROVED BY JH SCALE@A3 1:4000 2 Ditch A

4017 see Figure 4

Ditch D

Ditch B

1703

Pit 1705 Ditch C

4063 & 4065

4089

Ditch F

Ditch E

Andover 01264 347630 N Cirencester 01285 771022 Cotswold Exeter 01392 826185 Evaluation trench Archaeology Milton Keynes 01908 564660 w www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk Period 1: Middle Bronze Age e [email protected] Period 2: Mid to Late Roman PROJECT TITLE Land at Todenham Road, Period 3: Post-medieval to modern Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire Tree-throw pit FIGURE TITLE Detail plan of Area 2

0 30m

1:600 DRAWN BY LM PROJECT NO. 9235 FIGURE NO. CHECKED BY DB DATE 02/03/17 APPROVED BY JH SCALE@A4 1:600 3 4031 4033 4029

4035 4107

4037 Roundhouse A Ditch D

4105 4039

4041 4043 4103 4012 4014 4048 4016 4046 A pit 4022 4050 4060 pit 4028 Structure B B 4053 pit 4052 A

4024 4057 B 4026

pit 4097 4095 4092 4099

4074 Structure C 4101

4076

4078

pit 1703 1705

Ditch C

4063 4065

Andover 01264 347630 N Cirencester 01285 771022 Cotswold Exeter 01392 826185 Evaluation trench Area 1 Archaeology Milton Keynes 01908 564660 w www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk Period 1: Middle Bronze Age e [email protected] Period 2: Mid to Late Roman PROJECT TITLE Land at Todenham Road, Period 3: Post-medieval to modern Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire Tree-throw pit FIGURE TITLE Detail plan of Roundhouses Area 2

0 10m

1:250 DRAWN BY LM PROJECT NO. 9235 FIGURE NO. CHECKED BY DB DATE 02/03/17 APPROVED BY JH SCALE@A4 1:250 4 Section AA

NS 128.75m 4051 AOD 4049 pit 4052

pit 4050

Section BB

SE NW 128.6m AOD 4054

pit 4053

01m 1:20

Andover 01264 347630 Cirencester 01285 771022 Cotswold Exeter 01392 826185 Archaeology Milton Keynes 01908 564660 w www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk e [email protected]

PROJECT TITLE Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire

FIGURE TITLE Section drawings

DRAWN BY LM PROJECT NO. 9235 FIGURE NO. CHECKED BY DB DATE 02/03/17 APPROVED BY JH SCALE@A4 1:20 5 6

Blenheim Farm

TThehe sitesite inin itsits llandscapeandscape ssetting,etting, llookingooking westwest ttowardsowards BBlenheimlenheim FFarmarm

Andover 01264 347630 Cirencester 01285 771022 Cotswold Exeter 01392 826185 Archaeology Milton Keynes 01908 564660 w www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk e [email protected]

PROJECT TITLE Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire

FIGURE TITLE Photograph

DRAWN BY LM PROJECT NO. 9235 FIGURE NO. CHECKED BY DB DATE 02/03/17 APPROVED BY JH 6 7

Roundhouse A under excavation, looking east

Roundhouse B, looking west

Andover 01264 347630 Cirencester 01285 771022 Cotswold Exeter 01392 826185 Archaeology Milton Keynes 01908 564660 w www.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk e [email protected]

PROJECT TITLE Land at Todenham Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire

FIGURE TITLE Photographs

DRAWN BY LM PROJECT NO. 9235 FIGURE NO. CHECKED BY DB DATE 02/03/17 APPROVED BY JH 7 & 8